WHO Launched in April this year, Soul Sanctuaries is a Hong Kong-based luxury wellness travel company that specialises in yoga and meditation retreats, detoxification, weight-loss and fitness holidays, and spa breaks in stunning destinations across Asia.
It targets professionals between 35 and 65 years old, mainly females, and has seen interest arising from markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the US, Italy and Spain.
In its first year of operations, Soul Sanctuaries will focus on working with luxury wellness sanctuaries and providing healthy holidays with private villa accommodation. Come 2014, it will strengthen Soul Retreats, a collection of experiences designed and executed by the company.
WHAT Along with its specialisation in luxury wellness experiences, Soul Sanctuaries has created a programme called Give a Little Soul a Sanctuary. Through this programme, a portion of the client’s payment is channeled directly to a charity partner in the holiday destination.
Fees will not be inflated to serve this purpose, and clients will pay the same rate another operator or the property will charge, according to Joanne McFarlane, one of the two brains behind Soul Sanctuaries.
Selected charities are personally screened by the owners. The company is presently working with Angels for Orphans in Hong Kong and Bali Kids in Indonesia.
WHY McFarlane described Give a Little Soul a Sanctuary as being “central to our business plan and core to our mission”.
“We want to create a company that empowers people to give back to credible charities. Although we are giving away a part of (our earnings), we are empowering clients who book with us (to do good),” she said, adding that five and 10 per cent of payment for tours and Soul Retreats programmes respectively are donated.
“The more we grow the business, the more we can give away,” she said.
To ensure transparency in the programme, Soul Sanctuaries will publish a half-yearly report on its website to provide updates on how the money is being used.
