The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) today announced that its ninth annual conference will be held November 13-15 in Mexico City at The St. Regis Mexico City. The event, which is considered the world’s most prestigious gathering of business, government and academic leaders in the wellness, travel and spa industries, is expected to attract a record number of attendees. The host mega-city sponsor of the event is Mexico City, the fifth largest city in the world, with a metropolitan area of over 20 million people, and is also one of the most prosperous, ranking as the 8th wealthiest city in the world.
“This is the first time a city rather than a country has taken on the role as host sponsor of the Global Wellness Summit; a clear indication of the visionary thinking of Mexico City’s leaders,” said Susie Ellis, Chairman and CEO of the Global Wellness Institute, the umbrella organization that runs the GWS. “We’re extremely excited about holding the Summit in what is one of the most vibrant, progressive cities in the world. Mexico City is a venue that embodies the excitement and opportunity we are seeing throughout the fast-growing wellness economy.”
In addition to Mexico City’s stand-out economic performance, the City is also heralded as one of the most culturally significant in the world and is home to award-winning architecture, many of the world’s top restaurants and a thriving art scene (ranked number two in the world only after Paris for its sheer number of museums).
The theme of the 2015 Summit, “Building a Well World,” will be reflected in the broadened scope of this year’s agenda which will speak to more wellness industries than ever before, including spa, hospitality and tourism, but also beauty, finance, medicine, architecture, workplace wellness, real estate, fitness, nutrition, manufacturing, technology and more. In addition, the simplification of the event’s name to The Global Wellness Summit from The Global Spa & Wellness Summit reflects the broad spectrum of wellness industries the Summit now attracts and serves.
Ellis explains, “Progress towards a “well world” requires global collaboration among many different disciplines and industries, and never have so many business sectors been so keenly interested in wellness.”
This is the first time in its nine-year history that the Summit is held in Latin America, a region that is experiencing dramatic growth in wellness. For example, according to recent research from the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), the Latin America-Caribbean region’s wellness tourism expenditures are growing 16% a year (at $26 billion annually) – or more than twice as fast as overall global tourism expenditure growth (7.3%). And wellness tourism trips in the region are growing three times faster than overall trips to Latin America/Caribbean.
And Mexico is a global and regional wellness tourism powerhouse: ranking number 11 worldwide and with a market more than four times larger ($10.5 billion) than the number two regional market, Brazil ($2.5 billion). Mexico attracts almost 1 in 2 wellness tourism “dollars” spent across the whole region.
“Mexico has a grand tradition of wellness that dates back to pre-Hispanic times with the use of temazcales and herbal medicine for recreational, purification and healing processes. Today, Mexico City has become a Latin American center for health and wellness services as it offers a world-class spa infrastructure and a broad variety of services using both traditional practices and the latest, cutting-edge wellness techniques. Hosting GWS 2015 represents a unique platform to showcase all that Mexico City has to offer in terms of culture, gastronomy, wellness, climate and a great diversity of attractions – all of which contribute to making it the premier vacation destination in Latin America,” said Miguel Torruco Marqués, Minister of Tourism of Mexico City.
In addition to Ellis, the 2015 Summit is co-chaired by Mexico City-native Gina Diez Barroso de Franklin, President & CEO of Grupo Diarq, a Mexico City-based firm focused on promoting and developing Mexican creativity through design, education and social responsibility, and Alfredo Carvajal, President, Delos International and Signature Programs, Delos Living LLC, pioneers in wellness real estate and founders of the WELL Building Standard®.
To learn more about the 2015 GWS, visit www.globalwellnesssummit.com.
