World Wellness Weekend 2026 with Jean-Guy de Gabriac

Dolores Semeraro interviews World Wellness Weekend founder Jean-Guy de Gabriac at the eve of the 10th year anniversary of World Wellness Weekend. 

In this episode, Jean-Guy reflects on what is wellness today and what are we mostly addicted to, while sharing experiences and case studies of the most successful implementations of WWW initiatives worldwide. 

Learn more about World Wellness Weekend 18-20 September 2026 here

Host of Truth Behind Travel Podcast, Dolores Semeraro is a sought-after international tourism keynote speaker and sustainable tourism marketing professional. 

Dolores actively works in the tourism and travel conference space as a keynote speaker and moderator, gracing the stages of international tourism summits and trade shows. 

As a professional keynote speaker, Dolores’ speaking topics encompass sustainability in tourism, digital marketing and how to identify today’s traveler’s needs through technology and innovation.

5 years ago, Dolores launched her podcast show named ‘Truth Behind Travel Podcast’ where she regularly interviews tourism and travel industry leaders and representatives on how to rebuild the future of travel.

www.doloressemeraro.com

dolores@doloressemeraro.com

Instagram @dolores_semeraro

LinkedIn @dolores.sem

Transcript

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Dolores Semeraro: 0:00

Welcome back to Truth Behind Travel Podcast. Today we have a very special guest, someone that I've been meaning to touch base with for a long time because we have a common passion, and that is the passion for personal well-being and wellness. Even from my early days in hospitality, I already knew him, and I knew that the work he was putting forward was one that would meant to create a legacy, not just a yearly event. And here we are, a few years later. Welcome! I'm very, very happy to have you here, Jangai.

Jean-Guy de Gabriac: 0:34

Thank you so very much, Dolores. Thank you for having me. I've been following you also-you, your husband, your dog, your camp van. So thank you for being an inspiration for so many, not just about slow tourism, but also sustainable tourism and having a positive impact on the countries that we discover. Not with the preconceived ideas, but with eyes and ears wide open, making sure that whatever we leave on the ground, we we pick up so that we can leave the place a better place than when we discovered it, and then we bring it on to other countries. And I I see you as a as a pollinator, not only through the conversations you have, but also through the countries and through the the the cultures that you see, so that it it makes us all better people to follow you with your camper van.

Dolores Semeraro: 1:26

We try to touch base with different cultures without influencing them, without criticizing them, keeping an open mind. And I think now that we are five months in into this trip, it's been it's been an eye opener, and a lot of what I've seen on the ground over the past few months is actually reflected in the questions I'd like to ask you today on on the podcast. Before we get into that, because then I know I start drilling you with my questions, I would like you to take a moment consider what brought you to where you are today. Maybe a moment of reflection, a moment of sharing for those listening to the podcast and trying to trying to picture what how does the life of Zhang Gai looks like for him to be so inspired and inspiring at the same time, in the wellness world.

Jean-Guy de Gabriac: 2:23

Well, thank you, Dolores, for saying inspiring and inspired because I'm a Sagittarius ascendant in Leo, and I thought I had a great life when I was living in Los Angeles, California, working for Ridley Scott, the movie director. I was going to the Paramount Studios every day to work in movie production until I collided with a seagull on the highway doing 60 miles per hour, and I closed my eyes and I almost died on that day, except for a brief second. I could, although I had my eyes closed, I could see myself with the car in front, the car that I just overtook on that, the car behind me. We were all doing 60. It was Sunday morning, beautiful Sunday morning, and then I was telling myself, "Open your eyes, open your eyes, open your eyes. And a few seconds later, I opened my eyes. I was still on my motorcycle, and I went on the side, and I realized that ever since every day is is it's bonus, it's extra play, so I'm celebrating life every day. I'm not celebrating Valentine's Day on on February because every day is a day to celebrate. And I'm someone who has a strong connection with where we come from, where we eventually go next, and how this life, this game, this play-sometimes with successes, and we enjoy that. And sometimes the the harsh moments in life when we have to learn something. This is why I try to make sure that every day either I meet someone who inspires me, or that maybe I can share something that will inspire someone else.

