Dubai Spa market to remain strong

A recent survey from Colliers International has reported a positive outlook among Dubai spa operators.

According to the findings, 75 per cent of spa operators are expectingrevenue growth in 2016, this comes in spite of increasing competition in the sector.

Colliers, a specialist in real estate advisory services, compiled its report based on the results of a survey completed by 25 leading spa operators between January and February 2016.

Additional findings from the survey highlighted sourcing skilled manpower, an increasing number of price sensitive customers and an influx of new entrants into the spa market as the biggest challenges of 2015.

“Given that Dubai currently offers a very limited number of spa-specific college level courses and training programmes, it is not surprising that recruitment of therapists was identified as the biggest challenge that the market faced last year.

At present operators rely on external training, which is both time consuming and costly. Changes are on track, however, as spa courses are being introduced into curriculums,” says Filippo Sona, Head of Hotels, Colliers International in the MENA region.

“An area that does need further attention, however, is the continuous stream of new entrants offering the latest in design and technology. The Dubai hotel spa market, for example, witnessed 11 new opening in 2015 alone. This presents spa operators with a dilemma. Should I invest in new trends? Or cater to the rise of value-driven consumers? The answer is knowing your market and knowing when to say yes to an emerging trend,” Sona adds.

2015 findings also revealed an increase in the number of walk-in clients, together with a general increase in the number of treatments sold per day.

“Despite the challenges, the Dubai spa market has remained resilient and continues to grow. Over 76 per cent of respondents expect spa revenues to continue to grow in 2016 which is a tremendous result and indicative of the rising growth of the industry and its ability to drive guest bookings,” Sona says.