JUDGES
Vivienne Tang
Founder & CEO of Destination Deluxe
Founder and CEO of wellness and travel publication Destination Deluxe, which handpicks the best resorts, retreats, spas and beauty brands for the global nomad, Vivienne Tang has been in wellness and lifestyle publishing for the last 22 years. She was previously Editor-in-Chief of AsiaSpa and held positions at Prestige Hong Kong and South China Morning Post. She also works as a consultant for wellness brands, creating retreat programs and offering marketing and custom media support. She is a frequent speaker at events and conventions, having held talks and panel discussions at the Global Wellness Summit, World Spa & Wellness Asia, Thailand Spa and Well-Being Summit, PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference and Mart, and Female Entrepreneurs Worldwide.
Edna Dörr
Media & Publishing Partnership Manager
Edna Dörr has been working for digital platforms, focusing on business development and events sales for more than 15 years. She has built close relationships with luxury hotels, and has gained first-hand experience at her family-owned resort which offers wellness retreats and spa treatments. She is passionate about travelling and wellness, and has been to more than 20 countries. She spends her spare time practicing yoga and meditation.
Cristina Dörig
Retreats & Business Development Manager
Since her youth, Cristina Dörig has been passionate about travel, wellbeing, special lodgings, holistic approaches, and innovative solutions. With a background in law, experience in interior design, event organization, and creative projects, and after spending the last 15 years as a trustee for a boutique family-owned trust company with an international wealthy clientele, she now dedicates her time to the holistic wellness world. She has been practicing yoga for over 22 years and has been an International Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher since 2012 and a meditation and mindfulness teacher since 2020.
Belgin Aksoy
Founder of Global Wellness Day
Belgin Aksoy received her degree from Institute Hotelier Cesar Ritz in Switzerland and has been in the tourism and hotel industry for 25 years. With 16 years in the wellness industry, her mission is to create a physically, mentally and spiritually better world for years to come. Aksoy is the founder of Global Wellness Day. With the slogan “One day, can change your whole life!” GWD is celebrated across the globe in thousands of locations with complimentary activities on the second Saturday of June every year. In 2016, the Global Wellness Summit honored her with the “Leading Woman in Wellness” award. In 2019, Belgin Aksoy was selected as the first non-French person to receive the “Personality of the Year” award by La Fédération des Professionnels du Bien–être.
Gerry Bodeker
Chair of Mental Wellness Initiative of Global Wellness Institute
A Harvard-trained public health academic, Professor Gerry Bodeker researches and advises on integrative medicine and wellness. He has researched and taught in medical sciences at Oxford University for two decades, is adjunct professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, and works with the private sector, governments and the UN advising on culturally-themed wellness strategies. He has specialized in Asian traditions of medicine and healthy lifestyles, including the study of Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda. He has published widely, including the following books: The World Health Organization Global Atlas of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine; Public Health and Policy Perspectives on Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine; Understanding the Global Spa Industry; and Mental Wellness: Pathways, Evidence and Horizons. He is a co-editor and co-author of two books currently in press on healthy ageing and wellness in Asia, one with the Asian Development Bank and the other to be published by Taylor & Francis in the US. Gerry currently serves as chair of the Mental Wellness Initiative of the Global Wellness Institute and is chairman of the Oxford-based Global Initiative For Traditional Systems of Health (GIFTS of Health).”
Johnny Chang
Founder & CEO of Spa Solutions Shanghai
Founder and CEO of Spa Solutions Shanghai, Johnny Chang is a popular strategist and has more than 25 years of experience in international hotel spas and imported spa product brands, successful branding and development experience in China. His company acts as a bridge between East and West, a development and success consultancy, offering all-round business strategy plans for spas and brands, and in-need training services to turn his clients’ passion into reality.
