The spa tourism concept continues to grow and evolve in Canada. There are numerous options for spa goers these days with the recent proliferation of spas over the last decade. In just ten years, from 1996 to 2006, the spa industry experienced cumulative growth of 329%, which resulted in the Canadian spa industry surpassing the billion-dollar revenue mark in 2005. There were over 2,300 spa locations in Canada as of March 2006, of which 34% qualify as tourism oriented. Further growth in the spa industry is presumed as it is becoming more common for full service resorts to offer spa facilities; almost all newly developed and proposed resorts have a spa component. Thus, it is becoming necessary for spas to differentiate their products and services from the competition. The number and nature of treatments available is also expanding rapidly with market trends pointing to medical and wellness.
The majority of spas in Canada are Day Spas (74%), followed by Resort/Hotel Spas (19%), Medical Spas, Destination Spas, Club Spas, and finally, Mineral Spring Spas. While all of the aforementioned offer similar treatments, each fulfills a different purpose and experience for the spa goer. Out of competitive necessity, it is now a requisite for spas of all types to find unique features by continuously evolving and adding services, products, and packages in order to create differentiation and maintain an edge within the market.
Research suggests that spa tourism has not even come close to reaching its full potential in Canada (Source: Canadian Tourism Commission (“CTC”) 2006 Canadian Spa Sector Profile). The CTC study indicates that tourism is a key component to the spa industry, as tourists represent 29% of total spa visits and 25% of spa revenues in Canada. Most new and prospective resorts in Canada are opening with spa components combined with meditation and yoga rooms as additional amenities to create differentiation.
Although certain services such as massage treatments will always be a core offering within the spa industry, new trends point toward incorporating concepts such as “health and wellness” and “mind/body/spirit” programs into the service offering. Well-known Destination Spas in the United States and Canada have adopted this approach and offer multi-night all-inclusive packages that include accommodation, food, health consultations, treatments, exercise, relaxation, meditation, and educational programming on how to balance day to day life. This concept has created the emergence of a hybrid type of spa that has combined destination appeal with medical/wellness based services.
In recent years, the medical spa segment has been the fastest growing in terms of number of locations. Many other types of spas are adding medical treatments to their menu of services. As defined by Spa Finder (2007), a leading spa and travel marketing company out of the United Sates, there are two types of medical spas. The first type of medical spa operates under the full-time supervision of a licensed health care professional, and offers clinical aesthetic treatments such as BOTOXâ, microdermabrasion, plastic surgery and sclerotherapy. The second type of medical spa focuses on a comprehensive wellness and preventative care model that practices an amalgam of traditional western medical concepts and alternative philosophies. To date, there are very few spas of this second type in Canada. The 2006 Canadian Spa Sector Profile study indicated that only 8% of spas in Canada offered medical services as of early 2006. Of the spas within this study that did not offer medical treatments, 12% planned to introduce these types of treatments within the forthcoming twelve months.
In light of the proliferation of Canadian spas and spa tourism, hoteliers and developers should be encouraged to consider new and upcoming trends when developing plans for prospective spas. With more progressive competition, it is crucial to keep pace with trends in an effort to maintain an innovative and inclusive stance within the industry.
Cindy Schoenauer, Consultant
PKF Consulting, Vancouver
