Healing with a heart

End of project partners' meeting in Bangkok

The project "Internationalising the Operation of Spas in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia" conducted an end of project partners' meeting last March 27, 2010 at the Courtyard Marriott Bangkok in Thailand.

The objectives of the meeting were: 1) to discuss plans for sustaining the project and continue the cascade training to cover the other members of the four spa associations; 2) to come up with a plan on how to replicate the project in other countries especially the members of the Asia Pacific Spa & Wellness Coalition (APSWC); and 3) to discuss strategies on how to disseminate success stories and best practices.

The project staff and officers oF SAPI who attended the planning workshop were the following: Jomar Fleras (Project Manager), Cherryl Kho (Assistant Project Manager), Ellen Aguila (Accountant) and Gertie Cay (Project Coordinator), Cathy Brillantes-Turvill (President), Remedios Ramsay (Vice-President), Benjamin Eugenio (Secretary), Lynette Zotomayor (Treasurer), Zenaida Palisoc (PRO) & Michael Turvill (Member).

The attendees from the Thai Spa Association (TSPA) were Andrew Jacka (President) and Napalai Cain (Education Committee). Joanne Bruce (Educaiton Committee) was the representative from the Association of Malaysian Spas (AMSPA). The Bali Spa and Wellness Association (BSWA)was represented by its executive committee members namely Regine Winkler (Project Coordinator), Lulu Widjaja, Erika Dewi, Intan Indahsari & Feny Sri Sulistiawati. Jacqueline Le Sueur represented the Asia Pacific Spa and Wellness Coalition (APSWC).


Participants of the end of project partners' meeting

SAPi conducted triple celebration of wellness

The Spa Association of the Philippines, Inc. (SAPi) had a triple celebration last April 10, 2010 at Sofitel Plaza hotel in Manila, Philippines. Included in the triple celebration were the official launching of PHILWELL (new name of SAPi), Graduation of the CIBTAC Scholars and Celebration of partnership with private and government partners.

Outgoing Officers of PhilWell were unanimously re-elected to serve for another term. Director Cynthia Lazo of the Department of Tourism inducted the Officers. EU Ambassador Alistair Macdonald gave a few words of inspiration before the awarding of certificates to all the CIBATC scholars and the certificate of participation to all member spas who gave time & money to support the EU project.

Plaques of appreciation were also given to PhilWell partners : Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines, PLDT SME Nation, Association of Traditional Health Aid givers (ATHAG), Department of Tourism (DOT), Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The event included fireworks display, tarot card readers, body painting and henna tattooing. Members & guests enjoyed the special barbecue buffet to the dancing beat of Samba performed by the Afro Latino band, Cubanila.



Ambassador Alistair MacDonald with Cathy Turvill



Induction of the Officers of PhilWell with Director Lazo of DOT


Partners of PhilWell from the private & government sectors


1st & 2nd batch of CIBTAC scholars


3rd batch of CIBTAC scholars



CIBTAC scholars with their diplomas & pins


Assessment visits conducted in Indonesia

A series of assessment visits were conducted last March 3-8, 2010 in Malaysia & Thailand to assess the impact of the project entitled "Internationalising the operation of spas in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia". The specific objectives of the assessment visits were: a) to determine the impact of the capacity-building activities conducted among the spa associations in the four countries; and b) to determine the relevance of the capacity-building activities to the spa therapists and the spa establishments.

The following spas in Bali were visited by the project manager & assistant project manager: Jari Menari, Anantara, Mandara, Puri Bali, Bulgari, Kaimana, Four seasons, Uluwatu and Maya Ubud. While in Jakarta, the four seasons was visited by the assistant project manager.


Jari Menari spa


Jimbaran Puri Bali spa


Anantara spa


Bulgari spa


Mandara spa


Four seasons spa - Jakarta


EU project team conducted monitoring in Bali, Indonesia

The EU-Asia Invest project team composed of Jomar Fleras (Project Manager), Cherryl Kho (Assistant Project Manager), Elena Aguila (Accountant) and Gertie Cay (Project coordinator) conducted monitoring visits last February 19-20 (Financial) & March 3, 2010 (Technical) .

The following were the agenda of the monitoring visit: updates on project implementation, review of financial reports & supporting documents and discussion of issues and concerns regarding project implementation.



From left to right: Assistant Project Manager (Cherryl Kho), Regine Winkler (Project Coordinator), Intan Indahsari (Executive Committee), Lulu Widjaja (Executive Committee) & Project Manager (Jomar Fleras)