Dolores Semeraro: 4:25

And you managed to bring that into your work life as well. In fact, I don't. I don't think I have actually ever heard you speaking about work because I don't think you even consider it a job. I think you you live and breathe the teachings. The the the the the the elements that you bring into what you share with others, especially in the wellness ecosystem. What are you busy with at the moment?

Jean-Guy de Gabriac: 4:55

Oh, I'm I'm busy with Well Wellness Weekend. I'm busy with the. World Spa and Wellness Convention that will take place in London early October. I've been in charge as the conference manager of this amazing conference right at the heart of London, organized by Professional Beauty. And then I'm busy preparing a trip around the world, training a hotel group with their spas. I started 2025, 2026, very busy. 2027, already booked. So I'm, I'm passionate about sharing meaningful techniques through conversation. How do you connect with the client at the reception? How do you connect in the treatment room? How do you connect through touch, meaningful touch? We're going to discuss about wellness tourism and the people traveling now, especially with five-star hotels. They are ready to spend money, but the one thing they don't want to waste is their time. Everything needs to be super meaningful for them. So I'm trying to make an impact, and sometimes I meet for three days people who have been massaging for as long as I have for the past 25 years. But sometimes 15, sometimes 10, and then they they tell me, how is it possible? I didn't know this 510, or 15 years ago. So I'm happy to open eyes, to open hands, and sometimes to open hearts to something elevated and hands. Not just because the spa is charging a lot for those services. Oh, a man that I absolutely admire, and he will be speaking in London, Dr. Brian Williams. He said many years ago at a conference at ISPI, and I will never forget it. And I'm happy to share it. Not my words, his. Let's serve others with the best of our abilities, so that in turn they can serve others to the best of their abilities. Passion is a fantastic energy. Wellness is a renewable energy, and I hope that through this conversation today, Dolores, we can encourage more people to reconnect with themselves, with their friends, with their colleagues, so that it's not wellness only for the clients, wellness for those who pay, but wellness for all, wellness for the clients, wellness for the colleagues who are an integral part of the experience, and wellness for underserved communities, because sometimes five-star properties just focus on the people coming, and they they forget the people around them, and and their team are coming from underserved communities. So, wellness for all. I believe in this, and and I'm happy to use every single day of my life, you know. There's a saying that goes, "We don't know how long we have on this planet, but what truly matters is what we do with each and every day, and each and every conversation. So, Dolores, thank you for starting this one.

Dolores Semeraro: 8:14

Well, I love that point of wellness for all. I think that's where we need to start now, and that's that's I think it's the best key to opening up this conversation because wellness is today a multi-dimensional bubble. It's a world, it's an ecosystem. Let's let's use the word that most you know that that speaks the most to us. I cannot define it because we have added so many layers to what we consider the optimal wellness status for a human being, and society is advancing at incredible speed. We are bombarded sometimes. I mean, not sometimes, actually many times, and quite often overwhelmed by the informations that we receive, you need to do this to be better. You need to do that to feel better. You need to do this to look better. And it's always that overwhelming flow of information that reaches us. It aims to give us to to brings us closer to wellness, when instead is actually making us a little bit, you know, kind of step back from it, and and and being, yeah, that sense of overwhelm. What I personally feel. So when I was thinking about our conversation, I wondered in this overly connected world, what is it the one thing that is truly difficult, the most difficult things to detox from.

