Saturday, May 26, 2007 Local resort expands spa services
FILIPINO-OWNED Plantation Bay Holdings Inc., which operates Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, is targeting to improve its spa services share to more than 10 percent, following the expansion of its spa and wellness facility.
“Our focus on investment is the spa expansion,” Plantation Bay general manager Efren Belarmino said.
He said the resort’s spa services contribute about four percent of the company’s gross revenues.
The resort has constructed 13 additional spa treatment rooms in Mogambo Springs, which also has three “live-in” spa rooms that allows the guests to stay in the Japanese-inspired spa facility overnight.
The three” live-in” rooms will increase the resort’s room capacity to 250.
Angela Panaguiton, the resort’s officer-in-charge for sales, said the spa expansion will utilize 6,500 square meters of Plantation Bay’s 11.5-hectare property.
Belarmino told a press conference last Thursday that the expansion was due to the increasing demand for spa and wellness from its house guests alone.
Market
He said the resort’s spa market is dominated by the Koreans and Japanese, followed by locals and the Russians.
Although he acknowledged that service rates at Mogambo Springs are high, he is optimistic that the spa facility will continue to attract more guests since it incorporates the use of “hilot” or the traditional Filipino therapeutic massage.
“We are not selling the rates, we are selling the experience,” he had said earlier.
The expansion project for Mogambo Springs, which is estimated to be 80 percent complete, is targeted to be finished next month, Belarmino said.
Meanwhile, he added that Plantation Bay is strengthening its marketing and advertising efforts to lure more foreign and domestic guests.
A summer attraction in the resort is its Pinoy Laro, which features all-Filipino games and events, like pulot, tirador, takyan, sa pula-sa puti, rolleta and cadang.
Plantation Bay will celebrate its 11th year on July 16. (MMM)
