OPINION ANDREA JEZOVIT » JOURNALIST » SPA BUSINESS Everyone’s talking about... Te Indian spa market
Geo Spa Fitness, which worked on the spa at Leela Kempinski Delhi, says hotels are leading spa development in India
AS INDIA’S EMERGING SPA INDUSTRY FINDS ITS FEET, WE ASK SOME LEADING EXPERTS AND INDUSTRY PLAYERS TO DELIVER A SWOT ANALYSIS
ular natural beauty and world-class tourist attractions. Coupled with an ancient tradi- tion of healing practices, and you’ve got a very tempting spa destination. And now may be the time to enter the mar-
F
ket. One of the BRIC economies predicted to be most dominant by 2050, India is seeing a lot of growth and one of the most promis- ing areas for spa operators to target could be its burgeoning middle classes. While India’s middle class currently comprises less than 30 per cent of its 1.2 billion population, its consumption is forecast to treble as a share of India’s total consumption over the next 15 years, according to a recent Deutsche Bank Research report. India is also growing rapidly as a tourist destination; 5.37 million foreign
rom the breathtaking Himalayas and the beaches of Kerala to the bustle of Mumbai, India is full of spectac-
tourists visited the country in 2008 – up 57 per cent from 1996. Tough healing is ingrained in Indian cul-
ture, the modern spa and wellness sector is still emerging and open to new brands and ideas. While hundreds of low-end beauty salons and massage facilities across the country label themselves spas, most world class spa development has taken place only over the last five to eight years, and has been mainly limited to hotels. But the market is expanding rapidly – an April 2010 report by global knowledge services firm Netscribes values India’s wellness services market at inr110bn (us$2.5bn, €1.8bn, £1.6bn), grow- ing at a rate of 33 per cent annually. Medical spas present a particularly strong
opportunity for all investors. A report by market research firm RNCOS predicts that India’s share in the global medical tourism
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industry will climb to 2.4 per cent by the end of 2012, and medical tourism is expected to generate us$2.4bn (€1.7bn, £1.5bn) for the country by then, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 27 per cent between 2009 and 2012. Medical tourist numbers are expected to grow at 19 per cent annu- ally, reaching a total of 1.1 million by 2012. Challenges to entering India include poor
infrastructure, bureaucratic red tape and a shortage of international-standard therapists. But infrastructure is slowly improving, and government-accredited training institutes are in the pipeline as well as new initiatives to ease development. Notably, a government panel recently recommended that India open its equity markets to foreign retail investors. So what does the future hold? We ask some
leading experts about India’s strengths, weak- nesses, opportunities and threats.
SPA BUSINESS 4 2010 ©Cybertrek 2010
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