The spa at Marina Bay Sands will be the fi rst time Banyan Tree has opened a site in Singapore, where it’s headquartered
RESORT-LIKE ENVIRONMENTS
When it comes to developing spas, Banyan Tree operates resorts that it also owns; by 2013 there will be 50 such properties in the portfo- lio. Banyan Tree has three spa brands: Banyan Tree, Angsana and Elements Spa. T e fi rst two are sizeable spa facilities that are known for their holistic, high-touch, low-tech approach, although Angsana spas are more contempo- rary. T e spas are ran through traditional hotel management agreements, as well as lease contracts where a facility is operated as an independent business unit although eff orts are made to support a business partner in terms of revenue-generating initiatives. New for 2011, the 15 treatment-room-spa
and fi tness club at Marina Bay Sands, which is designed and operated by Banyan Tree through a management agreement, has an aesthetic inspired by nature and also com- prises a beauty salon, tea lounge and retail gallery. It occupies the 55th fl oor of two of the city resort’s soaring hotel towers. “Our chairman is oſt en asked why it has taken so long for the brand to land in Singapore but we simply hadn’t found the right location before,” Chandran says. “Singapore is very city centre- oriented but we needed a property with more of a resort feel to suit our brand. Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which owns Marina Bay
SPA BUSINESS 2 2011 ©Cybertrek 2011
Sands, is renowned for its casino and hospital- ity experience so we expect to have a healthy captive audience in terms of in-house guests. With the sky high positioning [of the spa] and enormity of the property, we think it will prove to be a high-profi le window.” As with other major destinations, Ban-
yan Tree has tailor-made two signature treatments to create a sense of place, one formulated with the high stresses of the bustling city in mind, and the other har- nessing the power of the orchid, Singapore’s national fl ower. In addition to targeting local spa-goers, marketing will focus on hotel and casino guests through signage, an in-room video channel, leafl ets and news-
letter. Although future competition can be expected from the planned ESPA spa (an opening date has not been confi rmed yet) based at Singapore’s other large-scale inte- grated development, Resorts World Sentosa, Chandran is unfazed thanks to the distance between the two and the size of the target audience at Marina Bay Sands. T e group’s other three key openings this
year – all based on management contracts with no equity interest – will be in China in Macau, Hangzhou and Shanghai. “China is a hot spot for the brand,” confi rms Chan- dran. “Our foray into this market [Banyan Tree entered China in 2003] is continuing at a fast pace in response to demand.”
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spabusiness.com / digital 27
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