If hotel general managers want truly successful spa operations, they need to recognize a new metric, according to a leading hotel and spa specialist.
‘To ensure a financially successful hotel spa, operators need to calculate another type of Balance Sheet,’ according to Ms Anne Biging, managing director of Healing Hotels of the World.

‘Today it is almost mandatory for a hotel to have its own spa. As elite properties continue to differentiate themselves, they are developing a new ‘balance sheet’ to help attract clients plus improve repeat business,’ she said. 

‘While massage treatments continue to dominate as spa revenue generators, hotels that maintain an edge will build on their strength: personalisation. These hotels will use a new ‘balance sheet’ where they provide services that develop more ‘balance’ for each client.

‘We need to balance treatments on the physical level, such as massage or understanding personal nutrition, with therapies for the emotional or spiritual side, such as meditation and self-awareness programs, plus hone mental fitness. This third element helps clients continue what they have gained when they get back to their daily life. More and more spa customers are seeking sustainable improvements not just skin-deep solutions,’ Ms Biging proposed.

‘An excellent example of a hotel recognising this ‘balance sheet’ is the Lanserhof Health Resort near Innsbruck in Austria. There, the individual ‘balance sheet’ is the basis of all treatment.  Lanserhof starts with state-of-the-art diagnostics then combines modern medicine with traditional European and trans-cultural medicine to ensure each person leaves armed with the knowledge and resources to continue life in the most balanced way.  They recognise education, prevention, nutrition, energy and beauty as all being important in sustaining a new lifestyle.

‘Some hotel spas might not be in a position to provide that degree of individual attention. However, we believe that hotels which recognize the importance of assisting clients to ‘balance’ and take control of their own health will outdistance the competition,’ she said.
 
Anne Biging has more than 20 years experience in international tourism destination marketing and also heads the German-based Tourism Marketing Group International. Interested hotels can contact her at [email protected]
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