Jean-Guy de Gabriac: 9:43

There are three things that really come to mind, but I think there's one that really stands out for all generations. Detoxing from sugar is absolutely key because sugar is not just about the the. Sugar rush that we have, and the sugar drop that we have. It's not just about gaining weight. It's not about. It's not just about diabetes. It's also what cancer feeds on. So a lot of people going through cancer treatments are urged to have a sugar-free diet, and this is something that now that cancer is almost in in every house, in every family, it's something that we should learn from the people who are going through that, so that we can reduce. And if we choose sugar, then let's choose it because it tastes amazing, and something we eat with pleasure and not guilt. So every now and then, it's good to be a flexitarian, but it's good also to know what's the level of sugar and and and reduce this. Alcohol is one brings you know joy to my heart to see that there is a whole generation. I have two daughters, 2926, young, strong, independent young women, and I'm happy to to watch them grow as their father. Very privileged because I believe the future of mankind is womankind, not necessarily what we see at the White House today. Not necessarily too much testosterone and flexing muscles, but the the ability, the wisdom to work closely together, to listen to each other, and to find a way so that there can be progress for all at stake. But alcohol, that generation, the the young ones, they're not interested anymore. The the conception of of alcohol is dropping is significantly for them. And when they go on holidays, when they go on trips, only 20% of that generation says, "Yeah, party Mexico! And it's and it's you know spring break and stuff like this. No, no, the others are are saying we want to have an active holiday. We want to reconnect with nature. We want to reconnect with ourselves. We want to have a break. And and 80% of them will say if there's no alcohol during the holiday, it's it's great. The one thing that I believe we truly need to detox that is worse than sugar, worse than alcohol, it's our smartphone, because even when we say that we're on holidays, even when we have messages saying I'll be, you know, out on holidays, oh oh oh, not available. So many people feel guilty not to answer a message. I've looked at some statistics recently because one of my dear friends, Dr. Rika Chowdhury, who is organizing the World Digital Detox Day in December. She's always looking for new statistics and what's happening. Did you know that on holidays, people on average check their phone almost six times per hour, which is double than what they would do when they work, and and half of people will will say that it's impossible to disconnect because they have their phone because they are connected to social media and their emails, and and they still want to be to be to be to be available to to matter to mean, and I think that the hardest thing is detoxing from. It's not a substance, but it's the idea that rest needs to be earned. That being still is unproductive. When actually, when we are still, when we just look at the water, at the at the waves, at the clouds, this is when our brain, this is when our metabolism recharges, and hopefully we can have a better perspective on the challenges or the issues or the topics we have to tackle, whether on our professional or personal life.

Dolores Semeraro: 14:18

And I think I I see a lot of resistance in defining the use of smartphones, as with the word addiction, but I've traveled across Mexico and across Guatemala in the last few months, and I've seen national campaigns. With to my to my biggest happiness, I've seen national campaigns on billboards on the roads of messages that would encourage parents to understand what it means to give a smartphone in the hand of their kids, in the hand of their children, at that at such a young age. What would that do to their brain, to the functionality, to development? To the cognitive understanding of interpersonal relationship, and also the way they express themselves, and and it was it was great to see it was great to see that on the roads in a country where I least expected it, and I think nowadays to call it an addiction. It sounds scary because it's a big word, but when you said that you're on holidays, you pick up your phone six times more than when you normally do. What is that? Six

Jean-Guy de Gabriac: 15:34

times per hour. Six times per hour, double as what? But statistics that I've that I've read.

Dolores Semeraro: 15:39

Yeah, absolutely, and I think it's a almost an oxymoron, right? We look for connection, but at the same time, we need to be disconnected from the devices, from being available every time, everywhere, anytime, to to everyone. Like that's that's what that device does to us. That's what a smartphone does to us. It makes you available at all times, and the only person you need to be available for is yourself. So there's this illusion that by being always visible, always reachable, always connected, you are connected to yourself. But how difficult is to just take a book and read through one entire page without stopping one page, and this is something I'm doing on this trip. I'm I'm reading rather than scrolling on my phone about the countries that I'm visiting. It's an incredible experience that I recommend to everyone.

Jean-Guy de Gabriac: 16:39

You know what I love with books? Just on this note, is that reading somebody's somebody's inspiration? Writing a book takes years, months. The edit, the writing, the editing. What do you really keep, and what do you remove? So you can enter someone's brain, and then I always read with a pen so that I can underline something, take a note. I always also take notes at the back of the book with the ideas that come, because then it's like looking into somebody's not soul but brain history insights, and that how does it reverberate? What does it generate as an idea? The idea could be excellent, and then that's the idea, and it should be implemented. Or how does it sound so that you already start transforming it. You make your honey with somebody else's pollen, and and I think it's good. As you as you were talking about your experience and loading the the camper van with books, I was thinking, you know, not all of the answers can be found on the internet. Sometimes they can be found inside on the inner net, and I strongly believe that with a book or attending a conference, when you hear something, write it down, but be open to the other idea that comes from within, and that is just waiting for a moment of peace, of quiet, to express itself. Otherwise, it's just busyness.

