OPINION
KATIE BARNES » MANAGING EDITOR » SPA BUSINESS
CRISIS CONTROL ASK AN EXPERT... Businesses in Tailand are only just starting to recover from last year’s floods which caused thb1.4bn worth of damage
Protests in Egypt in December are a sign that there’s still political unrest in the Middle East. It is by no means the only country in the region that’s fighting for democracy in the move- ment that’s become known as the Arab Spring. Troubles first started in Tuni- sia in early 2011 and spread to Bahrain, Syria – where unrest came to a head again at the end of 2011 – Yemen, Iran and, most notably, Libya. Yet as Egypt is one of the most popular
Middle East tourist destinations, how is this unsettlement impacting on the hospitality industry? Have spas seen a dramatic down- turn in custom and – if so – how are they counteracting this? Or, is it still business as usual despite what outsiders are seeing?
WHAT ARE THE KEY THINGS
TO CONSIDER WHEN FACING AND HANDLING A CRISIS? WE INVESTIGATE
How spas communicate their message to
the outside world – that it’s still safe to visit or that circumstances may not be as bad as reported – is crucial when a crisis strikes. Hoshinoya Karuizawa, a wellness resort in Japan which lost its international audience aſter the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and radiation leaks, can testify to this. But it’s not just about handling the media – how you deal with staff is important too.
72 Read Spa Business online
spabusiness.com / digital
Making sure therapists are looked aſter and boosting staff morale will reflect on a company as a whole as well as the service on offer, says Samir Patel, man- aging director of Six Senses Spas, who’s businesses are being directly affected by the Arab Spring. It may be impossible, and unneces-
sary, to plan for every eventuality in a crisis, but what procedures can be put in place to minimise the damage to the facility, the staff and reputation? Forward thinking will ensure operators have the tools to cope better under pressure. We ask operators who have been hit by a
crisis about what happened, how they han- dled the situation and if it’s really possible to turn a negative into a positive?
SPA BUSINESS 1 2012 ©Cybertrek 2012
SAM DCRUZ /
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
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