In a drive to position the kingdom as the Spa Hub of ASEAN, the Thai Spa Association is pulling out all stops for the upcoming “World Spa & Well-being Convention 2014”, scheduled from September 18-20 at the IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Centre in the north of Bangkok
Asia’s hub of spas and wellness
Organizers are calling the event, which for the first time will take place simultaneously with Beyond Beauty ASEAN-Bangkok 2014 – ASEAN’s premier trade show for comprehensive health and beauty products – the “Biggest Spa & Well-being Event in ASEAN”, and with good reason.
Never before has such an event been held in such a spacious area, spanning some 20,000 square metres, to offer hundreds of brands to consumers from throughout the globe.
The combined event will gather over 400 brands of beauty products and services from around the world. The products and services will fall into the four categories of: 1) beauty products and cosmetics, 2) comprehensive spa and health products and services, 3) herbs and health products and 4) hair and nail care products.
Andrew Jacka, Chairman, World Spa & Well-being Convention Organising Committee, says the Thai Spa Association and the Department of International Trade Promotion will organize the World Spa & Well-being Convention 2014 (WSWC2014) as the biggest spa & well-being event of ASEAN with the concept of “by Hand, through Head, with Heart” to promote spa products and services, upgrade the standard of Thai spa business and stimulate interesting innovations in this industry.
WSWC2014 will consist of a trade show as well as World Spa & Well-being Congress (WSWC Congress 2014), Global Wellness Tourism Workshop (GWTW2014), Thailand Hot Spring Forum (THSF2014), Thailand Spa & Well-being Awards (TSWA2014).
The event is expected to attract 15,000 visitors, 50 per cent higher than the number of visitors to last year’s event. It is also expected to draw more than 400 delegates, especially those from hotels, spas, resorts, beauty and health centres, beauty schools, fitness centres and consultancies among others.
The global spa market is growing impressively and yet there is is considerable room for expansion.
Promising markets are across the continent of Africa, where countries have just only started introducing their spa facilities, and have ample opportunities for growth. Closer to home, Myanmar is also an emerging market.
Tourism is down at the moment, but will is expected to recover within a year or two 12 months and new spas will by then be ready to provide warm welcomes for these anticiapted tourist arrivals. Islands in the Caribbean region and Oceania are also developing their spa businesses and such facilities are mushrooming in those parts of the world.
Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam are also emerging spa markets. And industry-insiders believe that resorts and spas in Vietnam will become tough competitors of those in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand within in a few years. Free trade in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will noticeably accelerate the growth of spa business.
However, spa operators must improve their capabilities to cope with competition, in order to guarantee their strong and sustainable growth.
They must develop their products and services to meet the ISO Wellness Spa Services Standard and the ASEAN Spa Service Standard.
Nevertheless the value of the Thai spa market is likely to grow continuously especially after the formation of the AEC in 2015 due to three main factors. Firstly the number of middle-class people is increasing. Secondly the number of the elderly is rising. People aged more than 60 are expected to number two billion and form one-third of the global population in 2050. Thirdly megacities are spreading worldwide and thus people will increasingly demand “natural” resort areas.
“World Spa & Well-being Convention 2014 is a world-class event and a springboard for stronger networking between Asia and the rest of the world, and a chance for for Thailand to become the beauty hub of ASEAN especially in the spa business where Thailand is one of the most outstanding players in the world,” Krod Rojanastien, President of the Thai Spa Association, said.
Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, Director General, Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), said that currently Thailand has a strategy to develop the country to become a wellness hub of Asia. Part of this plan is to encourage the medical industry to play a key role in Thailand’s economic growth. In this connection, Thai traders, especially those in spa industry, have very strong potential as well as a unique identity, and are already well accepted in the international marketplace.
As a result, the policy to encourage the wellness business and the beauty industry in Thailand during coming months, with an emphasis on the development and design of spa products, participation in quality training activities by spa operators in Thailand for elevation of their standards, as well as expansion into the international market by quality Thai spa players. The grand purpose is to promote wellness entrepreneurship by providing a comprehensive platform for the local industry to blossom into international expansion.
The WSWC2014 will take place in “Challenger 1” hall of IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Center, Muang Thong Thani, between 10am and 6pm from September 18 to 20.
For more information, contact please contact Naipaporn (Tel. 083 989 6843), Varintorn (083 989 6901) or
Jitsiri (083 989 6769); visit www.beyondbeautyasean.com and www.worldspawellbeing.com
source: http://www.thephuketnews.com / Phuket Life / Class Act Media / The Phuket News / Sunday – September 07th, 2014
