UAE's wellness tourism picks up pace as enthusiasts become more discerning

Global wellness tourism market is the market leader in the Mena region, at twice the size of its next closest competitors, Morocco and Israel, combined, according to the Global Wellness Institute

The treatment uses ingredients such as black soap, beeswax and argan oil. Courtesy Four Seasons Abu Dhabi

Dubai // At this year’s Beautyworld Middle East trade show, held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the centrepiece of the vast hall that was dedicated to the spa industry was called the Sensorial Journey.

Stepping into the stand, spa professionals were wowed by a bespoke experience designed by the luxury French beauty brand Carita and the brand consultants Centdegres. It played to all five senses – sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing. It began with a drink made from detoxifying ingredients and ended with a facial treatment using Carita’s Cinetic Lift Expert machine that uses LED, ultrasound and microcurrent technology to give the skin an instant pick-me-up.

It was a sophisticated experience designed to tune into the needs of the increasingly demanding UAE spa-goer. “They are looking for ‘Luxury 2.0’,” says Susie Ellis, the chief executive of the Global Wellness Institute (GWI). “They want a higher level of expertise from the therapists and trainers, and crave a more unique menu of services that includes indigenous practices and products that can help educate them about the region and its secrets to greater health and vitality, things they can get nowhere else.”

With a market that is growing so fast, it is no wonder UAE spa-goers are becoming more discerning. The global wellness tourism market here – which includes the spa sector, as well as all travel associated with enhancing one’s personal well-being – is the market leader in the Mena region, at twice the size of its next closest competitors, Morocco and Israel, combined, according to the GWI.

Ms Ellis, who hosted the spa industry-dedicated Wellness Symposium at this year’s Arabian Travel Market, says the wellness industry offers huge opportunities for the UAE economy.

“The wellness tourism market is a critical, fast-growing component of the UAE’s fast-growing tourism industry,” she says. “In 2015, the UAE’s Minister of Economy reported that tourism contributed US$36.4 billion to the country’s economy, 9 per cent of total GDP. And wellness tourism comprises 13.4 per cent of that total tourism spend including both domestic and international, at $2.72bn in revenues. So about one in seven of total tourism dollars generated comes from trips with a wellness component.”

And while the UAE’s spa sector, with treatments offered in both stand-alone spas and within hotels, is smaller than its total wellness market, it is growing at an even faster rate. The Mena region’s spa powerhouse, it grew from $582 million to $742m between 2013 and 2015, boasting an increase from 121 spas to 687, according to the GWI. It also ranks as one of the top 20 national spa markets in the world.

The UAE simply dominates in Mena, driving 35 per cent of the region’s spa revenues, says Ms Ellis. “The UAE spa market is nearly three times bigger than its closest Mena competitor, Saudi Arabia, at $255m. To put the UAE’s spa market growth in some global context, the UAE market grew 27.5 per cent from 2013 to 2015, while the global growth average was only 4 per cent. That’s roughly seven times faster growth. That’s incredibly impressive.

“There are 687 spas that earn $742m annually, or $1.08m on average per spa, which is very high. Just compare that, for instance, to the number three Mena spa market, Morocco, which has 1,785 spas earning $244m annually, or roughly $137,000 per spa.”

Pooja Hemrajani, an analyst at Colliers International, points out that in Dubai alone there are more than 200 spas in operation, and a further 25 new hotel spas are expected to open in 2017.

“Spas are now seen as an integral feature of a hotel, and often occupy prime real estate within a hotel,” says Ms Hemrajani.

“The stand-alone spa sector has also grown with several brands entering the market such as Sensasia and Dreamworks. The general trend now for mid-market hotels is to lease space to such spa brands or operators. This means spas are becoming more affordable and no longer have to be seen as a luxury. Hotel owners are also entering into revenue or profit-share schemes with spa management companies, which limits the risks for the hotel owner.”

The growth of the wellness market has been supported by the country’s investment in it, says Ms Ellis. “The UAE, smartly, regards tourism as an important economic sector that offers both economic and job creation potential – and promotion is helping drive the wellness travel market. In the hotel and resort spa markets, the UAE has benefited from significant investments in new hotels and resort properties, from both international and regional brands, in anticipation of Expo 2020.”

She also predicts a knock-on from the Government’s new happiness initiatives. “We expect there to be various new ‘happiness modalities’ that arise in the spa and wellness sector – perhaps even ‘Happiness Spas’ – and predict that with the trending integration of medicine and spa, DNA and bio-marker testing will likely find their way into a kind of ‘happiness profile’ that could shed some important light on issues such as what genetic factors contribute to happiness and how our industry might be better able to capitalise on this newly available information.”

Consumers in the UAE are also driving growth. “The spa and wellness travel market is gaining ground with professional and middle-class consumers in the UAE, who are living increasingly hectic, yet sedentary lifestyles. Overall, UAE consumers are becoming more aware of the risks of stress and chronic diseases, and are increasingly turning to sports clubs, spas and healthy foods to maintain good health and prevent diseases.”

At the moment, inbound wellness tourism dominates over the domestic market, with 68 per cent of receipts coming from international travellers, in contrast to the average global wellness tourism market which is heavily dominated by the domestic spend, at 67 per cent of market, according to the GWI. In the UAE, domestic wellness tourism is worth just $1.2 billion annually against a larger inbound market of $1.5 billion.

However, for Sue Harmsworth, the founder of the leading global spa brand, Espa, the impetus to enter the UAE market 15 years ago was driven by demand from domestic spa-goers. “We were finding that our UAE clients in London, New York and Europe were asking when we were going to be opening in UAE so it was an important market for us to launch into.”

The brand, which has global partnerships with luxury hotel groups including One&Only and Ritz-Carlton, supplies high-quality spa products and helps hotels establish and run their spas. It operates seven spas here including The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre Atlantis the Palm and Espa at Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi and has just launched new spas at The St Regis Dubai Intercontinental Dubai Marina and Al Habtoor Polo Resort & Club, Dubai. Later in the year it launches The Ritz-Carlton Dubai Beach and The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, and has 10 projects in the pipeline.

“The UAE market is very important to Espa, it’s the gateway to the Middle East and we’ve always had very strong partnerships there, particularly in the luxury segment,” says Ms Harmsworth. “We have seen exponential growth in the interest of spa.  She says locally the firm uses “our wealth of knowledge of the culture and region in our spa designs, treatments, and product formulations”.

The domestic wellness travel market is set to matter more in the future, says Ms Ellis. “While inbound Mena and UAE wellness tourism is still growing, catering to the domestic and inter-regional wellness tourist and their cultural and religious sensitivities will become more paramount.”