The Malaysian ministry of tourism and culture (MOTAC) has partnered with a local spa academy to provide scholarships for would-be spa therapists as part of the country’s project to become a high income economy by 2020.

Malaysia’s Economic Transformation Programme identified several national key economic areas (NKEA) which require development. Malaysia is targeting annual tourism expenditure of RM168bn (US$52bn, €38bn, £31bn) by 2020. Improvements to the spa and wellness sector is one of the country’s financial priorities identified during tourism industry consultations.

Spa and wellness is being targeted to bring RM400m (US$124m, €91m, £73m) in gross national income to the country and create 3,500 jobs, according to a statement made by Ong Hong Peng, secretary general of the ministry of tourism and culture which was published on a local media website.

To achieve this, Beaubelle Aesthetics Academy will offer a training programme which follows the National Occupational Skills Standard (NOSS) Level 3 for Spa Therapists, which was developed by the Skills Development Department using the National Dual Training System – 30 per cent theoretical and 70 per cent practical training.

Beaubelle met the following requirements to become a supplier of spa studies: it is registered with the Skill Development Department to conduct the NOSS course; it conducts a minimum of two sessions of Level 2 or Junior Spa training courses; it has trained more than 50 spa therapists in the past; it reports to MOTAC on a regular basis providing curriculum updates; placing students at spa establishments upon graduation and monitoring students’ progress. Beaubelle currently has 43 trainees at its centre participating in the programme.

Upon graduation, three to five-star spas across Malaysia will employ the therapists. Peng highlighted, in his statement, that this training initiative will meet the demand for well-trained local spa therapists and will also reduce the country’s heavy dependence on foreign spa therapists.

The scholarship funds are contributed to by the government – RM7,000 (US$2,200, €1,600, £1,300) per student – and the spa establishments who hire the graduates – RM2,500 (US$800, €600, £500).

The training programme lasts six months and trainees from households with a household income of less than RM3,000 (US$1,000, €700, £600) per month will be awarded full scholarships for the course.

The programme is intended to provide meaningful employment, generate income to raise living standards for low-income families and fulfil the urgent demand for spa therapists. All of these goals are part of the wider plan to meet the Economic Transformation Programme target to secure 36 million international tourist arrivals by 2020.