Sheila McCann, general manager of the Chiva-Som destination spa in Thailand, has said that most hoteliers don’t fully understand the spa industry because of their backgrounds.

“Most come up through food & beverage or the rooms division,” said McCann speaking to the Spa Handbook. “They don’t take spas seriously enough as an operation to ever really enable the full business potential, although, thankfully this patttern is starting to change.”

McCann also said that having a spa person on board at a hotel brings a new dimension of understanding about the emotional needs of hotel guests.

For more from Sheila McCann, the Spa Handbook is available online here: http://lei.sr?a=A9O7e and a full interview with Sheila McCann can be viewed online here (p53-55): http://lei.sr?a=P3l4j