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Google’s Groupon Offer: $5.3 Billion, With $700 Million Earnout

According to sources close to the situation, Google has offered $5.3 billion for Groupon, in what would be its largest acquisition yet if completed.

Sources said the deal for the Chicago-based social buying site seemed likely to be struck, even as early as tomorrow, although it certainly could fall apart right up to the end.

But, if done, it will move the search giant instantly to the top spot in local commerce online and give it huge troves of data about consumer buying habits and merchant information across the globe.

Combined with its pending $700 million acquisition of ITA Software, the travel data firm, that should freak out regulators worldwide and could be considered Google’s own version of a jobs plan for antitrust lawyers.

That said, it is a killer move for Google–despite the high price–given it has long tried to enter the local advertising space, with decidedly mixed results.

With its more than $33 billion in cash and strong stock, it had previously tried to buy local reviews site Yelp in a deal that fell apart for reasons that are still unclear.

In contrast, Groupon, founded in 2008, has taken off like a Roman candle and dominated the huge market for social shopping and discounting.

While the $6 billion Google is considering paying seems high, Groupon’s fast-growing revenue and profitability make its multiples less daunting, said those familiar with the matter.

It will certainly be a big payoff for Groupon’s investors, including Silicon Valley’s Accel Partners, as well as Russia’s DST Global, Battery Ventures and New Enterprise Associates.

Groupon has gleaned about $170 million in venture funding from them, most of which it has not needed.

That’s because it has reportedly attracted upwards of $50 million in monthly revenue.

It has done this by offering “daily deals”–getting a massive discount from local retailers in return for delivering customers via marketing via email and on social networks, especially Facebook and Twitter.

Typically, local merchants might rely on less effective newspaper circulars or paper couponing.

In what will certainly be one of the deal’s ironies, Google could own a start-up that is largely powered by rival Facebook’s massive skein of social networking connections.

Facebook, of course, recently introduced its own Facebook Deals offering.

BoomTown first wrote about the deal discussions between Groupon and Google two weeks ago, noting the price would be well above the $2 billion to $3 billion offered by Yahoo.

That interest from Yahoo was first reported here too–mostly because I apparently like to stalk Groupon CEO and Justin Bieber lookalike Andrew Mason–which was first to sniff around the fast-growing social buying site.

(And I will personally be fascinated to see how he’ll mesh with Marissa Mayer, the former search experience head, who is now leading local for Google.)

The New York Times–who does not seem able to ever credit as All Things Digital and other blogs always do happily and without fuss–is also reporting a $6 billion price tag for Groupon.

While we all await the outcome of this potential blockbuster of a deal, here is a video interview I did with Mason this summer in Vancouver, where I asked him specifically about Google’s interest (actually, I suggested he mug Google co-founder Larry Page for dough).

European Chain Hotels Market Review - October 2010

Year-on-year profitability levels grew by more than 17 per cent in October as room occupancy in the UK capital once again exceeded 90 per cent, according to the latest HotStats survey by TRI Hospitality Consulting.

This is the second month in succession and the fourth time this year that hotels in London’s four and five-star sector have achieved a room occupancy in excess of 90% and the UK capital once again achieved the highest room occupancy of all European markets polled during October.

Total Revenue per Available Room (TrevPAR) levels also remained stalwart, at €246.15 per available room, representing an increase of approximately 13% compared to the same period in 2009, whilst increasing slightly from the performance in September. The growth in TrevPAR can primarily be allied to the growth in corporate and conference demand, which accounted for more than 50% of the market mix this month, and attracts a higher ancillary spend.

As a result of the movement in achieved revenue levels, Gross Operating Profit per Available Room (GOPPAR) in London increased by 17.3 per cent during October to €129.74 from €110.60, which is more than 28 per cent above the year-to-date average of €101.14. Thanks to another month of strong trading, year-to-date profitability levels for London are approximately 43% above the second best performing European market in the sample, Amsterdam at €70.89.

