Plug
into these hot new businesses
"It comes as no surprise that business-to-business
e-commerce is the smash hit of the year. But there's a real
world out there beyond the virtual one. The region's increasingly
sophisticated consumers are creating a wealth of opportunity
for niche players who now offer everything from cappuccino
and organic fare to specialist travel, from health spas and
East-meets-West fashions to services for the elderly."
"After two years of gloom, Asians are eager
to boost their quality of life. They want be pampered; they
cherish good health. They crave high style; they seek adventure."
The following is what Asian Business magazine
then went on to say about Tamarind Springs specifically:
Carving out a niche
When Shelley Poplak went looking for a new
entrepreneurial niche in Thailand in 1998, she found it in
an actual niche - the gap between two gigantic boulders in
a hillside coconut grove on the resort island of Koh Samui.
So was born Tamarind Springs (pictured). Using the granite
boulders as ready-made walls, she and her German and Thai
partners built a cave-like herbal steam sauna that became
the heart of a popular new day spa.
Inside the sauna, hot water percolates up
through an inlet in the floor and emits steam scented with
lemon grass, wild lime and Thai ginger. Afterwards there's
a refreshing plunge in a rock-lined pool outside. Next guests
can select from a menu of massages in a big, open pavilion,
followed by herbal tea.
That's the Tamarind Springs spa experience
- about US$32 for the two-and a half-hour treatment just
described
- and it's catching on. Starting out with just two masseuses,
the shop now has a staff of 10, busy all day with a growing
flow of vacationers anxious to rejuvenate themselves. 'People
are so stressed out these days, caught up in wild consumerism
and working really hard. Going to a day spa forces you to
let go,' says Poplak, a 41-year-old South African who
left
behind a career in publishing. 'People are forced to look
at their health, and they admire the Eastern approach,
which
focuses more on preventative measures rather than dealing
with symptomatic problems later on.'
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