LOOKING AHEAD
The Spa Summit concluded on day two with a case study on licensing for therapists via Dubai Health Authority, presented by Beverley Spencer at Cleopatra’s and Dr. Benazir Quraishi, medical director, Unani Medicine and Cupping Practitioner and assistant spa manager at Cleopatra Spa and Wellness.
The pair have recently met new legislation from DHA for the licensing of their massage therapists, and shared their experience with the audience, who had numerous questions as to how new regulations might affect them. Spencer and Quraishi could only comment, of course, on Cleopatra’s experience and it became apparent that different regulations may apply to day spas and hotel spas for example.
As of now, the licensing regulations are relatively new and yet to be enforced at hotels, although it is expected that all massage therapists will have to be licensed going forward. Spas with repeated licensing violations may face fines or even closure.
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Anxiety regarding therapist licensing was common across the audience, with many delegates concerned about how to provide the right paperwork.
One issue seems to be that therapists either must already have appropriate certifications or at least two years experience working in Dubai before then taking the necessary certifications.
According to the regulations adhered to by Cleopatra’s, therapists must have 500 hours’ work experience, but this may be difficult to achieve across the industry, with delegates in a mini workshop after the session suggesting that a decrease in the requirement of hours would make licensing more realistic.
Regulation is ultimately a good thing, pointed out Jumeirah’s group director of spa Paul Hawco from the audience. As Hawco explained, while the process may be complicated, the result will be a properly regulated industry that can compete on the global spa scene.
Feedback and queries from the audience were collected at the end of the summit and will be passed on to DHA via a future meeting with a select group of spa operators already in contact with the authority regarding legislation. Hotelier Middle East will be following their progress.
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