Despite the increase in revenue, profitability levels in London were hampered due to an uncharacteristic increase in payroll levels to 22.8% from 21.9% of total revenue during the same period in 2009.

“In order to achieve such high room occupancy levels a wealth of demand must be available across all market sectors. For London hoteliers, the apparent recovery in the commercial market aligned with the remnants of a successful summer of leisure visitors as well as several major annual events has allowed for such a situation to occur,” said Jonathan Langston, managing director, TRI Hospitality Consulting.

The RAI drives profitability in Amsterdam

Profitability levels in Amsterdam were second only to London in October, as rooms revenue was boosted by the city’s exhibition centre hosting a packed month of events, including the ‘world’s premier financial industry convention’, according to the latest HotStats survey.

Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) in the city grew by close to 50% as room occupancy increased by 16.1 percentage points to 87.2% from 71.1%; and average room rate grew by 21.3% from €159.30 to €193.16. The growth in rooms revenue can be primarily attributed to the strength of demand associated with Sibos, a major financial services conference, which typically attracts approximately 8,000 international attendees, and filled hotels to capacity on each of the five days of the event.

Following an investment of more than €100 million, the Amsterdam RAI has become increasingly competitive in the international conference and events sector and is set to host a number of major ‘travelling’ conventions in forthcoming years, with obvious positive knock-on effects for the city’s hoteliers. Demand for hotel accommodation in the Dutch capital was also at a premium during the annual ‘Horti Fair’ which this year attracted a worldwide audience of more than 23,000 visitors.

In addition to the positive impact on rooms revenue, Amsterdam hoteliers were well positioned to benefit from an increase in ancillary spend, resulting in a TrevPAR increase of 39.2% to €231.45 from €166.25. A 17.6% increase in food and beverage revenue per available room, to €43.60 was complemented by a 35% increase in meeting room revenue per available room as local hoteliers accommodated a number of breakout meetings associated with Sibos.

The increase in revenue reflected positively on costs, illustrated by a 4.7 percentage point decrease in payroll as a percentage of total revenue to 25.6%.

“Trading conditions during 2009 and a large part of 2010 have been challenging for markets such as Amsterdam, which having developed such a strong reputation as a destination for conferences and conventions lost out due to the impact of the credit crunch. However, two years on and the market for meetings, events and conferences seems to be recovering; and the benefits for local hoteliers are clear” added Langston.

Click here ( Adobe Acrobat PDF file) to download the complete article including graphs.

TRI Hospitality Consulting provides a wide range of services to clients in the hotel sector. It has offices in London, Dubai and Madrid.

For more information contact:

Jonathan Langston, managing director 020 7892 2201

jonathan.langston@trihc.com

David Bailey, deputy managing director 020 7892 2202

david.bailey@trihc.com

Charles Scudamore, director 0207 892 2211

charles.scudamore@trihc.com

Hoteliers Should Utilize New Tools For Measuring Hospitality and Guest Service Efficiency

Most hoteliers I meet these days seem to be well-aware of the importance of providing great service to each and every guest. Given the proliferation of online guest reviews and social media posting being made - often by guests who are in-house - most managers already know that the level of hospitality and guest service your hotel staff provides is now transparent for all on the outside to see by typing a few words in a browser bar.

Most hoteliers I meet these days seem to be well-aware of the importance of providing great service to each and every guest.  Given the proliferation of online guest reviews and social media posting being made - often by guests who are in-house - most managers already know that the level of hospitality and guest service your hotel staff provides is now transparent for all on the outside to see by typing a few words in a browser bar. 

Yet as much as they think having great guest service is important, too many hotel managers are still relying on the traditional means of measuring guest satisfaction, such as by post-departure guest email surveys and even traditional comment cards. 

