Monday, November 26, 2007 Holiday to tap foreign medical tourism growth potential of Cebu
A GYM and spa operator in Cebu is determined to align itself with the emerging growth of the Philippine medical tourism industry.
Holiday Gym and Spa chief operations officer Ivy Fernandez said the company will invest in additional facilities and manpower to package its facility as a “complete fitness and wellness center.”
“We want to fully utilize our gym instructors and invest in additional equipment for physical therapy,” she said.
In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, Fernandez said Holiday Gym and Spa has realized that Cebu has strong potentials to cater to foreign medical tourists. She said spa and wellness centers are now slowly capitalizing on this growth.
“We noticed that most of our clients come here to complain about back pains, that’s why we want to deliver a full package of activities for them, like a one-stop shop,” she said.
Equipment
She said the company will purchase P1 million worth of equipment like sports conditioning units.
Acquisition of physical therapy equipment like those for ultrasound, traction machine and hydrotherapy treatment are also in the pipeline for next year.
Fernandez said the company has already started to invest in these facilities in its Davao outlet, and hopes to replicate the same changes in Cebu.
She said the company will be hiring more physical therapists who can also work as instructors.
At present, Holiday Cebu has two physical therapists.
Fernandez said the Holiday Business Group, which operates Holiday Gym and Spa, is determined to intensify its marketing and advertising strategies for the Cebu branch.
She admitted that Holiday Cebu still needs to establish more brand recall and market presence, saying “we are not that known here yet.”
“We still want to carve our name in Cebu,” she said.
Holiday Gym and Spa, which started in 2005, is located in Banilad, Cebu City. It has 3,000 members with ages between 22 and 50 years.
“In the long run, we want to be the first Philippine-wide fitness center,” Fernandez said. (MMM)
