TRENDS
Brands are exploding, but there’s still room for one-offs, such as the Tschuggen Hotel Group’s Bergoase mountain spa with is iconic ‘light trees’ in Switzerland
Oxygen inhalation is already offered by Danubius SALT ROOMS AND SALT CAVES
Salt therapy or air apparent
Healing salt caves may be centuries old, but they’re coming of age in modern spas and
salt therapy – or halotherapy – is one of the hottest 2011 trends. Clinical trials reveal halotherapy is benefi cial for respiratory and skin conditions. Spas are fi nding stylish ways to recreate the salt cave microclimate and with little need for a therapist, the treatments are attractive from a cost side. Counter-trend: It might be fun to point to the popularity of black and cayenne pepper in treat- ments/products – just to be amusing. But a real counter-trend could include a fresh angle on inhalation therapies – like oxygen. And in con- tradistinction to no-therapist experiences, there’s also an upswing in therapist-intense treatments, like the four-handed massage.
SALT ROOMS AND SALT CAVES Big deal vs done deal
Online group-buying deals have burst onto the global scene and spa/wellness deals are
a mainstay of generic deal sites like GroupOn or LivingSocial. With these companies backed by millions in venture capital, deals will certainly remain in the spotlight in 2011, but SpaFinder forecasts change. Watch for consolidation and a dot-deal shakeout; personalised, spa-specifi c deals from spa-only platforms; deals ‘on the spot’, thanks to mobile apps; and an intense focus on retention of the ‘deal customer’. Counter-trend: Sometimes a trend becomes so intensely saturated, that a backlash quickly causes a counter-trend. One example: deal fatigue, the preference for a regular spa appointment with a favourite therapist rather than saving a few dol- lars. Another counter-trend to rock-bottom spa deals: an uptick in ultra-luxe treatments like the us$1,250 (€912, £778) facial with Dangene in New York, which is booked up for months!
SPA BRANDWAGON To brand or not to brand?
T e industry is moving rapidly towards branded experiences
and 2011 will prove a watershed year for global spa franchise expansion and brand-spanking-new spa brand mod- els. International brands are aggressively moving into hot, emerging markets such as China and India. Brands indigenous to these emerging markets are expanding and major hotel brands are busy launch- ing carefully crafted, new in-house concepts. Fuelling this ‘brandwagon’:
sheer globalisation, strengthening econ- omies and consumer demand for the ‘know-ability factor’. Counter-trend: While brands are exploding, there will always be a spa consumer segment that values unique, customised one-of-a-kind spas. This could be a facial clinic down the street operated by a passionate owner or a des- tination spa in a special location, where the experience is shaped by the super- distinct vision of the founder.
THE SCIENCE OF SPA Proof and pampering
Get ready for a new era where more questions about the eff ectiveness of
Ultra-luxe treatments, such as MeBath’s US$50,000 bath ritual, are a counter-trend to spa deals
68 Read Spa Business online
spabusiness.com / digital
therapies and products will be asked and answers will be more transparent, as the emphasis on the science behind spa heats up (see sb10/3 p20). With more medical professionals embracing integrative med- icine, clinical studies on the benefi ts of various modalities will accelerate in 2011, and smart spas will yoke their off erings to a growing archive of medical data. Counter-trend: Our industry will not, and should not, succeed by promoting things that don’t have real benefi ts or are not good for people. But some spas might take coun- ter-angles: emphasising the sheer value of pampering and feeling good. Or a spa may choose to be transparent about modalities not yet scientifi cally proven and encourage people to be part of the ‘living research’.
SPA BUSINESS 1 2011 ©Cybertrek 2011
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