More and more SPAs are promoting prevention, balance and self-love, guiding their clients on a super-personalised journey towards a new concept of longevity.
by Elisabetta Farneti
The “Longevity & Ageing” conference, held in Milan in 2023, was an opportunity to explore and deepen topics related to longevity and ageing. These are highly topical issues that involve many realities in the process of improving people’s wellbeing.
Ne abbiamo parlato con Regis Boudon-Doris di bbspa_Group, società che da oltre 30 anni si occupa di realizzare progetti Wellness&SPA innovativi e capaci di unire aspettative di clienti e investitori. The Spa and Wellness world is in fact one of the ideal contexts for promoting good wellness practices and helping people in their search for ways and means to live and maintain a good quality of life.
Longevity means living well
“Today, longevity is interpreted as a ‘commitment’ to fill the years with life, says Régis, well-being is understood as the analysis and improvement of all the factors that can accompany quality ageing. In this sense, prevention is an important focus: we are the result of how we have managed to treat our bodies throughout our lives. The world of SPA and wellness is obviously tuned in to this frequency and we at bbspa_Group are involved in various projects, both in Italy and abroad, that place the holistic/longevity/green approach at the forefront, three elements that are inseparable today”.
Are there many SPAs interested in activating longevity protocols?
“Absolutely, says Régis Boudon-Doris, as bbspa_Group, we are working to develop models that are perfectly adapted to the various SPAs in which they are used, maintaining the integrity of the concept and its effectiveness, but reinforcing and enhancing each reality and, above all, adapting to the needs of the target clientele”.
What are SPA clients looking for?
More and more people want to improve their psycho-physical condition. Relaxation, the possibility of dealing with specialist staff and doctors to create a ‘tailor-made’ wellness programme, realistic and tangible beauty goals are the most common requests. Therefore, even when talking about longevity, the SPA stay must be punctuated by pleasant appointments, starting from the personalised check-up, through workouts, beauty rituals, aesthetic medical treatments, the choice of the cosmetic line, and finally to the table, where even good food must make a difference, thanks to dishes capable of reducing the feeling of hunger. All of this must be translated into a well-coordinated SPA project that is able to excite, meet the expectations of the client and, above all, be profitable for those who invest in the project.
Key elements of a longevity programme?
We need to focus on strong characterising elements, explains Régis. In a longevity programme, we necessarily talk about epigenetics, biohacking, DNA testing, spa treatments/cures and ultra-personalised check-ups, including via telemedicine.
A good longevity path combines the most advanced medical-scientific techniques with innovative holistic methodologies, better if placed in iconic, design and sustainability-conscious locations. The result is a beneficial combination capable of slowing down the cellular ageing of the body, mind and soul, while fully respecting the natural physiology of the individual. The cornerstone is undoubtedly the highly personalised diagnostic phase, while the innovation lies in the protocols, which combine scientific innovation with lifestyle education.
What’s new in the anti-ageing field?
“A wide range of rejuvenation protocols are being developed, continues Régis. Cryotherapy, for example, offers many intervention formulas in wellness, health and beauty. In the field of aesthetics, the use of ultra-frequencies, which stimulate the self-rejuvenation of tissues, is increasing, with rapid effects on greater facial relaxation and the disappearance of wrinkles. Other protocols involve the use of peptides to maintain cell quality. The use of adipose tissue, which has a higher stem cell content and therefore a high regenerative capacity, is being optimised to restore structural rejuvenation to the patient’s tissues, which deteriorate with age. Another innovation being perfected is new non-surgical facelifts. Of course, we are talking about treatments that are carried out in specially designed and equipped rooms, managed by specialised personnel who have been adequately trained in the protocols of longevity medicine”.
How to include Longevity programmes in your SPA?
If you want to work on prevention and on quality and active longevity, you need a consistent environment, a menu of services, staff and technology. “I will say it again and again,” says Régis Boudon-Doris, “when an entrepreneur decides to create a spa or relaunch an existing centre, it is necessary to rely on teams of consultants and specialists. In this way, the result can be achieved without wasting resources. Too often we are called upon to intervene to correct projects that are already underway. To come back to the question, introducing longevity programmes into a spa means analysing the existing resources (I am talking about the environment, technology, human resources, medical staff), understanding how they can interact and compose the longevity project, and integrating them with what is missing to complete the service. I would add that creating a project also means keeping it active, adapting it to new developments, constantly training staff and planning the necessary evaluations of the real profitability of the choice made”.