Susie Ellis
Chair & CEO of Global Wellness Summit and Global Wellness Institute
Susie Ellis is the chair and CEO of the nonprofit Global Wellness Institute, considered the industry’s leading global research and educational resource. She is also co-founder, chair and CEO of the Global Wellness Summit, an organization at the heart of the multitrillion-dollar global wellness economy focused on facilitating collaboration amongst industry thought leaders. Recognized as a leading authority on wellness trends, Ellis is a popular speaker at industry events. She sits on numerous academic and industry boards, including, the EHL – Swiss Hospitality Management School in Lausanne, the Aspen Brain Institute, the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics and was also a member of the World Economic Forum’s “Accelerating Health and Well-being Initiative.” She holds an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Nigel Franklyn
The Spa Whisperer – Co-Founder of Moss Wellness Consultancy
Known as The Spa Whisperer, Nigel Franklyn is a unique visionary and veteran of the global luxury spa industry, renowned for his innovative approach to both concept development and wellness design. Franklyn is also the co-founder of MOSS Wellness Consultancy and MOSS of the ISLES and has spent 20 years working extensively around the world with some of the most iconic luxury properties in the industry, including Four Seasons, George V, Paris, The Siam, Bangkok and Aman Resorts. Recently, he headed the re-development of the Medical Wellness and Medical Aesthetics Centres at Clinique La Prairie, Switzerland. His most recent project is as the lead development consultant for King’s Mansion: A luxury Ayurvedic retreat in India where he and his team have created an innovative collaboration of heritage, modern architecture and interior design, Ayurvedic traditions, state-of-the-art medical aesthetics and holistic wellbeing.
Susan Harmsworth
Founder of ESPA
Susan Harmsworth is an inspirational and visionary leader who, over the past 50 years, has shaped the spa industry as we know it today. She founded the global brand ESPA in 1993 and sold it in 2017. Harmsworth is responsible for the design of over 500 award-winning spas in 65 countries and for creating groundbreaking products, treatments and wellbeing programs globally. She has an MBE from the Queen for services to the spa and beauty industry, is a recipient of the ISPA Visionary Award, American Spa Industry Icon, and CEW’s achiever award. Harmsworth sits on the following Advisory Boards: Global Wellness Institute, AMAALA and Trivananda and the Forbes Standards Committee. She is currently advising owners and private equity on innovative new skincare concepts, aesthetics, wellness and medical destinations. She has set up the SATCC (Standards Authority for Touch in Cancer Care) to influence the spa and wellness industry’s training standards, so that those touched by cancer are able to source a qualified therapist for treatment.
Amanda Ho
Co-Founder & CEO of Regenerative Travel
Born and raised in New York, Amanda is the Co-Founder and Brand Director of Regenerative Travel. Previously as the founder of a multi-media lifestyle publication, Amanda honed her craft as a storyteller, producer and creative strategist for luxury hospitality and real estate companies, tourism boards and lifestyle brands with a passion for sustainability.
Mia Kyricos
President & Chief Love Officer of Kyricos & Associates, LLC
Mia Kyricos leads Kyricos & Associates, LLC, a strategic advisory and referral firm dedicated to the business of wellness with a specialty in brand strategy. Considered an expert in wellness travel and tourism, she was formerly SVP & Global Head of Wellbeing for Hyatt, Chief Brand Officer for Spafinder Wellness, Inc., and Global Director of Spa Brands for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. She serves the boards of Cornell University’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration & the Global Wellness Institute which she helped to found.
Beverly Maloney-Fischback
Founder & CEO of Organic Spa Media
Beverly Maloney-Fischback is the founder and CEO of Organic Spa Media, the founder of Wellness Travel University and principal of Wellness Travel Advisors. A global citizen of the world, with childhood into adulthood experiences in Asia, Africa and Canada. With over 35 years in the media industry, she is recognized as an expert marketer, astute media executive and wellness lifestyle entrepreneur. In 2007, Beverly founded Oceans Publishing and launched Organic Spa Magazine. Savvy and tailored, Beverly is a sought-after expert and influencer in the wellness media space. She is a member of numerous industry associations and organizations (ISPA, Green America, Global Women 4 Wellbeing, Global Wellness Summit, Green Spa Network, Wellness Tourism Association, etc).
Kathryn Moore
Founder of Spa Connectors
An industry expert with more than 15 years of extensive knowledge of spa business, Kathryn Moore is extremely successful at negotiating complex commercial arrangements and conception and implementation of operating frameworks, standards and training programs. During her time with MSpa, Kathryn identified gaps in the industry and later formed Spa Connectors to address these, offering exclusive training programs, recruitment and business solutions. Kathryn is also the executive director of GCC’s leading B2B platform, Professional Beauty GCC.
