ELYSIA Wellness Spa, a homegrown massage and spa in Davao City, targets to make “Hilot” massage as a tourism service, providing unique experiences to foreigners and locals alike who are used to foreign Ventosa and Swedish massages.
“The difference of hilot from the more popular massages is that our traditional Hilot, just like how our neighbor manghihilot in our barangay does, focuses on certain points with piang or mild fracture. Other than that, we also make use of herbs such as banana and tuba tuba leaves. We heat it and put it in the areas which have piang or the muscle areas which experiences fatigue whether bruised or overworked,” said Elysia Wellness Spa management consultant Cherry Faye Al-ag.
She added even before the actual massage and still during the foot soak, they add herbs in the warm water foot tub like ginger or malunggay which guarantee therapeutic effect.
As the traditional hilot practice varies and are most widely practiced in rural areas in the country, there are no specific standards as to what a legitimate hilot is.
Al-ag said for Elysia Wellness Spa, aside from the Filipino spirit of the traditional massage, they also put in the Dabawenyo essence. They make it a point to make sure that their Hilot massage, as unique as it already is, will also be a more unique experience in comparison to the hilot in other cities in the city that offer hilot as well.
“Right now, to further develop this, we are still on the research and development phases. We’re really working to promote this because it is really one of the ways to create a good experience for our tourists, whether domestic or foreign,” she said.
“There are experts of the field already and we have partnered with them. I’m just not sure if we already have the standard hilot, maybe others will claim. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) has a module on hilot. We are still going to check that out,” she added.
Since some of their foreigner clients ask for a unique massage service in the Philippines, Elysia Wellness Spa would often recommend their hilot.
“Initially, they are curious but once it was explained by the therapist, they enjoy it more because they know that there had been an added health benefit to a relaxation experience. They’re not only relaxed but also their health is improved as well,” Al-ag said.
After being in the business for more than three years, she said they have started innovating with their services including their different way of Ventosa Massage, learning from the international spa consultants from the Netherlands.
“We found out that Ventosa should not be done in steady manner. It has to be geared towards moving to, we call it, the ‘toilet areas’ supposedly to remove the toxins in the body. It has to be used to remove the lactic acid in the body,” she said.
Elysia Wellness Spa has branches in Lacson & Cervantes Sst., Obrero, RAC Bldg. Bangkal, Saavedra Street, Toril, and Eden Nature Park. (JPA)