Across North America, and yes - even here
in Canada - we have seen the spa industry grow so dramatically
in recent years that it is no longer a unique product catering
to the select few. In fact, the range of products that fall
within the spa definition is so broad that it is no longer
possible to define a spa in just a sentence or two.
The primary voice of the industry - the
International Spa Association ("ISPA") - suggests
that from a base of approximately 30 destination spas and
200 day spas in 1980 (almost all of them in the United States),
the industry has grown to approximately 9,600 spas in the
United States, and 1,300 in Canada - with annual location
growth of more than 20% per year for the past eight years.
While a significant percentage of the industry is in the
day spa segment, the highest growth rate in recent years
has been in the Destination and Resort Spa product categories.
One need only to look around at the number of resort properties
and urban hotels that now advertise spas as part of their
amenity package to understand that a spa amenity has become
almost as common as a fitness centre or a swimming pool.
The plethora of spa development has not
occurred in the absence of market support. ISPA surveys estimate
annual North American spa visitation of approximately 1.6
million, with associated expenditures of over US$10 billion.
While the rate of year over year growth is likely to slow,
the industry appears to be poised for continuing growth in
market support; hence we can expect to see even more spas
with a greater variety of services in the future.
Existing hotel and resort owners, and developers
of new products, are jumping on the spa bandwagon at an unprecedented
pace, eager to maintain a competitive edge, and fill in slow
demand periods. For some, the planning has been extensive
and professionally done, while others have tempted fate by
simply moving ahead in the absence of any true understanding
of why a spa facility is right (or wrong) for their specific
property.
A well executed spa development and operation
plan includes an assessment of your competition, your existing
markets, and of new market segments that could be targeted.
The facilities and services need to meet the needs of these
market segments, and they need to be delivered with professionalism
and consistency at a price that makes sense to the customer.
Having a luxury spa located in a mid-priced resort may be
just what is needed to help the resort attract a higher level
of customer, or it could be a complete and very expensive
mistake. Similarly, spending considerable amounts of capital
to develop a spa without considering professional management
of the facility could result in a loss of business, rather
than the gains that were anticipated at the outset.
Our recommendation is a simple one: Do your
homework, talk to experts, and be sure that your spa is going
to result in an improvement in the long-term profitability
of your hotel or resort. If you already have a spa, this
is not the time to sit back and relax. The spa industry and
the consumers that are making it successful are evolving
rapidly, with new products, new services, and a higher level
of needs and expectations to be met. Staying on top of trends
and constantly seeking to enhance operating efficiencies
will help to ensure that your spa is not trampled as the
industry stampedes to higher ground!
