The International Spa Association (ISPA), recognized worldwide as the leading professional organization and voice of the spa industry, recently identified 10 spa industry trends. Do these research-driven trends reflect your reality? Let’s check out the first five …

1. Spa visits are part of my lifestyle.
In 2005, more than two million spa-goers took part in lifestyle classes, such as healthy cooking, achieving balance and managing stress, and customizing at-home spa experiences. It’s obvious that our society is increasingly conscious of health and wellness issues (and career growth in the wellness industry is a direct result!). We may be a fast-food nation, but even the major burger chains are jumping on the wellness bandwagon by offering such healthy alternatives as salads, yogurts, and wraps.

2. Spa visits are a necessity.
The spa experience isn’t just a luxury or dream vacation package anymore. People are seeing a real need for spa visits to relieve and reduce stress, soothe sore joints and muscles, feel better about themselves, and improve their mental and emotional well-being. Certainly, if you have the means, why not use them to bring your body and soul into alignment by visiting alternative healing professionals?

3. The spa experience yields results.
More than one in 10 spa-goers treat spa visits as part of their overall healthy lifestyle, not just for pampering purposes. The American Massage Therapy Association also found that 30 percent of Americans who receive massage therapy do so for medical reasons, which include injury recovery, pain reduction, headache control, and overall wellness. This certainly isn’t the first time I’ve heard of holistic health practitioners producing results that traditional medicine could not achieve.

4. The spa industry incorporates medical components.
Medical spas are one of the fastest growing segments of the spa industry — from 2003 to 2005, the medical spa industry reported a 69 percent average annual growth. Popular medical treatments include chemical peels, microdermabrasion, body wraps, naturotherapy, and acupuncture. The spa experience has helped millions of people lose weight and feel better about themselves, all without the use of potentially harmful drugs.

5. The spa is my home.
Did you know that spa are now adding residential components, and real estate developers are building spas in gated communities and condominiums? Florida, New York, and Nevada are just a few of the states offering these spa communities. I could certainly live with a 24/7 spa experience. How ’bout you?

–Robyn Tellefsen

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007 at 9:04 am and is filed under Careers, Spa/Wellness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.