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MINERAL SPA


Hotel occupancy is at 60 per cent and since 2010, spa revenue has increased by 100 per cent as more Chinese people become educated about the benefits of wellness


Each part of the springs is designed


around a different culture – Europe, Asia, Oceania, America and Africa – with associated therapeutic herbs, spices and colours used in the pools. In Asia, the spice-infused springs are surrounded by rockwork that’s themed to look like Cambodia’s Angkor Watt, while in Africa, The Great Sphinx of Giza creates an impressive entrance to a Turkish ham- mam. There are fun things for children too, such as a mineral play pool and wave machine in the European Roman bath house. Liong explains that doing things as a family is extremely important to Chinese people and many come after work to bathe as the springs are open from 1pm to 1am.


FROM THE HEART The springs attract up to 20,000 visitors during the Chinese New Year holidays and running a busy facility has its challenges, not least because most Chinese people – who make up 80 per cent of business – aren’t familiar with public bathing and consider it normal to eat and let children urinate in the pools. “We’ve created theme park-inspired signage


New developments


In 2015, three new leisure develop- ments covering 435 acres (176 hectares) will open next to Mission Hills Haikou. A low carbon footprint town is being built in collaboration with Marriott next to the existing site, while there will also be a leisure, shopping dining and cultural destination in partnership with entertainment brand Lan Kwai Fong. Five minutes down the road, Mission


Hills is creating a movie town with two of the biggest names in the Chinese film industry – director Feng Xiaogang and the Huayi Brothers Media Group. The project is set to include the world’s largest movie studios alongside cinema, dining and 24-hour shopping attractions.


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Chinese people, who make up 80 per cent of business, are very family orientated


throughout to educate people on how to use the pools,” explains Liong. “We also have 120 service attendants at the springs to make sure they’re used properly and cleaned regularly.” Liong, who oversees the 300 staff at the spa and springs facility, says the chairman and his board expect nothing less than exceptional standards. “We’re very much a Chinese company, but we operate as an international brand with international standards.” Currently, hotel occupancy is at 60


per cent and since 2010, revenue at the spa has increased by 100 per cent. Liong believes this is because people from China are becoming more educated about the benefits of wellness, as are people from


Korea, Singapore and Australia who make up the majority of international visitors. Another USP is that as Mission Hills


Group is a family run business, decisions get made quickly and come from the heart. And it’s perfected the art of running a big operation as though it’s a boutique hotel. Liong recalls the day last year when they found out retired Chinese basketball player Yao Ming was coming to play a celebrity golf match. To accommodate his 7-foot, 6-inch frame, they modified a golf buggy, had longer clubs made and even installed a brand new lift tall enough to take him to his room with a custom-made extra long bed. For her part, Liong is humble about her


own achievements. However, her vision and passion shine through in everything she does, testament to the fact she’s been in charge of the group’s wellness for all three facilities since the start. She also manages to combine a serious


Three more elements will open next year There will be six hotels across the


developments including a Ritz-Carlton, a Renaissance and China’s first Hard Rock Hotel. Liong says that although the Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance hotels will have small 1,000sq m spas, the increase in guests will feed into the Mission Hills spa and springs and will help it to grow its customer base.


approach to offering a world-class well- ness experience with a sense of family and fun at its heart. “The resort is designed to be enjoyed by the whole family,” she explains. “It doesn’t feel like a golf resort with things to do for the wife and family as an adjunct. We always say our competitor isn’t another golf and spa resort, it’s Disneyland and that’s what we are trying to create; a place where the whole family can embrace fun and wellness together.” l


Jennifer Harbottle is a leisure industry writer based in Asia Email: jennifer@ harkcommuniciations.com.au Tel: +86 1888 9846196


Read Spa Business online spabusiness.com / digital Spa Business 3 2014 ©Cybertrek 2014


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