Dolores Semeraro: 18:28

Exactly. We always want to look busy. We want to make sure that everyone sees that we are busy doing something because somehow we ended up thinking that to look busy equals to look successful or to look accomplished, and in this business world, that whatever the industry we're navigating, we have this we have this assumption that we need to look like we're doing something. For example, in my in my sphere, aside from the podcast, I join conferences as a speaker, and I like to bring, I like to consider conferences as a as a bigger training rooms. The difference is that instead of training 20 people, you're you're like sharing a bigger concept with a bigger room, but it's still training because what I want is people to come out of that room that they learn something, and then they come up, come out inspired, and and I see that in in my industry colleagues, so to speak, that they need to look busy. They need to look like they're speaking at at millions of conferences, and and then I thought, okay, so me going on a one year long trip on the road in in Central and South America. How's that going to work with my professional sphere? And then I thought, you know what? I'm going to take in every single teaching, every single learning, every single day that anything that the world brings to me from. The ground up, and translate that into into the work that I I hope to bring out. You know that I hope to serve others with. I don't think I look very busy. In fact, I look like I'm having a great time on my social media, and that's the problem. We are so evolving into adding more and more layers of how do we look better? How do we feel better? How do we want others to see that we are having a great time? And since you know the wellness world has also grew with that, like it has implemented a lot of technology in it. It has brought in a lot of different layers of spirituality, it's not back in the days. It was just having a great spa and a great massage. Now it's all in the brain, or it's it's something related to technology because the new technology helps you with your skin or look better or feel better. Spirituality has entered the room. So many, many, many things. Speak confusing. I think. What is that one thing that, in your years of experiences, you thought we're a bit lost? That I would like to bring that back today.

Jean-Guy de Gabriac: 21:13

Wellness starts with we, we, not me. Wellness has gone down the rabbit hole in so many ways, with wearables that will tell you how well you sleep, how much you've eaten, how many steps you've taken. So many measurements now with VO two max when you run. Yeah, I run, but how's my VO2 max? It's very centric on the person, and we forgot how social beings we are. And what I would like to bring back into wellness is the we, the fact that going to the gym alone is one thing, running by yourself is one thing, and and it's admirable because it means that you you don't need anyone else to sustain your desire to stay in shape, to stay sharp, to stay connected with yourself, with nature. But having a wellness buddy, a friend, a colleague, a neighbor, someone who keeps you accountable. I know I I needed at many times in my life a wellness buddy because I'm the type of person who knows there's a yoga class at 6p.m. or 7p.m. on a Tuesday or a Thursday. I'm a member of that club. I want to join that club. I have my yoga mat with me. I have everything, and at half past five, I'm thinking I still need to send one or two more emails. I still need to call one or two more people. I still need to answer one or two messages, and then it's quarter to six. I know the club is only 10 minutes away. I can do it. I could arrive five minutes earlier, and I'm still writing to someone. I'm still, and if I just go by myself, I may miss that class as I have missed many, many classes. But if there's someone, a friend, a colleague that's there, and we said, "Let's meet us there. Then I have the feeling that if I don't go, I'm going to let my friend down. I'm going to let my colleague down, my wellness buddy. Actually, I'm the one I'm letting down. It's my body, it's my mind that I'm not taking care of, but because there's someone that I'm accountable to, then then I go. And many people do that. And having a friend, a colleague, a wellness buddy, if you want to call it this way, a partner in crime for your own wellness, someone you can go and and and exercise with, or just walk with, or just go to a farmer's market with, or cook with. There are so many things. The social element is what we need to bring back into wellness. Sometimes we say it takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to raise an adult, a grown-up. We need that village. If you look at social bathing, they haven't lost that. They brought it back into wellness. Now those young adults in their late 20s, early 30s, rather than go to a nightclub or a bar and drink alcohol, as we mentioned before, they will go and join into a sauna, into a steam room. When you come back from your trip in Central America, go to London and visit ARC A R C. They have the biggest sauna in London, over 60. People can stay there. My good friend Lasse Eriksen, who is now the president of the International Soundna Association, is organizing every year the Aufgus Championship. The masters from around the world are gathering and they are presenting their way of hosting an Aufgus session with the right scent, aroma, with maybe clothes they're wearing, songs they're choosing, fans or towels they're they're turning, they're creating an experience, and people gather. 65 people about in London at Arc, over 300 people in the biggest sauna in Poland, where they had their championships last year. So it's really something that that's that's mind blowing, and because I know you have an audience not just of people who would like to go to a sauna, but professionals in wellness-it's amazing to see that a concept company called Bath House in the U.S. just raised 35 million U.S. dollars to grow from three properties to 10, and in the 20 plus investors that joined this investment vehicle, this this capital raise that they're doing, you have professional players from the NBA, the National Basketball Association, or the National Football League. So it's crazy to see that professional sports people are investing in helping others stay to their best shape.

