Entertainment
Tranquility taking therapy business beyond Nepal
Bhuwan Phaiju is the CEO of Tranquility Spa, the largest network of spas in Nepal which recently branched out in Malaysia in three different hotels.Bhuwan Phaiju is the CEO of Tranquility Spa, the largest network of spas in Nepal which recently branched out in Malaysia in three different hotels. Phaiju, who received spa and beauty training from Thailand, also runs Tranquility International Beauty and Spa Academy (TIBSA), which has been educating and producing beauticians and therapists since five years. In this conversation with the Post, Phaiju talks about the soaring popularity of retreat and spa business in the country. Excerpts:
What is the status of spa business in Nepal today?
The business was not looked upon positively before but now people have started to appreciate it. Earlier, people related spa with prostitution but now there has been a paradigm shift in that mentality. The spa industry is growing exponentially now. There is a huge demand of well-trained beauticians and therapist, not only in local market but also in the international market. We have even started our service in Malaysia because of the huge business potential there. When we started, nearly 90 percent of our customers were foreigners but now 90 percent of the customers are Nepalis. This change, we believe, is here to stay.
You have worked in this field for almost two decades now. How has the spa business changed over the years?
When I first started out, there wasn’t a concept of spa. Few of those who had heard about it assumed it was just for foreigners, so there were fewer local customers. But now there has been a huge boom in this industry. There are more than 10 spa centres in Lazimpat alone and there has been a significant rise in customers as well. It’s not just in Kathmandu but in other cities too. For example in Pokhara, there has been quite an increase in number of spa centres. When we opened our spa in Pokhara, you could count the number of spas in hand but today there are more than 100 such centres. This shows that there has been some remarkable change in spa business over the last decade.
How is the business faring in Malaysia?
We initially started out in collaboration with a Malaysian company, so there were mostly Malaysian employees. Now we are slowly replacing Malaysian therapist with Nepalis. The work in spa is far more secure and better in terms of working conditions and income than other labour works in Malaysia that Nepalis are usually involved in. We are trying to give more opportunity to Nepalis. We currently have 10 Nepalis working there and we hope the number will increase in the coming years.
How important is customer service in spa industry?
Customer service is one of the most important aspects of any business, and doubly so for therapy industry. This is part of hospitality industry, so our main focus is always to provide the best service to our customers. In case of restaurants or hotels, one person can serve many customers; in spa business, sometimes more than one person need be ready to work with a single customer. The foundation of our business is built on customer care, so it is very necessary that we use all our available resources to make our customers comfortable. This is also one of the reasons for the requirement of skilled manpower in this business.
Given the fact that the business has branched out in hundreds of outlets in the country and beyond, how hard is it to keep the quality in check?
Maintaining the standard has not been much of a problem for us since we have a Standard Operative Procedure (SOP). All our branches follow the same SOP, so we have same quality of service, regardless of our location. And I think it’s not just the service but also the ambience and interiors of the spa that matters as you have to directly deal with the customers’ physique and psyche.
I think the most challenging thing about having running a business chain is maintaining the quality but luckily for us we have been able to maintain it because of our SOP. Other than that, we at Tranquility don’t believe in selling franchise but we rather have control over all the aspects of our branches because we deem management as very important part of maintaining the goodwill of the company. We have an absolute control over management of all our outlets and we conduct regular cross-checkings to ensure everything is up to the standard.
Are there any upcoming plans for Tranquility?
We are planning to open three more outlets this year, one in Pokhara, one in Soaltee Hotel in the Capital, and also in Nepalgunj. Besides, we also plan to introduce a spa village in Maharajgunj where there will be restaurant, fitness centre as well as many other retreat facilities.
What is your management mantra?
I try to be informed about everything that is happening in all our chains and remain updated about the progress as well as shortcomings. I don’t believe in just giving orders to the employees but rather being involved as much as possible in everything going around here. Besides, I try my best to make people aware and teach them everything that I know to maintain the quality of the spa. I also don’t compromise in anything to give best service possible to our customers.
What advice do you have for people who want to join the spa and retreat business?
The demands for spa and massage services are on the rise, so it could be a lucrative business if you put in hard work and offer quality service to customers. To the young people who are confused about their future as therapists or beauticians, I want to assure them that there is a huge opportunity in this field.