Aloe-Spa Salute per Aloe - Green Spa Services

This was the resolution of the recent workshop held by the Spa Association of the Philippines Inc. (Sapi) in Cebu City, sponsored by the Department of Tourism (DOT). The DOT also assured, on the part of the government, to look at the regulation side of the industry to prevent unfair competition.

Dr. Victoria Patiño-Guillano, owner of the MediSpa at the SM City, said the focus on quality was the result of the workshop that emphasized on the “wellness aspect more than the beauty side of the spa.”

“It would focus on the combination of services geared at the total health and wellness of the client,” she told the regular business forum at the MediSpa here on Tuesday.

She said the members of Sapi had indicated varying effects of the global financial turmoil, but also said many of them would likely feel the brunt of the crisis next year. “For our foreigner-clients, there’s not much effect yet but on our Filipino clients, there is already some impact, some decline.”

“Sapi members came into the workshop in Cebu very worried at the impact of the global crisis,” Guillano said. “But the association president assured us, not to worry, because the real spa industry would prevail.”

Tessa Piansay, marketing specialist of MediSpa, said the assurance was meant to assuage Sapi members of the competition that were posed by some non-spa establishments but who were claiming to be spa clinics.

“We would not be discriminating on who would enter into the business but we would be promoting the observance of the guidelines and criteria set forth by the association to ascertain a certain establishment or clinic as a spa or a wellness center,” Piansay said.

“The Sapi members were also called upon to provide consistency in their quality services, to promote wellness and to promote the criteria set forth by the association,” she said.

Besides, Guillano said, “there are different levels or category of the spa and wellness center: the day spa, or the spa without the medical services like we have, the medical spa, and the destination spa, mostly found in the resorts.”

“There are different categories to enter into the industry and we are all called to focus on quality service,” Guillano said.

Sapi is one of the four national spa associations in Southeast Asia which were granted support by the European Asia Invest Programme aimed at “internationalizing the operation of the spa services in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.”

The Sapi, Thailand Spa Association, Bali Spa and Wellness Association and Association of Malaysian Spas would be partners, along with the Confederation of International Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology in the two-year European Asia Invest Programme.

The latter has funded the program with €578,197, with counterpart funding contribution from the partners totaling €431,993. The program included such trainings on European standard of spa operations and safety and on international European vocational standard.