John Spence (businessman)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

John Spence (born 23 February 1961) is a British-born businessman who founded the Karma Group, a global luxury hotel and resort company. He is the founder and chairman, and the group remains privately owned.

Early life and start in business
Spence was born in England into a family connected with aviation and tourism. He started at York University but left to become a guitarist. After trying music, he worked as an agent and tour manager for bands such as Culture Club, the Eurythmics, and Bananarama. In 1984 he moved into the hotel industry in Tenerife, Spain, with Global Hotel Alliance.

Royal Resorts and the Karma brand
In 1993, at a travel conference in India, Spence decided to quit his job, liquidate his savings, and sell his London home. He used his funds to found Royal Resorts and opened his first resort in Goa, India. By the late 1990s Royal Resorts had about 70 sales offices worldwide; the first resort, Karma Royal Benaulim, opened in 1996. In 2005 the company was rebranded as Karma Group, an international boutique luxury brand. Spence moved to Perth, Australia, and the company expanded further.

Awards, fellowships, and design focus
Spence served on the West Australian Tourism Board from 2006 to 2010. He won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2010 and 2011. He has been honored by academia for his work in design and architecture: the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Architecture Fellow at Yale University in 2013 and again in 2019 (the first person to receive the honor twice), and a fellowship at UCLA in 2015. In 2021 he co-authored Next Generation Tourism with Henry Squire and Patrick Bellew at Yale, focusing on sustainable design and island tourism models.

The Karma Group today
Karma Group now has about 40 properties in 12 countries, offering a “Five Star Hippy” concept that blends luxury with wellness and entertainment. The brand also includes Karma Wines and Karma Spirits. The company is 100% privately owned and has no debt.

Projects, partnerships, and philanthropy
Karma Group has collaborated with architects and designers to upgrade existing properties and create new ones, such as Karma Sanctum Bali and the Karma Beach Club at Karma Kandara, working with P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S Architects. Spence leads Karma Cares, the group’s charitable program, supporting education and health initiatives in communities where the company operates. Notable efforts include donations to Christel House in India, fundraising events in St. Tropez, Bali relief work, support for Ukrainian refugees in France, and contributions to vaccination campaigns in Bali. The group has also supported charity races and other causes, like the Road to Rome event for the Motor Neurone Disease Foundation.

Overall, John Spence is known for building Karma Group into a globally recognized luxury hospitality brand, combining high-end experiences with sustainable design and social responsibility.