Emerging Trends In The Resort And Spa Industry: Challenges And Solutions

Resort and Spa Industry

Describe about the Report for Hotel and Hospitality Management of Emerging Trends.

Resort and spa industry is on a growing trend globally as people are getting inclined towards leisure and recognizing the importance of wellness. Inclusion of a spa in a resort is no longer a luxury and it has become ubiquitous, expected and a standard amenity. A comprehensive and competitive spa environment in the resorts have made it standard and essential portion of leisure and consumers around the world are looking out for resorts that house a spa. The resort and spa industry is growing and is a business of billions of dollars and therefore, on a competitive edge, is offering a bit more to the consumers to continue the success story (Lagrosen and Lagrosen 2015). The established resort brands are standardizing their offerings of spa and are positioning them as an important part of the development of their brands. However, success in the industry is accompanied by issues and challenges affecting the industry and requires a discussion.

The biggest challenge faced by the resort and spa lies in its success and development. Where there was an increase among the visiting consumers by 165%, the industry itself grew by 500% in the period 1999 to 2010. This has a profound effect on the market share of the spas and therefore, many of the resorts and spas are not able to find sufficient guests to meet their revenue and budget projections. Shortage of skilled manpower is a problem that has been a part of the industry since long. For a resort with a spa, the therapists sometimes take up the responsibility of management and trained managers fail to identify the uniqueness of the cultural nuances of a spa (Lin 2015). This often results in a dilemma and causes cannibalization of the personnel creating a shortage of skilled personnel in the industry. A significant priority for the resort and spa industry is to anticipate and satisfy the evolving needs of the customers. Customers are increasingly becoming sophisticated in the use of technology and their expectations in the resort and spa are increasing consequently. Customized and unique experiences are the requirements that are in demand and the spas need to leverage their services in order to provide world class experiences to their consumers from various origins (Lo, Wu and Tsai 2015). In addition, customers are looking out for resorts and spas online and many of the resorts are not located in the internet listings that are causing a serious business threat. Without appropriate digital marketing approaches, it will be difficult for the industry to achieve an overall growth in the sector. Reaching the customers and attracting them with substantial benefits on a global scale is not possible without appropriate marketing approaches. There has been a recent increase in the costs of energy, insurance and labor due to various factors that has exerted an impact on the overall profitability of the industry. Although the industry is growing with substantial profitability, however, these additional costs add up to the issues and challenges as often the profitability gets hampered due to security and safety issues, natural disasters and global recession (Page 2014). Therefore, the resort and spa industry is facing several challenges that need to be solved with appropriate discussions and recommendations.

Challenges Faced by the Resort and Spa Industry

Solutions and recommendations for the problems of the resort and spa industry will look into the issues and challenges of the industry for solving them. Growth of the industry is on a high and is anticipated to grow further to meet the growing number of consumers worldwide. However, excessive growth has to be controlled to bring a balance in the market share. For the existing resorts and spas, they need to maximize the value of every visit of the customers by increasing their benefits and quality experience (Vazquez-Illá Navarro 2014). It is also essential to look into the ways for increasing the average time spent by the guests for meeting the budget and revenue projections. Shortage of skilled manpower creates a person-power shortage and the industry should focus on long-term remedies of the problem by emphasizing on the training of the managers on service delivery according to the norms of the industry. Therapists turned managers should look into the long term success of the spa and develop the managerial skills from the training programs for better management of the business (Bharwani and Butt 2012). Classically trained managers should learn about the cultural nuances that are followed in a spa business and base their decision making according to the cultural practices of the resort. Evolving expectations of the global customers can be met by designing the resort and spa according to the cultural differences of the customers. Variety in the spa types, like eco spa and Thai spa, can help to attract more customers from different countries like China and Vietnam as they possess strong traditional values for spa therapy. Digital marketing can further promote this idea by offering various benefits to the potential customers and create an appeal among them for the services of the resort (Denizci Guillet and Kucukusta 2016). Reaching the customers is of utmost importance that the small businesses are lacking in and going digital in their marketing strategies will leverage the industry in a balanced proportion. Development of a separate spa brand by the resorts can create a better brand value that will attract revenue from locations other than the resort and can add up to the revenue generated by the industry. Increase in the energy, insurance and labor costs are difficult to control as most of them have international attributions. However, recommendations can be made about how to increase the earnings to make up the increased costs. Arrangements can be made for providing amenities to the customers that include treatments and spiritual instructions for a balanced life (Bharwani 2013). Resorts can set up retail outlets for selling up of their branded spa products like essential oils and shampoos and organic food items to promote healthy living. These can, in turn, retain the existing customers and attract the new ones that can contribute to the business and help to make up for the increasing costs that are uncontrollable. The market of the resort and spa industry is expected to grow by several folds by 2020 and meeting these challenges will eventually help in the growth of the industry on a global scale.

