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SFi 2012
Spa trend reportTop 10 Global Spa Treds Forecast
r e S e a r c h
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SpFir 2012
Sp Tr Rprt
Top 10 Global Spa Treds Forecast
As SpaFider celebrates its 25th aiversary, we also mar aother
sigicat milestoe: the publicatio o our 9th aual Spa Tred
Report. We thi this years orecast is especially excitig, as the
idustry exits recessio mode ad begis a ew era o pushig the
evelope with resh, ew ideas that deliver more wows, more u
ad quite serious welless iovatio. There seems to be somethig
really ew i the air ad we lie what we are seeig!
Susie Ellis, president, SpaFinder, Inc., and ounding board
member o The Global Spa Summit
r e S e a r c h
SpaFinders annual spa trend orecast is based on analyses rom SpaFinder Research and its team o experts
that visit hundreds o spas and wellness businesses around the world every year, as well as interviews
conducted with leading industry analysts, and data and eedback collected rom SpaFinders partnerships with
over 15,000 spas, yoga, Pilates and tness studios, wellness practitioners and salons worldwide.
Developed under the direction o Susie Ellis, past Spa Trend Reports have been credited with orecasting
numerous industry mega-trends that have taken hold across the world. For example, spas are stil l ramping
up their green/eco initiatives, sleep health programs continue to evolve, wellness tourism is booming and spa
brands are a more powerul trend than ever.
As we look into our crystal ball or 2012, two distinct, overarching themes emerge. One is an industry
innovating diverse, newsensoryexperiences and treatments. The second is how spas are re-imagining and
extending their connection to customers, moving beyond the sporadic visit, to new programs and concepts
aimed at orging long-term relationships, such as coaching and online gaming. Please also enjoy our bonus
trend, Employee Wellness (pg. 52), which represents a serious, next wave opportunity or spa
businesses everywhere.
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To learn more about SpaFinders 2012 Trends Report,
or to speak to SpaFinder President Susie Ellis,
Contact: Beth McGroarty
(213) 300-0107 or [email protected]
SpaFinder, Inc.
257 Park Avenue South, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10010
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Tp T 2012 G Sp Trs:
1. Feet Focus: Healthy Feet Treatmets pg 6
2. Cold ad Ice Are Hot pg 10
3. Welless ad Beauty Coachig pg 14
4. Olie Welless Gamig pg 18
5. Pairig Fie Diig ad Spa-ig pg 22
6. Vibratio, Soud, Music, Light ad Color pg 26
7. The Glam Factor: Glambitio pg 32
8. Spa Evidece pg 38
9. Spas Become a Family Aair pg 42
10. Spas Go or the Wow pg 46
Special Tred Aalysis: Employee WellessPrograms & Spas pg 52
The Couter Treds pg 60
Buzz Words: Hot & Gettig Hotter pg 62
pg 6
pg 42
pg 22rtesy o Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas Courtesy o KLAFS
Courtesy o HOTEL METROPOLE Monte-Caphotographer Nicolas Izarn
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ourtesy o The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas (U.S.)
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FeeT FocuS
Hth Ft Trtmts
Spas ad welless ceters are ow puttig a big ocus o eet: rom oot tess
classes to ew 100-percet oot-ocused med-spas to podiatrist-oversee medi-
pedis to treatmets specically targetig high-heel pai. Ad while the aciet
Chiese practice o refexology revolves aroud usig oot acupressure to impact the
orgas o the body, the act that refexology ceters are becomig as commo as ail
salos may have more to do with people simply seeig pai relie via oot massages,
rather tha some sudde coversio to Traditioal Chiese Medicie.
The human oot is a delicate, complex structure o
33 joints and 26 bones, wrapped in a web o 126
muscles, ligaments and nerves. The most utilized
part o our bodies, the average person spends
our hours (pounding out 8,000 to 10,000 steps) on
their eet every day. We exert a orce equivalent to
several hundred tons every day on our poor southern
extremities.
So what do we encase our bodys precious shock
absorbers in these days? The ashion gods have
women wearing the sky-highest heels in history, and
women worldwide are bombarded with images o
Lady Gaga or Victoria Beckham teetering around
in insane six inch-plus killer heels. Two in ve
American women now wear high heels every day, and
43 percent claim they wont give them up, despite
the misery.1 Other oot-bruising ashions: ashionable
and unsupportive ballet fats and fip-fops, and the
running worlds mania or the new, nearly bareoot
oot gloves. Also signicantly adding to the worlds
collective oot trauma is the global obesity and
diabetes pandemic, and a global population aging at
unprecedented rates.
The upshot o all this sexy ootwear and anti-oot
behavior? An epidemic o not-so-sexy conditions
like plantar asciitis, bunions, hammertoes, corns,
metatarsalgia, fat eet, Achilles tendonitis, neuromas,
Haglands deormity, or pump bump, and arthritis,
etc. Medical experts argue that high heels share the
blame or the act that our in ve American women
now suer oot problems2 and also or the arthritis
surge underway in the UK, with 60 percent o cases
now occurring in eet.3 The pain can be so agonizing
that some women are actually having Botox, silicone
and Restylane injected into the bottoms o their eet,
to counteract the damage their high heels have done!
7
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o is: Muli-m, -
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exmps:
Consider the new, extremely comprehensive
Healthy Feet program at Canyon Ranch
SpaClub in Las Vegas (U.S.), overseen by a
well-known doctor o podiatry. The programs
tagline: I it will make eet eel better, its available
here The dedicated Healthy Feet acility
oers computerized gait analysis and orthotics
assessment, along with a whole slate o oot-
ocused treatments perormed in zero-gravity
chairs, with names like Foot Rescue! and
Healthy in Heels.
One striking example o the new oot tness
bootcamps is New York Citys Yamuna (U.S.), with
classes that assess peoples walk, improve their
posture and oer a host o therapies designed to
get peoples shoes out o their eet. (Yamuna
also oers Foot Waker kits, Stiletto Classes and
special exercise balls to prevent and combat high-
heel trauma.)
Spokesperson or Miraval, Dr. Andrew Weil, has
collaborated with Orthaheel, whose tagline is
Well-being with every step. Together, they are
introducing a new spring collection or his Weil
Integrative Footwear.
Podiatrist-overseen medi-pedi examples are
numerous, rom celebrity oot doc Margaret
Dabbs London locations (UK), including her Sole
Spa at the Liberty store, to Hand and Foot Spas
three London locations (UK) to Kachina NaturaSpa (Ireland). Famed French oot doctor Bastien
Gonzalez signature Le Soin de Pieds pedicures
are served up to well-heeled clients in London,
Dubai, etc., and are now incorporated as the
Pedi:Mani:Cure treatments at One&Only spa
resorts, rom Reethi Rah (Maldives) to
Palmilla (Mexico).
New 100-percent-eet-only med-spas include
Stride Wellbeing in northern Caliornia (U.S.),
which integrates ull podiatric medical services
and surgeries with a rich menu o oot-relie spa
treatments. (Strides program revolves around its
STRIDE Annual Foot Exam, or SAFE.)
Multi-treatment, oot-ocused spa packages
specically zeroing in on high-heel agony (i.e.,
special eet/cal massages, stretching, etc.) include
New Yorks Mohonk Mountain Houses (U.S.)
High Heeler treatment. Spa Montage locations
in Caliornia and Utah (U.S.) oer special high-heel
pedicures using special oils and gels to reduce
stiletto swelling.
Unique specialty pedicures, treatments and oot
spas are also on the rise, rom Mandarin Oriental,
Las Vegass (U.S.) 1930s- and Shanghai-themed
Chinese oot spa to Dragonfy spas (20-plus
Chinese locations) our-hand oot massages to
medi-pedis specically or men at the Mandarin
Barber in Hong Kong, perormed by a third-
generation Shanghai medi-pedi master, Samuel So,
using ten razor-sharp metal blades.
Loo or: almost every spa skincare line to include
specialty oot products, and or companies that
specialize in pain-relie, like Bioreeze, or oot-
care specialists like the more than 100-year-old
powerhouse Gehwol o Germany to continue to
make big strides into the new eet-ocused spaarena. (Gehwol products are used in hundreds
o global spas, including Canyon Ranchs new
Healthy Feet program.)
1 American Podiatric Medical Association Data, 20112 The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society, 20103 The Society o Chiropodists and Podiatrists, 2011
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cold and Ice aRe HoT
Thik: I Thrpis & c dsig expris
Spas have traditioally bee all about hot: sauas, steam rooms, Jacuzzis, hot roc
massages, etc. Hot is the spa worlds age-old weapo to help people relax, sweat,
detoxiy ad draw blood to the surace. But ow spas are bravely steppig out ito
the cold. Well see more icy therapies ad cold desig experieces i 2012, alog
with more hot/cold cotrast treatmets. Perhaps o tred better exemplies the spa
idustrys trajectory away rom mere pamperig tha this oe!
