Dayspa

JUL 2014

DAYSPA is the magazine of spa management. Spa owners and spa managers turn to DAYSPA for spa management trends, spa management tips and more.

Issue link: https://dayspamagazine.epubxp.com/i/329661

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 53 of 107

52 DAYSPA | JULY 2014 GLOBAL SPEAK Incredible India Wellness businesses are natural fi ts in this birthplace of ayurveda and yoga. By Lisa Starr Mention India, and people's minds go in numerous directions. For some, the word may conjure thoughts of maharajas and majestic elephants, Mahatma Gandhi and the Ganges River—the classical India. For others, it's the booming technology business in the south of India, and the many bright young Indians who are attending col- leges in America. And then there's the Bollywood fi lm in- dustry. All of these visions of India are accurate: the coun- try is rich with layers, textures, imagery and extremes, as was the focus of the hugely successful "Incredible India" marketing campaign a few years ago. The second-most populated country on earth, India is home to almost 1.2 billion people—yet it's one-third the size of the United States in area. It's a young coun- try, with 60% of the population under the age of 32. Delhi and Mumbai hold more than 10 million residents each, while the country's famed jungles and Hima- layan foothills are sparsely populated. Because India was under British rule from the 1800s until Partition in 1947, English is widely spoken in the cities—yet there are also 15 offi cial languages for the country. India currently houses an estimated 2,300-plus spas, which generate approximately US$400 million in rev- enues each year. There are several spa associations here, and a number of spa and wellness industry trade events, although they tend to be more regional than national in scope. Spa Mantra is a well-regarded spa trade publica- tion, and last year, the Global Spa & Wellness Summit (globalspaandwellnesssummit.org), an annual invitation- only gathering of spa and wellness industry leaders, was held in India, drawing even more attention to the country and its wellness customs. GLOBAL INFLUENCE Certainly, when it comes to spas and wellness, few coun- tries have a tradition or culture as meaningful as India, where ayurveda and yoga originated. Ayurveda is the world's oldest-known whole-body health system. It be- gan as an oral tradition 5,000 years ago, and was passed down in Sanskrit from one generation to another, until the fi rst written textbooks appeared in the eighth century. The word itself comes from the Sanskrit for life (ayur) PHOTO COURTESY ANANDA Ananda Spa, the Himalayas, India G l o b a l S p e a k . i n d d 5 2 Global Speak.indd 52 6 / 3 / 1 4 1 1 : 3 7 A M 6/3/14 11:37 AM

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Dayspa - JUL 2014