spa industry

I got lucky. Then I got super-lucky.  I heard about the Clinton “Health Matters” Conference scheduled just prior to the Bob Hope  Classic Golf Tournament (now called the Humana Challenge Golf Tournament) that was going to be taking place in Indian Wells, CA just a week before it was actually going to happen. Then I found […]

This entire piece was just an excerpt from a 336 page book.

Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed has ordered that all luxury spas and massage parlors across the island nation reopen immediately, reversing an earlier ban this week that stemmed from a staged demonstration by opposition groups objecting for stricter enforcement of Islamic values, several media outlets report.  The president said he expects the verdict from the island […]

Surprise, Shock, Confusion, Anger, Sadness, Relief, Perspective, Pride, Advocacy This sums up the range of my emotions and thoughts from the moment I read the first report that spas in the Maldives were being forced to close because of Islamic extremists’ accusations that they are fronts for prostitution – to today when I see that […]

All of us at SpaFinder want to wish you and yours a very happy New Year. From all corners of the Earth, we thank you for being part of the SpaFinder community and seeking to make wellness a part of your life.

With more than 250 spas in operation, Hilton Worldwide is one of the largest providers of spa services. In October 2010, it launched a brand-new spa-concept, eforea: spa at Hilton. Today there are more than 90 eforea: spa at Hilton locations in development, globally. Take a look inside this innovate new spa brand’s flagship location in Short Hills, New Jersey.

It’s always a highlight for me to be able to post our SpaFinder Top 10 Spa Trends Forecast for the New Year.  The reason?  It’s a lengthy research process (I work on it all year) and a somewhat tedious writing project (fortunately I have some help) because we have to be very exact.  So finishing it always gives me a chance […]

Before we leave our 2011 SpaFinder Spa Trend Forecast behind, let’s review  the “Hot/Getting Hotter” list.   We always have a lot of fun creating these as they become a short, handy way for people to get a sense of what’s in our trend report.  It also gives us a chance to throw in a few things that maybe […]

Last year was the first time I added a “counter-trend’ section to my annual trend report.  I felt it was important for people to understand that it is ok – even a good idea in some cases – to go against what is trending.  There is still value, however, in a person recognizing that this is […]

This was our 10th spa trend prediction for 2011 and while we are definitely seeing new and creative special events added to spa programs, I think we are also learning that if you get too narrow on a theme or topic, you might have a hard time attracting enough participants.  For example, while gluten free programs seem to be super […]

Our 9th spa trend prediction for 2011 was about adapting to people’s busy schedules via express spa treatments. While we mentioned quick services, no appointments necessary, several services at once, expanded hours, mobile, etc. there  have been some new developments that we didn’t forsee just 12 months ago.  New to the scene are “Drybars” (U.S.) where its all about getting […]

This, the 8th trend we identified in our list of the Top 10 SpaFinder trends for 2011, was all about the lengths people will go to (especially women) for beauty.  Rereading what we wrote a year ago, I was struck by our prediction that the use of the term “stem cell” would become huge.  How right we were.  In fact […]

I was thinking the other day that the spa industry has done one thing exceedingly well – better than many other sectors such as hotels and restaurants for example.  Spas have from the very beginning – partially because of their nature – incorporated indigenous treatments, cuisine, and programming into their offerings. This has served the industry well and is likely […]

Mark your calendar! Wellness Week is March 19-25!

This, our sixth spa trend prediction, was realized with the May launch of www.spaevidence.com at the Global Spa Summit in Bali.  The Science of Spa now has an entire website dedicated to exactly what was needed – a way for people to find the medical evidence that supports (or, in some cases doesn’t support) spa […]

The 5th spa trend we forecast was “Deals Gone Wild” and 2011 was clearly the year of the deal.  You’ll notice in the write up that our prediction was totally lined up with what Barron’s said recently “consumers who are bombarded daily with coupon offers from Groupon and its rivals could be coming down with “deal fatigue.”  So […]

Our  4th SpaFinder Spa Trend prediction for 2011 was one we called The Spa Brandwagon.  I am going to give ourselves an A for that call as it truly played out that way all year.  It used to be that we would see mostly one-of-a-kind spas.  Now we are seeing multiple spas of the same brand.  As our […]

Salt Rooms and Salt Caves was the third trend we predicted for 2011.  I’m giving us a B grade for this one.  We are seeing more salt rooms being added to resort spas (which seems to be the most economically viable way to go) and since our prediction, the number of salt therapy spas in the country has […]

The second trend we forecast for 2011 was called “All Eyes on Asia.”  Boy -were we ever right-on with this one!  If anything, I think we underestimated how large this trend will become. So in my humble (and my sister would add accurate) opinion, this one deserves an A+. :)     Looking through my bi-weekly Spa Opportunities newsletters that highlight spa openings all over […]

It’s that time of year….we are almost ready to unveil our 2012 SpaFinder Spa Trend Forecast!  But before we do that, I like to review each of our last year’s spa trend predictions (2011) and grade us on how well we did on each of the trends.  After all – it has been an entire year now […]