Insider: Best Practices Marketing Your Spa - Does Your Spa Make Cents, Scents & Sense?

By Judith L. Singer, Ed.D., ISHC, President & Co-Owner Health Fitness Dynamics, Inc. (HFD)

Dr. Judith L. Singer, Ed.D.

Spa… a magical marketing word and “tool” that has permeated the lifestyle industry.  We are surrounded by “spa things.”   With such a pervasive use of the word “spa,” we are not sure if we are diluting or strengthening, hurting or helping the “real spa” which for the purpose of this article is the multi-million dollar facility attached to a hotel or resort. The word spa is: 

• A powerful adjective that adds emotional, prestige and pricing value that takes a common product and elevates it to new level 
• A descriptive noun that connotes everything from pampering to relaxation, fitness to wellness, whirlpools/hot tubs to bathtubs, etc. 
• An active and passive verb that describes involvement in spa-related activities, e.g., people go spa-ing to sit in the steam room, take a fitness class, meditate in the relaxation lounge, etc. 
• A lifestyle concept that people strive to experience whether it be during an hour spa treatment or living in a residential spa community.  

The lodging industry has experienced an explosion of spa development especially in the last 5 years.  Hotels as well as resorts have seen the need for and value of adding a spa in order to sell rooms and real estate. Spas have become the new Starbucks…there’s a day spa on every corner and a lodging spa in every hotel/resort.  No one has done research on the saturation level or impact analysis, but development continues to occur at a fast pace.  As you will read in my article "Best Practices Marketing Your Spa" in the Hotel Business Review, HFD believes that there is more of a supply than there is a demand as evidenced by research we have done which shows what we consider to be an “under-whelming” average of about 35% utilization of treatment rooms.  If hotels/resorts were at 35% occupancy, they would be out of business.   

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Sincerely, 

Judith L. Singer, Ed.D.

ISHC, President & Co-Owner Health Fitness Dynamics, Inc. (HFD)