The Crystal Awards Asia Pacific is an annual event organized by G.R.A.S. to recognize and salute the best of the spa and wellness industry in the Asia Pacific region. Awarding brands and properties in various categories, The Crystal Awards Asia Pacific 2009 sets to endorse, through a collective voice of leaders and experts of the industry, the contribution that these brands and properties make that enhance the industry, spearhead trends, change as well as exert an overall definition for the future direction of the sector. The Crystal Awards were instituted with the objective of honouring the places, people, companies and practices that deserve recognition for uncompromised commitment, constantly evolving to make themselves unique in terms of extending integrated offerings and world-class services.
This being the sixth year in running, The Crystal Awards continue to be recognized as the most prestigious endorsement of excellence for the industry. The winners line-up for The Crystal Awards Asia Pacific 2009 are:
Best In-Spa Education Programme: ESPA International
Best Spa Academy: Chiva-Som International Academy
Best Spa Consultant/Company: ESPA International
Best Wellness & Spa Group: Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Best Petite Day Spa: Jiva Spa, Taj Residency, Bangalore, India
Best Day Spa: Jiva Grande Spa, Taj Wellington Mews, Mumbai, India
Best Boutique Hotel Spa: Kayumanis Ubud Private Villa and Spa, Bali, Indonesia
Best Hotel Spa: The Oriental Spa, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
Best Resort Spa: The Barai, Hua Hin, Thailand
Best Destination Spa: Chiva-Som Hua Hin, Thailand
Best Wellness Retreat: COMO Shambhala Estate in Bali, Indonesia
Best Complementary & Alternative Medicine Wellness Centre: Kamalaya Koh Samui, Thailand
Best Signature Experience: The Enchanted Reef: A Journey to Serenity - Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa
Distinguished Industry Leader: Julie Garrow
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The Crystal Awards have enjoyed strong support from the spa community and consumers in the Asia Pacific region. Since its inception, it has adopted a quality-driven approach that is geared towards ensuring the industry's growth through instituting benchmarks and standards that are progressively raised in tandem with the growing sophistication and demands of the consumers. All entrants of the awards are put through various stages of a judging methodology that ensures they are evaluated based on merits and actual performance from a guest's perspective.
Michael Loh, Chairman of The Crystal Awards said,
'The awards stands apart from the rest for our impartiality in recognizing and honouring those who set the standards across the industry. Winners will be celebrated and relished as standard bearers for the industry as worthy models to follow. With so many established brands participating, choosing the best among the best has been a laborious exercise as most nominees are running in extremely close competition with each other. Worthy of our applause also are the top three contenders that made it to the upper rungs of the final rounds in six of the more popularly participated categories this year.'
Honouring the Best of the Best
As of October 2008, The Crystal Awards progressed into a new chapter where it went under the management of G.R.A.S. (Global Rating & Awards Solutions) that will see the Awards making inroads into new regions including UK, Europe, USA, Arabia and Africa hence commanding the greater audience on the international stage.
Through the years, The Crystal Awards have gained the respect and recognition of brands, properties, and industry peers alike because it constantly strives to raise the bar on standards for the wellness and spa industry. Driven by a desire to bring excellence and the highest quality, The Crystal Awards has been honouring excellence and raising benchmarks within the wellness and spa industry in the Asia Pacific region. From 2009 onwards, it has expanded its horizons in order to reflect its objectives and mission. Setting its sights higher and recognitions wider by bringing it onto the global stage, The Crystal Awards has expanded itself into a wider portfolio of continental awards. These continental awards recognize winners in their own territory and celebrate both individual success and the achievements of the industry.
Standing uncontested since 2004 in impartially recognizing and honouring those who set the standards across the industry, the globalization of The Crystal Awards will become more important than ever before as the recipients will be globally recognized and will act as beacons of hope for the rest of the industry worldwide.