And, as noted in our 2011 trend, The Science o
Spa, approaches with some medical evidence
backing them will have greater traction in the uture.
Cold/ice applications are shown to reduce pain and
infammation in muscles and joints, and they certainly
release endorphins, which are shown to aect pain,
mood, etc. Contrast/hot-cold therapy treatments,
which have been around or more than 2,000 years
(the Romans ended their spa circuit with a trip to
the rigidarium), will continue their resurgence.
The Europeans have embraced the concepts
health benets via Kneipp therapy since the mid-
18th century; this therapy involves a circuit through
alternating hot-cold water oot baths. I cold
actually has a long (but less storied) spa history, its
now getting re-imagined in bracing new ways.
Loo or: more pure cold-rock massages and
contrasting hot/cold versions at places like the
Hand & Stone day spa ranchises (Canada), or at the
GlenApp Castle (Scotland), as well as more cold jade
and spoon usage and more ice masks in acials. At
every ESPA around the world, you can now scoop
ice crystals out o abulous ice ountains or bracing
rubdowns ater saunas. More hotel and resort spas
will add ice/snow rooms, or igloos, making that
transition rom hot to cold less dreadul than the old
cold plunges. Spa-goers to Qua Baths & Spa at
Caesars Palace Las Vegass (U.S.) arctic ice room
can experience alling snow; at the Dolder Grand
(Switzerland), they can have a snowball ght in the
snow room; and at the Aqua spa at the Belry (UK),
they can cool down in the igloo, or induce a giant
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wakeup call with ice hoses and showers. Spas like
the Ritz-Carlton in Vail, Colorado (U.S.), report that
many more spa-goers are taking group rolls in the
snow ater their Jacuzzi and sauna time.
And get ready or the launch o leading spa designer
Thermariums innovative cold experience that will
hit the spa world in February: the rst-ever snow
shower. Tap its cool, digital touchscreen, and you
can choose between light snowall, moderate
snowall or blizzard.
SPA-GOERS CAN BRAVE THE ICE CHAMBER
TREND AT PLACES LIKE THE NEW SPARkLInG
HILL RESORT AnD SPA (CANADA) OR
CHAMPNEYS TRING (UK).
The most stone-cold radical o these new
experiences? Cryotherapy, where people (wearing
just a bathing suit and socks, gloves and mouth/
ear protection to prevent rostbite), enter a chambercooled to the mind-numbing temperature o -120
C (or -184 F). A human can only last two to three
minutes in a cryotherapy room or pod (portable ones
are even available now), but its all the rage with
elite athletes to help them recover rom workout
infammation and pain. (One Welsh rugby player
dubbed it the evil sauna.) The Olympic rehabilitation
center in Poland has a cryotherapy chamber used by
sports teams rom around the world.
The medical evidence on cryotherapy is seemingly
mixed, and certainly more studies are needed. One
study reveals that runners who used cryotherapy
showed signicantly ewer blood markers or
infammation, while another study reported that
while athletes elt considerably less sore, it didnt
lower their creatine kinase the hallmark o muscle
damage. But popular wellness advocate/celebrity Dr.
Oz recently gave cryotherapy an enthusiastic thumbs
up on his TV show, arguing it has a direct positive
eect on pain and infammation.
Spa-goers can brave the ice chamber trend at places
like the new Sparkling Hill Resort and Spa (Canada)
or Champneys Tring (UK). The rst dedicated
cold therapy clinic the 4,300-square-oot U.S.
Cryotherapy Center just opened in Caliornia
(U.S.), with its new, ull-body cold therapy experience
poised to ranchise to numerous other U.S. locations.
While spas report that serious athletes jumped on the
cryotherapy craze rst, now more women are testing
its reputed benets on skin, mood, weight loss, etc.
The calorie-burning benets o ice therapy are gettingbuzz: A new book,4 Hours to the Perfect Body,
advocates ice therapy/immersion because it orces
ones body to burn a dramatically larger number o
calories while doing the hard work o keeping your
body warm.
Saunas, another spa staple, are taking a denite turn
toward the cooler: the rise o the inrared variety,
which emits inrared radiant heat that is directlyabsorbed into the body, without needing to indirectly
heat the air or steam, provides cooler, but deeper
penetration. Proponents note that theyre an ecient
way to alleviate pain and stiness and to quickly
sweat o 600-800 calories with no adverse eects. A
recent SpaFinder survey ound that roughly one in ve
spas now oers inrared saunas.
Courtesy o Sparkling Hill Resort and Wellness Centre (Canada)
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Courtesy o Thermarium Bder-Bau GmbH (Austria)
cs/-l y msv b u m 2,000
ys: t rms i s
iui wi i igiium.
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WellneSS & beauTy coacHInG
Hpig Pp Mk lg-Trm chgs
Health coachig, welless coachig, eve eyebrow coachig coachig is
a cocept gatherig steam at spas, with ew approaches ragig rom the very
seriousto the simply egagig ad u.
First, the serious. While coaching seems to be
a term that can get wantonly slapped onto any
proessional or personal goal, the concept is
especially applicable and packed with potential
or the spa sector. Integrative medicine leader Dr.
Ken Pelletier recently noted that the spa industry
is actually in a better position (than the medical
establishment) to deliver preventative healthcare,
i.e., to provide an environment and oerings that
can actually help people make long-lasting liestyle
changes the number-one medically proven path
to disease prevention and optimal health. But to llthose large (and potentially protable) shoes, more
spas must switch their model rom delivering
isolated treatments and establish more personal,
post-visit connections with clients that could actually
help sustain the changes i.e., coaching.
Wellness coaching and health coaching are,
thereore, very serious trends (rather than addish
new marketing terms), and some very high-level
institutions are validating that position. Harvard
Medical School (www.harvardcoaching.org) now
underwrites an annual conerence on coachings
role in healthcare, while supporting the Institute o
Coaching. And one o the many research initiatives
being analyzed by the International Coaching
Research Forum is developing coaching as a
global, academic proession. There are already
eorts underway to clearly dene the parameters
o coaching and help distinguish it (which is
uture-ocused) rom other proessional services
like counseling (which delve into a persons past).Corporations are digesting the power and ROI
o coaching: Those ramping up investments in
corporate wellness programs, to reduce their crushing
healthcare costs, are reporting that wellness coaching
is the most eective model to get people to adhere,
long-term, to healthy regimes.
Destination spas are taking the lead with both at-
the-spa coaching models and post-stay coaching
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3
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Courtesy o Miraval Resort & Spa (U.
M s ivs sis, m ig lgug
(i.., fss , i, .), will iv b y
s ss, s s ss liz mls uiqu w
i kig usms ul-ls, gg sig.
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connections. For instance, Arizonas Mii amo (U.S.)
spa resort recently integrated coaching, and its
guided journey packages include ollow-up with a
guests onsite coach. Miraval Resort & Spas (U.S.)
Integrative Wellness Program oers ongoing, back-
home wellness consultations, and San Franciscos
Cavallo Point (U.S.) oers diverse orms o Lie
Enhancement Coaching, where guests can opt orunlimited ollow-up sessions. The Deereld Spa in
Pennsylvania, one o the original destination spas
in the U.S, reports that its most popular specialty
program is its Expert-in-Residence: Love Your Lie
with Certied Master Lie Coach, Dawn Morningstar.
Canyon Ranch health resorts (two U.S. locations)
Follow Up at Home program involves 30- to
50-minute phone, email and Skype sessions with
a whole host o practitioners: doctors, nutritionists,
lie management therapists, even Traditional
Chinese Medicine experts and spiritual counselors.
And Rancho La Puerta (Mexico) has teamed up with
technology company, SelOptima (creators o the
www.spaevidence.com website), to adopt its brand-
new WellO guest engagement platorm (eaturing
health assessments, progress charting, ways to
stay in touch with the spas experts and peer social
networking) all designed to keep people connected
to both the spa, ater departure, and to their healthregime.
More coaches o diverse stripes, and more
coaching language (i.e., tness coach, not trainer,
etc.), will invade both day and resort spas, as these
sectors realize the models unique power in keeping
customers ultra-close, engaged and spending. One
Wellness at the Solara Resort and Spa (Canada) has
a deep pool o health and wellness practitioners, a
long-standing connection to proessional sports andtraining and has new Pathway to Engagement and
Lie Strategy Coaching components in its program.
And coaching is now hitting the beauty arena, too.
Spa skincare brand Skin Authority represents an early
pioneer o the concept o ater-spa ollow-up with
online aestheticians. French beauty brand Clarins
recently opened its new Parisian fagship, Spa My
Blend, and its therapists are now called beauty
coaches, who provide support or people to reveal
their own essential beauty. (The brands spa also has
pool coaches or customized aquatic activities, and
tness specialists known as body coaches.
New technologies are driving, and will quicken, the
trend: email, Skype, texting and apps already make
long-distance coaching connections easier and more
eective. And a whole rat o high-tech gadgets now
makes it possible or people to monitor and share
their vital signs, as well as every calorie consumed
and burned, with a spa doctor or coach.