The good news is that the emerging technology which is continuously being introduced by innovative entrepreneurial companies now provides some effective new ways to measure hospitality, service efficiency, and guest satisfactionOne such example is a new system called ExpressWay® from a company called VOC Systems which allows guests to leave their comments and concerns by voicemail.  Guests are notified at check-in and by in-room displays and in-lobby kiosks that they have the option to dial a voicemail extension and simply speak a recorded message conveying their compliment or complaint.  Their system them immediately forwards their message to a distribution list of manager(s); the message is forwarded both in text form and also as an email attachment, so that the manager can take appropriate action immediately, while the guest is still in-house experiencing the problem.  Interestingly, early results show that over 50% of the messages guests leave are positive in nature, such as complimenting a service provider. www.vocsys.com

Another great new tool for measuring guest satisfaction is offered by a company called Revinate®.  Their system monitors all the major online guests review and social media websites, allowing managers to log-in to see all of the postings, versus having to call the different networks.  More frequent monitoring of these websites sometimes reveals postings that have just recently been made, perhaps by a guest who is still in their room who can be contacted right away for resolution.  Best of all, it also aggregates the feedback posted online so that managers can easily identify reoccurring problems guests are experiencing.  Managers also can respond to online guest reviews from Revinate, which most electronic marketing consultants highly recommend doing.  www.Revinate.com

Besides tracking guest comments and online feedback, there are other new systems now available at much lower price points than was imaginable just a couple of years back.  For example, the Call IQ system provides hotel managers with a tool for automatically recording all of their inbound 800 calls.  For a monthly fee that is probably less than most hotels pay for their current inbound 800 service, this system not only records all calls, but also indicates phone numbers and addresses for most of the calls (unless blocked by the caller.)  This allows managers to monitor and assess how their hotel sales department staff, hotel reservations or front desk, and other guest contact personnel interact with real callers daily.   The service even provides a customizable scoring form that managers can use to assess their team’s performance against the standards.   Even without using a scoring form, managers will gain invaluable insight by simply listening to what their agents are saying to real guests.   www.MyCallIQ.com

Beyond these systems there are many other new tools being introduced to the hospitality industry every month that allow managers to measure guest satisfaction and service efficiency (response times, processing times.)  There are even companies providing hidden-video recording technology that allow a mystery shopper to videotape their interaction with the hotel  employees, whether at the front desk, room service, the restaurant, or elsewhere. 

By harnessing the new technology systems now available, hoteliers can better-understand what guests really want and need daily.  They can better identify the root causes of service deficiencies, which are often a result of deficient operational systems and procedures.   And managers can better identify those hospitality superstars on their team who go above and beyond for guests every shift.  Armed with this information, managers can tie-in real world performance with employee recognition and incentive programs in ways never before possible.    

By:   Doug Kennedy

Naked Gun Actor Leslie Nielsen Passes Away

Leslie Nielsen died on the weekend, and most of the stories talked about his strange career: the straightforward roles he had as the handsome not-quite-leading-man in Hollywood -it began in 1950 on television's Studio One, and went on to include more than 100 movies, most of them in stolid roles in films such as Tammy and the Bachelor or The Poseidon Adventure -and the second part, which started with Airplane! and the Naked Gun series of films, which revealed his capacity for misplaced klutziness and deadpan silliness. Nielsen called it "looking the wrong way at the right time," and he added.

However, Nielsen's signature move -aside from saying "thank you for talking with me" after every conversation -was a couple of fart machines that he used to carry around. One of them he built himself, using plans sent by a friend. The other was a commercial device called The Farter that came with a remote control. Both worked in the same way: push a button and it would make a quiet blurrp that was, for unaccountable and cosmic reasons, funny.

So Nielsen would be talking to someone or (in a brilliant coup de theatre, a sort of one-man performance piece that he could perform in elevators) simply looking distracted, with one hand on the hidden button. He would press it and you were treated to the sight of a fan, someone star-struck by the idea of being in the same room as their comedic hero, trying not to notice. Better still, he would not press it, but just widen his eyes innocently. Simply anticipating the reaction was just as funny: it was like Hitchcock's definition of suspense being a bomb that doesn't go off. "Elevators are my playground," he said. James Allodi, a Canadian actor who worked with Nielsen on the movie Men With Brooms, called him "the Foster Brooks of the lower intestine."

