Gaming and Leisure Magazine, Spring 2009, Thai Spa Assn

PRESORTED STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Fargo, ND Permit No. 684

SPA Bill Healey THAI SPA MARKET UPDATE Having traveled my way understanding of the nuances of an Asian culture around the Thai Spa industry, and how this can be incorporated successfully into and meeting with a number a profitable business model. of Spa Directors and I have been involved with the Thai Spa industry Managers, it’s natural that the since 1995 my career in the spa industry has grown contacts would lead me to and evolved along with the Thai Spa industry – Andrew Jacka, President of from being an employee, through to management the Thai Spa Association and now as a consultant. Our team has extensive (TSPA). Through his many experience across all aspects of spa, from consultan- years in the industry with Horwath Spa cy to operational experience, in Day, Hotel, Resort, Consulting and as the current President of TSPA, Cruise ship, Medical and Destination Spas. As of Andrew is unparalleled in his insight into the state today, we have no experience with hot spring spas, of the Thai Spa market. but we hope to work on at some stage in the future. G&L: What is your role as President of the Thai Spa Association? G&L: In recent months there have been events that have significantly impacted tourism in AJ: Officially it is to “be responsible for the profes- Thailand? We were both caught by the Bangkok sional representation of the TSPA and all its activ- airport closure in early December 2008... You were ities, whether locally or internationally, with gov- trying to fly in and I was trying to fly out. ernment, private industry or general public.” Additionally, the global financial crisis has had a Operationally this means attending a broad range significant impact. How hard has the Thai Spa of government and industry meetings and events industry been affected. locally, attending regional industry events where possible, being regularly invited to speak on the Andrew Jacka AJ: Spa industry information is notoriously difficult Thai Spa industry, both locally and internationally to a range of audiences from general public to President of to source as we as an industry are always asking for figures, very few spa businesses are prepared to pro- Chemists, Architects, University Students, Spa the Thai Spa vide the necessary data in order to garner meaningful Managers, Spa Operators, Government leaders and industry colleagues. Association and statistics. Having said this, based on the limited sta- tistical information available combined with tourism Director of Horwath arrival figures, Tourism Council of Thailand projec- G&L: You’re also a Director with Horwath Spa tions and industry insider information, it is reason- Consulting in Bangkok. What are some of your Spa Consulting ably assumed that the spas in Thailand will experi- activities there? ence an estimated USD32,000,000 in lost revenue December 08 –June 09. AJ: Horwath Spa Consulting is an independent In 2008 we opened spas in Phnom Phen, consulting firm, based in Bangkok but with Cambodia and Rome, Italy, and we will be shortly G&L: What other business challenges do Thai clients around the world, including Australia, concluding training for a spa in Hanoi, Vietnam. Spas face? Asia, South East Asia, The Middle East and Europe. Our primary job is to work with clients G&L: As your efforts with Horwath go beyond AJ: Thai Spa operators continue to rely heavily on from concept to operational opening, working Thai borders, you likely bring valuable experiences the tourist as their primary source of business. with clients, architects, interior designers etc. to and insights to the Thai Spa market? With the decline in tourist numbers and those that get the spas opened and operational. We can also are still traveling being more selective about where assist with post opening management if required. AJ: Due to our extensive industry network, both they spend their money, they will need to be more This means that we do everything from budget locally and internationally, and our involvement in creative with their marketing and review their tar- forecasts to product sourcing and staff training; in several key industry associations, we at HSC feel get markets in order to continue to be successful. fact everything that is needed to get a spa set up so that we have a broad range of knowledge of not A shift in focus from the luxury pampering spa that it can maximize its profit potential to the only the Thai spa market, but insights into many that caters to the tourists, to more affordable mid business owners. others also. Being based in Thailand gives us an range spas that cater to a more price sensitive/value 68 SPRING/SUMMER 2009

