Hyatt has appointed its former vice president of international spa operations to a new role in Hong Kong, as the hotel group focuses the majority of its leisure and recreation development in Asia.

Niamh O'Connell, who has been with Hyatt for eight years, took up the post of Asia Pacific director of spa in November, leaving her former role at the hotel group’s Chicago headquarters where she had worked for the previous two years.

O'Connell said Hyatt's philosophy of incorporating local wellness methodologies into spa experiences requires substantial on-the-ground research, and she had spent a considerable amount of time travelling back and forth to Asia in her previous role.

Hyatt has eight new spa facilities planned for Asia in 2013, including six in China, one in Korea and one in Cambodia.

O'Connell said China's diverse micro cultures mean there are unique experiences to be created with each project, with spa facilities in the country located at island and ski resorts, as well as city centre destinations.

She said an advantage of being based in Hong Kong was impromptu brainstorming sessions she has had with her team, which she found easier and often more fruitful than planned webinars.

O'Connell's former colleague in the US, Krista Carruci, who had been Hyatt's director of spa operations in the US, has left the role to launch her spa consultancy business Benessere.