At a recent symposium of ‘emerging leaders’ from within the Scenic Hotel Group, delegates embraced the concept of the ‘healthy hotel’, starting with personnel through to the hotel guest experience.

Corporate wellness specialist and founder of ‘My Health Revolution,’ Sarah McGuinness was a guest speaker at the end and shared a vision for the workplace and also how to deliver a guest centred wellness experience.

Under the spotlight was how hotels deliver wellness and why “a fruit bowl is not a wellness plan!” Drawing on her own insights to share emerging trends in wellbeing, McGuinness presented the concept of wellness plans in the workplace and how an integrated approach to wellbeing in the workplace is vital to the success of the business and its customers.

“With the global wellness industry being worth around US$3.7 trillion and wellness tourism globally being around US$563bn, it makes perfect sense not just to our own vitality and wellbeing, but in meeting the demands of our guests that we embrace wellness through our hospitality offering says Scenic Hotel Group HR Manager, Craig Binney.

In identifying the four key wellness traits of travellers as being; nutrition, sleep, exercise and mental wellbeing, McGuinness urged Scenic Hotel Group’s emerging leaders to look for ways of delivering on these in an authentic and accessible way.

With a number of sustainable and wellness initiatives already in place such as Heart Healthy kids Meals, Walking and Exercise Plans, along with Community and Environmental programmes, Binney said it was now a great time for our emerging leaders to integrate into their management styles and processes ways in which they can amplify these initiatives to deliver a more holistically styled hospitality experience to guests.

Of note, was the importance of immersing in nature, and with many Scenic Hotel Group locations being in some of New Zealand’s most pristine and prized environments, the group would look at ways of sharing nature based experiences from the hotel out through guest engagement, community and environmental initiatives.

Scenic Hotel Group locations also offered excellent opportunities for guests to indulge in fresh, local produce with a focus on regional offerings from sustainable sources which McGuinness supported as being part of the healthy active lifestyle today’s traveller is seeking from food to fitness and much in between.

Scenic Hotel Group produces its ‘Emerging Leaders’ summit each year as an integral part of promoting people through a programme of professional development and mentoring