INVESTIGATION COMING SOON
What shape is the industry in following the recession? Where in the world is investment in new projects increasing and where is it still slow? We collate and analyse development pipeline plans of leading hotel spa chains to find out
KATIE BARNES » MANAGING EDITOR » SPA BUSINESS T
here’s no denying that it’s been a tough few years for the spa industry. Existing operators battened down the hatches in an attempt to weather the eco-
nomic storm, while new developments were put on hold the world over. Yet figures we’ve gathered from some of the sector’s top hotel spa chains (see p42) show that investment is no longer at a standstill – far from it. “Our spa development slowed, but the pace
has picked up recently,” says Anne McCall Wilson, vice-president of spas for Fairmont Raffles Hotels International. Jeremy McCa- rthy, director of spa operators at Starwood Hotels & Resorts agrees: “Our developments continue to grow globally at a substantial pace.” As does Christopher Norton, head of the spa task force at Four Seasons: “We have many hotels around the world opening in the next five years and we do not launch with- out a spa. Spa demand continues to be strong and in my opinion never really stopped.” Over the coming years, we can expect to
see at least 200 new spas. And that’s just at the top-end of the scale and doesn’t scratch the surface of smaller footprint, low-cost facilities. So, where in the world are the new openings planned and why? And where and why is spa development still slow?
AFRICA With only 7 per cent of future openings planned in Africa (see pie chart on p42), which equates to 15 sites, this region is one of the least popular – second from bottom – for spa development overall in our investigation. Yet alongside the Asia-Pacific, it is the top choice development destination of Accor. While staffing, training and sourcing/pro-
curement issues were cited as deterrents to entering the African market, the recent trou- ble in Egypt and Libya is not considered a barrier by some. Norton says: “We see the
political unrest in Africa and the Middle East as temporary and have no doubt that these will remain two of the most excit- ing and lucrative markets for us.” McCall Wilson adds: “It’s going to take a while for Egypt to regain consumer confidence. However, I think property development will come back fairly quickly.” Of those African countries where spa
development is planned there are two clear winners – Morocco, with most activity focused in Marrakech; and Egypt, where Cairo is the most popular city for new spas. Aldina Duatre Ramos, resort and spa brand manager at Accor says: “Morocco is a key leisure destina- tion for Sofitel. King Mohammed VI’s Vision 2010 and 2020 strategies have earmarked substantial investment in tourism for the city, especially spa [see sb10/2 p64]. Also, more flights are going to the country from Europe, including from France, Germany and the UK, which is where our core clientele comes from.”
ASIA-PACIFIC Unsurprisingly , Asia-Pacific is the outright leader in future spa developments – 123 new spas are planned there, which accounts for 54 per cent of the global pipeline of our sample. Tis is despite many difficulties the region presents from language and cultural barriers to finding, training and keeping therapists. Andrew Gibson, group director of spas
for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (MOHG), says: “Development in Asia slowed in the economic downturn, but bounced back to normal quite quickly. Some of the emerg- ing markets such as China and Vietnam are doing very well; whereas the more mature markets such as Tailand and Singapore are slower – but development has not stopped.” China is the country where the most spa development is happening. At least half of
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Asia-Pacific is the outright leader in future spa developments – 123 new spas are planned there, which accounts for 54 per cent of the global pipeline of our sample
the Asia-Pacific openings for each opera- tor are in China and for others the number is significantly more – seven out of the eight new properties for Four Seasons, for example, are in China. Beijing and Sanya, followed by Guangzhou and Shanghai are the top cities for future spa launches. McCall Wilson says: “China is a huge
growth opportunity. It’s probably the least developed in terms of the spa industry. We have three spas there and we’re seeing a real interest from locals – not just expats, but
SPA BUSINESS 2 2011 ©Cybertrek 2011
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