Q&A with Mia Mackman, Founder & President, Arizona Spa & Wellness Association
What is the Arizona Spa & Wellness Association all about?
I founded the association to promote Arizona’s unique spa and wellness assets. Our partners, affiliates and members include Arizona’s community, spa and wellness professionals, public interests, medical facilities, real estate developers and healthcare organizations.
What major activities fall under the category of wellness in your mind?
Wellness has become a huge asset tied to everything that supports well-being. Activities tied to diet and food choices as well as personal development, happiness, fitness and job satisfaction are all a part of this momentum and these new choices.
Wellness has traditionally been good business for the Phoenix, Scottsdale and Sedona areas. As the wellness trend spreads across the country, do you think those cities have benefited?
Yes. We are seeing steady growth as well as significant shifts in travel preferences. Sedona attracts millions of people a year and is recognized as one of the most spiritual places in the world. This enriches Sedona’s marketplace with an emphasis on experiential travel, nature and its spiritual growth facets.
Are Phoenix, Scottsdale and Sedona branching out into any new wellness territory?
There are a lot of new wellness integrations in Arizona’s destination, resort and hotel market. We are seeing an increase in lifestyle enhancement programs, new spiritual, relaxation services, and specialty amenities. We are also seeing a rise of informational lecture events centered on introducing people to ways they can live healthier lives, every day. Resorts are starting to branch out by hosting retreats, workshops and celebrity wellness coaches, yogis and personal development speakers.
What is in store for the future of wellness offerings?
We are on the cusp of an enormous convergence affecting the future of lifestyle and health. This will begin to touch everything we do in the years to come. Expect to see the wellness market merge with lifestyle, medicine and technology with increasing speed. Wellness is not a fad. It plays a major new role in influencing who, what and where people decide to live, work, shop and travel.
