Mala McAlpin Founder Katherine Droga announced the postponement alongside a new initiative.
Yet another industry conference has just announced its postponement – this time, the inaugural Wellness Tourism Summit. Just moments ago, Katherine Droga; Founder of the Wellness Tourism Summit and Chair of the Global Wellness Institute Wellness Tourism Initiative, said via an email announcement to attendees “It is with deep sadness that we announce the postponement of the Wellness Tourism Summit which was due to take place between 19-20 March 2020 in Noosa. We know that this will come as an enormous disappointment, not only to the delegates and partners, who were due to attend the event, but also to the wider industry, and of course to our team who have put so many hours into organising an amazing event. As we have said all along, the health and safety of our delegates, team, partners and suppliers is of the highest priority. We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 as the industry moves into unchartered territory.”
As with so many events, Katherine advises that after the Australian Prime Minister’s briefing on Sunday 15 March as well as Government recommendations for social distancing of 1.5m in a static environment, the event simply should not go ahead. Katherine also admitted that last week, the team felt optimistic that the infection rate was low in the population and that they were confident to proceed, however as we know, this unprecedented event can change incredibly rapidly.
“There is an extensive list of costs associated with the Summit that are unrecoverable that we will need to absorb,” the announcement continues. “Despite this, we recognise the importance now more than ever, of the Wellness Tourism Summit to the industry and are moving all partnerships and registrations to the new event dates of September 3-4, 2020 at the Sofitel Noosa. This is in line with decisions being made across much of the events industry. All of our major partners including our key partner, Tourism Noosa, have supported our decision and this new plan. Despite the disappointment and impact we know you will feel, we want you to know that we’re fully committed to building this industry that we love. Many of our speakers have advised already that they will be available for the new Springtime September dates, and we will keep you updated with any changes to the program.”
“As part of the Summit, our intention was to announce the release of the Wellness Tourism Webinar series, to provide a platform for the continued growth and sharing of knowledge in an important sector.”
The devastating news does, however, come with a silver lining – the launch of an innovative new initiative that can be enjoyed even despite the current landscape of self-isolation and quarantine. “As part of the Summit, our intention was to announce the release of the Wellness Tourism Webinar series, to provide a platform for the continued growth and sharing of knowledge in an important sector. We have brought development forward and will be launching Wellness Tourism Webinar shortly as a way to help the industry to tackle the latest issues and prepare businesses for an agile response in this ever-changing environment. To thank you for standing by us, this will be available to all our Summit delegates via a complimentary subscription for the next 12 months. Our hope is by launching Wellness Tourism Webinars now, this will allow you, our valued industry to connect, support and together respond proactively to the challenges that lay ahead.”
As an official media partner of the Wellness Tourism Summit, SPA+CLINIC understands and supports the difficult decision that was made and we are looking forward to covering the event later this year.
Keep an eye out on our channels for news of the new webinars and their launch.
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