A spa management mentorship programme and new website providing internship and spa career resources will be unveiled at the Global Spa & Wellness Summit (GSWS) in Marrakech, Morocco on 10 September.

The new programmes and resources will be revealed at the third annual Spa Education Forum 2014 during the GSWS. This forum is a group of industry professionals who have volunteered their time to create a larger, more competent workforce for the global spa industry. Its leaders include Anna Bjurstram, GSWS board member and vice president of Spas & Wellness; Lori Hutchinson, founder of Hutchinson Consulting, and Jean-Guy de Gabriac, CEO and founder of Tip Touch International.

The new spa manager mentorship programme is a Global Spa Management Education Initiative that involves a six-month mentorship, piloting between January and June of 2015. Initially, 15 seasoned international spa director mentors from ten countries will be paired with 15 managers. Based on the results of the pilot programme, the mentorship scheme will be rolled out more widely to day and hotel/resort spa segments in 2015/2016.

“Spa management is a very challenging career that requires a broad mix of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills, combined with a deep passion for people,” said Jean-Guy de Gabriac, who is also director of the Mentorship Global Initiative Committee. “So many junior spa managers with great potential feel frustrated and isolated, with no one to turn to for guidance, best practices and inspiration to help them master the challenges of daily operations faster and more smoothly. This new programme is designed to give them one-on-one, expert nurturing.”

Spa directors and managers need a minimum of two years' worth of experience to submit applications to become a mentor.

The new online spa career and internship resources will be presented by Lori Hutchinson to address the serious gap between the number of spa managers and therapists needed, compared with the number of trained people that can fill them. Hutchinson explained her commitment to pulling more talent into the spa industry workforce in an article she wrote for the Spa Business Handbook 2014. While there are 130,000-180,000 spa managers/ directors currently working globally, there are only 4,000 students worldwide currently enrolled in spa management-related degree programmes – according to the Spa Management Workforce & Education: Addressing Market Gaps report by SRI International in 2012.

The new “Promoting Spa and Wellness Careers” website will provide information on the benefits of a spa career, global job opportunities, mentorships, internships, career success stories and tools such as webinars, presentations and research reports. There will also be a spa internship manual and Intern Spa Position Profile that companies in search of staff upload to the site, explaining what they need from prospective staff.

“Attracting more people to spa careers – and supporting those newly on the spa manager/director path – is mission-critical for our industry,” said Anna Bjurstram. “While there is so much work to be done, the new mentorship programme, spa career website and internship tools are very much steps in the right direction. We can thank industry leaders for spearheading these independent initiatives – they’re donating their time and passion to build a stronger industry workforce for our bright, collective future.”