We saw that spas have played a significant role
in the historical development of tourism. While their popularity
has declined in countries like the UK, it is still a very
large market worldwide, and some spas are enjoying a renaissance.
The history of the development of the spa
market
The history of the spa market goes back a long way, but the
growth of the popular spa began in the 1990s. A report published
in 1996 by Deloitte-Touche estimated that every year
there were some 160 million visits paid to spa resorts in
Europe, the USA, and Japan alone. The same document suggested
that there were over 2000 spas resorts in Japan, nearly
450 in Italy, and between 250 and 300 each in the USA and
Germany.
Deloitte-Touche’s research indicated that the proportion of
spa visits to overall population was probably highest in
Germany and Japan. However, length of stay for Japanese
visitors was one of the lowest in the world at around one to
two nights while French visitors were the highest at over
twenty nights.
In the same year, the Economist Intelligence Unit published
a report, written by Nancy Cockerell, on European spas. This
contained a number of interesting statistics, including the following:
* In Germany, spa towns received between 40 per cent and
45 per cent of domestic and international tourist trips, and
accounted for around one half of all visits to European
spas. Spa visiting, in Germany, was popular with both
sexes, and all age and income groups. It was also linked to
social tourism and the health service in Germany.