The business sector’s new love affair with spa/
wellness is a bit of an ironic twist. Just a few years
ago, the spa industry was reeling from the AIG
scandal, when that corporation was criticized for
bringing staff on a luxury spa retreat, while they were
bleeding money. Now, with spas far more firmly
associated with wellness than pampering, and with
greater awareness of the medical evidence behind
many spa/wellness approaches (See 2012 trend:
“Spa Evidence”), the message from companies is
no longer “stay away from the spa,” but rather –“we
need their approaches to stay competitive.”
The lynchpin for the spa industry will be its expertise
in delivering stress-reduction. It’s already known that
stress is responsible for 75% of doctor visits, and
there is cutting-edge research on the horizon making
this much clearer. Consider for example, the new
research (much headed up by Nobel Prize winner, Dr.
Elizabeth Blackburn, at UCSF) revealing that stress
leads to shorter telomeres (the protective caps on the
ends of chromosomes), and that shorter telomeres
lead to higher risks for cardiovascular disease,
diabetes, some cancers, depression, osteoarthritis,
etc. — and that lifestyle changes, including a healthy
diet, stress management and exercise, can reverse
telomere shortening and extend people’s lives. So,
as the “stress science” mounts, employee wellness
programs’ focus on attacking stress will only sharpen.
(We’re already seeing a number of telomere startups
launch, dedicated to tracking the effect of stress
reduction and exercise on telomere length, which
would provide further proof that spa/wellness is
empirically worth investing in.)
Every spa on earth, essentially, has an employee
wellness opportunity. And while knowing how to best
reach businesses — and tailor the right programs for
them — may be new terrain for most, the opportunity
is too great not to crack this code.
In 2012, more spas will get creative: reaching out
to local businesses with discounts or membership
programs, offering up therapists for on-site
treatments and education, getting on the radar of
the spawning vendors that actually implement multipronged
wellness programs for businesses and
encouraging businesses to use spa gift certificates
and trips as rewards.
Employee wellness…it’s very good for businesses,
and could be very good to the spa business