Everybody loves a good spa treatment. People plan their visits to spas when they want to feel rejuvenated. The hectic life schedules give us hardly any time to look after the needs of our body and it does impose a negative impact on it. Vacations are made to treat your body right and one would definitely want to visit a spa when touring. Hotel spas are the best way to let enjoy a serene environment and make up for the ignorance we give to our bodies unintentionally. For the hotel/ resort owners, spas come as an added advantage in the services they provide to their customers. It not only upgrades the look of the hotel and the list of the services but also becomes a reason for the double in the revenues generated by a hotel or resort.
Generating Revenues
When a hotel or resort plans to add a spa in the services they provide, it might seem like an expense increasing move. Hotel spas tend to generate revenues that can easily cover up the expenses incurred in setting one up. A survey done to figure out the revenue generated by installing a spa in a hotel led to the fact that the spa revenues increased to a percentage of 5.5% and it varied depending on the type of property the spa was part of. It was also noted that spas that were operational within urban hotel properties had the privilege of a strong 7% gain in the revenue. Hotel spa business does take efforts and time to set up but once it gets done, the hotel/ resort can definitely see the rise in the revenue generated.
An Upgrade in Experiences
Though all hotels claim to provide the best services and comfort to their customers, what really changes the game is the addition of a spa in it. Not all hotels are able to afford a spa on their premises. The problems they face vary from brand to brand. Some might be facing space issues while others might be facing the problem of lack of funds. Hotels spas give a whole new meaning to the word luxury. Customers look forward to gaining such experiences and this also helps in increasing the guest appearance in a hotel or resort.
Raising the Value
When a brand decides to sell their hotel business, it not only gets the value according to the rate of the property and popularity of the brand but also because of the services it provides to its customers. Adding a spa to the hotel services definitely impacts on the value of the whole property. It raises the value of the hotel/resort and acts like an asset to the brand. Not all hotels or resorts have spa services and because of this reason, the ones which have will have a raised property value.
Expert Speak
“In terms of where the future is, everything will have to be re-imagined from the start to finish. The location is the main point to focus on because the menu is still the same as it was years ago. I think the whole concept needs to change as I am not sure how the model looks right now but we are running around with some ideas. Some of these involve merging spa services with other services in a hotel. We should focus on what the guest actually wants rather than telling them what the spa can provide. The concept of spa needs to have more of an active space like the Starbucks model which involves not being only a cafe but a third place between work and home. So, the spa of the future can certainly be like in this sense. We need to have more such models as the existing ones are flat and this hampering the growth rate. So, we need to go back and reinvent the models from the scratch in order to serve something new,” says Trent Anthony Munday, Senior Vice- President – International, Mandara Spa, Malaysia.
“I think the growth in the country will be driven more by the spa industry than the consumers because there is a lot of inherent demand in all parts of the country whether we talk about metros, semi- metros, tier 2 and 3 towns. There is a lot of demand and the growth is already high but it can be higher depending on what we decide to do as an industry. There is also some amount of government support which is now coming in which is great to have. For new concepts on wellness, there is always space as now there is so much action happening. If you are a new entrant, you should differentiate between what is already available in the market than what you are offering whether it is in the terms of the customer experience you are providing, the services, the way the products are positioned, the entire gamut of things which you do to entertain the customers,” says Anurag Kedia, Co-Founder and Director, Four Fountains De-stress spa, Nu Ayurveda and Four Fountain Labs.
Conclusion
Hotel spas have a bright future ahead. Spas are meant to provide relaxation and a stress-free experience. Having a spa in a hotel premises means opening gates to growth and high revenue rates. Hotel spas are not just spa services but are also a vital product to generate an incremental revenue stream.
