“I’m going to bring in retail and sales experts to help us develop a training programme. My aim is to get 30 to 35 per cent of spa revenue coming from retail globally. I think that really would be a huge achievement”


Abbajay has more than 30 years’ experience in the salon and spa industry but started her career as a professional dancer, supporting her income as a beauty therapist


For the first six months,


Abbajay kept a low profi le while taking stock of the situation. “I went on a two-week global tour [of the spas] in six countries and visited 29 properties,” she says.


“I needed to enlighten myself on some of the weaknesses of spas at Marriott as well as the strengths and to also look at what the opportunities and chal- lenges were. T is trip gave me a great global perspective and some insight into what direction I should take.”


CONCEPTING AND CREATING T e short-term plan, says Abba- jay, is to “work with the low hanging fruit” by working with existing spas to tighten up operations and developing a thread of con- sistency across the board in terms of the pre- and post-visit stages and the entire guest journey. “We want to have touch point standards that every single brand displays,” she says. “T at is not happening right now, everyone is just doing their own thing.” In the longer-term, her focus will be on


new spa openings. “Marriott has a very strong pipeline, with about 90 spas in the next three years,” she says. “However, I do not want the Marriott [spa] portfolio to fall


SPA BUSINESS 1 2011 ©Cybertrek 2011


into a sea of sameness and this is where the concepting comes in. “JW Marriott guests, for example, are very


cultured people who like to have meaningful experiences but prefer to be guided in deci- sions, whereas Renaissance guests are more adventurous and want to discover the cul- ture for themselves. T is will all be refl ected in the spas, from the architecture – we have concept architects who are already on board


– to the facilities and treatments, and this will all diff er at a local level.” T e majority of spa concept work is still in


the planning stages, with a committee of indi- viduals to help Abbajay transform her visions


into reality. “I’m a dreamer and the choreog- rapher in me comes out in work like this, but I’m working with Marriott’s brand leaders, the marketing team and operators – so really there’s a whole concept team involved.” However, there is already one spa that


is fi nished and has just come to market. In February, the Saray spa concept launched at the Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel & Suites. In Persian, the word saray means caravan, explains Abbajay, and traditionally those travelling by the Nile on camels would take rest under tented sarays, so the concept is based on the philosophy of providing “a rest- ful place for weary travellers”.


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