Dolores Semeraro: 26:50

I've seen so many ugly truths in this trip, and I'm sure you see a lot of let's define them like that things around aspects of how we want to implement the wellness as wellness as a way of life, wellness as a way of being, as as a way of going about our life on a day to day basis. One thing I noticed on this trip is that health-it's a big question mark. Having good health, having access to healthcare, having access to a system and an infrastructure that supports the basics, and from the basics, then you can talk about wellness. Then you can talk about being rather than actually having to cure yourself from from health issues, and one of the issues that I really struck me when on this on this trip was the fact that a Coca Cola bottle was cheaper than a water bottle in many of the places that I've seen, many of the villages, many of the grocery stores that I've visited. I don't even want to go into the Coca-Cola controversial conversation of the multinational company that takes over resources in developing countries to produce more Coca-Cola, but I saw that simple things like clean water and access to the basics is often the very big problem. I mean, the very first problem we need to address, and then the rest comes. Then the well-being comes, and then all the factors that we talk in this civilized world about wellness and well-being, you know, can can actually come to the table as conversation topics. It really touches me that a Coca Cola bottle can cost less than a water bottle. So when I think of that, and now talking to you, my

question is: 28:51

Is is wellness a thing of the developed world? Is is wellness a almost like a mirage, you know, in a dream for many countries in the world, and how this disparity out there, especially with your many many of your travels,

Jean-Guy de Gabriac: 29:10

wellness is for sure an industry. When you look at the outfits, when you look at the wearables. When you look at all the elements that are now sold online in shops to help people sustain their wellness, it's it's a huge market. It's booming. Just look at the Global Wellness Institute numbers of the global wellness economy soon approaching 7 billion, 7 trillion, 7 trillion U.S. dollars. We'll have new numbers in Phuket. I'll join them for their 20th anniversary in Phuket, the Global Wellness Summit. So it is an industry, but also if. We remember our grandmothers. For you in Spanish, abuela. I remember what my abuela said. My grandmother, she said. She told me about getting a good night's sleep because if I go to sleep early and I have have a good night's sleep. I'll have many ideas in the morning, so sleep number one

