Spa and wellness businesses will reopen while COVID-19 is still circulating in the community, meaning we have to find models which work in this new reality. How will this change the industry?
By Katie Barnes | Published in Spa Business 2020 issue 2
Medical wellness includes oxygen therapy and DNA testing / Drazen Zigic/shutterstock
The coronavirus pandemic has brought with it some dark times, but I truly believe the global spa industry is a beacon of light in the world.
We should be proud of how suppliers have switched production to support medical staff and the public (Spa Business 2020 issue2 p96), operators have pivoted to digital solutions (Spa Business 2020 issue2 p26) and we’ve all come together in hundreds of webinars, virtual conferences and ‘collaboration calls’.
For those who haven’t been able to keep up with the webinar overload, we share our takeaways on p56 and p62.
Overall, the industry standpoint is one of optimism – people will be in need of wellness more than ever going forward and there are reports of phones ringing off the hook in anticipation of reopening.
In some countries, like China and the US, spas are already starting to operate once more, while in others, like the UK, this is weeks away. But the reality is that when doors open, we will need to operate while COVID-19 is still active in the community – for the foreseeable future.
So how can we deliver meaningful experiences while avoiding transmission? There won’t be one solution and only operators that are adaptable and responsive will survive.
There will be an opportunity to position spas as safe spaces – places of ‘safe touch’. Hygiene and social distancing will need to be scrutinised at every touchpoint and this demonstrated to customers to build up trust.
Maybe it will be about testing staff and customers before they enter the spa, or using UV robots, anti-viral fogging and anti-viral air con to keep spaces safe. Perhaps it will be around wearing masks, or delivering touchless therapies using machines. There are many tools and strategies we can use.
We can also make more of the outdoors as a safe space by offering interventions such as forest bathing. This will also help support people with their mental health.
There will be a significant move towards medical wellness, and businesses in this part of the sector will do well in the new reality. This is an opportunity for spas to add more science-based interventions to menus to support customers.
Now is also the time to cement relationships with medical institutions to create new operating models and also to reconfirm the efficacy of what we already offer.
We’ll find a growing demand for beauty maintenance, so we also expect to see spas embracing these services far more.
In a time of crisis, people are open to new ideas. We need to be entrepreneurial and flexible, not only to survive, but also to add meaningful depth to our services.
Katie Barnes, editor @SpaBusinessKB
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2020 issue 2
Editor’s letter: Our greatest challenge
Spa and wellness businesses will reopen while COVID-19 is still circulating in the community, meaning we have to find models which work in this new reality, says Katie Barnes. So how will this change the industry?
On the menu: Pivot to digital
Which forward-thinking spas are taking their offerings online during the coronavirus pandemic?
Interview: Mary Celeste Beall
The celebrated Blackberry Farm has opened a sister property in the mountains of Tennessee. The owner tells Spa Business why wellness through nature underpins the new destination
Everyone’s talking about: COVID-19
Spa operators, wellness companies and organisations from around the world talk to Spa Business about the impact of coronavirus and what to expect down the line
Promotion: Simone Gibertoni: Clinique La Prairie
World-renowned medical spa, Clinique La Prairie, is creating a global network of
locations to support clients with their wellbeing, every day of the year, says its CEO
Research: First responders
ISPA’s COVID-19 survey offers insights into how the industry has responded to the global pandemic. Spa Business magazine examines the findings
Hotel spa: Country life: The Newt
Karen Roos, owner of the world-renowned hotel The Newt, on design, gardens and a spa housed in an old cow barn
Insights: Calls to action
Industry leaders around the world come together in a crisis to share ideas and innovations in a series of GWS Collaboration calls. Spa Business magazine reports on the highlights
Insights: Webinar wisdom
Spa Business shares its industry-relevant takeaways from the masses of webinars that are being streamed worldwide
Research: Measure for measure
Intelligent Spas reveals its latest global spa benchmarks and explores what they mean in today’s ever-changing climate
Focus on: Extreme wellness
Spa Business tries out two boundary-pushing, cold immersion retreats led by ‘The Iceman’ Wim Hof and Dr Marc Cohen
Promotion: Barr and Wray: Creating
a seamless journey
With 60 years of experience, Barr and Wray has long been known for excellence in technical design for wellness. Design director Graeme Banks explains the company also offers interior design services
Interview: Juliu Horvath
The founder of Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis tells Spa Business why he’ll never stop adapting his famous movement modality
Promotion: ISPA publishes Reopening Toolkit
A much-needed guide by ISPA gives essential advice on business planning, standard operating procedures, marketing and communications to support spas through the coronavirus crisis
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
Spa and wellness businesses will reopen while COVID-19 is still circulating in the community, meaning we have to find models which work in this new reality. How will this change the industry?
