He predicted an increase in “a wellness everywhere hotel concept”, which “packs health related benefits into shorter stays” and will “seep into a variety of hotel aspects including activities, food, nutrition, music, scents, programmes, and how the guest spends their time”.
Dr Shylaja Pillai, an ayurvedic doctor, can be expected to offer a different perspective during the session, supporting a more rounded traditional approach. “For sure I am with traditional, natural and organic spas.
These spas not only cure, but keep us healthy by preventing ailments. Consider how to approach a specific problem — for example a lifestyle disorder — and whether to treat it for temporary relief, or address the issue from the root cause, allowing the body to cure itself naturally.
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“I would like to hold on to the ayurveda concept of health. Perfect health is defined as the balance between, body, mind, spirit and social wellbeing, not the mere state of being free from illness,” she asserts.
Sarum Trading managing director Susan Gorman, who is sponsoring the Summit, said she had witnessed a growth in this arena. “In terms of specific treatment trends, we are seeing an upsurge in hammam and ayurvedic treatments and a drive towards organic and harmless products as consumers become ever more educated.”
In line with this, Sarum Trading has recently launched two new exciting skincare brands to the UAE, Ayurvedic brand Sundari, as well as a 100% chemical-free skincare brand, Elemental Herbology.
However, Pillai agrees with Hawco that spas must be further integrated into a hotel’s offering.
“Even the stay with the hotel can be converted to ‘live the spa life’,” she suggests. “Spas are here to stay. They are not a passing fad. If you want your spa to be an asset, rather than being some area in the corner of the hotel, you need to understand what the market wants then deliver it.
“You need to know what your competition is doing and then do something different and better than them, which makes your business unique. When properly planned, marketed and managed, the spa should be a viable, marketable and profitable business in and of itself, as well as an integral component of your ‘core’ business,” Pillau suggests.
Indeed, the success of Four Seasons’ spa business globally bodes well for the future, adds Casson.
“In any business sector, being the best at what you do in your market is the sure fire way to drive revenues. We turn over more than US $120 million in spa revenues worldwide and so it is a significant part of our business and is only growing.
Areas of focus to drive profitability include retail sales and marketing the low demand periods more effectively,” he says.
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Feb 8, 2014 , USA
For several tears I have trained therapists on the differences of working on diverse skin types. A Euro based training is too limiting in today's market. Any hotel/spa company that does not invest in multicultural skin care training is truly missing the boat because of the proliferation of emergi...