Andrea Oschetti
Founder of Blueflower
As the founder of travel company Blueflower, Andrea Oschetti offers life-enriching journeys to the most exciting destinations on Earth. In 2006 he left a successful corporate career to follow his passion and founded Cuore Private Kitchen, consistently reviewed as providing one of the ultimate dining experiences in Hong Kong. He got a second postgraduate degree in Anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and he became a senior travel journalist and award-winning photographer working with the likes of CNN, South China Morning Post, etc. He is now pursuing his dream of leading a travel company (Blueflower) that redefines holidays by innovating customer travel experiences through knowledge, imagination and care.
Jinou Park
Founder of Normal
Jinou Park is the founder of Normal, which is a hospitality and lifestyle branding practice with offices in Hong Kong and Seoul. Normal creates brands and experiences that shake us out of the routine, raise consciousness of the moment and deliver belonging to the greater purpose. Park brings 20+ years of experience in leading global brands of Disney, Hilton and InterContinental Hotels. Immediately prior to founding Normal in 2020, Jinou was Asia Pacific leader of Design Hotels, a curated collection of 300+ privately owned and independently minded hotels globally.
Erina Pindar
Managing Director of SmartFlyer
Raised traveling the globe, Erina Pindar approaches travel design with an enthusiasm for discovering the best new places before you’ve even heard of them. Her role as the Managing Director of SmartFlyer is rooted in a decade of experience encompassing branding, marketing and an innate understanding of luxury. Pindar’s vision for the holistic client experience drives not only her hands-on approach overseeing custom itinerary design for the agency’s top-level clients, but also the growth of SmartFlyer through strategic partnerships.
Mark Smith
The Spa Man – Founder of Kalm Horizons
Mark Smith is The Spa Man. One of the few male spa writers in the world, Mark has been writing about men’s grooming and wellness for over 20 years. Reviewing spas since 2007 he is Contributing Editor at European Spa magazine, and has written for Vogue, Tatler, and the Daily Telegraph. Originally from Tasmania and now based in Sussex, UK he has always found solace and healing by the sea. Practicing mindfulness for over a decade, he has combined the therapeutic benefits of the sea with meditation, aromatherapy, visualisation, affirmations, self-massage, sound therapy and simple breath work techniques in his new venture, Kalm Horizons.
Stephan Wagner
Director of Wellness & Hospitality Development of Red Sea Global
Stephan Wagner is an internationally renowned health and wellness expert with more than 25 years of experience working for the world’s best-known luxury health retreat and holistic wellness resort brands across markets as diverse as Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. He is a certified Sports Physiotherapist, Fitness & Spa Manager, and Yin Yoga teacher, trained in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction technique developed by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn. He is also an ambassador for the Global Wellness Institute. In his current role, Wagner is part of the development and pre-opening efforts for the wellness portfolio at AMAALA, a Giga project under Red Sea Global (RSG), a global multi-project resort developer wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.
Barry White
Founder of THIA Wellness
Barry White has over 30 years of global leadership experience in world-class luxury and lifestyle brands, including Conrad Hotels, The Landmark Group, Langham Hospitality Group, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, Niccolo Hotels & Resorts, and Galaxy Entertainment Group. His broad industry experience, in-depth hospitality spa and wellness expertise have been combined to amplify the success of the businesses he has led. He is probably best known for creating the globally award-winning Chuan Spa, the proprietary spa and wellness brand for Langham Hospitality Group. Now the founder of THIA Wellness, TIME in Wellness and Co-founder of RIZE Intel. Barry is also Global Wellness Day Ambassador for Hong Kong, and a Board Member of non-profit APSWC (Asia Pacific Spa Wellness Coalition). He also regularly appears as a speaker and panellist at leading conferences, including Global Wellness Summit, ITB – Asia, IWC – India and WSWC Asia and London.
Tracey Woodward
Non Executive Director Beauty and Wellness
Having worked within the Beauty Industry for over 30 years, Tracey Woodward has a wealth of spa, retail and beauty experience. She is a highly respected, experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in the cosmetics and wellbeing industries; skilled in leadership, marketing management, retail, sales, spa and product development – an inspiring and motivational leader. She launched Donna Karan’s beauty division, and worked for reputable companies, such as Aveda, Urban Retreat, and eventually headed up Aromatherapy Associates and Refinery as CEO. Today, she sits on several boards as an advisory director, including the Executive Board of CEW (UK) – leading the conversation in beauty, addressing topics that are shaping the future of the industry and providing leadership and development resources to help move members forward in their careers.
