No longer just for travellers, stressed-out Indians spending on spa treatment like never before

NEW DELHI: A few weeks ago, Sanghvi Brands opened French beauty chain L’Occitane’s first luxury spa in a mall in India. The facility, spread over 8,000 square feet in the Virtuous Retail Mall in Bengaluru, is the largest mall spa in the country and is one of many that will cater to a rapidly growing segment – domestic customers.

Indians are spending on spa treatments like never before, said Darpan Sanghvi, managing director of Sanghvi Brands, which operates and manages Spa L’Occitane and Warren Tricomi in hotel chains in India such as Accor, Ritz Carlton, JW Marriott, IHG and the Leela Group as well as standalone locations.

“Earlier, spas were restricted to vacation and leisure travellers and the bulk of our conversions were through foreigners. But now, the majority of transactions are through domestic travellers. We’re expecting great traction in the mall as well, considering the footfall,” said Sanghvi. Stressed, overworked and in pursuit of rejuvenation, Indians are heading for ‘spacations’ and spa therapies in droves. Hotels and standalone spas are chalking out strategies to tap this growing segment, which includes jetlagged corporate travellers, besides the holiday and leisure guests.


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Sanghvi Brands operates 27 spas and the number will go up to 45 this year. An estimated 20-35% of the guests in resort properties head to spas and about 15% in city hotels, Sanghvi said.

“Be it resort or city hotels, we are seeing more resident as well as local external guests take packages from one to five days,” said Tricia Bannister, group spa head of The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts. “In cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai, we’ve experienced an uptick as local external guests are looking for ‘staycation’ opportunities.”

Accor’s Sofitel, situated in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex, converted its spa into a 24/7 facility eight months ago. “We extended the timings for our corporate travellers and have designed a series of treatments to prevent jet lag. Due to hectic lifestyles, spas are not seen as a leisure activity anymore, and about 13-14 guests are walking into our spa every day,” said Manoj Chauhan, manager for spa and fitness at the property.

The wellness industry in India has been growing, bucking a slowing trend in consumer expenditure, and was estimated to touch Rs 1 trillion in 2015, according to a 2013 report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Tattva Spa, the New Delhi-based operator of about 40 spas across India – a mix of standalone units and those managed for hotel chains such as Marriott, Radisson and Hilton – is expected to turn profitable this year.

“Hotels are increasingly outsourcing specialised services like spas to external companies as they realise this can lead customers to extend their stay,” said Shipra Sharma, cofounder of Tattva Spa. “We will launch our mobile application this month for our on-demand TooYoo brand and seeing the success of online cab aggregators and people wanting to avail and gift relaxation experiences, we see a potential in the online space for such services.” Tattva has partnered with Genpact, iYogi, Olx, Vatika Group, Hindustan Unilever, Videocon and IHG, among others, to offer quick, pamper sessions for employees at the workplace, said Sharma. Spas have become a major revenue stream for hotels, just as food and beverage operations, said Anurag Bhatnagar, area general manager for Starwood Hotels and Resorts.

“Most of our hotels are reporting mid double-digit growth in spa revenues and there’s an increasing demand from city residents as well – and not just guests,” Bhatnagar said. Wellness has become an important part of a guest’s journey, according to Chandrashekhar Joshi, general manager of JW Marriott Mussoorie, a 15-month old property that has a L’Occitane-managed spa. “There are discussions among corporate clients on including spa packages in the corporate itinerary of their senior employees.” At JW Marriott in Juhu, Mumbai, the rebranded ‘Spa by JW’ is notching up Rs 4 crore in revenue over the past year.