Spa and wellness buyers and suppliers gathered together in Dubai at The Westin Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina to participate in prime networking and one-to-one meeting opportunities to discover the latest market trends and products on offer.
This year’s edition of SPATEC Middle East 2015 brought together a diverse range of regional and international spa operators, directors of spa and wellness, spa managers, spa directors and general managers under one roof to meet and network with key worldwide and local spa, wellness and beauty suppliers all in attendance.
The second edition of SPATEC Middle East 2015, which was organised by Questex-McLean events, and acts as the original meetings-based event for the spa, wellness and beauty industry and saw 35 buyers and 37 supplier delegates from 22 different companies from 10 singular product categories attend this year’s three day meet up.
Stephen Pace-Bonello, event director, Questex-McLean events explains how SPATEC secures its place in the Middle East as a prime meet and greet event for industry specialists: “Questex-McLean Events are the original meetings-based events and have been organising events for various industries for 18 years. The SPATEC format has evolved to what it is today following several years of experience, including a decade of SPATEC events in Europe and the US.”
And touching upon the differentiators of the event, he continues: “Feedback from participating buyers and suppliers has helped the organisers to fine-tune the details to influence changes and improvements. SPATEC buyers are all decision-making spa operators in the region, with existing operations or have upcoming new openings or refurbishment projects in the pipeline.”
“Suppliers attend knowing that the audience of buyers have been pre-qualified and all are senior decision makers. They know ahead of time who is attending and choose who they want to meet. Attendees are guaranteed a fixed number of meetings and get to spend quality, uninterrupted time with the buyers. SPATEC is held in a luxurious, comfortable venue away from the daily pressures of the office.” Adds Pace-Bonello.
The format of the event began with a reception dinner, followed by an educational seminar the
next morning which was delivered by Anni Hood, founder and CEO at Anni Hood, Wellness Business Consultancy, on the topic of shifting dynamics and response over function.
With two dedicated meeting days, during which buyers and suppliers met face-to-face for 20 minutes of uninterrupted quality time by pre-scheduled appointment to discuss business. Having been spread over the course of three days, SPATEC has been solely designed to maximise the attendee’s opportunity to network with their peers and potential clients.
With competition rife in the spa and wellness industry, Pace-Bonello also explains why suppliers and buyers alike find the three-day event so valuable: “In terms of the numbers of spa, wellness and beauty facilities across the region it is truly impressive to see so many new outlets popping up. Operators strive to differentiate their offer in order to stand out above the rest. SPATEC provides operators with the opportunity to meet with a variety of suppliers under the same roof to learn about their newest brands and most innovative products. Suppliers relish the opportunity to showcase their range of products to some of the region’s most important and often elusive buyers. It is so valuable to spend quality time building a relationship with these industry VIPs.”
The dates for next year’s SPATEC Middle East have been released the three-day event is set to take place from the 12th-16th of September 2016, with a venue yet to be confirmed.
