Rocco Forte to double number of hotel and spa sites by 2023

Rocco Forte Hotels will grow its spa presence in Italy and China in the next two years, as part of the company’s plans to “double in size by 2023”.  

“We’re opening Hotel de la Ville in Rome and Torre Maizza in Puglia in May 2019, and Villa Igea in Palermo in 2020, because we’re strongly expanding in Italy. We’re also launching The Westbound in Shanghai, China, in late 2019, and all these locations will involve spa projects,” Irene Forte, group project director at Rocco Forte Hotels, told World Spa & Wellness. “In addition to this, we’re looking at refurbishing existing spas in some of our hotels.”

The company also plans to make its mark in “the US and other major cities that we’re not in across in Europe”, said Forte, to help extend the brand’s reach further. However, the plan doesn’t come without its challenges, especially in terms of showing in numbers how having a strong spa operation brings incremental revenue to the hotels.

Forte explained: “It’s about showing that without having a strong spa offering, guests in the luxury international market are more likely to go somewhere else that does. However, it is very difficult to put that into numbers terms.” 

As part of the expansion, an in-house skincare line – the Irene Forte Skincare collection – has been launched, inspired by the Mediterranean diet. “The range is used in the hotel spas but I’m also launching an Irene Forte Skincare in-room amenity line soon so that it all ties together. I’ll also be extending the collection with sun protection products in May,” said Forte. You can read about the products on page 81. 

You can hear Irene Forte talk about how to sell to millennials at the 2019 World Spa & Wellness Convention, taking place at London ExCel on February 24–25. 

Image: ©Instagram/@roccofortehotels