for her. Nutrition: 30:24

eat your vegetables, drink water, stay hydrated, eat whatever the season brings with the vegetables or the fruits. Yes, they could be meat, they could be fish. Try to be flexitarian. Movement. Go out and play with your friends, and and and be active, and and and and and feel alive. And make sure also that it's not just about running around, but give yourself a peace of mind. Try to see how you can be connected with others, because it's not just about you, you, you, your sleep, your food, and your weight, and your activity level, and your mindfulness. It's also about solidarity. From this, Dolores, after many years being a consultant, traveling around Europe, the world a little bit, but but mainly at the time Europe, I realize that with wellness, there are five pillars of wellness that any hotel, any wellness-related business or industry company can implement: sleep and creativity, nutrition and immunity, movement and vitality, mindfulness and serenity, sense of purpose and solidarity. You know, in 2015, I was in awe when I saw that the United Nations at the time voted unanimously, unanimously. All of them, 195 or 100. 198 countries represented at the United Nations. I don't remember if it was Geneva or New York. They voted for 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the 17 SDGs. Number one, let's make sure that it is the end of poverty. At least let's make sure that everyone on this planet gets$1.50 per day for work. We're still far from that. Number two, sustainable development goal. Number two, the end of hunger. Let's make sure that everyone has a decent meal. 700 million people today, when we go to bed, will not have their one meal a day, and many kids in the U.S. go to school without breakfast because parents cannot afford it. I will not tell you all the 17 SDGs, but I highly encourage people to take a look at what it represents, and 17 sustainable development goals, 169 action points. You can start at any point, any moment, but at least start just like I started in 2017, when I realized that two years after this, these 17 sustainable development goals, and especially number three, which is good health and well-being for all. Good health and well-being for all, not just vaccination in Asia, in Africa, in in Central America, but the five pillars that I mentioned that can help us be healthy. I'll just stop there because I can go on and on and on and on with the five the five pillars of wellness and the 17 sustainable development goals that really reshape the way that I see how we can have a positive impact with clients with colleagues and with community. But the one thing that I really really would like to say is that when I created World Wellness Weekend 10 years ago, I had in mind that we needed an event in the year as a reminder because there is already a reminder. There is the World Health Day every year on april 7, created in 1950. There is a day when everyone is invited to look at one's health and the health of another, and I realized that in our profession, well, there could be a place for a world wellness weekend. www. And when I launched the website, I encourage people to take a wellness pledge. It's not just about you; it is your sleep, your weight, your activity level, because sitting is the new smoking, your mindfulness, because it is about how much you can take mentally, emotionally, rather than just physically in intentions. But it's also about connecting with someone, helping you achieve your own goals, and when you think. Or feel you have achieved your goals, can you give back, pay forward, donate to a local association, a local charity, so that someone you have never met may receive something from someone they have never met to give them the things they need the most-something related about health, about food, about vitality, about those five pillars. I'll give you one just last example. Three years ago, in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, eight independent freelancers, a fitness coach, a Meditation guide, shamanic drum person facilitator. Eight of them decided to join in September, which is spring for them. It's autumn in the north northern hemisphere, but it's it's spring in the southern hemisphere. They got together on a beach. They connected and contacted all of their clients, saying, "Dolores, I know you're one of my students for yoga, for instance, and you attend so many of my classes. But I would like to tell you that there are seven other teachers during the Wellness Weekend that will be available. If you want to join a yoga class with me, you can. But if you want to join another class, you can. Please bring your mat so that you're comfortable on the beach. Bring water to stay hydrated, and if you can, bring a friend, bring your wellness buddy, and if you can, bring non-perishable food. Maybe it's going to be rice, noodles. Maybe it's going to be coffee, tea, chocolate, biscuit, something useful that will not perish. At the end of the day, those eight practitioners gathered 285 kilos of food, non-perishable. They didn't give it to one association; they gave it to three. Some people came alone. Some people came with a friend. All of them were interested in their own wellness, and they realized that wellness for all is real. We hope to set an example with World Wellness Weekend. We hope that it will not just be one weekend a year, but that there can be more activities and reach out outreach programs like this throughout the year.

Dolores Semeraro: 37:25

10 years of achievements. 10 years of connections. 10 years of bringing people together on one given weekend. 10 years of creating new ideas to come up with new new ways of of achieving one purpose that is only, I think overall is really to connect everyone to make them not just connected to make them feel aligned in purpose. I think that's more important because you can connect, you can celebrate World Wellness Week without even posting it on social media, you don't have to. You can be, you you can feel aligned with the purpose of of the initiative, and I think that's why it's this type of initiative has not just faded like many things in the tourism industry that hospitality, because many of the wellness initiatives do happen within the hospitality ecosystem, many others don't, and I feel that when I've seen it, I've seen it in many resorts, spaces where wellness has a bigger budget, and spaces where there is no budget. Maybe just a simple yoga studio of a little town in the south of Italy, for example, when you join in in the moment during that weekend, you feel like you're part of something bigger because you feel surrounded by people who believe in the same things you believe in. I think that's the most

important thing: 38:54

alignment rather than connection. And what happens after the weekend? So, what happens after the World Wellness Weekend? What's the best way to put that alignment forward?

