It’s essential for you to take some time analyzing your business every once in a while to see if it is keeping up with the market, improving, or going backwards. Undoubtedly, it’s hard work and there are bound to be daily challenges that you have to handle when do but it’s well worth the effort. According to data from Global Wellness Tourism Congress (GWTC) released at ITB Berlin on March 7, overall, spa business has grown rapidly in the past decade, so if your spa is holding steady it’s actually falling behind. The research done by SRI International for the GWTC found that the tourism market brought in $439 billion, in Europe (36 percent) and North America (41 percent). Spas have evolved from the curative to the luxurious destination today, so developing new marketing strategies to keep up and differentiate is paramount.
Consumers already associate spas with wellness, so spas expanding far beyond traditional pampering and integrating authentic expressions of the destination, can attract even more clients. The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Taipei, for example, will offer guests a series of innovative spa journeys inspired by Asia’s local culture and wellness rituals, combining ancient Chinese traditions and the scientific research and results–driven approaches from the West. In Italy, a new program from Borgo Egnazia (Puglia, Italy) will launch a new wellness program called FU’RE, which incorporates local traditions such as dance and boot camp training as well as relaxation and stress reducing treatments, including music therapy and salt-water flotation sessions in VAIR’s Roman baths.
For more local, organic inspiration, check out Feel the Heat.—Tatiana Makarevich