On Location: Rituals unveils travel retail’s first Mind Oasis at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

NETHERLANDS. Luxury wellbeing and beauty house Rituals has marked a milestone with the opening of the first-ever Mind Oasis in a travel retail environment at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. It is located in Rituals’ newly inaugurated standalone flagship boutique in Lounge 1.

The Moodie Davitt Report was on location for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony of the flagship and Mind Oasis yesterday (9 April).

The store reflects Rituals’ holistic approach to personal care, combining immersive Mind Oasis experiences with an extensive product portfolio.

At the 40sq m Mind Oasis, travellers can enjoy 20, 30, 40 or 50-minute treatments and choose from either a Brain or Hydro massage.

For the brain massage, travellers are invited into a high-tech recharge cocoon. Inside, they are seated in a Zero-G chair, where they experience a powerful sensory treatment combining breathwork, 4D sound and haptic vibration.

This multisensory approach uses brainwave entrainment to bring users into a ‘Theta state’, a deep meditative state often linked with enhanced creativity and relaxation. The treatment offers a mental recharge, likened to the restorative effects of deep sleep.

The Hydro massage treatment offers deep muscle relaxation through targeted hydrotherapy, allowing travellers to soothe physical tension and support overall wellbeing before or after their journeys.

“We are incredibly proud,” commented Rituals CEO Raymond Cloosterman. “This is a very important moment for us. As a wellbeing brand in the luxury beauty industry, we’re always striving to innovate. A few years ago, we realised that wellbeing isn’t just about products – it can also be about services. That was when we began developing wellness experiences, starting with the Mind Oasis at our flagship store the House of Rituals.

“The Mind Oasis felt like a natural extension of our brand, making it stronger and more meaningful. Over the past three years, we’ve tested the concept on the high street – in cities like Paris, Barcelona, Frankfurt and Amsterdam – creating entire floors dedicated to this vision. Based on those results, we’re now taking the next step: entering the travel retail space. Schiphol is the first location where we’re launching the Mind Oasis.

“We’ve brought the two best elements from the Mind Oasis concept in House of Rituals – the Hydro massage and the Brain massage – and combined them into a sanctuary for wellbeing right in the heart of this bustling airport.”

These innovative treatments mirror Rituals’ mission to help people slow down and find meaning in daily routines, offering moments of calm even in an international airport’s busy environment. Appointments can be pre-booked and walk-ins are also available.

Opened on 21 March, the 141sq m flagship boutique offers Rituals’ multi-axis portfolio of fragrance, home, bath & body, skincare and makeup products. It offers signature lines such as the Ritual of Karma, Ayurveda, Mehr, Sakura, Jing and Hammam alongside makeup, men’s grooming, home scents and the Amsterdam Collection, which celebrates the brand’s Dutch heritage.

The boutique features Rituals’ signature Selling Ceremony, including a water island and tea ritual, providing guests with a moment of calm while exploring the brand. It also includes a refill station, part of Rituals’ long-term commitment to sustainability, centred on the ‘Reduce, Recycle, Refill’ strategy.

The Rituals flagship is part of a 5,000sq m redevelopment of Lounge 1, taking the total area to well over 20,000sq m with more walking and seating space. Schiphol is adding 23 new shops and catering concepts as part of the redevelopment to enhance variety and quality for travellers in Lounge 1.

As reported, Schiphol Group recently named Lagardère Travel Retail as its partner to manage all core category duty-free retail spaces at Schiphol, following a competitive tender. The contract covers more than 20 stores and combines perfumes & cosmetics and sunglasses spaces with those dedicated to liquor, tobacco & confectionery.

Commenting on the Rituals opening, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Chief Commercial Officer Arthur Reijnhart said: “We’re extremely pleased. This is the culmination of a years-long collaboration with Rituals. We’ve seen the brand grow from just a few stores into what I would call a Dutch icon.

“This new store is part of a larger redevelopment of Lounge 1 – our biggest lounge – where 34 million Schengen passengers pass through each year. We want to significantly improve the experience for our passengers with a greatly improved range of food and drinks, renovated public areas and beautiful new modern shops. The Mind Oasis offers travellers a unique place to unwind, in the middle of a lively airport.

“This innovative concept from Rituals fits perfectly with our ambition to make Schiphol a destination where comfort and wellbeing are central. Our core mission is to reduce stress levels for travellers, especially those who may be in a rush. If we can help them feel relaxed and oriented, it frees up time to shop, unwind and experience services like the Mind Oasis.”

Commenting on the growing importance of offering wellbeing spaces in bustling airport environments, Cloosterman said: “Encouraging people to slow down in an airport environment is not easy. Travelling can be stressful, and the time people have at airports is limited and increasingly fragmented.

“However, mental wellbeing is one of the biggest emerging trends globally. In ten years, I believe concepts like ours will be commonplace. We’re proud to be at the forefront of that with our Mind Oasis.

“Airports present two key opportunities. First, there are passengers – either waiting for flights or after arrival – who can benefit from taking a moment to recharge. Second, there’s the airport itself. By offering something like this, they can enhance customer satisfaction. It creates a calm, restorative space in an otherwise hectic environment.”

He added. “We see this as the beginning of a new chapter where we expand into beauty tech. We’re already developing plug-and-play concepts that can be easily implemented in hotels and airports. We believe this approach is the future for our brand.”

Reijnhart added, “It’s incredibly important to offer wellbeing concepts such as the Mind Oasis as this aligns closely with our goals at Schiphol. With growing numbers of passengers per square metre, we need to keep offering services that help people relax and that make them want to come back.

“Many of our travellers are frequent flyers and the Mind Oasis is the sort of service that creates repeat users – everyone who’s tried it so far says they’ll use it again. It fits perfectly with what we’re aiming to provide.”