Government plans for a major shake-up of Post-16 vocational education have been met with disappointment from the leisure industry, after the newly-proposed routes into skilled employment appeared to overlook the sector. [read more]

The International Spa Association (ISPA) Foundation has awarded two recipients to receive the Mary Tabacchi Scholarship. [read more]

Educator, massage therapist and spa industry veteran Eric Stephenson has joined supplier Saltability as national educator. [read more]

Two very different spas – the 4,000sq m (43,056sq ft) Anazoe Spa in Costa Navarino, Greece and The Chelsea Day Spa Boutique in London – have teamed up for a unique cross-promotional training programme that has top therapists from each location travelling to the other to share local therapies and spread the word about their spas internationally. [read more]

Dubai-based spa consultancy Esadore International has named Michael Monsod as director of wellness operations and Sally Beighton as spa trainer and consultant. [read more]

Travel Leaders Group – which includes more than 6,500 company-owned, franchised and affiliated travel agencies throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia – has launched a Select Wellness Collection made up of 40 global hotels and spas renowned for their focus on health and wellness. [read more]

Hans-Peter Veit, director of spa for luxury hotel brand Oetker Collection, shared his top tips for unlocking staff motivation at a panel last week during the Professional Spa and Wellness Conference in London. [read more]

The National Spa Association of Lithuania is opening its massage championship to other European countries for the first time this year. [read more]

How we recruit, train, manage and treat our employees is what makes the difference in an organisation, according to Jeremy McCarthy, Mandarin Oriental’s group director of spa. [read more]

People are experiencing a rise in stress levels as they become more and more ‘overconnected,’ but according to Dr Howard Murad, founder of Murad skincare, there are things you can do to help your clients tackle this ‘Cultural Stress.’ [read more]

Privately-owned UK-based Macdonald Hotels & Resorts have launched a ‘Your Opinion Matters Survey,’ an internal incentive programme to recognise and reward outstanding spa therapists across the Macdonald Hotels group. [read more]

International beauty and spa therapy standard setter CIDESCO has launched its ‘International Guide to Working Abroad’ as a collated response to the questions it regularly receives from its students. [read more]

Marriott has unveiled a new spa concept for its luxury Ritz-Carlton brand, set to roll out across 60 existing properties and more than 25 pipeline projects, and to take the spas “from excellent to exceptional,” Kenneth Ryan, senior director of global spa operations for Marriott International, told Spa Business in an exclusive interview. [read more]

“Increasing Your Retail Selling: An Online Training Class for Spa Managers” is now available through Spa Standard’s online learning platform. The retail training class is designed to help spa managers and therapists deliver advice to clients in a manner that naturally leads to increased retail purchases. [read more]

Facial oils are good for all skin types according to Boldijarre Koronczay, president of Eminence Organic Skin Care and master esthetician, but he says mass-produced oils using mineral oil in the past have given them a bad reputation. [read more]

Life as a therapist is physically demanding, says Narelle Blinman, director of education at CIDESCO, and more can be done to protect therapists health by doing simple exercises. [read more]

Industry veteran Kathryn Moore has launched a new company, Spa Connectors, to provide training and recruitment for the global spa industry. [read more]

More and more high-end spas are looking for training to help them understand how to treat clients with cancer, according to Julie Bach, founder of Wellness for Cancer. [read more]

Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok has hired two blind therapists, Decha Phoosiriand and Paranee Fongta, who rely on their senses of smell, sound and touch to help them understand guests’ needs. [read more]

International beauty and spa therapy standard-setter CIDESCO will hold its 64th World Congress and Exhibition in Dublin, Ireland from the 22 to 26 September 2016. Expected to attract delegates from around the world, the event provides the opportunity for beauty and skin therapy professionals to discuss industry issues, learn new skills and network. [read more]