Jean-Guy de Gabriac: 39:08

Before I tell you what happens after, I'll just give you a short bird's eye view of what's going to happen during the weekend. Very quickly, I promise. World Wellness Weekend with three Ws is always on the third weekend of September. Easy to remember this year: 1819, 20 of September, just before the equinox, just before the change of season, just before we adjust to another season. It's going to be autumn or spring. It's an opportunity to reconnect with yourself, with friends, and to see what's happening in your city, or maybe to travel to a nearby city for a wellness getaway, for or maybe you you stay in your city for a wellness staycation. There is a website that is called WellMap.org. We are a non-profit international association. Therefore, it's not a .com; it's a .org, and it's WellMap, the wellness map of the world. Wellmap .org with W-E-L-L-M-A-P. You can go to this website on your phone, your tablet, or your computer. You can type the name of a city, of a country, and you will see on a map, and also in the listing, the many venues that are participating with one activity or with three, and they are wellness champions because they go over and beyond just organizing one fitness class, yoga session, mindfulness, guided relaxation, sound healing, and you also have some venues that are organizing five activities: three for their clients, free, free of charge on the wellness weekend. Yoga is free. If you want to stay for brunch, you can and you pay more. Fitness is free, but if you want to stay by the pool for a half day pass, you can, and then you pay for that. But if you just want to attend, you can do this one activity for their team, for their colleagues to grow a culture of wellness, back of house workplace well being, and we are partnering with the initiative of the global wellness in. Institute for for workplace well-being and one activity for the local community. It's amazing to see that we will start at sunrise in New Zealand, supported by the Maori people. They will be going from village to village with a van little bigger than yours, full of medical equipment. They'll be running checkups, free checkups with an amazing device, and they will be also talking about the tradition, and they will be giving traditional healing. So high tech, high touch, high intentions. We move to Fiji, and they will be also having so many activities and Asia and Europe, and then it will be time for America, Central America, South America to be in charge of that of their time zone and doing activities while the others maybe sleeping or maybe entering evening, and then on the third day we will finish in Hawaii with traditional activities. So during three days, it's not just free stuff. It's connection, joining people who are like-minded. You didn't know them. They may be in your club. It's a moment to start, as you said, a conversation. What happens the day after Monday? Well, hopefully wellness continues because there's always another event. There's always another reason why to celebrate life. Hopefully, the properties that will be participating will be giving you a reason why to come back. Maybe they will have another event. Maybe they will have another special offer, an irresistible offer for you to to come back to, so there are many reasons it should continue, and especially if you meet friends, wellness buddies, and you decide to run again the next weekend. Every weekend there there are people running in parks or on beaches, and there's there's an app. It's called Run Park, and and go to Run Park and find a park where you can run with other people. Find things that set your heart in joy. We're talking about lifespan extended, health span extended with the 17 SDGs and good health and well-being for all. What about joy span, doing more things that bring a smile to the to our face? Again, many years ago, I printed a T-shirt with the logo of Wellness Weekend in front and a message in the back, and it said, "Don't mind me, I'm just high on endorphins and serotonin and acetacin, and it's legal. Of course, my two daughters wanted to have the same T-shirt saying they were high on wellness. Let's get people high on wellness. It's legal. It's fun, and it changes your metabolism.

Dolores Semeraro: 44:15

That sounds amazing. Just like simply put, to be high on wellness, if by definition and by popular understanding, wellness has always been like a byproduct of hospitality, it's almost like something that hospitality and travel sub umbrella wellness and well being or wellness and spa, and I think it's not the case anymore. And we need to rebuild that that perception. We need to expand it. And I, from my travels, I've seen that wellness and spa and the concept of being, of of embodying the way to the way to go about wellness. It's not just the. A building anymore. It's in an entire destination. Where where in the world have you seen this happening? You know which destinations in the world are nailing it. What what can we learn from them?

