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Creating a Customized
Experience
In order to best create a personalized
experience, the spa integrates a counseling session at the start of every
treatment. “We always start our spa
services with a 15-minute counseling
session where we attain details, such as
personal [needs or] health history, etc.
about our guests that would help us
provide treatments that best suit their
bodies,” says Honda.
With relaxation a priority among
Japanese spa-goers, it is not surprising
that one of the spa’s best-selling services
is the 60- or 90-minute Aromatherapy
treatment. The spa’s two-hour Thalasso
therapy, a body detoxification treatment
that uses marine scrub and seaweed
mask, is another local spa-goers’ favorite.
And with the holiday season here, Honda
says the spa’s holiday treatment which
features seasonal ingredients from
Hokkaido, such as lavender and corn, is
also popular among its guests.
On average, Honda says, the spa services more than 2,000 clients per year, a
majority of whom are hotel guests.
With the spa being an integral part
of the hotel guests’ experience, Bloom
SPA Toya is included in the hotel’s inroom feedback system to help determine
guest satisfaction and quality of service.
Surveys are placed in all hotel rooms and
consist of questions concerning the
hotel’s facilities and outlets, including
the spa.
Bloom SPA Toya also relies on its
experienced staff to offer guests a personalized spa experience. To ensure that
the highest possible customer service is
delivered, the spa makes it a point to
train staff on spa procedures, work ethic,
technical knowledge in performing treatment services, among other needed skill
sets.
Serving the International
Market
As a spa within a hotel that is a year-round
destination for leisure travelers, Bloom SPA
Toya also attracts a growing number of
international guests, mostly from the Asian
region. “Our international guests prefer
Oriental types of spa treatments, such as
shiatsu, that would awaken or revive their
bodies. Most of them [are] between [the
ages of] 30 to 50.”
Expectedly, their international guests
seek for something unique, like treatments
that use locally grown lavender which is
the official flower of Hokkaido. The spa’s
signature and year-round treatment called
“Wisdom of Ainu”—which consists of
soybean flour and Japanese mugwort mask,
hemp oil treatment and a facial—is also on
the bestsellers’ list. This treatment is regularly featured during the spa’s annual
“Platinum Week.”
Held in September, Platinum Week is
when Bloom SPA Toya invites the Ainu
people (indigenous people of Hokkaido)
and the Native American people for an
intercultural interaction. Activities consist
of cultural exhibitions, workshops, special
performances and spa treatments. The
FAST
According
to the ISPA
2008 Global
Consumer Study, 53 percent
of Japanese spa-goers said
“complimentary products
or bonus services” are
their top motivators to
visit a spa.
FACTS
December 2012
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