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Existing and aspiring spa and wellness entrepreneurs yesterday were encouraged to promote Filipino culture in the services they offer to generate more revenue for the industry.
“We can be very good in pushing what we are,” said Cathy Brillantes-Turvill, president of Spa Professionals International Development Center.
Turvill is co-owner of Spa Essentials in Manila and the Philippine representative to the Spa and Wellness Council Asia Pacific.
She and chemist husband Michael were the main speakers in a seminar on Spa 101 and Basic Aromatherapy at the Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort and Spa.
Turvill said that in a summit she attended on “Investing in the Hospital Industry in the Philippines,” Heiko Zscherp, chief executive officer of Eclipse Hotels and Resorts International Limited, observed the Philippines was not aggressive in pushing its own culture. Zscherp is a German businessman who works with Middle East companies in choosing investment destinations.
He named culture as one of the three top factors that guide foreign investors in choosing a country, aside from safety and infrastructure.
“Unfortunately for the Philippines, we’re trying hard to be another country,” she told seminar participants.
Cebu spa and wellness centers should take the lead in popularizing hilot or the Philippine massage, said Johnie Lim, president of Spa and Wellness Association of Cebu (SWAC). Lim, who also owns Body n Sole and Alibyo Spa, said hilot should be promoted as a unique brand.
“This is something spa owners should consider. Market your own brand and capitalize on what you have. Why would a foreigner come to the Philippines to get a Thai massage?” Lim told .
“Hilot employs very deliberate and slow strokes. It’s an emotional massage that makes the therapist very involved,” he added.
Spa owners were also urged to get rid of the colonial mentality that “anything imported is better than ours.”
Lim said the Philippines cannot achieve the goal of being a wellness capital without its own massage brand. He said hilot should be a Philippine brand, the way lomi-lomi is to Hawaii.
“Foreigners can differentiate which one is hilot, Swedish or siatsu. This (hilot) will give them more reasons to try a spa in the Philippines. They will always look for what is indigeneous.”