Jean-Guy de Gabriac: 45:14

You know what is fantastic after 10 years of growing the world when it's weekend from two countries when I launched, France and Belgium, because I'm French, living in Belgium, to now 187 countries, from 160 venues that participated on year one, to nearly 12,000 this year. Well, Witness Weekend has the full support of the minister of the ministry of tourism and the ministry of health in the Philippines, we have the full support of the tourism authorities of Quintana Roo in Mexico and Toresmo de Portugal. I'd like to get back for one thing that you said in in your in in your question, you said wellness is added last, and it's true. Most of the time, it's a it's a box that owners want to want to tick. And you mentioned spa, not and you mentioned three star hotels. I'd like to give you the example of IBIS from Accor. They're not four or five stars. Sometimes they're three star, but they do try to help people sleeping well because people are on the move professionally or personally, and it's it's being documented by so many studies. Not sleeping in your own bed will hijack your sleep on that night. It's not your pillow. It's not your mattress. It's not the same environment, noise, and and temperature. So the first night, even if you're in a five-star hotel, is not your best night. This is why they have a pillow menu. This is why sometimes you can ask for a mattress menu. This is why you have so many apps that you can add to to documents. But they they try Ibis. Back to my first example, they have partnered with Calm, and they encourage people instead of scrolling on social media, why don't you tune in to come and listen to a story and try to fall asleep? They try also to have smart breakfasts. They they they offer you as complimentary earplugs. They they also have a an aromatherapy spray. So wellness can come in all kinds of shapes and forms, not necessarily a spa, and I think that's the exciting part. Because if people are interested in growing wellness in their property, they do not need a spa. If they have one, great! So many things they can do. If they have a fitness, so many classes they can have. If they have a indoor or outdoor space, they can use for yoga, mindfulness, sound healing. Great, but if they don't, maybe they just have a meeting room where business people gather, and that room, when it's not used for business and meeting gatherings, meetings, incentives, corporate events, they can host a local talent, and they can, for their team, for their clients, but also for the locals. They can be a place where wellness talents come and express themselves, and people live together a social experience. And we need more of that.

Dolores Semeraro: 48:43

I, if anything, I want to come out of this conversation and people listening to this to this conversation on the podcast with the with the idea that wellness is all around you all the time. You just need to activate it. It needs to be ignited, and it's simpler than we think. I mean, it's even just a simple walk outside, breathe in some fresh air, expose yourself to sunlight. That's all. That's that's how you need to start. Really simple things. It's important to have one little routine every day, and to build that into a very strong habit, and I think the most most difficult thing to do is not to let the external factor influence it. So whatever you are in the world, what whatever you are doing before or after, stick to that habit and do it consistently. And I'm not perfect. I'm I I didn't practice yoga this morning. I try to when I whenever the outside the van environment allows it. But at the same time, it I understand that for many people it's not easy. I'm one of them, and consistency is the big. The biggest challenge when it comes to personal wellness routine. So bravo to you, bravo with a big B for the legacy that you've built with the World Wellness Weekend. And I just, I just feel like today we just literally scratched the surface of a conversation that could go on and on and on. And I'm very passionate about it. I thank you for coming on the podcast. Good luck with all the future troubles. I know you're very busy ahead, and congratulation for the biggest achievements with the World Awareness Weekend. Thank you.

Jean-Guy de Gabriac: 50:35

Thank you so very much, Dolores, for for being the conversation starter in the first place because you've been doing this this podcast for almost six years now, or maybe over six years. So well done you for staying the course and having so many inspiring conversations, and for having me today. So that maybe it it will rub off a little bit on the people listening, so that they also want to be part of a wellness movement for themselves, for their friends, for their community. We are not a drop in the ocean, said Rumi."We are the entire ocean in a single drop. So whatever you can do, do that. Whoever you can be, be the best version of yourself, and try to have a positive impact on others because the the most valuable currency in the world is the positive impact we can have on each other. So that's that's what you know really worth.

Dolores Semeraro: 51:36

Wonderful! Thank you so much. Thank you.

Jean-Guy de Gabriac: 51:38

Merci Dolores.