General Director of Caldea and INUU Miguel Pedregal Pardo tells all-andorra.com about Caldea INUU business development plans and financial indicators of the company:
How competitive Caldea and INUU are in comparison with others European SPA resorts? Specifics and key advantages?
Let me start with Caldea – our older brand. It has been a successful business model for more than 20 years. The reason of success is that we have never been focused on the clients with specific diseases or people after middle age. Originally we broke a stereotype that thermal water was good only for these kinds of visitors. We never have worked as a medical center. On contrary, we have always been opened for everybody. That’s way Caldea was always a popular place to have fun.
INUU was opened in 2013. It’s located in the same building as Caldea. This new wellness center is more concentrated on SPA with a big “menu” of different types of massage and procedures. When INUU was opened, Caldea became a place more oriented to families, kids, groups of young people.
Last year we had about 350.000 clients. I guess this year we will get 12 000 visitors more.
Caldea and INUU are well known brands in North-East of Spain, in Catalonia and in South of France. So 70% of our visitors are Spanish, 15% are French, last 15% are people from different countries.
I would say that today Caldea-INUU is one of the key attractions for tourists visiting Andorra. We have many different packages for tourists coming to Andorra all over the year. During high ski season we intensively work with two main Andorran ski resorts – Grandvalira and Vallnord. It’s quite popular to combine sport activities and getting relaxed with thermal water. So people willingly visit us after skiing. One of our best offers is a package including one visit to Caldea, one ski pass and one night in a hotel. During a high winter season this kind of package costs about 100 euro. Final price depends on a type of a ski pass and a hotel.
We have some offers for weekend in winter and summer time. Also we provide our clients with additional discounts for shopping in Andorran shopping centers we cooperate with.
Most of our customers-residents of Andorra have a membership of Caldea-INUU club. Monthly price is 89 euro. It includes gym with all lists of activities, unlimited and full time entrances to Caldea and 4 visits to INUU. It also includes discounts for the rest of our services. Today we have approximately 2000 members. As for tourists, we offer one day visit to Caldea with the regular price of 37.5 euro and INUU with a price of 65 euro.
Who is an owner of Caldea-INUU?
Caldea and INUU are two different commercial brands owned by the same company SEMTEE S.A. The shareholders of SEMTEE S.A. are Comu (Administration) of Escaldes-Engordany (about 25%), Andbank and Credit Andorra (both of them have about 20% ) and more than 2000 private shareholders. Many of them are Andorran families, but there are some foreigners as well. So it’s a very well balanced company.
Is it easy to become Caldea-INUU shareholder?
It was a decision of the main stakeholder – Comu of Escaldes-Engordany – to open Caldea for everybody in 1991. We are not listed in stock exchanges here in Andorra and worldwide and we work totally as a private company. But if someone is interested in buying the company’s shares, he can apply and we arrange it.
This decision has to be made by shareholders?
No, we don’t need a shareholders’ meeting to make this decision. It takes place only once per year. All demands are considered by default.
How much does one share cost?
For this moment it costs 600 €.
What are the main financial indicators for 2014 and what are your expectations for 2015?
We have improved our indicators within the last two years. We had a complicated period in 2013 because of our large investments to open INUU. But we have improved the financial situation: last year we reach a positive EBITDA with 1.8 mln euro, this year our target is to reach 2.5 mln euro.
What is a composition of Caldea thermal waters? Which medical impact does it make?
We have pure thermal waters which is naturally very hot: when it comes out of the ground its temperature is 70 degrees of Celsius. We cool it until body temperature. The difference of temperature is used for heating our complex in winter.
Thermal water has two main impacts: the first – is a mechanical one: when thermal waters makes pressure on muscles, blood circulation is getting better and muscles getting relaxed. Second impact – is a chemical composition of water, which makes skin softer and more elastic. Thanks to high mineral content, thermal waters have analgesic, healing, decongestants and anti-allergic effects.
Are there any contraindications and how often is it recommended to have thermal baths?
There are not strict contraindications. I know people who come to Caldea every single day and fill themselves good. There is the only one Caldea restriction for those people who have open wounds or part of the body bandaged or in a cast for reasons of hygiene.
Is it truth that urban water supply system of Escaldes-Engordany, where Caldea is situated, have the same chemical composition of thermal waters?
Definitely, there are some houses in Escaldes with the same quality of thermal waters. If someone wants to use thermal waters at home he should pay additional price to Comu Escaldes-Engordany. Also there are some hotels around Caldea-INUU complex with similar type of waters.
What are the sanitary standards of Andorra and EU? How do you carry out a disinfection processing?
We have very advanced cleaning system. There is a mechanical one, when the waters pass through special sand filters. It happens every 2 hours. It means that every 2 hours we totally change all water.
Do you add chlorine?
Yes, we do. But we combine it with ozone. All these ways guarantee the maximum quality of disinfection. We do control it every day by ourselves, but also there is an independent company which comes to check quality of water once per month. Moreover we are controlled by government organizations. We pay very big attention to this question because it’s very important for us.
Whether processing by chlorine has negative impact on thermal waters?
If we do it only with chlorine we would use a quite big quantity of this element. But it wouldn’t be good because chlorine smells, erodes eyes, dries skin. That’s why we combine 3 different ways to make disinfection as much gently as possible with the highest result.
Have you heard about a project to open an aqua park in Andorra? What impact it can have on your business?
Yes, I read in media about a large investment project to open a commercial shopping MOLL with aqua park inside. It can be built not very far away from Caldea. As a manager of Caldea-INUU I don’t like it, aqua park is our direct competitor.
I’ve heard that you were going to open a new space for families. But it’s not the same as aqua park, is it?
No, it’s a different project. Next year we will open SPA complex for kids from 3 till 8-10 years old. It is going to be a new building with mini swimming pool and new spaces.
Do you have any plans to change interior and exterior of the complex?
We have many other projects. As I have already said, Caldea is a 20 years old building and it needs restyling. We want to renew materials of the whole building as well as the colors. Then, we are going to open a new restaurant with a healthy food based on Italian cuisine and new shops. All these changes will be realized for the next two years.
Is Caldea supposed to be closed for all restyling period?
Every year we normally have one week out of work during a spring time. It is a low season and we use this time to make changes. Next year we will be closed for 2-3 weeks. It’s enough time for restyling.
Are you interested in attracting foreign investors for any projects?
We are not interested in foreign investors for this moment. Our profit allows us to realize all our plans by ourselves.
Do you plan development of such areas as cosmetology and figure correction: hardware cosmetology, SPA capsule, LPG, peelings, injection techniques etc?
We have signed an exclusive contract with Natura Bise company – the best one in Spain and well known all over the world. This company will be exclusively responsible for developing this business in INUU.
What specialists (fitness instructors and massage therapists) are requested to work in Caldea? Is it necessary to have higher sports and medical education?
As I said before, we don’t promote ourselves as a medical centre. Yes, we do need people with high medical educations. But our target is to create good atmosphere for relax, fitness and having fun.
How do you carry out your advertizing activities?
We spend about 900 000 euro per year for our marketing activities. Tonight you will be able to see our ad at TV3 and 8TV. It’s short footage with famous Spanish model Veronica Blume. Also we are going to do large internet ads, to appear in life styles magazines and keep working close with tour operators and web pages focused on tourism.
