Spas and the treatments they offer, are gaining in popularity throughout Dubai with regular male users now visiting spas at least once a month, according to an industry survey.

The survey, conducted by the MKM Group, which owns and operates the luxury Cleopatra's Spa brand, revealed 74 per cent of those interviewed frequent spas, a third of them men.

"The aim of the survey was to establish and benchmark the reputation of the industry within Dubai," said Daniella Russell, director, Health and Leisure, MKM Group.

"The results are healthy and show that spas are being increasingly used by diverse groups of people but we still have work to do in differentiating ourselves from beauty salons and in correcting the misconception that spas are expensive."

The survey, carried out via face-to-face interviews with 350 UAE residents of mixed nationalities, and both men and women aged 25 and over, revealed that of eight Dubai spas mentioned, awareness of Cleopatra's Spa was the greatest.

"The good news," said Russell, "is that only 26 per cent of those surveyed had never used a spa. Of the 74 per cent that do use spas, a third were men."

Almost a third of the spa users interviewed admitted to using spas only on "special occasions," the remainder attended monthly.

"What was particularly surprising is that the majority of male users are the clientele that is regularly using spas at least once a month," explained Russell. Lack of time was cited as one of the main reasons for not spending more time at spas.

Preferred spa treatments turned out to be massages and facials with more than a third of users, on average, spending between 1-2 hours at a spa. UAE nationals were exceptional in spending more than six hours in a spa.

In 2004, Dubai will host ISPA's Annual Spa Congress 2004.