hospitalitystyle.com

(April 2011) posted on Wed Apr 27, 2011 EDT

There are opportunities in wellness center design, from expanding brands such as Guerlain to a host of five-star hotel brands with spas in new Asian hotels.

By Mary Scoviak

Hospitality design firms that don’t have a spa specialist on-staff or an insider relationship with a spa management/design expert may want to correct that oversight near term. Despite downturns and cuts in discretionary incomes, developers and investors keep expanding the spa sector. Guerlain  just signed an exclusive agreement with Trilogy Spa Ventures to introduce Guerlain-branded spas in hotels and resorts in throughout the United States. That may be just the first step. Expansion outside of the U.S. is also under consideration. “We anticipate that Trilogy will develop 20 Guerlain branded-spas over the course of the next five years,” says David Stoup, chairman of Trilogy. If the Guerlain Spa at the Waldorf-Astoria covered by Hospitality Style in any indicator, designers will get to let their imaginations loose in crafting concepts that combine elegance and efficacy.

Asia’s also seeing explosive growth in spa industry. Here are some compelling numbers from the 2011 Global Spa Summit:

·      Jan Freitag, vice president of Global Development, Smith Travel Research: “As 2011 unfolds the luxury hotel development activity in Asia will continue to heat up. While not all 33,000 luxury rooms will be added in 2011, it’s fair to assume that a significant portion will welcome guests over the next 48 months. And it’s safe to assume that the vast majority of these hotels include a spa and work-out related facilities, as these have moved from ‘optional’ to de facto standard amenities.”

·      Julie Garrow, founder and managing director of Intelligent Spas: “The majority of spa owners and managers in the Asia Pacific region predict double-digit growth in total spa revenue in 2011. Many spa concepts put on hold during the downturn are now back on track, and preliminary results of Intelligent Spas’ Global Spa Benchmark Program suggest the size of the regional spa industry is forecast to increase by approximately 16 percent during 2011.”

·      Andrew Jacka, chairman of the Asia Pacific Spa & Wellness Coalition (APSWC): “The Asia Pacific spa market has shown rapid growth in recent years, often exceeding 20 percent annually, as the middle class expands and society as a whole recognizes the importance of preventative healthcare. We see further steady and sustainable industry growth for the Asia-Pacific spa industry in the foreseeable future."