Predictio: The big, breakthrough opportunities
still lie ahead, as proessional coaching networks
are just getting organized. When this becomes
widespread, every type o spa would then be able to
enlist coaches, train them in its unique philosophies
and have them serve as the critical link between
the on-site spa experience and its clients long-
term wellness success. Companies like Wellpeople.
com (U.S.) already oer certied on-site or virtual
wellness coaches or spas, hospitals and businesses.
Australian-based The Cosgrove Group, which has
oered wellness coaching-certication programs at
home and in Europe or a ew years, just launched
in the U.S., and expects to certiy 1,000 American
wellness coaches this year. This is all very new (rightabout where the tness industry was 30 years ago)
and eorts to establish certication models will
continue to develop.
Loo or: greater specialization in coaching
approaches (i.e., states o change, mindulness,
wellness wheel, etc.), and or ever-expanding
coaching categories, i.e., nutrition coaches, sleep
coaches, etc. New models like group coaching and
shorter-term, ollow-up coaching will emerge, so thata coaching program o some variety could be within
the reach o day spas, hotel/resort spas and more
destination spas and to more people, given the
greater range o price-points.
The coaching trend is a serious and welcome one or
the global spa industry, and could ultimately prove
the key to making the spa that true third place (like
Starbucks) or so many more people.
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GAME-CHAnGInGWellneSS
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onlIne WellneSS GaMInG
P yr W t Hth & Wss
The sheer umber o people, o every age, all over the globe, that sped vast amouts
o time playig olie games is staggerig. Hal a billio people worldwide play olie
games at least a hour a day. The average youg perso speds 10,000 hours gamig
by age 21, as much time as they sped i school rom age 12 o.4
19
4
Gaming is not just about zapping virtual enemies or
or Farmville residents anymore. With everything-
themed games now, millions o people worldwide
have played dozens o spa-ocused games, including
Sallie Spa, Saras Super Spa or Spa Mania. And
French beauty powerhouse Clarins just took the
spa-themed game to a new level with its Spa Lie
on Facebook, where players compete to manage an
ever-rising fow o clients in search o treatments, and
where they can redeem points or Clarins products.
But the big, powerul, serious, truly game-changing
gaming and wellness connection lies ahead, as
more medical experts agree that gaming could
actually be the key to changing the worlds health,
given the unique power that its core mechanisms
(especially social dynamics) have on sustaining
wellness goals. Countless medical studies show that
the old directives rom doctor to patient dramatically
ail to keep people on track. But, as so many experts
point out, the gamication o adhering to regimens
(whether tness, diet, stress reduction, even beauty),
with core game elements like voluntary participation,
rules, points, levels o achievement, challenges/goals,
rewards and a social eedback system, may be the
best weapons ever invented or keeping people in the
health game. When you add the social gaming layer
(peer/network pressure), research shows people are
radically more likely to adhere. Add the new gadgets
that make monitoring bio-inormation, and connecting
the results online, easier (every vital sign, every calorie
eaten or burned, every step taken can get uploaded),
and the game can suddenly get very precise and real.
While hundreds o tness/health games (like the
Wii Fit or Nintendos Lets Yoga! etc.) have been
around or years, wellness gaming concepts are
suddenly getting ar more serious and complex.
Improving health behavior is a massive $2.5-trillion
opportunity (and stakeholders include hospitals and
doctors, insurance and pharmaceutical companies
worldwide)5 so the medical establishment is now
getting involved.
The leader in this movement is the U.S.-based
Games or Health project which brings medical
proessionals and game developers together to
study how cutting-edge games (i.e., exer-gaming,
physical therapy, bioeedback, nutrition, emotional
health, games, etc.) can improve peoples health and
governments healthcare policies.
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World-renowned medical institutions like the Mayo
Clinic (U.S.) are now holding conerences like
Games as Lie-Changers. And insurance giants are
increasingly betting on gaming: Aetna just partnered
with wellness game developer MindBloom to launch
Lie Game, designed to make it un, rewarding
and social or members to achieve wellbeing goals,whether drinking more water or planting a tree. Lie
Game wants to gamiy everything rom spiritual to
relationship wellness, and serves up personalized
content like daily imagery and audio to help people
meditate.
SuperBetter is a new game rom Social Chocolate,
a digital serious games company recently launched
by gaming guru, Jane McGonigal. Its stated goal isto turn everyday olks into superheroes or health,
and it revolves around a social platorm that allows
people to recruit their riends, amily and physicians
as allies in their quest or better health.
New sites like HealthyWage.com allow dieters to bet
their money (and prot nicely) i they lose weight.
Nike+ and FitBit (and a whole host o other GPS- and
bio-based tness tracking apps) allow exercisersworldwide to do things like archive their workouts
and compete in challenges they throw down to their
online network. Skimble, a mobile tness platorm
that schedules short workouts into a busy day, shares
peoples progress socially on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
OptumizeMe lets users dish out/accept physical
challenges like run ve miles or do 50 push-ups.
Soon-to-launch, tween-ocused Zamzee uses
hip-worn sensors to reward kids or all physical
activity, awarding points that can be redeemed or
shopping, etc.
Corporations (given their crippling healthcare costs)
will continue to ramp up the games, partnering with
new companies like Keas that get employees to eat
better and exercise through a live and virtual gaming
mix; their on-site tness challenges are praised
or delivering tangible, eective motivation or a
community o people that already work together.
Spas, tness and wellness centers are ground
zero or kick starting healthy liestyle changes
so the opportunities or integrating gaming/game
mechanisms are uniquely logical and powerul.
Mind-body guru Deepak Chopra has a brand-new
meditation game, Leela, that uses 43 interactive
exercises, ocusing on the bodys seven energy
centers, to help people relieve stress. Chopra spent
three years designing Leela, and has explained
that it was the addictive nature o video games that
attracted him, allowing his philosophies to reach and
engage ar more people. Destination spa Canyon
Ranch (U.S.) now oers an entire suite o iPad appscalled 360 Well-Being (with tness, meditation and
healthy cooking videos, etc.). Were they to add layers
like challenges, phases o achievement, rewards
and a social network, that app would easily be
transormed into a game.
Wellness gaming is projected to generate $2 billion
in revenues by 2015,6 and the challenge or the spa/
wellness industries will be to create truly engaginggames (whether online or o) that creatively connect
their clients to the spas programming, experts and
special community, whether they use/customize third-
party gaming platorms or unleash their own. Spas
have a strong advantage in wellness gaming because
they orge powerul, real connections with and
between guests, ar more real than the generic,
purely virtual, wellness gaming communities.
Gaming delivers unimagined client engagement
and connection. And thats why the spa world will
ultimately jump urther into the wellness game.
4 Reality is Broken, Jane McGonigle, 20105 Cited in: Can Games Fix American Healthcare? Shaun Quigley,10/2011.6 RealNetworks Data, 2009
20
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Courtesy o Miraval Resort & Spa (
21
t big, wul, sius, uly gm-gig
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ky gig wls l.
Courtesy o Clarins (France)
Courtesy o Deepak Chopra (U.S.)
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22/64Courtesy o HOTEL METROPOLE Monte-Carlo; photographer Nicolas Izarn (Monaco)
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PaIRInG FIne dInInG & SPa-InG
Th utimt cissr expri
May hotels ad resorts do very e ood AnD very e spa, but historically their star
oerigs have bee dissociated, both i terms o maretig ad as a cosideratio by
guests. That is chagig dramatically. Fie diig ad spa-ig are beig aggressively
paired pacaged curated mareted ad savored together as ever beore.
Creative culiary-plus-spa experieces ad pacages are a tred because theyre
massively appealig: a logical, sesory, liestyle combo or romatics, pleasure-
seeers ad true cooisseurs (as well as that growig crossover demographic o
people that are both rabid oodies ad spa/welless devotees).
So many hotels and resorts now boast award-winning
celebrity ches and award-winning spas, and the
trend is about tasting and appreciating both. One
example: The Hotel Metropole o Monte Carlos
(Monaco) restaurant Jol Robuchon (eaturing a che
with more Michelin stars than any other in the world)
can be combined with the hotels incredible ESPA
spa (one o Cond Nast Travelers top 25 spas in the
world). When ve-star ood and wine gets intertwined
with ve-star spa, it represents the ultimate romantic
or special celebration experience.
The trend is unabashedly about healthy hedonism,
or, as David Romanelli (the Los Angeles yogi amous
or his experiences where yoga is paired with ood,
wine and chocolate), put it, its all about combining
moments o sensory ecstasy But it also has
practical appeal: In this economy, people seek shorter
stays, and these culi-spa weekends are typically
packed with a ull social and sense-immersing
itinerary.
In pursuit o truly engaging oodie/spa junkie
combos, some spas are oering guests a chance
to harvest and help cook ood, attend cooking and
wine pairing classes, make outings to local wineries
and restaurants, etc. all wrapped up with daily
spa treatments. Consider it a very sophisticated re-
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imagining o the once-tacky all-inclusive vacation:
i.e., Grand Velas Resorts (Mexico) describes its
culinary/spa getaways as Beyond all-inclusive,
beyond all compare.
