Agents Are Selling More Spa Travel

Travel agents reported significant growth in their spa travel business last year as well as a more diverse market of spa-goers that includes families and men.

Those were key findings in the 2013 State of Spa Travel report from Spafinder Wellness 365, a spa and wellness industry marketing company. The company conducts the survey annually. This year it queried more than 300 travel agents in the U.S. and Canada.

In 2013, 73% of U.S. and Canadian agents experienced growth in spa property bookings, up from 68% in Spafinder’s 2012 report. The study defines “spa travel” as “all bookings for travel/vacations/packages with a strong spa component.”

Rebounding
Mia Kyricos, chief brand officer for Spafinder Wellness, said the spa industry has been on a “wild ride” the last few years and saw a rebound for spa travel in 2012.

“What we have now in this 2013 report is clear evidence that what we knew about health and wellness [travel] in general, we are hearing from agents,” said Kyricos.

Spa travel represents a large chunk, 41%, of the total $439 billion global wellness tourism market, said Kyricos, citing an SRI International study conducted last fall for the Global Spa & Wellness Summit.

An evolving market
The market has evolved in terms of who spa-goers are and how they are traveling, said Kyricos.

The 2013 report is the first to ask agents how spa-goers typically travel, she said.

Travel agents reported that women traveling together were the top market for spa travel, followed by a woman traveling with a man, women traveling solo, families and intergenerational groups, men traveling solo, and men traveling together.

“That women traveling together ranked highest is surprising,” said Kyricos. “Spa has evolved into a shared activity rather than a solo one.”

This is noteworthy because just a few years ago, spa travel was perceived as the opposite of family travel as it tended to be more individual travel, she said.

Spa resorts are increasingly catering to families with activities like yoga classes for teenagers, wellness camps for children and all-day wellness babysitting, Kyricos noted.

Moving into the mainstream
Spa vacations are appealing to a broader demographic income-wise as well, she said. “Historically spa [travel] had a more elite reputation, more towards the luxury end. We’re finding it is evolving to much more of a mainstream segment.”

The product is changing along with the demand. “In the ’80s, hotels would have swimming pools; in the ’90s, fitness centers, and then [they began offering spas]. Now all three of these are par for the course.”

Exotic destinations
The continued strength of the experiential travel trend and the quest for more exotic destinations is extending to spa travel as well, the survey found.

Agents said Costa Rica was the hottest destination for spa clients.

However, they also cited more “exotic” or off-the-beaten-path destinations as gaining popularity: Belize and Nicaragua in Central America; Argentina and Chile in South America; and the Czech Republic, Croatia and Turkey in Europe.

In Asia, Cambodia, India, the Maldives, Myanmar and Vietnam made the list. Others included South Africa and the Seychelles.

Packages & deals
The survey also found that a strong “deal culture” has become a permanent fixture of the spa market.

Thirty-two percent of agents reported that global resort and destination spas were more aggressive with special packages in 2013 over 2012.

Opportunities for agents
Agents and spa properties should partner to sell spa travel, said Kyricos.

“Agents have a tremendous opportunity in the spa market. There’s so much more in the marketplace for them to sell on land and even on sea.”

There are commissionable deals “that include spa in some way or another,” Kyricos added.

Spa resorts and hotels and destination spas pay commissions on stays and vacation packages, although spa treatments themselves are a different story. They are not usually commissionable to agents, although that may change, Kyricos said.

“But what’s compelling about the spa traveler is they are high-yield travelers,” she added. “They spend more versus their counterpart.”

Learn more
Travel agents can learn more about the latest findings in spa travel by attending the Well-Being Travel Symposium, Feb. 18-19 in Las Vegas. Kyricos will be among featured presenters.