I got to know Nielsen (and Allodi) a little about eight years ago. To promote Men With Brooms, the Alliance company sent the cast -headed by star/director/writer Paul Gross - on a cross-country promotional tour by private jet. I accompanied them, and while the younger actors would go out to celebrate every night, Nielsen and I would go to bed early and get up early. We'd meet in a hotel lobby and sit there talking, waiting for the rest of the cast to arrive, usually wearing sunglasses to keep away the early morning light.

Nielsen was the only person I ever met who arrived places earlier than I do. He said that when he was a 5-year-old in Edmonton, his father promised to take him on his first-ever bus ride, but when the family got there, they discovered buses didn't run on Sundays. He said that since then, he's lived in fear of missing a bus. Many days, as we sat and talked, fans would come up to him and thank him for his movies. There was always a touching note of affection in their voices, and he was always gracious in thanking them, but if you know the weapons he kept at hand, those meetings were fraught with comic suspense.

Here's part of what I wrote about the tour at the time:

"Nielsen uses his farters the way Isaac Stern used his violins. He's the Faure of flatulence. Allodi told me that everyone knew of Nielsen's fart machines when filming started, but the veteran actor played it cosy for the first few days. Things were silent on that front, so to speak, until the day at a curling rink when everyone had to be quiet for a full minute so director Gross could record the ambient sound of the arena. Forty-five seconds into the silence, the low rumble exploded. So did all the extras. Timing is everything in the flatulence game.

It was the fart machine, though, that brought out his truest artistry, and watching him use it during an interview with a newspaper reporter, talking right through the noise with only the slightest hiccup in his voice to indicate gastric distress, was to witness a work of unparalleled comic timing.

So when I heard the sad and surprising news that Nielsen had died, my first thoughts had to do with flatulence. It's probably not the most respectful memory -the man was a member of the Order of Canada, after all -- but I have a feeling that he wouldn't mind. He loved to get the last laugh.

Original Source: Montreal Gazette

Converting Leads into Sales – (Part 2 of 2)

 

Now for the conclusion of “Converting Leads into Sales - Rumpelstiltskin’s Rules for Spinning Straw into Gold”…

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #6: Old Leads Never Die, Unless You Let Them

If a lead doesn’t convert into a sale in short order, don’t purge it from your database entirely. As long as the organization holds meetings that you can accommodate, put them on “life support.” Send the contact an invitation to receive your e-mail newsletter. Add the person to your postcard mailing list. It’s well worth using these low-cost, low-maintenance tactics. For one thing, getting address corrections back from postcard mailings will help you keep your list up to date. And if certain lead never open your email promotions, they just aren’t interested. Purge them from your prospecting database.

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #7: Drill Down to the Decision-Maker

Whatever system you use to track leads, make sure that you can see all the players in a target organization, and that you focus your sales efforts on the decision-maker. Too often, sales resources are wasted on second- and third-tier players who influence the buying decision at best, while the person who really decides never hears your story.

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #8: It’s All About . . . Timing

You know that the prospect’s meeting is a perfect fit for your facility. You know you have the amenities they are looking for. You know who will make the ultimate decision. But you are still missing one critical piece of information: when the decision on a meeting location will be made. Your sales effort should build to a crescendo just before the decision date and build in a contact just prior to that time. Talking to the planner at that point gives you a chance to adjust your proposal for last-minute changes in the meeting specifications and win the booking.

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #9: Change Equals Opportunity

Be sure to track the changing profile of every lead, both individuals and organizations, in your database.  Here’s why: When the person who books meetings at a prospect organization leaves, that change can create two opportunities. A current customer at a new organization could book additional meetings with you. And the person who moves into the old customer’s job is a prospect for return bookings.