These oodie/spa packages are now so numerous,
theyre impossible to summarize. Culinary weeks/
weekends revolving around choosing, preparing and
easting on healthy ood include Gwinganna Liestyle
Retreats (Australia) Feast and Nourish nutrition
education/cooking/spa getaways and San Franciscos
Cavallo Points (U.S.) cooking/spa retreats, designed
around group expeditions to local armers markets.
Many spas are also fying in (in tandem) amous
ches and wellness gurus rom around the world to
headline their special gastro-wellness weeks. Just
one example: Cascina Papaveris (Italy) Plates and
Pilates retreats, pairing a amous che and Pilates
instructor, so oodies and the tness-minded can be
immersed. Three daily Pilates classes are topped o
with meals sourced rom the villas garden and rom
group excursions made to local arms. (Guests even
do communal trufe hunting in the nearby hills.)
Foodies can be distinguished rom gourmets in
their quest or local, authentic gastro-explorations,
and countless spas are hitting that angle, including:
One&Only Palmillas Mexican Culinary Festivals,
which invite local ches and oer regional wine/tequila
tastings, along with outings to super-authentic, local
eateries.
More spas like the Four Seasons Doha (Qatar),
with its Aprs Spa Ca, will unveil in-spa dining
experiences or special spa cas. The Guerlain Spa
at the Waldor=Astoria New York (U.S.) just launched
in-spa lunches, which are served pre- or post-
treatment, in the grand-scale lounge. (Spa-goers can
order on iPads located throughout the spa.)
At some spas the spa/wine/ood pairings are
explicitly curated to enhance each other. Consider
Napa Valley, Caliornias Auberge du Soleil (U.S.):
Each vinotherapy spa treatment is paired with a
tasting o a local wine selected by the propertys
sommelier, who explains the logic behind the pairing
and why its the right blend o sensory experiences.
At the Ritz-Carlton Denver (U.S.), male clients sample
local artisanal beers while they help make their own
beer-based spa treatments.
Finally, more spas will continue to accommodate their
guests unique ood demands, rom Fivelements
(Indonesia) raw ood cooking classes and menu to
Hawaiis Grand Hyatt Kauai Resorts (U.S.) gluten-ree
dining across its six restaurants.
In 2012, more travelers worldwide will choose their
destinations based on their unique, sensory-sating
dine/wine/spa propositions.
25
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VIbRaTIon, Sound, MuSIc,lIGHT & coloR
Sps ar Pikig up G Virtis
Spas have used soud, music, color ad light i the past, but typically as ambiet,
aterthought accessories. now theyre ote becomig the mai evet, ad this ew wave
o approaches, each essetially rooted i vibratios ad requecies, is beig uleashed
to help us relax ar more quicly, clear eergy blocs ad relieve pai, etc. new soud,
music, color, light (ad physically vibratig/rhythmic) experieces are either beig
deployed idividually or i heady, immersive combiatios egagig multiple seses
ote i startlig ew ways.
Spas have traditionally spoken to our sense o touch
(via massage, etc.), and to a lesser degree, our sense
o smell (aromatherapy). Now more spas will impact
our eyes, ears and bodies with an explosion o good
vibrations. We already know how deeply these orces
impact us: how sounds o nature can help relax us;how drumming sounds can energize us; how walking
into rooms o dierent colors can alter our mood;
how stepping into bright sunshine enlivens us; how
rocking calms us down
New technology (oten in the orm o devices,
chairs and pods) is driving these innovations, as
is our need or solutions that radically disengage us
rom our increasingly anxious, stressed-out minds.
In addition, new scientic evidence about how
requencies and vibrations aect us both physically
and emotionally is bolstering the trend. Some o the
new approaches are based on vibrational medicine,
the concept that various systems (and organs) inour bodies vibrate at dierent requencies, and
disruptions can aect our health and wellbeing. While
the science supporting these individual approaches
is strengthening, the new multi-sensory spa
concoctions are just that very new. Less is known
about the net results o these sound/music/light/color
cocktails, but theres no doubt it will be un to
nd out.
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Soud ad music: Music in treatment rooms is
expanding to many channels, including options
like white noise and spa proessionals report a
strikingly wide variety o preerences. A breakthrough
thats re-inventing the idea o passively listening to
the old massage music: a new sotware innovation
out o Italy, MUUSA, that creates real-time treatmentmusic (with tones, beats and sounds like wind
rustling and rivers fowing), directly generated by the
therapists hand movements and the clients bodily
responses. Clients then depart with a CD o the
wellbeing music-art they created in tandem. Taking
it one step urther are those who incorporate live
music. Canadas Spa Eastman oers Harp Therapy,
where the melodic and therapeutic sound o the
live harp accompanies the treatment and makes it
adaptable to the emotional state o the massage
recipient. At Toskanaworld locations in Germany
where Liquid Sound is the norm, live concerts are
interspersed on special occasions.
More music therapy examples: Vermonts Stowe
Mountain Lodge (U.S.) has unveiled a new Zen
Sound Therapy program, while Fonteverde (Italy)
reports that its pioneering Music o the Brain
program is still popular. The medical evidence
strongly backs music therapy: Natural Standard,
a research collaboration that reviews global
scientic evidence, gives it a straight A or its
ability to enhance mood and reduce anxiety. Were
seeing more spas like the Lodge at Woodloch in
Pennsylvania (U.S.) or comortzones Soul Space
spa in Florence, Italy, implement ancient Tibetansound massage, using singing bowls designed to
balance the body/mind through vibrations. Tuning
orks are increasingly being used in acials and with
acupuncture. Sometimes the trend is about sound,
and other times its absence: at MAVIDA Balance
Hotel & Spa in the Austrian Alps, the salt water
foatarium lets people foat weightlessly in a totally
soundproo room.
Color ad light: Color is refected light that hits
our retinas through vibrating wavelengths (which is
then interpreted by our brains) so color is both a
physical sensation and a vibration. Chromatherapy
is based on the principle o using colors to generate
electrical impulses, or elds o energy, said to
activate biochemical and hormonal processesthat either sedate or stimulate us. Research has
shown that color has measurable psychological and
physiological eects: Warm colors, like red, act as
stimulants (and have been shown to elevate heart
rates and arouse eelings o excitement), while cool
colors, like blue, have a calming eect. Color therapy
is gaining momentum as more spas incorporate
Ayurvedic medicine, an approach that conceives o
the body in terms o seven chakras, each associated
with a specic organ, and each, in turn, associated
with a color. In Ayurvedic thinking, physical
imbalances can be improved via color therapy.
More hydrotherapy experiences are incorporating
color/color sequencing, and more massage
therapists are adjusting color and light to maximize
treatments. New York Citys Yelo Spa (U.S.), the
pioneer o the napping pod, highlights sunsets and
sunrises simulated via color and light to help regulate
circadium rhythms. At Barcelonas Spaciomm
at Hotel Omm (Spain), relaxation rooms eature
rocking gravitational beds with chromo-therapy. At
Arizonas Mii amo spa resort (U.S.), Qua Baths and
Spa at Caesars Palace Las Vegas and in many UK
spas, Aura-Soma Color Reading is now available.
This unique experience has a spa guest select ourbottles rom a vast display o colored liquids, and a
practitioner guides him or her through the signicance
o his or her color choices and combinations.
Light therapy may have the most science to back it:
High-intensity light is shown to improve skin, mood
and sleep disorders, and its impact on treating
seasonal aective disorder is well known. LED light
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therapy or aging and damaged skin is one o the
hottest skincare treatments, and more spas like
Acqualina by ESPA in Miami (U.S.) and Mandarin
Orientals around the world use red and blue LED
technologies to repair/renew skin cells.
Multi-sesory experieces: The blended, multi-
sensory good vibrations approaches are perhaps
the most exciting aspect o the trend. Were seeing
an explosion o new spa products like saunas, steam
capsules, lounge chairs, massage tables, tubs and
experiential pods that interweave light, color,
sound and music/rhythm together. These high-tech
experiences are designed to release people rom
sel and stress quickly and intensely, and their ot-
stated goal is to plunge people into new experienceso space, time and consciousness. For some spa-
goers, they may deliver unprecedented bliss, while or
others, the dazzle could eel like sensory overload.
The usion o sound, music and water is one
approach. For instance, Kohlers new VibraAcoustic
baths (at many spas worldwide) broadcast sound
waves through the water, all choreographed to music
and chromatherapy. In Germany, the Toscana ThermeSpa brand has introduced Aqua Wellness and Liquid
Sound, or bathing in light and music, designed
by a well-known multimedia artist. Spa-goers foat
weightlessly in warm salt water and are gently cradled
and manipulated by therapists, as the underwater
music transorms the pool into a concert hall. At
the spas Bad Sulza location these eects are oten
combined with laser light shows and electro-acoustic
music.
