The tab to ease stress and strain just keeps getting bigger. But the happy news is that people are willing to pay up for it. Not just for a hair cut or a pedicure, but for full body pampering. So the business of getting people to relax is growing like never before and a spa seems to be the place where all the action is.
Consider this: Country Club India is now eyeing the bliss space to add to its Rs 318 crore revenue. The Hyderabad-based chain of family clubs plans to open seven Country Spas in the next one year at an investment of Rs 100 crore. The Rs 3,000 crore Floriana group too has big plans: it is pumping in over Rs 300 crore to set up 300 Lambency Chandan Sparsh spas in India before 2010.
It seems to be a numbers game, really. Leo Juventa Spa in Hyderabad will be up and running by the end of this year. Built at an investment of Rs 30 crore, the spa, spread over a total area of 1,00,000 sqft, is not the regular kind. It is a holistic concept with an integrated medical centre and resort, and a residential package of one week can set you back by up to Rs 1-1.5 lakh.
Sarat Yenigalla, director, Leo Juventa is certain that he ?will be able to break-even in a year?s time. We are expecting the corporate clientele to come in from Hyderabad and the leisure tourists from all over the country. We have also tied up with Aryavaidyasala in Coimbatore and they will be directing their clients to us.? Now if that?s not optimism, what is?
Jesper Hougaard, MD of Serena Spa in Bangalore is busy setting up a new spa at the Hyderabad airport. ?It is generally the 35 to 55 age group that visits spas and the average amount spent per visit is roughly Rs 2,300. Having a day spa located in an area where there is a lot of people movement therefore makes a lot of sense,? says Hougaard. And the competition does seem to be hotting up. Hougaard will have to think hard while designing his spa menu. Business travellers now have the choice of walking into the Shahnaz Spalour at Novotel in Hyderabad for a ?Jetlag recovery massage?.
Most spas ? be it the regular neighbourhood spa, or an elite destination spa ? realise that mass market is the way to go and thus, right from pricing, to location, everything must be taken care of well. Things are no different for Ananda in the Himalayas, which has been judged the Best Destination Spa for the past three years by Condo Nast Traveller. ?It is the best but certainly not the most expensive,? says Ashok Khanna, MD, Ananda. ?Our prices are very reasonable and we realise the key lies in offering value for money to the customers. Our rates are inclusive of breakfast and dinner. And believe it or not, for our Indian guests our summer packages are lower than that of Wildflower Hall,? Khanna reveals. The destination spa model is indeed tricky. People tick off dates on their calendars to make time for travelling to such spots. It better be worth their money ? so the offering needs to include a well thought out programme for relaxation and rejuvenation, along with a planned food menu.
And then there are challenges. The Agua Spa at the Kenilworth Beach Resort in Goa marks an approximate 13% capture ratio on the in-house guests ? something that Chantalle Cropp, GM at Kenilworth is trying to raise. ?Our pricing is very much in line with the competition, and we work with international consultants to continuously upgrade our treatments, since 50% of our clientele is from abroad,? says Cropp.
Neha Dagar, marketing head, Ravissant Spa, Delhi completely agrees. ?You have to promise competitive service at nominal price even as you use exclusive products.? Set up with an outlay of Rs 3 crore in 2001, it has been recording a growth of 30% year-on-year. With nearly 8-10 clients a day, most of them belonging to the 30+ age group, the brand seems to be progressing slowly but surely. Quite some action there ? in an industry which is till date bereft of any official estimates. Well, even ignorance is bliss.
Suman Tarafdar
Any place you go to pamper yourself has to be perfect in every way. If that?s the dictate, it is no surprise that as the wellness sector takes off across India, spas are sparing no effort to create that extra special slice of heaven. If that means adding faux mountains or still pools of flowing water and rose petals, lit up in soft pastel shades in a villa by which the sea and sky meet ? rest assured, it is being done.
?A spa must reflect its surroundings, at a luxurious level,? says designer Theo Nicolaou, who along with brother Mario designed the spa at Barbados? Sandy Lane hotel, and at Surrey?s Wentworth golf club, and more recently, two restaurants for Taj Mahal hotel, Delhi.
The design is a factor of location, climate, local materials, space as well as the kind of treatments on offer and business sense. The overall design should be a reflection of the culture and architecture of the destination, explains Ketaki Narain, director – corporate communications, The Oberoi Group, which has some of the best known spas in India, including the ones at their luxury palace hotels in Rajasthan ? Udaivilas, Amarvilas, Rajvilas as well as the Windflower Hall in the Himalayas. She explains that the design team should ?work in cognizance of the history and architecture of the region and with an understanding of how best to replicate elements that will make the structure true to its context and at the same time provide all the modern comforts and amenities.?
?The theme is another factor in designing a spa,? says Pradeep Sachdeva, who recently designed the opulent Kaya Kalp spa at ITC?s The Mughal, Agra. ?The design here emerges from the location and history of the place.? The spa incorporates the rich Mughal tradition, with motifs from the era combining with mother of pearl in the walls and rubies on the wall to create a vision in red and white.
?We always look at the design of the attached hotel or resort to ensure that there is a natural line of design between the various sections,? says Jesper Hougaard, managing director, Serena Spa, who has designed and planned 35 spas across India. ?It is also important to design according to the treatment concept ? one cannot have an ancient Kerala design in a spa offering modern Western treatments.? It is crucial to use local materials to the greatest extent possible, stresses Sachdeva. He suggests a main massage area of a minimum of 9 feet by 13 feet plus an additional space that works as a changing room. ?Direct entry to the massage area should be avoided if possible. There may also be a need for attached steam, shower areas.?
?Light, air and openness are crucial, while the sound of flowing water ? basically all the elements of nature to help you relax completely,? says a spokesperson for Soul Spa at The Galaxy, Gurgaon.
As Hougaard points out, ?design plays a vital role in making a spa attractive ? you can offer the world?s best massages, but if the spa is unattractive, there is little chance anyone would come at all.? No wonder the effort is to touch perfection as you go into dreamland during your treatment.
