Spa Industry Resiliency…let’s continue the conversation
Spa Industry Resiliency…let’s continue the conversation
Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider
Since my previous post, How Resilient is the Spa Industry?, I have heard from various people in the spa arena. Some agree, and some disagree, with my somewhat optimistic analysis. Since our economic climate continues to be volatile – with some areas being affected more than others – I think we can benefit by keeping the conversation going. That way we can hear various sides of the issue and from various parts of the country (and world). As the economic climate continues to change, monitoring ongoing effects is important.
For example, you will see a recent comment posted to my previous blog from someone who is seeing quite a few day spas close. She also felt that the attendance at ISPA was down much more than what I had reported. Please let us know what you are seeing. We can all benefit from facing reality…whatever it might be.
In that spirit, I encourage you to take a look at this recent newsletter sent out by the Singapore research company, Intelligent Spas, which specializes in the Asia Pacific spa industry. Julie Garrow, the managing director, has been doing research for almost 8 years. She has good data and good insight as to what the data means. I think her observations in this newsletter are especially valuable. Here is an introduction to her remarks. Make sure to read the rest in her newsletter and by all means take advantage of the very reasonably priced data that she offers.
by Julie Garrow, Managing Director of Intelligent Spas
Preliminary findings of Intelligent Spas’ current round of Spa Benchmark Surveys have identified the majority of spa owners and managers are forecasting positive growth in both revenue and spa visits for calendar years 2008 and 2009. This optimism indicates many spa managers believe the spa industry may be protected to some extent from the negative effects of the current economic climate, as spa consumers continue to demand relaxing spa and wellness services despite potential falls in their discretionary spending, coupled with evidence that rationalisation has already occurred in some spa markets.”
Julie (pictured on the right) goes on to share some great ideas on how to take advantage of market changes during an economic downturn. She discusses them in these categories:
- Development Plans
- Staff Retrenchment
- Management
- Marketing
- Operations
It is definitely worth a read.
**If you wish to be put on a list that automatically sends my blog posts to your email, just let dulcy.gregory@spafinder.com know and she will add you to that list. Thanks so much!