RESORT SPA
two or three hours of spa treatments each day, one or two personal training sessions, and individually tailored meals. The remaining five weeks of the pro-
gramme can either be undertaken on-site or at home: recommendations are designed to be sustainable in real life, so clients don’t simply slip back into their old ways. “We teach you to listen to your body so you make the right decisions, but redressing the body’s vitality also makes it more capable of rebal- ancing itself if you occasionally make the wrong decision,” says Alla. “At the end of those fi ve weeks, you either
come back to us to repeat the diagnostics, or we follow up by Skype or email. T e mainte- nance phase should be a lifelong thing.”
Widening the net “Some of our guests come to us specifi cally for the full Balans programme, but we real- ise that the ‘International Wellness Centre’ brand might not immediately appeal to as many people as some of the individual ele- ments of our off ering, such as the banya or the restaurant,” she continues. “We therefore view our business as having
four diff erent entry points. T e member- ship-based Balans Club is our core business locally. We have about 550 members and three diff erent membership packages (see information box, p57), all of which include the initial diagnostics, with basic recommen- dations on exercise, relaxation and nutrition. Members can then trade up to the full Balans programme if they have something specifi c they want to achieve. “On top of that, every hotel guest is auto-
matically a member of the club, with an opportunity to meet with the doctor and personal trainer for an initial consultation, as well as to enjoy all the facilities. T ey also receive a 10 per cent discount in the spa. “And, fi nally, we have the restaurant and
the bowling club, which gives us access to people who might not naturally come to us
T e full six-week programme, including a week at the spa and hotel (full board) costs €1,500 BALANS INTERNATIONAL WELLNESS CENTRE BY NUMBERS
■ Average hotel occupancy is 55 per cent ■ An average hotel stay is seven days ■ Nightly hotel range from 35 Latvia
lats or lvl (us$62, €50, £40) to lvl210 (us$373, €296, £246)
for wellness, allowing us to introduce them to the rest of our ‘healthy living’ off ering. “Every department has to be profita-
ble in its own right. However, having so many access points broadens our reach.” Currently around 40 per cent of cli-
ents come for the full six-week wellness programme, oſt en as a result of a word-of- mouth recommendation, but the objective now is to build on this, further developing the international client base to encourage more visitors from countries such as Scan- dinavia, Germany and the UK – at present almost half of all hotel guests come from Russia. “At just €1,500 (us$1,900, £1,250) for the full six-week programme, including full board at the hotel and spa treatments for a
58 Read Spa Business online
spabusiness.com / digital ■ A 90-minute amber stone massage
costs lvl38 (us$67, €53, £44) ■ Balans member packages range from lvl399 to lvl2,000 (us$710, €563, £470 to us$3,550, €2,800 to £2,350)
week, the off ering is very good value com- pared to western Europe,” says Alla. “Our vision is to create an internation-
ally recognised concept and brand here in Latvia, which we could then potentially roll out elsewhere. We’re already being asked to build Russian banyas in Moscow, St Peters- burg and Paris, and in the longer term we could consider franchising that part of the business out. “It’s been very tough launching the busi-
ness in a recession. But I just felt we were on the right track and we now hope to break even by autumn 2010. T e wellness indus- try is oſt en considered to be young, but right here in Jurmala we have centuries of heritage. And now we’re at a really exciting point.” ●
SPA BUSINESS 3 2010 ©Cybertrek 2010
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