Current Research and Events in the Spa Industry

Abstract

From the start of the modern spa in the mid-twentieth century, the spa industry has grown substantially worldwide. Part of that growth involves spas of different types—each with its own business model, including day spas, hotel-based spas, resort spas, and destination spas. Regardless of the type of spa, most operations provide massage and nutrition-related services, with nutrition growing substantially in importance. Recession has trimmed the industry’s sails, but barriers to exit are substantial enough that even weakened operations might continue in business. The spa industry is widely fragmented, despite some notable consolidation. Because of the pressure on prices, some spas have been tempted to offer services in a commoditized fashion, but the most successful spas will focus on their total operation to promote their brand. It seems likely that the spa industry’s growth will resume when economies improve.

How do spa-goers make decisions when faced with a choice conflict? Discrete choice experiments for day spas in Thailand

“…Most of the customers were not willing to pay more and/or downgrade therapist and product quality for above-average ambience quality, which is consistent with the results of Kucukusta et al (2013). Price, however, is a common selection attribute in many industries including the spa industry (Tabacchi, 2010). In this study, the high price variable was not significant, which indicates that the customers were willing to pay more for better …”

“…For example, Kucukusta and Guillet (2014) investigated spa-goers at hotel spas in Hong Kong, and respondents from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, and North America indicated that price was the most important attribute in the choice of a hotel spa in Hong Kong. This is likely because hotel day spa services in Hong Kong are expensive, and the spas in hotels are often more expensive than other types of spas (Tabacchi, 2010;Kucukusta et al, 2013).…”

“…The list of the choice criteria was developed by reviewing a collection of related studies in the literature. The four spa choice attributes used in the questionnaire were adapted from the literature: price (Jung et al, 2015;Kim and Perdue, 2013;Kucukusta & Guillet, 2014;Kucukusta et al, 2013), therapist quality (Terry, 2007;Kucukusta & Guillet, 2014), spa product quality (Lo et al, 2013;Kucukusta et al, 2013;Tabacchi, 2010;Ellis, 2008), and ambience quality (Lo et al, 2013;Kim & Perdue, 2013;Heung et al, 2001;Koh et al, 2010;Mak et al, 2009;Yavas & Babakus, 2005;Kucukusta & Guillet, 2014). The questionnaire was designed to examine consumers' trade-offs between quality attributes and price in relation to spa choice aiming (1) to investigate the influence of spa quality attributes and price attribute on consumers' spa choice and (2) to determine the relative importance of the four spa attributes under the study to identify which of the four attributes is the most important factor for spa-goer choice.…”

Empirical Study Utilizing QFD to Develop an International Marketing Strategy

“…The spa industry has grown internationally in all types of spas, including day spas, hotel-based spas, resort spas, and destination spas; however, the economy can impact the industry's growth and changes to spa offerings may need to be repackaged for continued success [20]. Snoj and Mumel [21] analyzed the service quality elements of health spas in Slovenia.…”

Market segment of families with children: a new stimulus for modern Czech spa industry?

“…Hall (2013) points out that positive perspective of the future of Czech and Slovak spas are seen in the increasing number of families with children. Moreover, spa treatments and spa travelers see as one of the benefits of this type of tourism to enrich and develop better relationships not only with partners but also children (Tabacchi, 2010). For this reason, the paper deals with a research aimed at the current situation of spa services in the chosen Czech region aimed at target group family with children.…”