Travellers want an authentic experience with a touch of luxury: Imperial Spa Director

Spread in an area of 16,000 sq ft, The Imperial Spa was launched in December 2010. Though, the spa is open for In-House Guests only, the property also owns The Imperial Salon, which is open for all.
   In a bid to understand the various marketing and promotional strategies being adopted by The Imperial Spa to earn high profit from the in-house guests and beat the existing competitors in the market, Wellness India spoke to Hayley Louise Dack, Director, The Imperial Spa and Salon, The Imperial New Delhi.

How is the scope of spa business in New Delhi? Do you think it’s a potent market for wellness business?
The spa business here is very competitive and ecliptic. There are all types of therapies available here.
Yes, New Delhi has the potential for some great Wellness Retreats and under the Umbrella of Luxury Wellness, ‘travelers want an Authentic Experience, designed with a touch ofluxury’  that they can personalise, i.e. as per Australia, Bali and Thailand, they can take the Indigenous local therapies,while  having a luxurious experience and personalise it according to their needs.

How competitive is this market as per your experience and observation? What kind of strategy will you be following to maintain leadership position in the market?
The wellness business is highly competitive as the industry is growing at a fast pace and I believe each spa is working towards providing a distinct spa experience with its signature services, unique branding and the USP it stands for.
    There are many revenue streams, result driven creative strategies and key pillars that we follow at The Imperial for sustaining our leadership position. Employee empowerment, training and engagement of key front line associates in wellness operations are also important factors for a successful business.
The strategic mix of people, product and profit leads to a premium business positioning for us and makes the Imperial Spa the ‘Best City Spa’ and the award winning wellness retreat, located in the heart of the National Capital.

Share the number of therapy rooms and sections like hair spa, foot reflexology and dry massage stations (if any) the spa contain?
The Imperial spa has 10 therapy rooms, out of which; two are Couples Suites, one is the VIP Private Spa Moghul Suite and one each Male and Female Ayurvedic Kerala Suite along with our onsite, highly trained Ayurvedic Dr Sheema. The therapists are from and trained in Kerala with indigenous therapies. While, the in-house salon has two beauty aesthetic rooms, ladies hair salon and a separate male barber grooming salon. We also have 6 foot reflexology stations, a nail bar, 8 Hair Station; 4 each for male and female. In the salon, guests can also take massages and facials, while taking other grooming services to complete the desired experience.

Share your strategy to woo local tourists and promote your spa at as tourist spa? Please mention some of the marketing campaigns that you are going to initiate for the same.
What sets The Imperial Spa, Salon, Pool and Wellness apart is the - personal connect and highly trained staff with International certification. Our standards of hygiene and luxurious products bring positive feedback and testimonials from the clients which includes the surprise they get after taking our services and seeing the Spa, Salon and Wellness areas, even few shared that they didn’t known about the highlevel of Spa the property contain which is equipped with luxury equipment.
Creative Packages designed with result driven products that have an edge and are sourced from local and domestic markets often provide discerning Guests with choice of treatments.
Bringing together, all our key pillars and the extensive International Qualifications of the team, we are  dedicated in helping the guests with their goals, whether it is related with the Personal Training, Pilates, Kinesis, Personal Training, Wellness, Diet and Nutrition.

What kind of initial investment you’ve made in setting up the business operation of your spa? What is your expectation on ROI?
The initial investment of the spa was definitely at par with The Imperial Hotel standards, creating an experience, which is unique in its structure, ambience and services. To be successful, we defined profitability within the spa itself. The Imperial spa since its inception has been a substantial addition to the hotel revenue and has been driving business from the leisure travellers globally. Spas usually drive more business and financial performance and look for an 8-12 per cent ROI. Also, a spa needs to be financially accountable tothe hotel with no hidden or shared costs. The Imperial spa contributes to about 8 per cent ROI at the EBIDTA (excluding tax, interest, depreciation and amortization) level. Also, benchmarking the statistics is vital to track trends and data and help us to focus more in enhancing guests’ expectations,time and again.

What will be the initial fee for your spa? How different wouldbe your pricing strategy to gain competitive edge over others?
Signature Massages are available for 60 minutes duration and are priced at Rs5, 250 including taxes. There are manymodalities of therapies and timings like the Reflexology therapies are for 30 minutes at Rs3,000 inclusive of taxes, hair rituals are starting from Rs1,500 for 15 minutes duration while our Signature Hair Spa Ritual are priced at Rs4,000 for 90 minutes of duration.
    We constantly do Competitor Analysis in the Market place with all business models with different tiers and leagues of the trade.
  Appealing to all markets, we have offerings to suit all budgets, from Express modules to Luxury Rituals, Retreats and Day Spa/ Salon. Also, our Imperial Mughal Suite Private Spa offers the Ultimate Luxury to grace special occasions.

Please elaborate on the spa's revenue model. What is yourexpectation in terms of cash flow over the same?
Providing our Guests with different revenue streams and pricing structures and timings, our revenue model enables the guest to choose from Innovative Menu Engineering an Intelligent Booking. Also we take into consideration the County of Origin of the guests i.e. the Business models for Japan may include packages and set menus, to make the bookings easier. Whereas, to please the European Guest, we offer a La Carte Spa/ Salon Menus, which includes their choice of Menu with interesting concepts and therapies. Guest also love the personal consultation and personal connect with the Director, Ayurveda Doctor, Wellness Operations Manager and Spa Manger, offered at The Imperial Spa.

What’s the roadmap in the year ahead? Shall we expect any unconventional or innovative therapy or service to be introduced soon?
New Menu Engineering, new products, Emphasis on Anti Ageing Global Therapies to be introduced soon in a bid to take the spa/salon to the next level of expertise. In terms of both - facial and body, broader offerings of new Wellness and Gym equipment, new Ayurvedic treatments that are based on an Internal cleansing and Detoxification programme to match the demands of our Guests are couple of things to be implementing in The Imperial. Retreat and Spiritual, Meditation packages that allow the guest to connect with our team here and benefit from their highly trained certification are the additional offering to  be implemented in the near future.