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November 19, 2022Horeca Magazine speaks to Céline Vadam about the importance of Wellness in the Hotel Industry; sharing her expert advice on how we could incorporate sustainable lifestyle choices that bring holistic health to our overnight hotel stays.
1. What is your title and position at WE(i) Think and what is the company’s mission statement? I founded WE(i) Think a little more than 2 years ago with the aim to bring more wellness and sustainability to hotels for both guests, employees, local communities and the environment. I have been working in hotel development for 15 years, including the luxury brand Four Seasons, and I have always been passionate about how the hospitality industry can touch so many lives as well as the important role it can have in supporting people living happier and healthier lives while protecting the planet.
I focus on putting together hospitality concepts and strategies with a holistic wellness approach, spreading to each department - from the hotel’s Spa to F&B and hotel rooms.
2. As an industry expert, how do you define wellness in the hospitality and F&B industry? The Global Wellness Institute definition of wellness is the “active pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health”. Within a hotel, there are a wide range of touchpoints that can be used to increase guests’ wellness experience and facilitate their wellness habits. Some touchpoints can be subtle, like creating attractive staircases with artwork to encourage guests to move and take the stairs rather than using the lifts. Others are more obvious like offering a selection of healthy items on the F&B menus.
Now the discrepancy in F&B comes in the alignment on what constitutes a healthy meal or drink, as there is no real definition while the building of a balanced plate varies according to a country’s dietary recommendations.
3. How can wellness services that you offer at WE(i) Think, for example, benefit the hospitality industry? What is your main target and aim? Our services combine both my development and strategic background, with my health coaching and wellness practices. This allows us to create bespoke wellness oriented venues with infrastructures and programmes that are adapted to their target market, are attracted to guests and are profitable.
Wellness is a key concern for guests, who want to be able to continue their routine when they travel. They are educated on the topic and want to indulge while taking care of their health. When we think of F&B, healthy meals have evolved and are as delicious as comfort food, while leaving guests feeling better.
Part of our services include doping the concept, feasibility and financials for a project, but we also work on an operational level with operational teams to educate them around wellness and give the necessary tools to cater to guests requirements. In F&B, it became even more crucial with the wide range of diets to consider as well as dietary restrictions.
4. What is your vision for the hospitality industry? What sort of practices and techniques can we hope to improve for our guests’ enjoyment? I love the hospitality industry and I have been lucky to have it as my playground! A hotel is like a mini town, with so many different skills, people and mastercraft involved. It is fascinating to see how everything comes to life to ensure guests are having the best time. I think that it is important to also care for our employees and make sure that they are looked after.
Recruitment became an important issue in hospitality, for good reason. The model we are operating with is outdated and needs to be rethought to allow talents to grow, which would in turn translate into a more genuine and enhanced guest experience.
5. How can Malta’s tourism industry as a whole, hospitality and F&B included, grow and reach a higher potential? What should our markets’ experts be focusing on?
The hospitality industry targets many individuals and livelihoods, from guests to employees and locals. It can be a driving force for change and nurturing. With that in mind, I think that the hospitality industry should take a lead on wellness and make sure that the environment we create for guests is respectful of their health and the planet.
We can’t have healthy people on a sick planet, the two go hand in hand. Standards need to be created to define what healthy means and encourage healthier habits: to illustrate; a glass of water shouldn’t be more expensive than a soda, or a salad more than a burger. We need to align on the definition of a healthy plate and make sure that healthy dishes are on display and not hidden at the end of the menu. Health is the new wealth.
Celine Vadam
Celine is the Founder & CEO of wellbeing concept consultancy WE(i) Think and has more than a decade of expertise in hospitality, tourism, wellness/spa, F&B and residential development. She is a certified integrative health coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.
She worked on a wide range of projects across the globe for international hotel and consulting companies and her vision is served by her multi-disciplinary skills, placing the concept at the center of the project and involving market research, feasibility analysis, facilities programming, financial projections, operational structuring and programming. Her wellness competences are paired with her interest in sustainability for a holistic approach of wellbeing, from soft to integrative and including both people and planet.
She co-founded the Hospitality of the Future Think Tank, sits on the board of the Hotel of Tomorrow Summit, and is part of the Global Wellness Institute Tourism Destination Initiative, Leading Hotelieres, the Academy of Hospitality Arts Wellness focus group and HospitalityNet Sustainability World Panel. She is a public speaker, addressing wellbeing and sustainability topics at major hospitality and tourism events, as well as a lecturer in renowned universities.
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