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #10: Customize Follow-Up by Lead Source

Today’s sales and marketing departments generate leads from multiple sources: Web sites, shows, direct mail, print advertising, email broadcasts and so on. You’ll get better results if you tailor your follow-up efforts by source. For example, prospects who inquire over the Web expect a quick response. Don’t be shy about feeding Web requests and RFPs to your sales staff with instructions to make the call immediately. If you need time to draft a response to an RFP, program your site to send an instant email advising the prospect that a proposal will follow within 48 hours. That’s not to say you can dawdle responding to leads from other sources (see Rule #1).

 

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #11: Exploit the RFP Opening

With the proliferation of RFP generators, meeting planners can broadcast these documents to multiple hotels and CVBs at the click of a mouse. So is each RFP less valuable as a lead than it once was? Yes, but every RFP still deserves to go to the top of the active prospect list. Never miss an opportunity to contact the planner, preferably by telephone, to get more information. You’ll be in a better position to respond to the RFP in hand and you may also learn about future meetings still in the planning stages.

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #12: Fire Up Your Team with a Tote Board

Salespeople are competitive by nature, and competitors thrive on recognition. That’s why a tote board is an essential tool, whether it takes the form of a white board at the front of the sales department or a spreadsheet in a shared folder on the network or a weekly email to the entire team. And that tote board should highlight each salesperson’s current close rate, the percentage of leads converted to bookings for the month and the year-to-date. The top performers will enjoy the limelight and compete to stay on top. The stragglers will feel the pressure to raise their game.

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #13: Feed the Funnel

While you’re working to convert leads into sales, don’t forget to keep the leads coming in the first place. When acquiring lists for direct mail and telephone campaigns, stick with sources that provide the organizations’ prior meeting activities—the number of meetings per year, preferred location, peak room nights and other data you need to target qualified prospects.

As you can see, there is nothing magical about Rumplestiltskin’s Rules. Converting leads into sales takes hard work, organization, and more than a little determination. But hospitality sales and marketing professionals can be sure of one thing: When the time comes to tally sales results, those who follow his rules will be golden.

[bio]

Frank Finn is Executive Vice President and COO of Briefings Media Group, LLC, the publishers of The Salesman’s Guide® meeting planner directories. Briefings has also partnered with the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International to create MeetingPlannerLists.com, the largest online source of qualified meeting and event planners.

Part 1 :: http://hotelier.typepad.com/hotelier/2010/11/converting-leads-into-sales-rumpelstiltskins-part-1-of-2.html

Converting Leads into Sales – Rumpelstiltskin’s Rules for Spinning Straw into Gold (Part 1 of 2)

 

Hospitality sales and marketing professionals face the same challenge the miller’s daughter confronted in “Rumplestiltskin,” the 19th-century German folk tale immortalized by the Brothers Grimm. Don’t remember the story? Here’s a recap:

Once upon a time, a miller who wanted to seem important bragged to everyone that his daughter could spin straw into gold. The king caught wind of this and locked the daughter in a tower with a spinning wheel and a pile of straw. “You have three nights to spin this straw into gold,” said the king. “If you fail, you will be executed.” The miller’s daughter despaired until an odd little man named Rumplestiltskin appeared in her room. In exchange for her necklace, he spun the straw into gold. The king was so pleased, he made the miller’s daughter his queen.

There is a lot more to the story, but the point is, hospitality sales and marketing people face the same do-or-die situation every day: take straw (leads) and turn them into gold (bookings). After all, a sales lead is as worthless as a pile of straw until someone converts it into a booked meeting.

So what’s the secret? Follow “Rumplestiltskin’s Rules” and while you may not become royalty, you will live to spin another day.

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #1: Don’t Let Hot Leads Go Cold

Sales leads are like bread; they go stale overnight. However you generated the lead, whether through a show, a print ad, your Web site, a direct mail campaign, act on it quickly. With each day that goes by without a “touch”—a follow-up telephone call, email message, or some other contact—the odds of converting a lead drop.

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #2: All Leads Are Not Created Equal

Too many sales and marketing people treat all leads alike, when in fact their quality varies widely. Show leads often get priority treatment because they are costly to generate.  But let’s face it, those business cards you collected by holding that “Win an iPad” drawing in your booth aren’t leads from serious prospects interested in booking a meeting at your facility. All you’ve got is a list of people who would love to win an iPad. They aren’t nearly as valuable as the list of people who requested information about your meeting facilities on your Web site yesterday.

