The CEO of Clinique La Prairie shares his travel tips and business expansion plans.
Clinique La Prairie has just announced its new resort in Amaala. What is its USP?
It’s our most important health and longevity-focused project [at the moment], and we have the chance to merge our 90-year expertise in the field with an exceptional destination that in turn amplifies each other. I would describe its USP as the world’s most sophisticated longevity health resort. Guests will find its programmes, technologies and next-generation therapies to focus on regeneration and health, combined with the most exclusive and luxurious setting.
Why did you choose Saudi Arabia as the first destination in the Middle East for your resort?
We have been working on our expansion plans for the past five years. The Middle East is central to our strategy, and Saudi Arabia’s Amaala project with its positioning as a regenerative destination with extraordinary landscapes impressed us. The challenge with our expansion is to retain the highest degree of exclusivity as we grow. We may have other opportunities in the Middle East, but we will develop less than 10 resorts. Besides Amaala, elsewhere we have announced the opening of the first resort in Anji in China by 2024.
What is the extent of Clinique La Prairie’s global operations?
Our vision is to pioneer longevity across two specific expressions: health resorts and longevity hubs. The resorts are highly exclusive destinations, delivering a full range of programmes, housing medical and wellbeing experts and built with complete hospitality services – very similar to our current offering in Montreux. The longevity hubs are about introducing our programmes, in urban places, [to those who haven’t probably experienced us before.] Here, participants can engage with experts and build their own health routines. The long-term roadmap is to reach about 40 longevity hubs and 10 health resorts.
What is your most memorable travel experience?
A very simple one – it’s every time I go back to my hometown in Italy, Modena, to see my family and friends, eat in some simple trattoria and ride my bike in the Tuscan hills nearby.
What is your personal grooming ritual when you travel?
I have worked in skincare development for 15 years, so I’m always trying different brands. At least one of these products is always with me. I also always have one perfume, Storie Veneziane, that I carry in my vintage leather kit along with my grooming products.
What are the three things that you always pack when you travel?
A pair of jeans, a white linen shirt and a blue blazer.
What is your choice of in-flight entertainment?
I love James Bond movies – each movie takes you to wonderful locations. From the glamour of Monaco to the Bahamas, with Champagne and some Beluga caviar. It’s funny to watch the old Bond movies and what were once considered exotic locations, which were at the time impossible to reach for most people.
Where would you like to travel next?
I have two young children – twins – and I would like to take them to see cities that I’ve loved around the world such as New York and Tokyo. These are such cinematic and vibrant cities. I know they will fall in love with these cities, just as I did the first time I visited them.
(All images: Supplied by Clinique La Prairie)
