Ellis SPA FINDER

NEW YORK—Stressing that relief from stress is the bedrock of their industry's growth, more than 150 spa executives met in May to discuss and strategize critical issues at the first Global Spa Summit.

According to Pete Ellis, chairman and c.e.o., Spa Finder, challenges include the need to better define spa industry parameters, find and develop greater numbers of qualified workers to meet rising demand and create yardsticks—similar to hotel revenue per available room—that could provide financial investors with the tools they need to gauge spa growth and potential.

Attendees also pledged to identify new strategies for targeting growing numbers of baby boomers who are determined to avoid aging as long as possible.

Dusseau SPA STRATEGY

"The growth of the boomer sector is huge for virtually everyone in the spa industry," Ellis said. "And that's not just in the U.S., but in Japan, China and throughout Europe. Everywhere, people are taking charge of their health. They're living longer, have greater vitality and want to look better. Along with this is the rising age boundary until which productive work is performed.

"Today, being 60 means still being at the top of your game," he said. "That's a radical change from a generation or two ago."

But, as several participants noted, extending that top-performance period means coping better with stress.

Attendees of the Global Spa Summit, such as Ann McCall Wilson of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, sought to address the spa needs of age-defiant baby boomers.

Richard Dusseau, managing partner and president of Denver-based Spa Strategy, said the growth of business-related pressures, and reduced time to get away from them, was pushing ever greater numbers of people to build stress reduction into their vacation plans.

"This doesn't necessarily mean extended visits to spa resorts," he said. "Instead, we see great growth potential for spas to be part of the solution. Indeed, I predict a prosperous future for urban resorts, places where relaxation breaks are in close proximity to shows, restaurants and other city draws.

"Remember, as vacation time is compacted into multiple four-day or long-weekend breaks rather than the traditional two-week holiday, consumers will try and integrate spa experiences into these shorter time frames," he said.

Ellis said that along with rising demand for spa treatments, there's also a parallel upswing in demand for trained employees.

"There's a real labor shortage in this industry," he said. "The number of positions that could be has far outstripped the volume of trained people. I feel strongly we need serious academic training—the type that, for instance, Cornell and other leading universities provide to the hotel industry.

"Individual courses are no longer enough," he said. "We need to have majors, or concentrations of courses, that teach college students what they need to know about how to run a spa."

One factor behind this need is that in an industry with an estimated value of $40 billion, many spa practitioners still need to become more savvy about basic business practices, Ellis said.

"Today, we often see situations where operators don't have a complete business knowledge base," he said. "You may have people with lodging backgrounds entering the spa business without fully understanding its particular requirements. Or, you'll have skilled therapists lacking basic skills required to successfully operate a business."