Image: Laura Meeson, Director of Spa at Journey Hospitality.
Journey Hospitality’s new Director of Spa, Laura Meeson, has over 15 years’ experience in the spa and wellness industry and here she talks to #SpaNEWS about the importance of technology in spas, the vital role spas play in shaping technology, and the importance of live events in growing new business.
Q: Following Premier Software joining Journey Hospitality’s growing portfolio of technology solutions, you’ve been promoted to Director of Spa. What does your new role entail?
A: It’s really an extension of my previous role, the crux of which has been building a collaborative team environment from where we can deliver exceptional customer service to our spa clients.
I have always believed that, by listening to our clients’ experiences, we are able to continue refining and enhancing Premier, to retain our position as the market leader in spa technology.
Wellness is such a pivotal part of the hospitality landscape, and Journey is committed to offering premium software solutions for independent luxury hotels and resorts which have a genuinely positive impact on guests’ experiences and the hotels’ revenues. This is why we are so thrilled to be part of the Journey portfolio of products to help spas drive revenue growth and achieve greater penetration into a broader today’s digital audience.
Q: You have been a long-term personal supporter of the Spa Life. Why do you advocate so passionately for your brand to attend the events?
A: Much like Premier Software, Spa Life has become one of the most recognised and respected brands in the spa and wellness community. The industry trusts Spa Life to deliver exactly what it promises, which is a business-focussed event with the opportunity to meet face-to-face with leading operators who are actively reviewing the supply market.
This is reassuring for suppliers as we all have finite budgets, and we need to think carefully about how and where we spend these. For us, the mix of formal speed-networking and more relaxed, informal meetings that we can secure, all under one roof, makes Spa Life a fantastic return on our investment.
Plus, we get to catch up with so many other brands and learn about what else is happening in the industry, which is helpful with strategic planning … and of course, they are always so much fun!
Q: At Spa Life Ireland, you teased us with a new iteration of Premier. What can you reveal about Premier 2.0?
A: Premier was the pioneer in spa management software. We’ve been around for 30 years, and have succeeded alongside our incredibly loyal customers. When they’ve grown, we’ve grown. And when they’ve spoken, we’ve listened.
Over the course of those 30 years, our software has evolved and Premier 2.0 builds on what our clients want and need, where we think the wellness industry is heading, and wider societal trends.
Premier 2.0 will be hosted in the Cloud, which means it will run even faster and provide greater ease of access to users in an even more secure way.
There will also be a complete revamp of the user interface - a technical way of saying that what spa managers and therapists see on screen will be more intuitive and user-friendly - and packed with new features to help spas manage guests, oversee workflows and analyse commercial performance. It’s been designed to help manage and streamline spa operations and is based on the experience of our clients, encompassing what they need to make their working days easier and more efficient.
Q: Premier has built a strong reputation as the market leader in spa management software, but technology is evolving at a rapid pace. How do you intend on maintaining the brand’s position?
A: Premier 2.0 addresses the key modern-day technological challenges and will help us speed up future improvements. But for us, Premier 2.0 is reflective of what’s really essential and what we’ve spent a lot of time working on as a business - our customer relationships.
At the heart of everything we do, are considerations of how we can make the lives of spa teams easier, and how we can improve their guests’ experience of visiting a spa. We know it’s a competitive market for our clients and are exploring ways to help them build awareness around their offerings and reach new customers. Technology is integral when marketing to today’s customers and we’re looking at ways to harness the wider Journey Hospitality expertise to help our spa clients grow their business.
It is our customers who inform so much of what we do; their feedback is essential in defining our product roadmap and what new features should be prioritised. We know we’ve been successful because of our customers, and driving commercial success for them is our key motivation. That’s why Premier is trusted by the majority of the top spas in the UK and Ireland, and our customer-first ethos doesn’t change even when our products continue to evolve.
Q: It sounds like a busy time at Premier, and yet you’re still able to get out and about to events and meet people. What’s next for you?
A: I love this time of year - there’s so much happening and it’s a great time to reconnect with people I’ve known for a long time, as well as meet new people. I recently presented the fabulous Seaham Hall with the Best Boutique Spa award at the Boutique Hotelier Awards, as well as picking up the Best Hotel Technology award for our onejourney ecommerce platform at the same awards. As well as hotels, onejourney is proving a great success with spas, making the online booking and upsell process seamless.
I’m also proud to be featured in the 2024 Inner Goddess calendar, raising money for Made for Life Foundation and SATCC (Standards Authority for Touch in Cancer Care). I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 31 and during my treatment, took a break from medication to have my second child. When the team behind the calendar asked if I wanted to be involved, I jumped at the chance and you can find me as Miss January, channelling Freyja, the Norse goddess of battle and fertility. Each of the women involved in the calendar - all of whom have ties to the spa and wellness sector - had such amazing strength and grace, so please do consider buying one and raising funds for two wonderful charities.
Discover more about Journey Hospitality at https://journey.travel/
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