The Global Spa & Wellness Summit (GSWS) announced the winners of its 2013 Student Challenge, a competition where students from academic institutions create spa and wellness concepts of the future. In this year’s challenge, contestants were asked to create a concept that encompassed authentic Indian spa culture. First-place honors were awarded to the Institute of Hotel Management, Aurangabad (IHM-A), for its Arvees Spa Solutions and the Spasthya brand, which means “enlightened health and life" in Hindi. The winning design was created to reach underserved locales and help ordinary people integrate wellness socially by teaching health, hygiene, and practical wellness. Tied for second place was the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, for its Saartha concept, which means “groups traveling together,” targeted at the group celebrations and weddings in India. The other second-place winner was the University of Delhi, New Delhi, for its Sparsh concept, meaning “touch” in Hindi, which addressed stressed urban workers in India. “All of us in the industry have a great deal to learn from the students who compete in the annual Student Challenge,” says Sallie Fraenkel, executive vice president of the GSWS. “IHM-A’s concept stood out for creating a socially progressive spa concept that can be implemented in emerging nations.”
For more information on the winning entries, visit www.globalspaandwellnesssummit.org.