Emlyn Brown, Global Vice President of Well-Being, Accor

Posted in People on 17 December, 2023

Well-being plays a major role across Accor’s unrivalled portfolio of brands. In conversation with SPACE, Emlyn Brown discusses the importance of avoiding trends in an arena where ‘old’ is the new ‘new’.

Words: Emma Kennedy

Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello

According to the Oxford dictionary, the word ‘wellness’ dates back to the 16th Century, meaning the opposite of ‘illness’ or referring to the ‘state of being well or in good health’. So, bang went my notion that wellness was a newly coined, catchall buzzword. Clearly in need of some education in its modern-day definition – particularly within the hospitality industry – there are few people better placed than Emlyn Brown to help me rethink my perception of wellness.

Bringing me back to the 21st century, Emlyn starts by sharing Accor’s definition of wellness. “It means different things to different people, but essentially, we believe it refers to the actions or activities that support you to being well,” he tells me. “That can be fitness, movement, diet, alternative therapies, 10,000 steps or a Couch to 5k. It’s small habits, both personal and varied that are formed and done on a daily basis to improve your feeling of well-being.”

Following a degree in sports science, Emlyn began his career with health club group, Holmes Place. “It was a very different scene back then,” he laughs, recalling step classes amid a sea of luminous aerobic gear. “I stayed there for seven years, rolling out clubs in the Swiss and German markets, where I was first exposed to the European wellness scene. I could see they had a slightly different approach to health and well-being, with the inclusion of alternative therapies, which I found interesting.”

As hotels and spas were beginning to make a regular appearance in an industry curious to explore more, Emlyn went to work at Burj-Al-Arab Jumeirah in Dubai and embarked on his own wellness journey.

Given that most hotels worth their weight in stars have entire sections dedicated to the subject on their websites, for many it’s undoubtably a dealbreaker when booking a room. I asked Emlyn when wellness first gained traction within the industry.

“If you go back to the late eighties, early nineties, having a health and fitness area and a swimming pool would differentiate a five-star hotel. As it became more mainstream and normalised, by the late nineties we started to see spas and beauty in the luxury hospitality realm. At that point I would say there were three major players who were early to adopt the notion of wellness, well-being, and spa practice: Fairmont, Mandarin Oriental, and Six Senses. It really built from there and by the mid-2000s, spa practice, fitness and well-being were adopted within most hotels.”

Clockwise from top left: Spa, Fairmont Century Plaza; Swissotel Vitality room; Raffles London at The OWO – Copyright Wonderhatch Ltd

While that period marked the birth of wellness in hospitality, Emlyn then went on to explain its more recent elevation as a result of the pandemic.

“We have now seen a secondary acceleration of wellness in a post-Covid landscape, whereby there’s a real and clear understanding that most of our guests take daily steps to improve their health and wellbeing. In lockdown, people formed new habits. Whether that’s a morning walk, cold bathing or a healthy diet, those habits became embedded in our guests’ demographics and are now reflected in our hotels.”

My own relationship with a hotel gym on holiday could best be described as flakey, placing me firmly in the ‘fly-and-flop’ category – and I ask Emlyn if I am in a minority. He hesitates diplomatically before answering. “To be frank I would say for most people fitness is a vital part of the hotel experience, at both resorts and urban hotels. In terms of what we are seeing in the hotel business, I think the exercise piece is the most critical part of wellbeing we can deliver. It’s highly popular, it’s central to people’s lifestyles, and for the younger generation entering the luxury and premium realm, exercise is an absolute mainstay of their daily practice – at home and away. But what this demographic is looking for is experiences that match and mirror their home practices. We are now seeing that the way people exercise is spread and diverse – from Barry’s Bootcamp, to SoulCycle, Yoga and Pilates.

With more than forty brands across all the segments, I wonder how Accor align their wellness offering to each brand? “There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors about wellness and well-being, but we believe there are six pillars: Nutrition, Design & Environment, Physical Activity & Sport, Spa, Mental Well-being & Mindfulness, and Digital Well-being. When looking at specific brands, we don’t change the pillars, but we turn the volume up or down depending on the demographic. For example, with the premium Pullman brand, exercise and movement is our primary focus and we offer a very specific boutique fitness experience. The same applies to Fairmont where we see more active club-based activity, whereas with Raffles, it’s more about beauty treatments, spa, and mindfulness. So, each brand is given a different approach, but all based on strong foundations.”

Fairmont Taghazout Bay – Morocco. Copyright Lens Films

Like diets, there is always something new when it comes to wellness. For Emlyn, being on top of fitness trends comes with the territory, and it would be remiss of me not to ask what’s new. “Instead, I think the question should always be – what’s good in wellness?” he begins. “It’s easy to chase the new, but new is seldom the best. Wellness and wellbeing are ancient art forms. Take Ayurvedic practice or traditional Chinese medicine – these systems are thousands of years old and cover myriad areas. So, for us, it’s about going back to those roots. Naturally we are aware of what’s going on around us, and where we think a ‘new’ practice is going to go. But in wellness, ‘old’ is the new ‘new’”. Using bathing culture as an example, he continues. “There’s a big resurgence in hot and cold therapies, and saunas – basically using water to heal. It may be considered as something new, but this was a Roman idea. We are always looking for things that have and will be around for a long time, because we are in it for longevity.”

Spa, Fairmont Century Plaza

It’s immediately apparent when talking to Emlyn, his passion and knowledge of wellness goes far beyond his job title. From the science behind a treatment or practice, its journey into the well-being space to the culture from which it derives, his research is thorough, and reliably informs his decision making.

“We work hard to understand what’s happening in different cultures and countries, and I think we have a responsibility as a major company to spread the message and create content that people can use in order to promote well-being on a democratic level.”

Taking its responsibility seriously, last year Accor published a thought leading white paper: Health to Wealth, along with a podcast series. “We explored and joined the dots between all the various areas that impact people’s health and wellbeing,” Emlyn tells me. “From financial health to stress management right through to digital. We wanted to share this with the general market, to allow people to understand well-being in a better way within their companies, their lives, and their hotels. I think any major company that is tackling the idea of wellness has a responsibility to democratize it – so it reaches a far wider public. We wanted people to understand that you can be well without spending £5,000 on a yoga retreat. It’s a passion of mine to be magnanimous in that message,” he concludes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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