The Dubai hotel also offers full moon yoga with the backdrop of the Dubai Marina skyline in addition to a new wellness programme called ‘State of One’, which incorporates meditation with spa treatments.
“Long gone are the days when a hotel could put a treadmill and a few weights in a room and satisfy guests’ needs. Hotels now compete for the shiniest performance facilities that rival independent standalone gyms and can pull local memberships,” commented director of spa & recreation, Al Habtoor City Hotel Collection Amanda Schmiege.
The term used for it, Schmiege told us, is now known as “sportspitality”.
For example, The Westin Dubai, Al Habtoor City has a diverse range of fitness offerings, in which wellness is crucial part of its brand identity. The hotel offers the WestinWorkout Fitness Studio — a high specification wellness gym that is available to in-house and external guests’ 24-hours a day and features state-of-the-art equipment from Technogym.
“Guests can take advantage of classes tailored to them, ranging from yoga, pilates, core, crossfit and stretch as well as private training rooms for individuals or females for privacy,” said Schmiege.
In a competitive hospitality market, Schmiege added: “the gym itself is a basic necessity and requirement to a hotel guest, which ultimately helps to enhance the hotel, overall rates and guest satisfaction but leaves little open for generating revenue.”
Hotels like Fairmont the Palm are now even collaborating with third party fitness providers and apps. With these, the property extends these fitness offerings to the local community, through partnerships with GuavaPass, Classport, Facecard, ClubExec and Privilee, which allow members exclusive access with a host of guest benefits.
“Partnering with such brands ultimately generates revenue for the hotel as it’s another angle to reach our target audience. Platforms such as GuavaPass and Classport allow our classes to be made accessible to those who may not have been aware of them before. In addition to this, the idea of local residents visiting our property via third party partnerships allows for the opportunity for that person to spend money elsewhere at the resort, whether this be lunch after a fitness class, or a spa treatment to end a relaxing day by the beach which in turn generates additional revenue,” Dixon added.
According to Schmiege, partnerships with branded classes and celebrity trainers who need space and an audience are examples of how hotels can tap into lucrative opportunities to make money.
“These fitness offerings are a revenue generating opportunity for the hotel as well,” Schmiege said.
In the next few weeks, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is joining the action with the launch of #MoveThisRamadan — an initiative encompassing 15 Four Seasons locations across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Istanbul and Jakarta. Each property will host weekly wellness activities led by a resident fitness expert, open to both local communities and hotel guests. From jogging to yoga, stretching and strolls — the choice of fitness sessions has been carefully designed taking into consideration local climates and activity levels that are appropriate when fasting.
While it remains to be seen what effect the changes in hotel fitness offerings will bring to the industry as a whole, it seems certain that exercise-minded guests will never again be short on options, and that hotels would be well advised to adjust their offerings accordingly.
| Advertisement |