And then there are the uturistic massage tables and
experience pods. Major spa designers like Gharieni,
Klas, Schletterer or Thermarium are all rolling out
variations o multi-sensory devices. We are seeing
spa tables that can incorporate vibromotors,
musical massage (with tables shaking to musical
requencies) and oscillating waves combining
music and chromotherapy. Arizonas Miraval Resort
& Spa (U.S.) recently introduced its instantly popular
Taiz Sensorium, a unique therapy that integrates
vibrational medicine, music therapy, gentle human
touch and aromatic oils to ully engage the ull
spectrum o senses.
One o the most high-concept, mind-melting, sense-
blending spa experiences comes rom Viennese artist,
sha., whose award-winning AlphaSphere (at spas
like Berlins Mandala Hotel ONO Spa or Bulgarias
Kempinski Hotels Zalez spa), encases spa-goers in
blue light, sound and vibrations, while their bodies
sway to the rhythms o their own breathing. Klass
new WOLKE 7 CLOUD 9 designed with sha.s input
is a pure ritual o the senses. A spa-goer reclines ina canopied, warm cradle-pod and experiences image
and color clouds, eaturing incredible cloud scenery
and color transitions based on the real sky. Immersive
sound clouds are ormed out o the rhythms o
the swinging cradle and the users own breathing,
creating the three-dimensional music, all while sot
vibrations caress the entire body. The result? An all-
encompassing body/mind eect that begins to work
almost immediately.
Spas are denitely picking up good vibrations and
it cant help but give people some real excitations.
30
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GLAMOUR TAkEScenTeR STaGe
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THe GlaM FacToR
Gmiti
The headlies i the spa idustry these last ew years have bee all about welless.
But ow beauty ad groomig is seriously boomigbeig drive by a ew tredwe call glambitio. The itesity, requecy (ad ote sheer whimsicality) with
which people are gettig glammed up, groomed, bedizeed ad beautied is
explodig worldwide.
33
7
And, given economic realities, i.e., the sharpening
wealth polarities making headlines worldwide, this
ambition-to-be-glamorous trend is taking two
paths. One path: Not only are whole new breeds o
glamour and grooming services emerging, they are
now super accessible and aordable. The industry is
working overtime to invent ways or the not-super-rich
beauty-seeker to quickly change up his or her looks
and hair (in ways that are oten downright erce),
and get more high-impact little beauty xes and
rills, more cheaply and more oten. And or the lucky
ewer that have never been so fush, were seeingnew, ultra-high-end spa/beauty experiences emerge
that distinctly channel classic, retro glamour
ushering in a triumphant return or some unabashedly
old school pampering.
Fuelig the tred: Given the long economic
downturn, the lipstick eect is certainly in eect, but
the smaller beauty splurges have now expanded way
beyond that touch o red lipstick.
But whats really ueling the global glambition and
grooming upsurge (or both the 99 percent and the
1 percent) is the sheer impact and saturation o
celebrity culture and imagery, making red carpet
levels o beauty and maintenance suddenly de
rigueur or the rest o us. Just a ew years ago a
good haircut and nice skin (and maybe a blow dry
or special occasions) passed as groomed. But the
beauty bar has been intensely ratcheted up. What
was once the exclusive province (or duty) o starlets
the weekly blow outs, the proessionally done
makeup, brows, lashes, waxing, tanning, nails, the
Botox or llers is now the standard. The endless
dissection (on TV, in magazines and blogs) o every
celebrity look, and precisely how they achieved it
(down to those little crystals braided in their hair), is
not only really quickening beauty trends, its making
the world very glambitious to go out and get it, too!
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la carte, quicie groomig ad beauty: And get it
they can: These glamming and grooming services are
increasingly available at low price points, everywhere
and the rituals are now or everyday, not just
special occasions. A key Glambition trend is the
global prolieration o new spa/salon niches serving
up all types o la carte beauty, rom eyes to toes,and everything in between.
Examples: The blow-dry bar phenomenon is heating
up at chains like Drybar (rapidly expanding across
the U.S.), with its rock-and-roll, party atmosphere
and monthly Bar Tabs, packaging requent blow
outs and massages on the cheap. Or at ast-growing
Blow Dry Bar (10 Australian locations), which ups
the glamour with ree champagne and antiquechandeliers. Typically $35 or less, these blow-dry
bars make it possible to always look done, the new
mandate.
Hershesons hair spas, with ve locations in London
(UK), illustrate the celebrity-ambition trend. Walk in,
choose rom a dozen cois like Brigitte Bardot or
Kate Moss, and or 24, the hair spa will recreate
the look. From elaborate bows made o hair, to thenew Pop-Up Pony Bar, the hair spa is dedicated to
aordable, super-trendy hair transormations.
Proessional makeup application salons are rising,
like Los Angeles-born Blushington Makeup Beauty
Lounge (U.S.; adjacent to Drybars), with a similar
set-menu model: i.e., choose rom Pure & Simple to
Simply Glowing, where a ull ace costs only $35.
Lash and brow mania took fight last year, and eyes-
only places like Blink (across the UK and now in Henri
Bendel in New York, are solely dedicated to glamming
up the peepers, with lash tints, brow shaping, alse
eyelashes, etc.
Wax-only salons like European Wax Center or Uni K.
Wax (national, U.S.) are spawning.
Quickie beauty-x services (a 2011 trend) are
speeding up the niche spa movement. Hong Kongs
Fast Beauty serves up express acials, waxing,
threading and massages, while Groom at Selridges
(UK) oers 30-minute, two-therapist beauty combos
like Zoom Groom, a acial and mini mani/pedi.
More services like Glamourpuss Makeover
Photography (UK) will launch, specializing in beauty
makeover headshots because regular people want
star-quality photos or their close-up on Facebook.
These spa/salon niche brands are building devoted
ollowings o glamour girls (and, yes, guys, too,
particularly with waxing), aided by aggressive loyalty
programs embracing social media. Expect a sharply
renewed ocus on men, the gentlemans shave
and barbershops within the spa (as well as new
barbershop-spas), serving up new Mad Men-inspired
club atmospheres and imbibing.
Bligy, edgy, creative beauty: A distinct beauty
trend is that whats considered beautiul or cool is
moving beyond conventional long blonde hair and
demure Barbie-doll prettiness, with looks becoming
ar more blingy, theatrical, playul, sel-expressive and
edgy. Now that the beauty market has widened to
capture teens and even younger girls, it is a healthy
development. There is no longer just one way or
young women and girls to look, who are now inspired
by artier, more unconventional models like a Lady
Gaga or the gothy vampires o Twilight.
Not blending in artsier sel-expression is
the new glambition or tweens and younger
women, even i they still lust ater all the trimmings.
And that edgier look is impacting the whole spa/
beauty market and all ages. The goal is lots o call-
attention-to-yoursel impact, but not or a whole lot
o bucks, whether it is outrageous metallic, mesh,
lacey, snakeskin and dagger-like pointy nails, or the
serious hair fair trend, with tresses done up with
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Courtesy o Blushington (
Courtesy o Spa Martier Courtesy o DryBar (U.S.)
Courtesy o Spa Martier (U.S.)
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Courtesy o Spa Martier (U.S.)
ornate braids, eathers, ribbons, crystals or colorul
extensions.
The tale o nails best illustrates the unkiness
transpiring more widely. Beyond the long-lasting
(purse-riendly) new gel and airbrush manicures,
technicians have devised endlessly outrageous, fashy
looks, like those eaturing adornments, including
genuine Swarovski crystals, holograms, glitter,
gradation and mixed media art at more places like
New York Citys Spa Martier (U.S.).
High-ed, retro spa glamour: While the beauty
market unleashes new, aordable opportunities to
get glamorous, the higher-end spa market is trending
even more high-end. It is a sign o the times, as the
wealthy are even more so in places like the U.S.,
and new upper classes are exploding in markets like
China, Russia and India. But the high-end spa/beauty
trend isnt just generic luxe; it has a distinct look-
and-eel that conjures classic, very retro, concepts
o glamour think Old Hollywood glamour, or the
stately, perumed spa palaces o an early Elizabeth
Arden or Marcella Borghese. The look o spa has
lately been dominated by a medical or hyper-modern or wellness vibe, a trend that emerged to
clearly signpost that the industry had moved beyond
expensive hope in a jar, and was about serious
medical results. But now that it is a given that high-
end spas deliver medically eective approaches and
hardcore wellness, it seems to be aording the return
o a sheer luxury, glamour and pampering layer back
into the spa experience. The pendulum is swinging
back to old school spa glamour.
Just a ew examples: At the Waldor=Astoria, French
beauty pioneer Guerlain has just taken the wraps o
its new haute-luxury spa experience, based upon
its original vision or a French woman to be shining
or an evening. Channeling 1950s glamour, the spa
eatures touches like a social grand salon instead
o relaxation rooms, French jazz music and a nal
touch concept that oers complimentary makeup
application and clothes pressing, so you leave looking
more dapper than when you arrived.
