Les Roches Spa course aims to plug talent gap

A specialisation in spa and health management launched by Les Roches International School of Hotel Management in August aims to plug the talent gap in the spa industry.

The Swiss hospitality school has collaborated with Genoliar Swiss Medical Network and ESPA to deliver the seven-semester Bachelor of Business Administration in International Hotel Management with a specialisation in Spa and Health Management.

The course is offered at Les Roches’ campus in Bluche, Switzerland.

Les Roches International School of Hotel Management head of industry relations global Clémentine Rouan commented: “Les Roches is aiming to help close the talent gap by offering the new spa and health programme, allowing graduates to complete focused training, both theoretical and practical, with curriculum that is tailored to these growing industry needs.”

In addition to training on practical spa skills, the course also allows students to understand the business operations of a spa, from financials, to marketing, sales and team management.

Rouan explains: "The industry needs graduates who not only trained in hospitality operations and have advanced business knowledge, but are also capable of understanding business strategies and targets, can complete and understand KPI analysis, and implement commercial and strategic tactics.

"Our specialisation has been designed to give students a broad combination of hospitality and integrated business hard and soft skill sets, with a strong focused expertise in spa and health management including marketing, sales, merchandising, design and project management, owner relations, HR, finance, hygiene and security, nutrition and spa trends."

To integrate the business side of spa into the curricula, the school is welcoming external trainers and facilitators and offering dedicated workshops. Additionally, the students are being taught at the Espa Academy and Genolier Swiss clinics.

The Spa Management Workforce & Education Research Report, presented in 2012, identified a talent shortage as the fundamental challenge of the spa industry, with 95% of spa industry leaders stating that they were facing problems in hiring spa managers or directors with the right combination of qualifications and experience.

According to the Global Wellness Tourism Economy 2013 report, during the next five years the spa sector is predicted to grow at almost double the rate of global tourism, totaling US $678.5 billion in 2017.