Susie Ellis, Chairman and CEO of the Global Wellness Institute, was at the Future Hospitality Summit in Riyadh, discussing the evolving role of Saudi Arabia as a burgeoning wellness destination. Ellis, who is celebrated for her extensive experience in the wellness industry, provided insightful perspectives on how Saudi Arabia is integrating wellness into its Vision 2030.
After her presentation, we asked Susie how she sees Saudi Arabia evolving as a wellness destination, and what point we are at now in that evolution.
Susie Ellis: Well, I think what is exciting about Saudi Arabia is that they have, with their Vision 2030, decided right from the beginning that wellness is part of their vision. So it’s been threading through a lot of what’s happening. It certainly has a lot of possibilities. You know, there’s so much nature. It’s an exotic place people want to go. They want to learn what the history is. When I look at all the projects that are happening here, they almost all have a wellness component, a spa component, but they push the boundaries a little bit, doing a little bit more, doing it a little bigger, doing it a little bit more advanced. I think it’s kind of exciting.
They’re also not doing the wrong thing by bringing in too many outside concepts because what I’ve seen is that they’re really trying to concentrate on local ideas, local remedies, local treatments. This is very important.
Well, I think that it’s necessary to bring in some outside brands, but these brands themselves know it’s really valuable to incorporate the indigenous and the local. So you know that works well together.
Yes, for example, Six Senses Southern Dunes, they have all the local stuff there. We’re going to see Clinique La Prairie, which is going to open up in Amaala. So these are places which have a global perspective but a local focus.
That’s the right way to do it because you know, places like Six Senses and Clinique La Prairie have the experience to manage these places to service the client. And they know that they need to make it indigenous. So it’s a really good combination. I think it’s very smart. And honestly, I think, not saying ‘the more the better’, but having Six Senses, Clinique La Prairie, Equinox, Miraval, and all of these brands then tells people, this place is serious about health and wellness.
It’s interesting you say health and wellness because there’s more of a blend now between the two, isn’t there? Particularly in a place like Saudi Arabia where there are numerous issues. What are the biggest obstacles for them in moving forward?
There are always obstacles. Marketing is always an obstacle. And then especially if there’s a lot of different stories going on. In our session, Ingo mentioned he’s a little bit concerned about too many high-end hospitality with wellness programmes in one area. On the other hand, they have big goals with tourism, and this is what people want, and high end is what they do well, and that’s who’s coming here. I think it’s really valuable to work with someone who has done something like this in other parts of the world. You don’t want to figure this out as you go along. And I think, in particular, with these big projects, to work with a variety of consultants on the same project because you can learn from a lot of different people.
We’re talking to high-end travel advisors. What would you say is the key selling point of Saudi Arabia as a wellness destination? What sets it apart?
The nature is unusual; the fact that it’s unique is what sets it apart. That’s the challenge here; they need to develop that. That’s why I brought up traditional Arabic Islamic medicine in this session. It may not seem like a big deal, but it would be a big deal if more people in the kingdom knew about it and just trumpeted it a bit. It’s like argan oil in Morocco; all of a sudden, the world is using argan oil, and that’s the Moroccan thing. So I think there can be more digging into the past to bring out uniqueness that will serve well in the future.
And the people here are so warm. That’s another aspect. But for someone looking for a wellness destination, the fact that the people are so warm, welcoming, and homely, that’s actually part of the wellness aspect, isn’t it?
It is, although I have to say I was not aware of that until I came here, that their hospitality was so uniquely different. Now, once I’ve been here, I’ve experienced it, and I’d heard a lot of people talk about it, but I think it’s something that really needs to be marketed.
