The latest edition of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Spa Benchmark survey for the spa sector in the Middle East has been published, covering the first two quarters of 2014 from January to June.

Issued on a quarterly basis, the report provides hospitality sector developers, owners and investors with key spa performance metrics for the Dead Sea, Doha and Beirut.

The data reveals the average treatment revenue per treatment sold was highest in Doha, representing US$143 (€107, £86) – roughly 55 per cent higher than in the Dead Sea region and 155 per cent higher than in Beirut.

The Doha market captured the highest average daily treatment revenue per available treatment room at US$306 (€229, £183), while the Dead Sea and Beirut markets captured average revenues of US$106 (€80, £63) and US$57 (€43, £34) respectively.

The average daily revenue generated per therapist for Doha spas was 21 per cent higher than that of Dead Sea spas and 291 per cent higher than in Beirut spas.

Revenue per available treatment hour (RevPATH) was also the highest in Doha at US$30 (€22, £18) while RevPATH in the Dead Sea was US$17 (€13, £10) and US$14 (€10, £8) in Beirut.

Although average treatment revenue per treatment sold and average daily treatment generated per therapist are higher in Doha, this market accounted for the lowest utilisation of therapist hours in the three markets surveyed.

While Doha and Beirut reported income from fitness and membership revenues, no revenues were reported in the fitness and membership category in the Dead Sea. Authors of the report attribute this result to the lack of affluent local population in the immediate area surrounding the Dead Sea.

In addition, retail revenue remains an under-capitalised revenue stream in all three markets.

Another key statistic showed that while spa treatments booked by hotel guests in the Dead Sea represented 87 per cent, hotel guest treatments only contributed to 15 per cent of treatments in the Doha market and 27 per cent in Beirut. The researchers say the reason for this is that the Dead Sea is a leisurely tourist destination, lacking a large affluent and urban local population.

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