Openings such as Murrieta are fuelling the growth of the global hot springs market / photo: Bri Amato
The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) has released an overview of the global spa and hot springs markets from 2007 to 2022, along with growth projections.
The data is part of GWI’s new time-series reports based on the 11 markets tracked in its annual Global Wellness Economy Monitor (last published in November 2023 – see www.spabusiness.com/gwem2023).
Spa view GWI unveiled its first industry numbers in the Global Spa Economy 2007 report. Back then, there were 71,672 spas worldwide generating revenues of US$46.8 billion (€42.4 billion, £35.7 billion). In 2022, GWI recorded 181,175 spas globally with a value of US$104.5 billion (€94.6 billion, £79.6 billion).
The time-series report revealed the global spa industry was hit hard by the pandemic. Revenues plunged by 39 per cent in 2020 and there was a net decrease of 5,600 spas.
Despite this, GWI is optimistic about the market. Between 2021 and 2022, spa revenues steadily rebounded worldwide, nearing their pre-pandemic peak of US$113.8 billion (€103 billion, £86.7 billion).
Between 2022 and 2027, GWI projects a global spa industry growth rate of 8.3 per cent a year – compared to a predicted 4.7 per cent annual growth in global GDP – and estimates the market will be worth US$156.1 billion (€141.2 billion, £118.9 billion).
Hot springs in focus GWI gave its first overview of the thermal/mineral springs market in the 2014 Global Spa & Wellness Economy Monitor, observing 26,800 facilities in 2013, bringing in US$50 billion (€45.3 billion, £38.1 billion).
Before COVID-19, it was one of the quickest-growing segments in the wellness economy. It peaked in 2019 with 34,960 facilities and was valued at US$65.7 billion (€59.5 billion, £50.1 billion). However, thermal/mineral springs revenue also decreased by 39 per cent in 2020.
By the end of 2022, most hot springs businesses had recovered to 75 to 90 per cent of their pre-lockdown levels and the global market was worth US$46.3 billion (€41.9 billion, £35.3 billion).
Between 2020 and 2022, at least 150 new thermal and mineral springs establishments opened worldwide and more than 250 projects are now in development. What’s more, GWI predicts it will be the third fastest-growing wellness economy in the coming years – growing by 14.3 per cent annually from 2022 to 2027, amounting to US$90.5 billion (€81.9 billion, £69 billion) in revenues.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2024 issue 3
Editor's letter: At a crossroads
As the UK prepares to host this year's Global Wellness Summit, fresh research shows its wellness industry must address a number of issues if it's to maintain levels of unprecedented growth
Spa People: Charlotte Church
The Welsh singer talks about how growing up in the media spotlight has influenced The Dreaming, her healing retreat business
Spa People: Julia Bradbury
Leading a series of Walk Yourself Happy retreats based on her best-selling book and years of TV presenting
Spa People: Samantha Dunn
Shaking up the industry with her new, affordable DIY consultancy programme for entrepreneurs
News report: Big spenders
Finn Partners’ latest research shows how China’s high-net-worth women are redefining luxury travel
News report: Step back in time
Two new GWI reports analyse the growth of the global spa and hot springs markets over the past 10 to 15 years
Interview: Dillip Rajakarier
Following a 450 per cent increase in core revenues, Minor Hotels is planning 200 more properties. Megan Whitby sits down with its CEO
New opening: Kintsugi Space
Patrizia Bortolin talks to Lisa Starr about creating a transformative women-only sanctuary in Abu Dhabi
Research: To inform and inspire
The UK Spa Association has conducted its first survey of spa businesses in the country for 18 years. GM Bobby Griffiths unveils the numbers
Research: From wellness to wellbeing
A new study uncovers four wellness consumer market segments ripe for innovation. WELLSurvey co-author Kevin Kelly reveals the findings in a Spa Business exclusive
First person: To the source
Jane Kitchen takes to the sulphurous waters of Terme di Saturnia in Italy and shares details about its exciting upcoming sister site in Milan
Promotion: L'OCCITANE en Provence – the art of recovery
With an approach to wellbeing that’s both holistic and grounded in science, the latest massage from L’OCCITANE en Provence promises to have a powerfully-beneficial effect on customers, both in the spa and at home
New opening: Surrenne at The Emory
The £15k memberships at this wellness club in London sold out in just weeks. Creator Inge Theron tells us why
First person: Playful wellness
A Stella McCartney facial and Tracy Anderson studio are just two USPs Megan Whitby finds at Surrenne
Promotion: TechnoAlpin – naturally cool design
TechnoAlpin’s snow technology is not only an effective way to introduce gentle cold therapy into the spa environment, it’s also a powerful biophilic design element that can bring the wonder of nature indoors
Promotion: Biologique Recherche – potent partnership
A new anti-senescence serum from Biologique Recherche offers transformative results and raises the bar in anti-ageing skincare when combined with its iconic collagen formula
Promotion: Comfort Zone – A longer life for skin
Created to combat the visible signs of ageing, Comfort Zone’s latest range revamp is based on the company’s pioneering research into cutaneous cellular longevity
Promotion: G.M. COLLIN – Clinical excellence in skincare
With laboratories based in Montreal, G.M. Collin’s highly researched derma-corrective treatments have been helping skincare professionals deliver exceptional and exclusive results worldwide for many decades. We talk to VP Myriam Sayer
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...]
