Jessica Turner Discovering the hotel spa embraced by locals, who put relaxation first, Ashleigh Sharman visits Vie Spa at Pullman Cairns International.
The downturn in Japanese tourists has resulted in the closure of a number of spas and salons in downtown Cairns, but for Pullman International Cairns’ Vie Spa it posed a unique opportunity – to engage more closely with its local clientele. A task spa manager Rina Nakashima and her team have relished in.
“The changes we’ve seen in the last couple of years has forced us to create more local clientele and it’s working!” she says, citing their most popular Vie Spa ritual as the two-hour Heavenly Therapy; including a full body exfoliation, full body massage, essential aroma facial and soothing foot treatment priced at $265.
For the database of some 3000 Vie Spa members there’s an additional 20 per cent off alongside other monthly promotional offers throughout the hotel itself however it is massage therapies that are king in this part of the country.
“An in-house guest is generally after massage and body treatments and our locals are the same, facials aren’t so popular,” Rina explains.
“Throughout the Cairns region we find out clients don’t really care much about the skin which is very different to Sydney and Melbourne where the local market has a real focus on the face and ageing.
“Cairns locals enjoy their time in the sun, their skin is much thicker, and they appear not as conscious of skin-ageing from sun damage but prefer massage and relaxation treatments, within a budget that is.”
It’s not unusual to think of the high prices generally charged by hotel spas but with a focus on the local market, Vie Spa has had to operate differently to survive in terms of marketing and product sales. Prices remain competitive and education is key in discussing the importance of skincare with sun-loving clients — it’s worth noting the high rates of skin cancer in the region that staff are all too aware of — but there are distinct benefits of being a hotel spa.
“A lot of local salons and spas are closing down but the benefit of being hotel-owned is that housekeeping does the cleaning and the washing of towels every night and we have no rent to pay as such.
“Our operating costs are easier to keep down against budgets and with hotel backing comes training in areas like customer service and upselling, so we feel very lucky,” Rina says, adding the spa receives great support and training from its product partners Pevonia, iKOU, ELES and OPI.
And whilst its 10 treatment rooms, including a couple’s room, group therapy room, unique indoor/outdoor rooms and Vichy shower, play host to mainly massage treatments the six team members (eight during peak season) take self-care very seriously.
“We receive a lot of requests for deep tissue and remedial massage which can take its toll on the therapists. Of course we worry about staff burnout and would much rather mix in some facial treatments too so are working hard with our client database to promote these kinds of services which also influence retail sales.”
For Rina, who has been with the spa six years, 2016 then is a year of continued focus in building the local market, providing resilience and a financial backbone for the spa, whilst looking to recapture the tourist dollar amidst still fierce competition.
“We visit other spas to keep up with the competition and remember what it is to be a client, but I can tell…we are the best!” And I wouldn’t doubt her for a second.
