2009 Spa Trends Continued…

Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider

My last post was the list of SpaFinder’s Top Ten Spa Trends for 2009.

Most people (except Peter who has to put up with my endless musings and Betsy and Beth at RBI who help me edit the report) don’t realize how long it takes me to write these spa trend reports. Actually, an entire year. Not that I am writing the whole time – but I am definitely thinking about spa trends all year long.

As I travel, read, and interact with people, I am continually evaluating whether what I am observing is something old, something new, a fad, a trend, important, not important, etc. I study the spa research we do at SpaFinder, dig into our internal reports which show where consumers are clicking on our website, and read through as many spa press releases and spa magazines from around the world as I can. (Even the photography in the magazines written in a foreign language that I can’t read tell me a lot.) And this past year, thanks to my involvement with the Global Spa Summit and the work we did on the Global Spa Economy Report, I had the chance to read through almost every bit of spa research that is out there.

So – I decided that I wasn’t finished blogging about trends just because I already shared the list with you. I thought it might be fun to tell you about some of the ‘insider stuff’ which led up to the spa trends report. I would also like to get your input on the spa trends that made the list and ask you to share examples as you come across them. Some blog topics…

a) which spa trends almost made the list but didn’t?
b) which one of the spa trends has already garnered the most media interest?

c) which two or three spa trends I am most excited about
d) which spa trend has been on my ‘watch list’ for five years and finally made it?
e) which trend makes me flat-out giddy!

Here is the list again. Care to take a guess on e?

Energy Medicine
Medical and Spa Tourism Shuffle
Eco-Embedded Spas
Trains, Boats & Planes
Brain Health
The Buzz Word? Stress
Casino & Spas
Mindful Spending
Gen X & Y Spa-ing Their Way
Brands, Brands, Brands
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