Solutions and Recommendations for the Resort and Spa Industry's Challenges

The emerging trends in the resort and spa industry are dependent on the economic climate of the world. It is a challenging phenomenon as it expects the industry to produce a positive bottom line by delivering quality customer service. Considering the emerging trends in the industry, the resorts need to incorporate creativity in their pragmatic management and marketing according to the consumer desires (Rao 2014). A significant shift has been noticed on the preferences of the consumers towards preventive health and wellness. As a result, more and more resorts increasing the comfort level with the procedures of med-spa accompanied with services of prevention treatment. For this, the hotels are developing collaborative relationships with the medical and health industries. The current trend of the industry is indicative towards a huge growth with the inclusion of the sophisticated spas in the resorts like cosmetic medical spa, luxury spa and day spa (Heyes, Beard and Gehrels 2015). This will provide healthy advantages to health conscious customers and will further contribute towards the growth of the industry. Emerging trend of eco-spa suggests that consumers have a proactive approach from the spas for addressing the concerns of the environment. Resorts are going to green initiatives by increasing the environmental sensitivity with the use of geothermal energy, recycled wood, foods from the organic garden and recycled water. Green network in the resorts and spas are in the emerging trend and consumers are getting attentive to exert a significant influence in the business of the industry. Emphasis is laid on the staff training, best practices and execution of standards for consistent and better delivery of the services. Compared to the previous practice, more attention and time is devoted to ensuring that the employees are well trained to deliver the best experiences of leisure and wellness in the resort and spa to the consumers (Vazquez-Illa 2014). The tendency of the customers are tilting from trendy to basics in treatment and therefore, the resorts and spas are adopting the traditional way of treating and healing. Amenities like relaxation areas, sauna and pools are becoming an essential part of the resorts to promote social spa activities and increase the overall experience if staying in the resort. Resorts are promoting the idea of extending credits to the services and free offerings in the spa treatment as part of a hotel stay. Innovative services like converting sleeping times into treatment and meditation hours are on demand and men are indulging into the leisure and wellness much more than ever. This is causing the resorts to offer these innovative services to their customers either free or with subsidized rates for attracting business (Smith and Puczkó 2014). De-stressing activities like relaxation messages, meditation, tai chi and yoga are becoming more prevalent and is an emerging trend in the resorts with spa. Renewal programs and detoxification procedures are likely to make the future of this trend as most of the resorts will have a spa in future. Summing up, it can be said that the emerging trends in the resort and spa industry are beneficial for sustaining the future of the business and it is also important to look into the impact that this trends will be imparting on the future of the business.

Evolving Trends in the Resort and Spa Industry

The impact and effect of the emerging trends of the resort and spa industry will leave a mark on the future of the industry. With the inclination of the consumers towards preventive health and wellness, it is expected that the resorts and spas will increase their role in the process of wellness. With the increase in health consciousness among the consumers, even hospitals are expected to have in future spa offerings in association with the therapists from the resorts (Voigt and Pforr 2013). Bringing in more industries in the loop will promote the industry and its business as consumers are becoming more conscious of their health and price sensitive. The eco-spa trend of the resorts is likely to stay and grow in the industry as not only the resorts but environmental sustainability is a topic of interest on a global scale. Therefore taking in the concept of environmental sensitivity and green initiatives, the industry will be recognized as environmentally responsible and this will significantly improve the business in future. Health conscious consumers appreciate the concept of addressing of the environmental concerns and using the environmental friendly objects that avoid pollution will certainly attract them (Vetitnev and Dzubina 2013). This will grow the business in future as the consumers are expected to demand attentiveness for expanding this trend of the resort and spa industry. The trend of social spa activities is in alignment with the economy of the industry and selling of the experiences of the spa will encourage the consumers in groups to return to the resort. This, in turn, will boost the business activity from both the existing and new customers and will increase the revenue of the industry. Better trained spa personnel will provide a better spa experience and it will cause to bring in more and more satisfied customers (Pforr and Locher 2012). With the innovative and new ways to deliver services, men are getting involved in wellness and luxury to experience solitude from their stressful lives. Service and design features will take this factor into account and promote the benefits of wellness among men. Therefore this trend, along with women, will attract men as well into the business and generate revenue much more than before. De-stressing trend by yoga and meditation is the trend that the resorts are putting forward as the business gain from their spa. Apart from relaxation, the resorts are making arrangements for detoxification treatment which is an emerging therapy to alleviate stress (Karson and Murphy 2013). Learning activities and self-discovery services are the activities that are initiated by the resorts and this trend will certainly help the consumers to improve their daily life activities. The resort and spa industry is expected to have a multifaceted dimension in future and therefore, the growth of the industry is assured in future with the increasing consumers worldwide.

References

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