Huge opportunity for UK Spa Sector "Wellness Trend"

Looking to the future, however, there are huge opportunities for the UK spa sector, driven by a growing interest from people who want to change the way they take care of themselves – what has loosely been described as the "wellness trend".

SRI International says the global wellness industry, which encompasses spas, complementary and alternative medicine, healthy eating, workplace wellness, fitness and anti-ageing therapy
is worth $1.9trn (£1.2trn).

The good news is that the UK sector is poised to take advantage of the wellness trend and come out of the other side of the downturn looking healthy.

As Kalirai observes: "There's innovation in both product and service that has driven growth." Previously, he adds, people saw spas as a luxury but now he believes there's a large percentage of the population who see treatments as a routine to help them relax, switch off and deal with the stress.

Tracey Stapleton, who launched The Spa PR Company in 2003 to take advantage of growth in the sector, says that she has
seen demand for spas boosted by the introduction of gift vouchers. "Vouchers make up about seven per cent of sales, while online promotions are working well and bookings are up about 30 per cent."

Spa visitors are a loyal market, says Stapleton, "and with a 75 per cent return rate I anticipate that wellbeing will continue to be an important aspect of modern-day life, particularly as work becomes more stressful and the working day longer". She adds that day spas are experiencing growth approaching 25 per cent year on year.

Steady as you go
So how are companies within the UK spa sector dealing with the downturn, meeting the demands of consumers and preparing for the future? David Hamdorff, managing director of destination spa Ragdale Hall in Leicestershire, has been in the spa trade for 21 years and seen turnover at Ragdale rise every year. Having survived the recession in the early 1990s he's stoic about the new challenges. "I'd like to think that as a mature business we know how to deal with this sort of situation," he says.

What Ragdale has done to protect itself is reinvest heavily in the business and its staff. "If we look after our employees well they look after our guests," explains Hamdorff. "As the business has done well over the last couple of decades we've invested in expertise, the facilities… Where many businesses were busy downsizing
we did the opposite."

The spa industry has changed, he concedes. People want to relax and get away from it all. "If you'd been talking to me 20 years ago people were in denial about stress, nobody would admit to it. If you were stressed you were ill and needed to see a doctor. Now people want to be relaxed and looked after."