Or consider the just-opened Trump International Hotel
& Tower in Toronto (Canada) that takes champagne
and caviar as its moti, while positioning the spa
experience as total immersion in old Hollywood
glamour.
Spa beauty and grooming will boom in 2012, and
continue to be endlessly re-imagined to satisy the
glambitious at both the lower and higher end. And
the powerul, new glambitions o people in emerging
markets are key. For instance, Chinese women werent
even allowed to wear makeup until 1982, and that
beauty market is now worth roughly $21 billion. And
consider: Brazil, Russia, China and India alone will
contribute over hal o the total $43 billion growth or
the global beauty industry by 2014.7
7 Euromonitor Data, 2011
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I 2011, SpaFider amed The Sciece o Spa a top tred, orecastig a ew era
where more questios about the prove, medical eectiveess o spa therapies would
get ased, leadig to ew visibility or the growig archive o cliical evidece that
exists or approaches lie massage, meditatio or acupucture.
With the launch o the new website SpaEvidence.com
this year the worlds rst portal to the aggregated
medical studies that exists or 21 common spa/
wellness approaches that trend was literally
embodied. Launched by the Global Spa Summit in
mid-2011 (an advocacy group or the worldwide spa/
wellness industries), and shaped by doctors with
an expertise in integrative medicine, SpaEvidence
gives the world easy access to the evidence-based
medicine databases that doctors use, so they
can search thousands o studies evaluating which
spa modalities are proven to work, and or which
exact conditions.
SpaEvidence represented a big, courageous step
towards transparency or the spa industry, as the
site presents the clinical evidence behind therapies,
whether it is positive, inconclusive or negative. And
it orged new, common ground between the medical
and spa worlds by embracing the rigors o evidence-
based medicine.
For 2012, we name a trend ater this breakthrough
website because the act o its appearance so
neatly encapsulates a macro shit that is quickening:
the continued breakdown o the once separate silos
o traditional medicine and complementary/spa
therapies. And the erosion o these silos, the Spa
Evidence trend, will take diverse orms in the year
aheadsome ongoing, some new.
In 2012, more hospitals than ever beore will
incorporate and more doctors will prescribe spa
and wellness approaches, not only because more
new research shows that mind-body treatments can
be especially eective or chronic pain, heart disease,
sleep disorders and depression/anxiety, etc., but
because the sheer global costs o not ocusing on
prevention have passed the tipping point. (Spending
39
SPa eVIdence
Shwig th cii evi bhi Thrpis
8
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on healthcare amongst OECD and BRIC nations will
grow 50 percent-plus rom 2010 to 2020.8) Consider
changes underway in the prevention-challenged U.S.
healthcare system: A new study9 reveals that the
number o hospitals oering alternative/spa services
has tripled since 2000 (rom 14 percent o hospitals,
to 42 percent today). Roughly two in three o these
hospitals now provide massage, three in ve oer
acupuncture and music/art therapy and one in ve
provide reiki. Hospitals report ooting the bill 44
percent o the time, and at Pritikin (one o the
premier weight-loss/heart-health American spa
resorts), qualied people now get their trip covered
by Medicare. Another new study10 nds that o
the 41 million Americans that use mind-body
therapies like yoga or tai chi, 6.4 million are now
doing them because they were prescribed by theirmedical provider.
More hard evidece o Spa Evidece: The National
Institutes o Health has nearly doubled its grants
or complementary and alternative medicine rom
2007-2011. And Medicare, the U.S. governments
health insurance program or all people over 65,
has just announced it will cover screening and
counseling or obesity, which, as Dr. Patrick Conway,the programs spokesperson, noted, was a result o
it systematically reviewing the best possible medical
evidence to identiy those preventative services that
can keep (people) as healthy as long as possible.
A striig ew example o hospitals bledig
medicie/spa: ashion icon Donna Karans Urban
Zen Integrative Therapy program, expanding
across major U.S. hospitals like UCLA MedicalCenter. Frustrated by the lack o eastern healing
approaches during her husbands cancer treatment,
Karan designed the program to train medical
proessionals in yoga therapy, reiki, essential oil
therapy, nutrition and contemplative care.
Other maiestatios o the tred: more global
spa/wellness businesses broadcasting the medical
evidence that exists or what they do (in marketingmessages, client communications, etc.); more
incorporating SpaEvidence.com into their own site;
and more adopting the language o evidence-based
medicine. Big spa players like Rancho La Puerta
(Mexico), Fairmonts Willow Stream Spas (across
Asia, Europe, North America, etc.) and SpaFinder.
com (global) have adopted a custom version o
40
The % o U.S. Hospitals
Oerig Spa/AlterativeMedicie Approaches HasTripled Sice 2000
2007 2011
50
40
30
20
10
0
14%
42%
American Hospital Association/Samueli InstituteReport, 2011
Healthcare Spedig across
OECD & BRIC natios (Brazil,Russia, Idia & Chia) willSyrocet 51% betwee 2010ad 2020
2010 2020
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
51%
PriceWaterHouseCoopers (PwC) HealthResearch Institute Data, 2010
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SpaEvidence.com; spas rom Gwinganna LiestyleRetreat (Australia) to Quantum Spa (South Arica)
prominently link to the site; and many spas like
Jumeirah Resorts Talise spas rom Dubai to Shanghai
have adopted the language o evidence-based
medicine to describe their oerings.
As more people digest the medical evidence or
alternative/spa therapies (and the realities that some
evidence is strong, some negative, and that manymore studies need to happen), the conversations
no alternative therapies work or no traditional
medicine is good will continue to become less
shrill and divisive. In act, distinct, new conversations
are emerging, well expressed by Dr. Jay Parkinson,
named one o the ten most creative people in
healthcare11: The companies that realize the uture
o health is about lie and happiness rather than
sickness, death and medical solutions, are the ones
that will lead in the next decade.
There are now new medical studies, like the one just
released by University College, London, showing that
happy people reduce their risk o premature death
by as much as 35 percent12 And the conversations
around concepts like happiness, the quality o a
lived lie, true wellbeing (both physical and mental)and the value o pleasure are really heating up.
More governments are measuring happiness
along with GNP; the UK and France perormed
national happiness indexing studies in 2011. More
happiness movements are aoot like the UKs
Action or Happiness, which organizes to promote
the pillars o happiness: physical/mental wellbeing,
relationships and giving. Books like renowned
psychologist Dr. Martin Seligmans Flourish: A
Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and
Well-Being are generating buzz or exploring how true
health is much more than the absence o illness
and is comprised o both subjective and biological
assets. Once seemingly intangible concepts like
happiness are becoming a eld o scientic inquiry
because the medical research backs the approach.
As the medical evidence or prevention, more truly
holistic concepts o wellbeing and now, even
happiness escalates, its a huge opportunity or
the spa industry.
[8] PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute Data, 2010[9] American Hospital Assn./Samueli Institute Report, 2011[10] Archives o Internal Medicine, 2011[11] Named by Fast Company Magazine[12]12 Published: Proceedings o the National Academy oSciences, 2011
Svt- prt
pp rprt th w
mr ik t visit sps
i th h ss t sitif
stis mstrtig
trtmts ivr msr
hth fts.
- SRI Internatinal, Spas & the Global
Wellness Market Report, 2010
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SPaS becoMe a FaMIly aFFaIR
Th Kir-Sp Krz
Spas have traditioally bee retreats or growups to relax ad revitalizear away
rom childre. But there is a rapidly growig traveler demad to be able to brig tees,
twees ad eve tots alog or the spa ride. now that spas are broadly associated
with welless (rather tha ussy grow-up pamperig), ar more amilies, ad may
cocered about the growig childhood obesity epidemic, wat to get their spa-o
together. SpaFider idetied the tred o more childre at spas way bac i 2004, but
this is o loger about the occasioal id. Its totally maistream: Whole amilies are
spa-ig together, ad more spas are dig creative ways to welcome the etire cla.
43
Far more resorts will reevaluate age restrictions in
tness/spa areas, and heartily welcome tweens (and
younger) into the spa/salon. And they will continue
their endless rollout o ull-blown teen-and-younger
day programming, which incorporates tness and
even some spa services. I.e., more resorts are oering
what could be dubbed all-day wellness babysitting,
something parents can eel overjoyed about,
especially as theyre relieved rom duty or hours.
Kid-specic spas are on the rise, whether its
the Scoops Kids Spas at ten Great Wol (North
American) resort locations, Floridas Nickelodeon
Suites and Keylime Cove (U.S.), or numerous day
spas like Connecticuts Sundae Spa (U.S.). These
new kiddie spas typically oer whimsical, extremely
sweet-sounding treatments like ice cream pedicures
served up on oversized banana split pedicure
thrones, or Starsh Sparkle manicures ound at
Keylime or Mini Me Massages oered at Vermonts
Stowe Mountain Lodges Chillax KidSpa (U.S.).
