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Saunas
"Spas Are Not Just A Passing Trend.
They Have Become An Expected And
Necessary Component To Remain Competitive!"
In 16 years in business, HFD has observed the resort spa evolve from being a loss-leader and a marketing tool, to an important amenity, and now to a necessity that is also quite a profitable element. The focus will be direct to the “masses” and no longer just the “wealthy”. The luxury market expects the spa to be part of their conference or vacation experience, but there are lots of other people who would also enjoy and benefit from the spa experience. There is a saying that “the rich will make you poor and the poor will make you rich.”
As most hotel management personal know, luxury is the new standard, and hotels around the globe are feverishly elevating room stock to match the needs of the new breed of discriminating guest. “Hotels are responding with amenities (such as the Far Infrared Lux Spas) in an effort to offer guests more than they might expect at a particular price level,” according to PricewaterhouseCoopers Hospitality & Leisure division.
Increasingly, wellness is integral to the guest visit, especially among meeting attendees. The spa experience is no longer a nice extra, but an essential amenity.
HFD 1999 Economic Study of US Resort-Based Spas found that spas
help resorts with regards to their Marketing Advantage, Revenue/Occupied Room, Occupancy and Perceived Value for Room Rate.
Hotels using Lux Spas will expect to:
- Generate additional room nights especially in the off and shoulder seasons
- Expand the shoulder season/shorten the off season
- Generate additional revenue per occupied room during the peak season
- Be an additional profit center
- Meet the demands and expectations of guests
- Enhance the guest experience
- Help them be more competitive with other properties that have spas
- Provide a marketing edge against properties that do not have spas
- Provide guests with an added “recreational/leisure/healthy service”
- Attract a new, yet compatible market…people who like resorts/hotels with spas
- Give group and business guests another reason to return as leisure guests
- Encourage group guests to arrive a day early or to depart a day later so they can get ready for and relax before or after meetings as “leisure guests”
- Provide an opportunity to market the resort as an “incentive” destination for corporate award programs
- Enhance spouse/companion programs for convention attendees
- Provide an indoor activity during inclement weather
When asked if they would choose one hotel over another because of the existence of a spa, 82% of women and 78% of men responded “YES”.
