Royal Spa won the Innovative Spa Products Category with their concept, Sleep Balance, addressing modern issues like sleep disorders. Their approach combines prevention, advanced diagnostics, innovative treatments, and technology. Rooms feature biodynamic LED lights and sensor pads monitoring clients’ vital functions. Guests join chronobiologic phototherapy sessions and tailored exercises for holistic well-being.

We contacted Mr Aleš Příhoda, the Head of rehabilitation care and development of treatment methods at Royal Spa, and asked him a few questions.

Could you briefly present the idea and the vision of the Sleep Balance concept? 

Sleep Balance is a stay for people with sleep disorders caused by a poor lifestyle, too much stress, light smog or other reasons stemming from these hectic times. It is not easy to therapeutically influence sleep disorders as it requires a holistic approach to diagnosis, treatment and prevention. We have therefore created the concept of an educational and therapeutic stay to not only help our clients in the short term, but more importantly to show them the way to long-term healthy sleep. 

From your perspective, what do you believe is the primary factor that led jury to honor your concept with the award for the most innovative spa product? 

More factors must come together to win such a prestigious award. I think that one of the advantages is the combination of modern technologies that are verified by EBM rules, traditional spa treatments and the healing effect of the natural environment, which is impossible to imitate in cities. Another factor is that the clients’ therapeutic effect is 24 hours a day, for which the rooms had to be specially equipped. The last reason, in my opinion, is topicality, because, according to the latest research, around 40% of the population suffers from sleep disorders and we can thus speak of a civilisation disease that has a negative impact on mental and physical health. 

What does receiving of the ESPA Innovation Award mean for your team?  

It means to us an acknowledgement for a year of hard work, when we have created several similar treatment programs from scratch to a beautiful and above all functional product. Not only for me, but also for our entire company, it is a motivation to introduce further innovations and push the quality of care for our clients in the future. 

What is your outlook on the future of Spa & Health tourism in Europe and in your country?  

In the Czech Republic, the spa industry has a very strong tradition and a stable domestic clientele. However, tradition and classical medicine are no longer effective enough to cope with the health crisis that is coming to Europe and was mentioned many times at the congress. However, as long as we innovate, as Royal Spa is trying to do, to remain competitive with the quality of care we provide and offer attractive jobs in the industry, I am not worried about the future of the spa industry. 

Are there areas where you see potential for enhancement and innovation? 

We have identified at least five areas on which we will focus our development in the coming years. All of these are problems affecting a large part of the population, and spa care can provide solutions and therefore significant help to the health system. We would like to strengthen our care even further, for example, in the treatment of chronic lung diseases, degenerative musculoskeletal disorders or we would like to focus more on the treatment of minor mental disorders. In addition to treatment, we will also place more emphasis on prevention, which is in accordance with European trends. 

Could you share your future plans and initiatives? 

I’d rather not reveal our plans until we’ve implemented them. However, we will definitely continue with digitalization, telemedicine or the introduction of unattended systems. Modern technologies offer us amazing opportunities to improve and simplify our work, and we will continue to invest in them in the coming years.