9
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Little Lambs Kiddie Spa & Clinic (Philippines) oers
a unique spin: combining ull pediatric medical
services (rom immunizations to well-baby programs)
with a host o wellness, beauty and salon services
geared across the 0-19 set. Klas in Germanys new
three-story, child-riendly spa concept introduces
Disneyesque sensory experiences like thunder,rain and lightning eects, as well as a tree sauna,
a cooling water grotto, adventure showers and a
waterall. In general, many o the new kid-spa menus
would please both a Dr. Oz and a Paris Hilton.
Spa parties (so deeply entrenched now or the bridal/
bachelorette set) are protably being re-imagined or
the under-18 demographic, whether it is mobile spa
parties (complete with kid-riendly products, mani/pedi stations and un ood), or the rise o dedicated
Kids Fantasy Suites at resorts (the actual name o
the oering at Omni Houston Galleria). I spas beauty
and wellness menus (whether make-up application,
acials, yoga or massage) used to target the sweet
16s, now theyre increasingly being directed at the
single-digit kid. And its not only a emale-phenom:
Karma Resorts (Indonesia), which has launched
amily, teen and kid spa oerings across all o
its resorts, promotes its ather and son chill-out
massages. Kids are gobbling up what were once
grownup-only beauty treatments and wellness rituals
at incredibly young ages, and their parents are all
or it. And there is no doubt that this phenomenon
will oster entire new generations o people with
sophisticated spa, wellness and beauty habits.
Other examples: Jiwa Spa at Conrad Balis Mum
and Me packages, introducing a young person to
spa treatments, where the child chooses rom a
ootbath, oot mask, back massage or chocolate bath
all served up with healthy snacks.
At Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa in Maui (U.S.),
guests can now book the Family Spa Suite (and
Malama ka Ohana package), with treatments like
chocolate-coconut scrubs, the Wave Massage with
warm lava stones at the Keiki Spa (ages 6-12), or mud
body wraps at its Teen Spa (ages 13-17).
Schloss Elmau Luxury Spa & Cultural Hideaways
(Germany) separate Family Spa sports a 24-hour
indoor swimming pool, six saunas and an indoor/
outdoor gym. Children can spend time in the Nature
Spa alone or with parents, and can join the Kids
Club oering sports and adventure day programs.
Hong Kongs Bodywize Day Spa introduces young
people to yoga with Kidsasana! using story,
music and puppets to bring out the childs inner
yogi. The spa also oers a Namasteens yoga
program and hosts teen parties in its Secret Butterfy
Garden.
In the Caribbean, Jamby Bay, A Rosewood Resort,
has introduced the new Rose Buds Junior Spa Menu
at its SENSE spa. Guests (starting rom age our)
can select rom a Beach Bliss Mani or Pedi, a Mini
Massage or Facial and a Chillax treatment involving
aromatherapy washcloths and cool cucumbers.
Aulani, Disneys new Hawaiian resort, may provide
a glimpse o what is to come, with its Laniwai Spa
welcoming and accommodating amilies in novel
ways. In special amily spa suites, youngsters can
have massages with their parents, and babies can
also accompany parents to treatments, where mom
and dad (one at a time) learn the art o baby massage
rom a proessional. The dedicated teen spa,
Painted Sky, has its own private entrance and oers
traditional spa/salon treatments, as well as extras like
yogurt and perume bars, ater hours events, weekly
wellness programming and Painted Sky tness.
Youngsters can get their hair and nails bedazzled or
get dressed up like a hula dancer in the main salon.
And the main adult areas welcome those aged
14-plus i they are with an adult.
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Courtesy o KLAFS (Germ
F m ss will vlu gsiis i fss/s s,
ily wlm ws (
yug) i s/sl.
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In SEARCH OF THEaHa MoMenT
Courtesy o Coqoon Spa at Indigo Pearl (Thailand)
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SPaS Go FoR THe WoW
big r litt, th Wws Hv It
For may years, most people probably thought that oe hotel or day spa sure seems
a whole lot lie ay other: the same beige, Ze loo, the same meu o treatmets
ad homogeized experieces. But ow spas are really pilig o the wow actors,
servig up both big ad small wows (ad true surprises) i a quest or idividuatio.
47
10
Wows and eorts towards greater dierentiation
are rising now, as a countertrend to the strong spa
branding/ranchising trend we identied or 2011. And
given the act that, i once upon a time, conormity
helped the budding spa-goer know what to expect
when stepping into the spa realm, now spa-goers are
ar more seasoned, and they crave truly new aha
experiences.
The big new wows include eye-popping design and
uturistic, blow-your-mind amenities. But, given
this economy, many o the wows are smaller, less
expensive and very smart. Most spas are attempting
to engage and delight spa-goers without a ton
o investment by adding unique little touches, a
ew strategic wow amenities and more unique
treatments/experiences. So, with the much-discussed
economic realities o our 99 percent and 1 percent
world, there are wows or most any budget. I spas
over the last couple o decades had become hushed
shrines o deadly seriousness, more spas are now
lightening it up and that trend includes whole new
spa models like amusement park spas that are un
and social, where laughter is becoming one o the
best medicines they serve up.
Big wows: One big wow is the jaw-dropping design
heating up at resort spas, oten in wow, exotic global
locations
Take a look at the bold design elements at the Atomic
Spa Suisse, or bubble spa, in the Boscolo Milano
hotel (Italy), where wild, LED-illuminated mirror
bubbles rise to the top o the interiors o the treatment
rooms, sauna and baths, like a rothing glass ochampagne. This hyper-unique design scheme
certainly dees spa minimalism.
At the Coqoon Spa at Indigo Pearl in Phuket
(Thailand), the design literally thrusts spa-goers into
nature. At its center is The Nest, a luxurious wicker
tree house hanging rom the branches o an ancient
banyan tree, while the individual spa coqoons have
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private pools, rain showers, saunas, etc. nestled
within the rainorest.
St. Regis Bangkoks (Thailand) high-design Elemis
Spa provides a little mid-air pre-pampering, with its
foating, nest-like relaxation pods.
Ritz-Carlton Hong Kongs spa by ESPA is the worldshighest spa (on the hotels 116th foor), where
incredible design elements include an innity pool
that makes you eel as i youre in an airplane, peering
down on the city and a stunning indoor pool with a
ceiling-mounted LED screen.
Sparkling Hill Resort & Spa (Canada) touts itsel
as the rst building in the world with crystal
architecture, and is comprised o 3.5 millionSwarovski crystals.
Bota Bota Spa-Sur-LEau (in the old port o Montreal)
is a foating, ve-deck modern spa constructed on an
old barge, eaturing a cool water circuit and cocktail
lounge.
Other big wows: Spa resorts bringing in celebrities,
or the spa-parazzi actor: Six Senses brought in
Richard Branson, and Arizonas Miraval Resort & Spa
(U.S.) has a partnership with Dr. Andrew Weil.
And more spas are unveiling highly thematic
desig/experieces, like the Banyan Tree Spa
at the Marina Bay Sands Hotels (Singapore) new
4,000-square-oot tropical garden spa, where
everything rom the art on the walls to the botanical
treatments revolve around the brands Tree o
Lie concept. Or Germanys Schloss Elmau, which
uniquely blends spa and high culture: Guests
experience a ull schedule o classical music and jazz
concerts in the spa resorts very own concert hall,
hear rom great artists and authors and can snuggle
up with the many wonderul books that ll the spa
lounges.
Amusemet par spas:A whole new concept is
taking shape in spa-land, and were calling it the rise
o the amusement park spa, popping up across
Asia, Europe and North America. These dynamic,
un, all-ages playgrounds are ull o sensory rides
and typically oer larger-than-lie all-day water and
spa experiences or the entire amily. (See trend 9:Spas Become a Family Aair.) This new species o
spa speaks to the acts that not only do many more
people want to have a whole lot more un when
spa-ing, but that the aordable daycation (in this
economy) has massive appeal. These new spa-parks
oten embrace a Disney-internationalism or its a
small world vibe, piling on dozens o experiences like
Icelandic geyser baths, Caribbean lagoons and
Amazon wateralls.
In North America, theres Spa Castle (New York City
born, but just expanded to two more U.S. locations).
Five stories high and 100,000 square eet, spa-goers
buy tickets like a theme park, theres a ood court and
a vast number o internationally themed sauna, steam
bath and swimming/hydro experiences.
Across Canada, the Nordic-based Scandinave dayspa resorts, which oer un circuits o saunas, steam
rooms, wateralls, plunges, etc., are a big name
gaining popularity.
Yunessun is a hot springs spa resort and water
amusement park located in a scenic part o Japan.
Kalev Spa Water Park in Estonia was developed by
top sportsmen and includes numerous pools and
water attractions like tube slides and bubble
baths, along with a big menu o theme saunas.
