Spa industry annual turnover in ME is Dhs2.5bn with UAE alone holding 42% or Dhs986m

The industry's outstanding growth in the region and its resiliency has been driven by innovations in health, wellness, fitness, beauty, design, and spa cuisine.

The 'in-transit' spa experience is the latest trend reaching a whole new level. Spas, which began as a novelty has turned into big business that uniquely targets today's captive and over stressed traveler.

Ms. Elisabeth Brehl, Managing Director of Epoc Messe Frankfurt GmbH, organizers of the Wellness & Spas Middle East exhibition noted, "The spa industry is in full expansion with a turnover of Dhs2.3bn ($631m) across the region in 2008. Research denotes that the UAE alone accounts for more than 42% of this figure, or Dhs986m ($268m). This translates to year-on-year growth of 34%."

Wellness and Spas Middle East is scheduled to take place from June 7 - 9, 2009, at the Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Adding transparency and credibility to the nascent spa industry in the Gulf is the launch of a benchmarking tool by the global company Ernst and Young. Launched in Dubai recently was the first ever re-gional monthly Spa Benchmark Report for spa operations. The report revealed that Spa treatments booked in Dubai increased by 7% from January to March 2009.

However, consumers are becoming more price-sensitive as treatment revenue increased only by 4% over the same period, the report stated. The report has also found that the share of day spa visitors were increasing as compared to visits by hotel guests.

Ernst & Young also added that, the business mix of spa guests ap-pears to be shifting towards day spa visitors. Within beach hotels, the year-to-date percentage split of spa treatments booked by hotel guests versus non-hotel guests is 56 and 44%.

In city hotels, the year-to-date percentage split of spa treatments booked by hotel guests versus non-hotel guest is 47 and 53%. These percen-tages of spa treatments booked by hotel guests in both types of hotels are down from 60% and above, as estimated by spa operators last year.

This trend could be a result of a decline in hotel occupancies along with hotel guests tightening their belts due to lower travel budgets. It also indicates a greater interest for spa visits among Du-bai's resident population in response to special packages offered by spas that target residents.

Paul Arnold, Director, Transaction Advisory Services, Real Estate, Hospitality & Leisure of Ernst & Young Middle East underlined the need for establishing benchmarks within the spa sector.

He said, "There has been an absence of consistent metrics to measure per-formance within the spa industry. To fill this void, we have undertaken this new benchmark initiative. The data collected aims to give spa operators and hotels a chance to review their operations objectively. It enables operators to benchmark them against existing standards in Dubai. They will also be able to better communicate their performance to industry stakeholders."

Nikita Sarkar, spa specialist with the Ernst & Young Middle East Hos-pitality and Leisure team states, "An innovative, and as yet relatively unused metric covered in the Spa Benchmark Report is the RevPATH or Revenue Per Available Treatment Hour. This is conceptually similar to the RevPAR (Revenue per available room) metric currently used by hotels. The measure allows for true comparison of operational performance over different types of spas by presenting revenue generated over a time period of 60 minutes."

Among those exhibiting at this year's edition of Wellness and Spas Middle East trade fair, are Electro-Medical Ghareini GmbH from Ger-many who will display wellness beds, cosmetics and treatments; EA Herbs Sdn Bhd from Malaysia who will display a wide range of spa products; and TechnoGym Emirates LLC from the UAE will showcase their line of professional cardio machines.

A pavilion of exhibitors from the ultimate spa destination, Thailand, will offer their exclusive spa products to the Middle East market. Also, the French pavilion is twice the size of that in 2008 and will present a special cross-section of spa products and services at the exhibition.

Spas in the Middle East continue to excel in their development of medical facilities, and in comparison to the rest of the world in terms of price, the spas here would be quick to react to general price indica-tors and are likely to stay competitive, according to Ms. Brehl.

The Middle East continues to attract spa goers from all over the world; its most luxurious spas include the Talise Spa at Madinat Jumeirah, Banyan Tree Resort in Bahrain, Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea, the new Mandara Spa at Monarch Dubai and Atlantis Spa at The Palm.

Ms. Brehl added that, "Spas in the Middle East are not immune to the global downturn, but many of the luxury properties here would still benefit from their appeal to the super wealthy, as this demographic is not necessarily as much affected by the ongoing crisis."

"In general, the spa industry is focused on positively moving through the economic crisis and is firmly focused on raising awareness of the wellness and healthful aspects of spa going. People tend to take care of themselves and want to find relaxation during an extremely stress-ful period," said Ms. Brehl.

Wellness and Spas Middle East gathers international spa and fitness club operators and professionals, hotel operators as well as architects and designers. It brings the world's leading manufacturers together to introduce their latest products and equipment from day spa treatment cabins to body toners. It is the most successful showcase in the region for the latest in spa centers and resorts. Visitors from all over the world will have direct access to professionals from the wellness and spas industries.