By Katie Barnes | Published in Spa Business 2020 issue 2
Medical wellness includes oxygen therapy and DNA testing / Drazen Zigic/shutterstock
The coronavirus pandemic has brought with it some dark times, but I truly believe the global spa industry is a beacon of light in the world.
We should be proud of how suppliers have switched production to support medical staff and the public (Spa Business 2020 issue2 p96), operators have pivoted to digital solutions (Spa Business 2020 issue2 p26) and we’ve all come together in hundreds of webinars, virtual conferences and ‘collaboration calls’.
For those who haven’t been able to keep up with the webinar overload, we share our takeaways on p56 and p62.
Overall, the industry standpoint is one of optimism – people will be in need of wellness more than ever going forward and there are reports of phones ringing off the hook in anticipation of reopening.
In some countries, like China and the US, spas are already starting to operate once more, while in others, like the UK, this is weeks away. But the reality is that when doors open, we will need to operate while COVID-19 is still active in the community – for the foreseeable future.
So how can we deliver meaningful experiences while avoiding transmission? There won’t be one solution and only operators that are adaptable and responsive will survive.
There will be an opportunity to position spas as safe spaces – places of ‘safe touch’. Hygiene and social distancing will need to be scrutinised at every touchpoint and this demonstrated to customers to build up trust.
Maybe it will be about testing staff and customers before they enter the spa, or using UV robots, anti-viral fogging and anti-viral air con to keep spaces safe. Perhaps it will be around wearing masks, or delivering touchless therapies using machines. There are many tools and strategies we can use.
We can also make more of the outdoors as a safe space by offering interventions such as forest bathing. This will also help support people with their mental health.
There will be a significant move towards medical wellness, and businesses in this part of the sector will do well in the new reality. This is an opportunity for spas to add more science-based interventions to menus to support customers.
Now is also the time to cement relationships with medical institutions to create new operating models and also to reconfirm the efficacy of what we already offer.
We’ll find a growing demand for beauty maintenance, so we also expect to see spas embracing these services far more.
In a time of crisis, people are open to new ideas. We need to be entrepreneurial and flexible, not only to survive, but also to add meaningful depth to our services.
Katie Barnes, editor @SpaBusinessKB
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2020 issue 2
Editor’s letter: Our greatest challenge
Spa and wellness businesses will reopen while COVID-19 is still circulating in the community, meaning we have to find models which work in this new reality, says Katie Barnes. So how will this change the industry?
On the menu: Pivot to digital
Which forward-thinking spas are taking their offerings online during the coronavirus pandemic?
Interview: Mary Celeste Beall
The celebrated Blackberry Farm has opened a sister property in the mountains of Tennessee. The owner tells Spa Business why wellness through nature underpins the new destination
Everyone’s talking about: COVID-19
Spa operators, wellness companies and organisations from around the world talk to Spa Business about the impact of coronavirus and what to expect down the line
Promotion: Simone Gibertoni: Clinique La Prairie
World-renowned medical spa, Clinique La Prairie, is creating a global network of
locations to support clients with their wellbeing, every day of the year, says its CEO
Research: First responders
ISPA’s COVID-19 survey offers insights into how the industry has responded to the global pandemic. Spa Business magazine examines the findings
Hotel spa: Country life: The Newt
Karen Roos, owner of the world-renowned hotel The Newt, on design, gardens and a spa housed in an old cow barn
Insights: Calls to action
Industry leaders around the world come together in a crisis to share ideas and innovations in a series of GWS Collaboration calls. Spa Business magazine reports on the highlights
Insights: Webinar wisdom
Spa Business shares its industry-relevant takeaways from the masses of webinars that are being streamed worldwide
Research: Measure for measure
Intelligent Spas reveals its latest global spa benchmarks and explores what they mean in today’s ever-changing climate
Focus on: Extreme wellness
Spa Business tries out two boundary-pushing, cold immersion retreats led by ‘The Iceman’ Wim Hof and Dr Marc Cohen
Promotion: Barr and Wray: Creating
a seamless journey
With 60 years of experience, Barr and Wray has long been known for excellence in technical design for wellness. Design director Graeme Banks explains the company also offers interior design services
Interview: Juliu Horvath
The founder of Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis tells Spa Business why he’ll never stop adapting his famous movement modality
Promotion: ISPA publishes Reopening Toolkit
A much-needed guide by ISPA gives essential advice on business planning, standard operating procedures, marketing and communications to support spas through the coronavirus crisis
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively
to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using
colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work).
The government of Thailand is exploring plans for a THB300bn (£6.3bn, US$8.3bn)
entertainment complex in the country’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with officials
proposing a large-scale theme park and sports destination as part of a broader tourism and
economic development strategy.
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