Many o these spa-parks are explicitly geared towards
kids or accommodating parents and kids: Sealala Spa
& Water Park in South Korea is kid-ocused, while
GyulaCastle Spa in Hungary (within Almasy Castles
park) has a Wellness and Sauna Centre or adults and
a huge aqua playground or the kids.
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Courtesy o AWAY Spa at W Retreat & Spa Bali - Seminyak (Indone
t big w wws ilu y-ig sig uuisi,
blw-yu-mi miis.
49
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Courtesy o ATOMIC SPA SUISSE at the Boscolo Milano (Italy)
a ATOMIC SPA SUISSE, bubbl s, i
Bsl Mil l (Ily), wil, Led-illumi mi
bubbls is iis m
ms, su bs, lik ig glss mg.
50
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You can eel the small world spin at Center Parcs
(our locations in the UK), which eatures around-
the-world-themed spa rooms inspired by the
Far East, India, Greece and Ancient Rome and its
subtropical swimming paradise. You can really eel
it at Schwaben Quellen (Stuttgart, Germany), with its
dozens o global spa- and water-themed experienceslike Himalayan salt rooms, Canadian log cabin
sauna and Temple o the Maya lounging room.
Smaller wows(that still pac a puch): Many
o the wows are smaller, less-pricey touches, with
spas innovating ways to capture peoples (and the
medias attention) without having to be on the cover
o Architectural Digest. (Think o the wow when
Bliss spas opened, with the brands brownie buet inrelaxations areas.) The smaller wows are about giving
spa-goers that something more they didnt expect,
even i its serving them lunch, a glass o wine or a tea
ritual, or warming their bathrobe. Its about engaging
them.
Its happeig with idividual wow ameities:
Consider the JW Marriott Grand Rapids (U.S.), which
only had one massage room, so recently brought inan innovative mobile spa cart system, Suite Spa,
that brings massages, acials, wraps, pedicures and
even hot stone therapies directly into guest rooms.
That SpaSuite cart is now rapidly ranchising to
more hotel properties.
Destination spa Mii amo (U.S.) now eatures a
WaveMotion massage table that rotates, rocks
and tilts, so people eel like theyre foating.
The amazing new ESPA Lie spa at Londons
Corinthia Hotel (UK) is a major big wow and an
example o the many individual, smaller wows within
is the stunning all-glass amphitheater sauna.
For those who want to satisy their inner cowboy,
there is the newly opened destination spa Travaasa
Austin (U.S.), which oers mechanical bull tness
class, a novel way not only to get your exercise but to
reduce stress with a lot o laughter.
The new spa brands are, o course, not devoid
o wows: Hiltons global spa brand eorea is
emphasizing Vichy showers.
With thousands o yoga studios around the world,the Salt Yoga Studio at the Mantra Samui Boutique
Resort (Thailand) stands out or its wall o Himalayan
Salt (See 2011 trend: Salt Rooms and Salt Caves),
so people can get their salt therapy while they do
their yoga.
The unique treatment wows, some with a ramped-up
ocus on sheer un and whimsy, are too endless to
detail. Expect more creative oerings on spa menuslike Rockupuncture (Gwinganna Liestyle Retreat,
Australia), which combines acupuncture with a hot
rock treatment. And more guest engagement wows
like Los Angeless Hotel Palomars (U.S.) Walk this
Way program, which rewards guests who walk
10,000 steps a day (they use pedometers) with a 50
percent discount on their next stay.
Hittig the u agle squarely: Cosquillearte, anew tickle spa in Spain, and more spas worldwide
eaturing laughter yoga, whether its Ecotulum
Resort & Spa in Mexico or Peritiwi Resort in Bali.
Look or ar more hyper-individuality, and more
liberal doses o that je ne sais quoi rom spas in
years ahead. Given the realities o 72,000-plus spas
globally, both brand-new and established spas will
continue to push the wow envelope to get theworlds attention.
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52/64Courtesy o Pritikin Longevity Center + Spa (U.S.)
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With healthcare costs spiralig out o cotrol worldwide, the global movemettowards employee welless or corporate welless programs is ow gatherig
uprecedeted steam. The private sector has digested the avalache o data about
how nOT ocusig o prevetable chroic diseases is impactig its bottom-lie,
ad the ew storm o studies about the high ROI that programs devoted to creatig
heathier, happier, more productive employees are deliverig. As theHarvard Business
Review put it, employee welless is suddely o loger a iche activity, or thoughtul
extra or a ew high-mided mega-corporatios its becomig a strategic
imperative1 or busiesses both bigandsmall.
Employee wellness programs can span medical
screenings, health education, coaching, subsidized
gym memberships and spa visits, weight-loss and
quit-smoking programs, on-site tness programs,
healthy ood initiatives, online health tools and
company-wide contests and challenges. And
spas, whose sweet spot is stress management,
are increasingly embracing this emerging
opportunity: partnering with businesses to provide
in-house massage, tness, yoga, meditation or
stress-reduction classes rolling out discounts/
memberships tailored or local businesses hosting
more healthy corporate retreats and becoming
a core incentive (that trip to the spa or spa git
card) that more companies are dangling as the
carrot to keep employees on track. And, as the
medical evidence mounts that stress plays a killer
role in chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer,
etc. and as a burned-out global workorce is
orced to work ever more hours spas stress-
reduction specialization will increasingly become
a key integer in employee wellness programsin
2012 and beyond. A recent survey analyzing 1,200
organizations across 47 countries ound thatreducing
stress is now the #1 driver of wellness programs
worldwide.2
53
eMPloyee WellneSSPRoGRaMS and SPaS
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Th Mth: Th cst
chri, Prvt disss
The data around skyrocketing global healthcare
costs, and the costs o unhealthy employees on
private enterprises, could ll libraries. The realities in
the U.S. are especially chronic: Seventy-ve percent
o the $2.6-trillion U.S. healthcare spend goes to
treating preventable chronic conditions,3 but less
than our cents o every dollar is spent on prevention.
Hence, employer-provided insurance plans are up
30%-plus in just the last ve years, and will double
in the next ten. The average Fortune 500 company
now spends 75%-100% o its ater-tax prots on
employee healthcare!
But its a GLOBAL crisis: As people worldwide
become more sedentary, smoke more and eat more
junk ood, liestyle-related health issues are exploding
everywhere, including emerging economies like
China, India and Mexico. While the U.S. is the attest
nation (more than one-third are obese), China and
India are now growing atter, aster. The World Health
Organization estimates heart disease, stroke and
diabetes will cost China $558 billion in a decade,
and by 2025, 57% o the Indian population will
have diabetes.4 Twenty years ago, less than 10%
o Mexicans were obese, while now 68% are. The
result? The healthcare spend among OECD countries
and BRIC nations will grow 51% by 2020 (or $71
trillion). So, whether companies get hit directlyin
private-payer nations like the U.S. or Switzerland
or indirectlywith government-run medical programs
unded by taxes (i.e., Japan or Germany) or lose
productivity in nations where most people have no
health coverage (China, India, etc.) companies,
governments and insurers are now doing the math,
and realizing that employee wellness investments are
a no-brainer.
Prv RoI
Its the science behind employee wellness, the data
that keeps pouring in that shows they deliver high
ROI, thats driving adoption. Hundreds o studies exist
proving successully run programs transorm health
behavior, reduce a companys healthcare costs and
boost productivity and employee retention/morale.
An overview o this archive reveals that ROI typically
ranges rom 2:1 to 10:1, with the bell curving between
3:1 and 6:1. And this ROI evidence is increasingly
getting broadcast in infuential publications like the
Harvard Business Review, which got the business
worlds attention in a report rounding up existing
research and presenting case studies o ten
organizations (including SAS Institute, Johnson &Johnson, Chevron, etc.) that documented diverse,
powerul results. For example, J&J saving $250
million on healthcare costs in the last decade, while
reducing employee smoking by two-thirds, and high
blood pressure by more than hal.
Irs G apti
Thats why employee wellness has surged beyond
niche: Sixty-six percent o larger businesses
worldwide now have a ormal employee wellness
strategy (up rom 49% in 2007),5 and in the U.S.
90% o corporations are now on board.6 In the U.K.,
where companies oten supplement NHS-provided
universal healthcare with private insurance policies,
a new survey shows that nearly 40% o workers now
have access to employer-provided health programs,
with 32% reporting their organization oers stress
management o some kind.7 Adoption rates and the
core business goals o initiatives dier by nation.
The U.S. (late to employee wellness compared with
countries like France, Germany, Japan, Singapore
and the UK) now has the highest rate o adoption,
ollowed by South Arica and Europe.8 And again,
while stress reduction remains the #1 driver o
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adoption globally, national goals vary: The U.S.
is ocused on reducing healthcare costs, while
Europeans seek better workorce morale and Asian
and Arican nations want to reduce absences.9
Gvrmts Tkig ati
Governments are now taking action and helping
businesses mitigate the cost o programs. The
U.K. has been busy in 2011, rom the launch o a
National Wellbeing Index to Dame Carol Blacks
groundbreaking re