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Leisure Management -
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Do you have a strong opinion, or disagree with somebody else’s point of view on topics related to the spa industry? If so, Spa Business would love to hear from you. Email your letters, thoughts and suggestions to theteam@spabusiness.com
Katie Barnes, Spa Business
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Offering advice on nutrition is a business opportunity for spas
Claudia Aguirre, scientific communications manager, The International Dermal Institute and Dermalogica
Introducing nutritional education into the spa setting is a great add-on to existing skin treatments. Take acne-prone clients: they may be aggravating their skin problems with their dietary choices. By exploring this area, and perhaps eliminating certain triggers such as sugar, high-glycemic foods, and maybe even dairy, you can empower them so they make lifestyle choices that complement their skin treatments. While this may seem obvious, most spas and treatment centres don’t employ a certified nutritionist or registered dietician – especially when it comes to skincare.
Many scientific studies support the role nutrition plays in maintaining healthy skin. For example, a diet rich in vitamin C and linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid, combined with lower intakes of fats and carbohydrates has been associated with better skin-ageing appearance in American women. And a diet rich in green and yellow vegetables has been linked with decreased facial wrinkling in Japanese women. Healthy fats, like those found in Mediterranean-style diets, have also been found to help maintain skin hydration and reduce fluid loss. You can battle skin dryness by eating plenty of wild-caught salmon, flaxseeds, walnuts and evening primrose oil and borage oil supplements. Since UV light exposure depletes antioxidant levels in the skin, including vitamin C and vitamin E, increasing antioxidant defences topically and through the diet are important methods to limit photodamage. You can boost your skin’s natural defences against harmful UV damage by eating plenty of bell peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, wheatgerm and avocados.
Although an added expense to the spa, the overall benefits of employing a nutrition professional could deliver even better results and keep customers coming back.
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| Ariwasabi/shutterstock.com |
The International Dermal Institute is lobbying for spas to offer nutritional coaching to guests |
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Global spa industry could get a professional register for standards
Rob Young, managing director, Habia
As your article Standard Issue identified (see SB13/1 p74), collaboration between training providers and the wider industry is key to implementing standards in the spa sector, particularly in ensuring they have visibility with employers.
Training programmes have become too distant from employers, and Habia – the UK government-approved standards setting body for hair, beauty, spa and nails – is seeking to work more closely with businesses to resolve this.
However, Habia can only do this where there are standards to offer, and currently there are no standards specifically concerned with management in the spa industry (international standard Level 4). Indeed, there are no management standards for beauty therapy, hairdressing or nail services either. There are some excellent university spa management courses, including a degree at the University of Derby, UK, but many are generic, with little emphasis on the spa element.
While the UK government will fund standards development at Levels 1, 2 and 3 across the spa, beauty and hairdressing sectors, it will not fund it at Level 4 unless clear demand can be demonstrated.
We’re currently undertaking the development of Professional Registers for spa, nails and beauty which we’ll launch in October . We’re engaging with the industry on the exact form the registers will take in terms of criteria and recognition of individuals, so there’s scope for them to take management qualifications and experience into account. While only planned for the UK at the moment, if there’s interest in using the model as the basis for an international register, that’s something we’d consider.
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Mexico has much to offer spa developers
Diana Mestre, owner, Mestre & Mestre
Tourism in Mexico has been affected by bad press with the most recent concerns relating to organised crime-related violence. Most people are unaware that the conflict areas are in the northern states and that traditional resort destinations like the Riviera Maya, Riviera Nayarit, Cabo San Lucas and colonial San Miguel de Allende remain extremely safe. What’s more, the country has much to offer spa developers. It’s already attracted investment from important brands such as Rosewood, Starwood, Banyan Tree and Fairmont, giving it an edge over other emerging destinations such as Central and South America.
As a spa consultant based in Mexico, I can attest to its many attributes. It has exquisite scenery from crisp blue waters, coral reefs, caves and pristine beach to volcanoes, jungles and flourishing cities. It’s also rich in natural therapeutic resources such as mineral waters, volcanic mud and native healing herbs that form the basis for a many indigenous treatments and therapies.
As well as its close proximity to the US, Mexico has 58 international and 28 domestic airports, is the ninth largest economy in the world and the seventh most important commercial trader.
Operationally speaking it makes sense too. The country has a young, skilled English-speaking workforce and labour costs are around 25 per cent less than developed countries, which means profit margins are around 30 per cent higher. Construction costs of spas are about a third of those in the US and there’s a huge demand for facilities as they’re considered an essential part of any upscale hotel development.
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Mexico has already attracted international operators such as Fairmont |
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| Originally published in Spa Business 2013 issue 2
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