Openings such as Murrieta are fuelling the growth of the global hot springs market / photo: Bri Amato
The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) has released an overview of the global spa and hot springs markets from 2007 to 2022, along with growth projections.
The data is part of GWI’s new time-series reports based on the 11 markets tracked in its annual Global Wellness Economy Monitor (last published in November 2023 – see www.spabusiness.com/gwem2023).
Spa view GWI unveiled its first industry numbers in the Global Spa Economy 2007 report. Back then, there were 71,672 spas worldwide generating revenues of US$46.8 billion (€42.4 billion, £35.7 billion). In 2022, GWI recorded 181,175 spas globally with a value of US$104.5 billion (€94.6 billion, £79.6 billion).
The time-series report revealed the global spa industry was hit hard by the pandemic. Revenues plunged by 39 per cent in 2020 and there was a net decrease of 5,600 spas.
Despite this, GWI is optimistic about the market. Between 2021 and 2022, spa revenues steadily rebounded worldwide, nearing their pre-pandemic peak of US$113.8 billion (€103 billion, £86.7 billion).
Between 2022 and 2027, GWI projects a global spa industry growth rate of 8.3 per cent a year – compared to a predicted 4.7 per cent annual growth in global GDP – and estimates the market will be worth US$156.1 billion (€141.2 billion, £118.9 billion).
Hot springs in focus GWI gave its first overview of the thermal/mineral springs market in the 2014 Global Spa & Wellness Economy Monitor, observing 26,800 facilities in 2013, bringing in US$50 billion (€45.3 billion, £38.1 billion).
Before COVID-19, it was one of the quickest-growing segments in the wellness economy. It peaked in 2019 with 34,960 facilities and was valued at US$65.7 billion (€59.5 billion, £50.1 billion). However, thermal/mineral springs revenue also decreased by 39 per cent in 2020.
By the end of 2022, most hot springs businesses had recovered to 75 to 90 per cent of their pre-lockdown levels and the global market was worth US$46.3 billion (€41.9 billion, £35.3 billion).
Between 2020 and 2022, at least 150 new thermal and mineral springs establishments opened worldwide and more than 250 projects are now in development. What’s more, GWI predicts it will be the third fastest-growing wellness economy in the coming years – growing by 14.3 per cent annually from 2022 to 2027, amounting to US$90.5 billion (€81.9 billion, £69 billion) in revenues.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2024 issue 3
Editor's letter: At a crossroads
As the UK prepares to host this year's Global Wellness Summit, fresh research shows its wellness industry must address a number of issues if it's to maintain levels of unprecedented growth
Spa People: Charlotte Church
The Welsh singer talks about how growing up in the media spotlight has influenced The Dreaming, her healing retreat business
Spa People: Julia Bradbury
Leading a series of Walk Yourself Happy retreats based on her best-selling book and years of TV presenting
Spa People: Samantha Dunn
Shaking up the industry with her new, affordable DIY consultancy programme for entrepreneurs
News report: Big spenders
Finn Partners’ latest research shows how China’s high-net-worth women are redefining luxury travel
News report: Step back in time
Two new GWI reports analyse the growth of the global spa and hot springs markets over the past 10 to 15 years
Interview: Dillip Rajakarier
Following a 450 per cent increase in core revenues, Minor Hotels is planning 200 more properties. Megan Whitby sits down with its CEO
New opening: Kintsugi Space
Patrizia Bortolin talks to Lisa Starr about creating a transformative women-only sanctuary in Abu Dhabi
Research: To inform and inspire
The UK Spa Association has conducted its first survey of spa businesses in the country for 18 years. GM Bobby Griffiths unveils the numbers
Research: From wellness to wellbeing
A new study uncovers four wellness consumer market segments ripe for innovation. WELLSurvey co-author Kevin Kelly reveals the findings in a Spa Business exclusive
First person: To the source
Jane Kitchen takes to the sulphurous waters of Terme di Saturnia in Italy and shares details about its exciting upcoming sister site in Milan
Promotion: L'OCCITANE en Provence – the art of recovery
With an approach to wellbeing that’s both holistic and grounded in science, the latest massage from L’OCCITANE en Provence promises to have a powerfully-beneficial effect on customers, both in the spa and at home
New opening: Surrenne at The Emory
The £15k memberships at this wellness club in London sold out in just weeks. Creator Inge Theron tells us why
First person: Playful wellness
A Stella McCartney facial and Tracy Anderson studio are just two USPs Megan Whitby finds at Surrenne
Promotion: TechnoAlpin – naturally cool design
TechnoAlpin’s snow technology is not only an effective way to introduce gentle cold therapy into the spa environment, it’s also a powerful biophilic design element that can bring the wonder of nature indoors
Promotion: Biologique Recherche – potent partnership
A new anti-senescence serum from Biologique Recherche offers transformative results and raises the bar in anti-ageing skincare when combined with its iconic collagen formula
Promotion: Comfort Zone – A longer life for skin
Created to combat the visible signs of ageing, Comfort Zone’s latest range revamp is based on the company’s pioneering research into cutaneous cellular longevity
Promotion: G.M. COLLIN – Clinical excellence in skincare
With laboratories based in Montreal, G.M. Collin’s highly researched derma-corrective treatments have been helping skincare professionals deliver exceptional and exclusive results worldwide for many decades. We talk to VP Myriam Sayer
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...]
