17 August 2000Asia's first homegrown and biggest spa company, Mandara
Spa, is going global.
The company, set up in Bali in 1995, sold 40 percent of
its stake to Japanese cosmetics giant, Shiseido, in May and
is planting its flag in destinations such as Guam, Saipan,
Las Vegas, Hawaii and Aruba in the Caribbean.
Mark Edleson, one of the founders of Mandara Spa, said,
"We are going outside Asia."
The company built its first spa in July 1996 at the
Chedi in Ubud, Bali. Since then, it has grown to 14 spas in
Indonesia, 11 of which are in Bali, four in Malaysia, six
in Thailand and five in the Maldives.
"Ideally we operate in more upmarket four and five star
hotels in international resort destinations and gateway
cities," said Edleson, who was in Kota Kinabalu to inspect
his latest spa at the Magellan Sutera.
Looking for the right hotel is key, he added. Usually,
the hotel builds the facility and Mandara provides the
management and expertise. It does not charge fees but
shares revenues with the hotel.
"We operate as contractors to the hotels in terms of
providing technical assistance and staff who are on our
payroll and sometimes investment in the spas," said
Edleson.
"In return, the hotels have a facility that helps them
to sell rooms and it becomes another profit centre."
To a hotel such as Magellan Sutera, being the only hotel
in Sabah to provide a dedicated spa facility, it gives them
a competitive edge.
Edleson says his competitors are not other spa brands
such as Angsana or Banyan Tree, but "hotels who run their
own spas, for example, Four Seasons". Mandara says it's
more competitive because it offers more traditional-based
treatments and focuses on a few signature treatments that
its 350 therapists throughout Asia specialise in.
NETworks: www.mandaraspa.com
a href="http://www.mandaraspa-asia.com">
www.mandaraspa-asia.com