THAI SPA MARKET UPDATE conscious, but larger and potentially more loyal margins are reasonably likely to be tighter (at least local customer is a distinct challenge to undertake. in the near future) and the need for a closer moni- The international drain on the available pool of toring of the financial health of our spas is seen by skilled staff has slowed considerably so this is cur- a greater number of spa operators. However until rently not such a major issue, but as the world there are cost effective technology solutions avail- economy improves this will again become an issue, tomize spa packages for the European Market. able to the smaller day spas, the realm of technolo- as it has been predicted that spa therapists and Thailand has seen a number of local and interna- gy will probably remain the domain of hotel/resort those in similar jobs will rate in the top 10 of jobs tional spa and spa related events already this year and medical spas. through 2015, and only drop to 13th in the world including the Asia Spa & Wellness Coalition Spa Having said all of the above, we could join in job market by 2030. Unless we as an industry con- Forum 2009 held last month in Bangkok and the with the rest of the world’s media and listen to all tinue to focus on the long term education of our 2nd Worldwide Holistic Healing Seminar 2009 in the doom and gloom that we are faced with. workers we will miss out on huge business oppor- Chiang Mai. With the upcoming Asia Spa & However we choose to look at this more as an tunities in the future. Wellness Summit to be held in conjunction with opportunity to be creative - not only with the way the Asia Spa & Wellness Festival in Bangkok at the that we market our businesses, but also in the cus- G&L: How does the Thai Spa Association assist end of the March, and then the new look Thailand tomers that we target. As spas move from luxury spas in meeting these challenges? Health & Beauty Show 2009 in June the Thai Spa pampering to mainstream health essentials, we can industry will continue to have major showcasing continue to grow as an industry despite the obvi- AJ: The Thai Spa Association continues to explore opportunities, to continue to consolidate, attract ous challenges that we face; but only if we are cre- all sorts of business and marketing opportunities and/or build new markets for the future. ative and look at what we are and what we offer for our members. We are about to release the Thai through a fresh objective set of eyes rather than in Spa in Mind 2009 Spa Directory, we have negoti- G&L: How prevalent is the use of technology in the traditional blinkered manner that we have ated discounted international advertising rates of Thai Spa Management? How does that compare to done for so long. We may have started growing in up to 87% for our members, and have launched the your experiences in other parts of the world? a world where spas were catering to our luxury Happy Spaing 2009 campaign which offers a 50% ‘wants’, but they now more than ever cater to our off the entire spa menu (except packages) at partic- AJ: Technology is not a major part of the Thai Spa health ‘needs’. ipating spas across the kingdom. We are working industry, which has long focused on being a high closely with the government to potentially secure touch, rather than a high tech industry. It is for We thank Andrew for his generous contribution short and medium term business assistance. The this reason that organizations such as the Tourism to this profile. For those who wish to contact involvement of TSPA in the Asia Invest Technology Association have been formed, and of him, Andrew can be reached at: andrew@hor- Programme with the Spa Association of the which the Thai Spa Association is a founding wathspa.com Philippines, Association of Malaysian Spas and the member, to try and encourage the use and aware- Bali Spa & Wellness Association, has also been ben- ness of the potential of IT into the tourism indus- Based in Bali, Bill has been consulting, eficial to spas in Thailand. Besides the obvious try as a whole. As an industry, we are slowly start- installing and supporting solutions in the global benefits from the skill transference of what will by ing to realize the importance of increasing the ele- golf and leisure industry since 1982. He has been the end of 2009 training for 1,000 spa therapists in ment of technology to better manage our business- involved with over 1000 systems installations in each country, there is the business matching oppor- es, and this reasonably is expected to continue to be 40+ countries from North America to Africa to tunities of Spas with Travel Agents to build or cus- the case as we move forward, especially as profit Asia & Australia. Subscribe free at www.gamingandleisuremagazine.com and you could win $500! See website for details. 69

Gaming and Leisure Magazine, Spring 2009, Thai Spa Assn

by William Healey on May 24, 2009

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Gaming and Leisure Magazine, Spring 2009, Thai Spa Assn — Presentation Transcript

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