The year of… We ask industry experts from the worlds of beauty, spa, nails and hair what shaped our industry in 2016 – and what lies ahead for 2017

Neil Hewerdine is currently head of spa and wellness at the Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah. He foresees a future for spa where tech and social media will play a huge part in terms of education and improving booking services and other guest options. Conversely, guests will seek to readdress balance caused by our frenetic lives with phone and IT detoxes.

What, do you believe shaped the industry 2016?

This year the industry had a wakeup call and began to really recognise the need of wellness, rather than the want for it. We have become more a nation that understands that prevention is better than cure. We are living in a far more self-aware society and social media has played a huge part in this. The educational aspect is positive, however social media has also massively added to our pressure levels – the pressure we put ourselves under, the fast pace we are expected to live at to keep up to date. People are certainly living longer, yet we are more stressed than ever. Overall, people want to be in the best shape of their lives and are showing commitment to making that change which is a fantastic opportunity for our industry. We are learning that balance is required to maintain sanity in our fast paced lives.

What product developments do you predict for 2017?

Accessible, flexible and targeted online learning. It is forever challenging to coordinate necessary training to maintain standards commercially and practically. The positive development of the socially accessible learning platforms certainly bridges the gap for the new generation and meets the overall demand for our industry.

What treatment developments do you predict for 2017?

Certainly further development of instant, result-driven products. However, there will also be a strong focus on using organic and natural resources. In line with the new preventative attitude to life, this is a far more educated wellness audience we are dealing with – clients are quite the connoisseur, they know exactly what they feel they need and are sure of what they want. The way we talk to our clients has to change, we need to show them our knowledge and our value and we need strong leadership with experience to compete with our client’s knowledge.

What market changes do you anticipate in 2017?

One of the many great things about the new generation is their “fresh eyes” approach, their ability to seeing things differently. Mental Awareness is talked about so much more than ever now, with royal and celebrity ambassadors leading the way. We may see a shift in how this could be integrated into the wellness industry; I am eager to see how this will affect us in the long term and how we can use this to our industry advantage.

Do you foresee any great changes in business practices for our industry in 2017?

A stronger move towards online processes, from bookings to virtual “chat now to your wellness professional” options. People will always still want to have personal contact and this adds to the requirement for the need of options. The new wellness client wants answers, appointments and advice instantly and this must be met. On the other side of the scale, we are now fairly used to social media and living in an interactive world but the new generations are being dubbed as the “lonely generation”, due to lack of personal contact in their daily interactions. I believe we will start looking for balance, social and technical detoxes, no phones weekends! Elsewhere, a number of medical clinics are showing ever more interest in integrating a “softer” approach to their offering, incorporating a sense of wellbeing and capitalising on the “happy, feel good factor” that spa is renowned for. Clinics will look at relaxing patients ahead of any of their treatments, creating a less clinical feel. Innovation is a key contributor to our industry; the incremental and marketing value our business brings to the overall business in a hotel, for instance, is vast and extremely valuable. The industry will continue to welcome entrepreneurial innovation and support the need for consistent change. 2017 is set to bring ever more new, fresh opportunities and challenges for our industry – we need to be ready for these and be ready to invest in education and leadership for our business.