Spa industry experts have highlighted the lack of training centres in the Middle East and declared that it is now their responsibility to deliver effective training programmes in the region.

Speaking at the Hotelier Middle East Spa & Wellness Forum (HMESWF), Meara Dougherty, operations manager at The Product House said a balance needed to be found when implementing training procedures for new staff.

“When staff come into The Product House, our position is to train in specific treatments and products and the protocols of specific brands; it is not to train in basic skills sets,” said Dougherty. “The expectations of spa directors can be quite high. We are there to provide training but to what extent are we there to provide training?”

Most Middle-Eastern spas now recruit from abroad, but the panel said a major challenge is hiring staff that have the necessary skill set to implement advanced treatments. Spas in the region are now faced with the potential problem of new employees lacking the necessary experience to do their job.

Spa Cordon managing director, Lea Cordon Ruof said that without training schools for therapists in the Middle East, the responsibility for that has to lie with the spa. “Once you have your staff here you have to reassess their skills and deliver a training programme," he said.

"Training is an investment; your staff performance is a reflection of what you’re teaching, it’s a reflection of what your spa is about. You have to take ownership say ‘this team is mine and any of their actions I’m held accountable for them.”

Hotelier Middle East’s Spa & Wellness Summit 2014 was the second annual event in its history and brought together more than 300 attendees to discuss the region’s spa market.