MINERAL SPA
Pooling ResouRces
AS ONE OF ROTORUA’S MAJOR AND LONGEST RUNNING ATTRACTIONS,
THE POLYNESIAN MINERAL DAY SPA FEATURES 25 THERMAL POOLS AND IS SOMETHING OF AN ICON ON NEW ZEALAND’S NORTH ISLAND
CHRIS McBEATH » JOURNALIST » SPA BUSINESS I
n a landscape of bubbling mud pools and geothermal waters, Rotorua, New Zealand’s only geothermal city, is one of the world’s most unusual destinations. Known as Nature’s Spa
of the South, Rotorua’s main claim to fame is its healing waters, which in the late 1800s helped transform the city into a fashiona- ble health resort. Yet, surprisingly, Rotorua has remained remarkably underdeveloped in the modern context of a spa resort, apart from the Polynesian Spa. Here, the spa expe- rience still embodies a bathing-for-health ritual that’s been part of the city’s heritage for more than 130 years.
EARLY WELLNESS TOURISM
As wealthy Europeans discovered Rotorua’s health-giving qualities, the New Zealand gov- ernment was quick to recognise the potential of spa tourism and began investing in an
infrastructure that included bathhouses, promenades, a tea-house and natural geother- mal features set amid ornamental gardens. Te Pavilion Bath was one such initiative.
Built where the Polynesian Spa currently stands, the baths were (and still are) fed by two springs, the Rachel Spring, and the Priest Spring which famously healed the arthritic condition of a Catholic priest. Trough the decades, the baths underwent several incar- nations until 1972 when, as a rundown facility, the government leased them to the family- owned Polynesian Pools Ltd and they’ve been privately run as a family business ever since.
MODERNISING A HERITAGE SPA
Martin Lobb took over the helm of Polyne- sian Spa from his parents, as chief executive officer, 25 years ago. Having worked in various industries overseas, and armed with a degree in management, he’s been
instrumental in creating a product that’s widely considered to be one of the world’s top mineral spas. In a country where the spa scene is 20 years behind that of North Amer- ica and Europe, that’s no small feat. “Our core product is the bathing experi-
ence,” Lobb says. “It caters to approximately 300,000 bathers a year, so the pools will always be our main focus.” Running a mineral spa with such a rich
heritage – part of the original building is registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust – is not without its challenges but the Lobb family has evolved the bath- ing experience into one of Rotorua’s major attractions. Part of that success is the willing- ness to make significant investment in both operational systems and infrastructure – a nz$4m (us$3m, €2.3m, £2m) redevelopment in 2007 nearly doubled the number of pools and also included refurbished therapy rooms and an upgraded café and retail area. Te Polynesian Spa currently has 25 ther-
Tere are seven adult-only pools which cost nz$21.5o per person 76 Read Spa Business online
spabusiness.com / digital
mal pools: 14 private pools, seven adult-only pools and four rock pools – landscaped with
SPA BUSINESS 1 2012 ©Cybertrek 2012
Te thermal pools welcome around 300,000 visitors a year and are the most profitable part of the attraction, which also includes a 10-treatment room spa
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