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India No 1 in spa destinations of the world
Ananda Spa in the Himalayan region has been ranked as the top destination spa worldwide in a latest study.
Marking yet another feat in the emergence of India as a preferred travel and medical tourism destination, Ananda Spa in the country's Himalayan region has been ranked as the top destination spa worldwide in a latest study.
Located amid the calmness of Himalayas, Ananda combines the traditional Indian systems of Ayurveda with the contemporary western spa approach in its numerous body and beauty treatments — earning it top honours from the London-based travel and tourism magazine Conde Nast Traveller.
The spa has also found a place in the top-10 best of the best category of the tourism world in the same poll, which has ranked India as the fourth most preferred tourism destination.
Another Indian spa, Serano Spa located at Park Hyatt Goa Resort and Spa has also been named in the top-10 overseas hotel spas worldwide by the Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Travel Awards 2006.
The Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur has been ranked as the fifth most preferred overseas leisure hotel in the Asia and Indian sub continent in the same survey, which has been published in the October issue of the magazine.
East seems to be the most preferred destination for spas globally, with second position being grabbed by Chiva-Som International Health Resort in Thailand.
Even westerners prefer the Asian destinations more due to the synthesis between traditional Indian sciences of Yoga and Ayurveda and modern spa technology.
This is one of the main reasons for the growth of Asian spa market — thus attracting the Westerners and bringing the East and West closure.
US-based Time magazine said in its Asia edition recently that Tokyo's five-storey 10,000 square meter Spa LaQua crams about 65,000 guests a month into its hotspring baths, pools, saunas, massage rooms and restaurants.
In Seoul, the popular Sports Club Seoul uses an extraordinary range of facilities as its lure: its 10 floors feature themed saunas, oxygen rooms, a golf practice range, a movie theatre and a karaoke room.
Today's spas are more like leisure entertainment complexes for the masses and they are fast becoming hotel alternatives too.
