Spa Headwinds, Spa Tailwinds….Which are Strongest?
- Published: Thursday, January 31st 2008
- in Living Well
Day two of the American Lodging and Investment Summit (ALIS) here at the Hyatt Century Plaza in LA.
There are great speakers and mostly business topics – economics, research numbers, forecasts, etc. I found the following comparison a good way to summarize what I have been hearing here.
Headwinds for the U.S. (things slowing us down)
- Credit crunch
- High oil prices
- Fear of recession
- Increasing deficit
- U.S. housing in trouble
- Weaker dollar
- Tailwinds (things giving us momentum)
- Rapid expansion of new travelers from China, India, Russia, Middle East
- Improved monetary policy and a faster reaction from governments to avoid major crisis (today’s rate cut by the federal reserve is a perfect illustration I think)
- U.S. has strong corporate profits
- Consumer spending is still strong
Bottom line is:
Most of the pessimism is in the U.S. and not in other countries. Researchers are predicting continued global growth – however slower than originally expected.
While most of the conversation is about hotels and resorts in general, I think it is safe to say that these forecasts can easily apply in the spa industry as well.