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Emlyn Brown announces his departure from Accor

05 Aug 2025 Emlyn Brown has announced his departure from Accor, where he was VP of wellbeing, strategy, design and development over the last seven years.

Brown is known for many wellness initiatives, including the publication of Accor’s “ROI of Wellness” whitepaper in 2019. The document was a way to track how wellness influences buying decisions.

He worked with Federico Toresi, Lindsay Madden-Nadeau and the Raffles Design team to create the brand’s Harmony philosophy which prioritises guest wellbeing as well as working on the team in charge of reimagining the Pullman hotel gym experience, branding it Pullman Power Fit.

This saw the creation of a Pullman Power Fitness Pod, a miniature gym mounted on a self-driving Citroën Skate EV.

Accor’s podcast series and whitepaper entitled “Health to Wealth” on the future of wellness was a collaboration between Brown, Anni Hood and Adélie Henry (Fradin). The content of both explored the current state of wellness and the ways in which it can be democratised.

He was also involved in the launch of the 27,000sq ft Raffles Old War Office Spa in London, UK.

Emlyn also published a more recent whitepaper and education series in February called Making Waves: Rethinking Spa and Wellness Design for a Modern Era”, which highlights the opportunities in spa design for owners, developers and designers around the world.

From how to create engaging spatial transitions in spas to avoiding thermal pool installation mistakes, the paper was a collaboration between Accor’s team and 16 global spa and wellness consultants.

He was also a driving force behind the modern bathing concept called Basin Glacial Waters, which will open in September at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada.

While Brown hasn’t revealed his next move in the global wellness hospitality sector, he's already involved as an advisor in the social wellness concept 432, alongside industry veterans Jamie Waring and Jonathan Fisher. The first site for this democratised contrast bathing and breathwork bathhouse will open in Amsterdam later this quarter.

See Emlyn Brown speaking at the HCM Summit 2024 hereand book your ticket for the HCM Summit 2025 at www.HCMsummit.live.