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #3: Qualify Leads Using the Three I’s

At every stage, make sure the leads you are devoting time and effort to pass the “Three I’s” Test:

1. Interest – The meeting planner is actively seeking a facility to hold an event.
2. Influence – The contact is responsible for selecting the site.
3. Investment – The planner’s budget for the meeting is in line with your rates.

If you are diligent about confirming the Three I’s, you won’t waste time on prospects who can’t or won’t book a meeting with you.

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #4: Put a Fuse on the Hottest Leads

When you assign a lead to a salesperson, especially those that come in as RFPs, always give him or her a deadline. Nothing creates a sense of urgency in a salesperson like the words, “I’m taking this away from you in 10 days and assigning it to someone else if you haven’t booked the business.” On the appointed day, unless the salesperson can show they are making real progress on the account, reassign the lead to the next person in line.

Rumplestiltskin’s Rule #5: You Can’t Hit the Bull’s-Eye if You Don’t Have a Target

Effective conversion of sales leads depends on defining the kind of business you are targeting. And in today’s environment, your target may be change every six to 12 months. Be very specific about which type of group and meeting suits your facility best. Then screen your leads and rank them according to how well they fit the profile.

To be continued

By: Frank Finn

Part 2 : http://hotelier.typepad.com/hotelier/2010/11/converting-leads-into-sales-part-2-of-2.html

How to cope with bad reviews

With the increasing popularity of user-generated reviews, hoteliers may lament the loss of control over what is being said about us online, but we're still in full control of how we react. As a follow-up to my last article, A Positive Spin on Negative Reviews, here are some suggestions for using negative reviews to effect positive change in your hotel.

1. Speak up. We would never ignore a guest ranting in our lobby, so why do so few negative reviews receive a response? (7%, according to TripAdvisor). It's our chance to show the world we care, to thank the guest for feedback, to apologize and explain, and to clear up any misconceptions. On TripAdvisor reviewers can't reply to hotel responses, so effectively we get the last word. Use it.

2. Engage. Hotels used to hire mystery shoppers to tell us what we were doing wrong; now our guests do it and pay us for the privilege. User reviews keep us in touch with guests and allow us to reach a mass market we could never hope to reach through our own marketing efforts. Be grateful. Wherever possible, engage writers of negative reviews and try to make amends. With expert handling, our harshest critics can become our most powerful advocates.

3. Show leadership. Yes, you work hard, you're passionate, and you're probably a very nice person, but that doesn't mean everyone will appreciate your efforts. Accept that sometimes you'll be the victim of unfair criticism, and other times you'll simply screw up. Don't let it kill your spirit. Treat every review as a learning experience. Discuss with staff how you could have prevented the situation, support the team, and move on. It's when travelers stop talking about your hotel that you should really worry.

4. Take the high road. If the review is petty or vindictive, there's no need to stoop to that level; travelers are smart enough to read between the lines. If allegations are false and defamatory, dispute the review with the host site, post a diplomatic response to set the record straight, and let it go. If your property's reputation is so fragile that one or two bad reviews will devastate your business, you've got more issues than bad reviews. Read on.

5. Make reputation management a priority. Whether your property is a five-star resort or a one-star motel, your guests are evaluating you on how well you communicate and deliver on your brand promise. Subscribe to a social media monitoring tool and start tracking your Market Share of Guest Satisfaction; in the age of social networking, it's as important as your revPAR index. Formulate a strategy for optimizing your online reputation, set goals, and meet regularly with your social media team to review progress.

6. Create a cycle of positivity. Use guest feedback to justify investments in training, labor, capital upgrades and communications. Improvements will generate positive reviews, which will attract more travelers and in turn will generate incremental revenue, thereby funding more improvements, and so on. The alternative? Ignore feedback and create a cycle of negativity, with the opposite results.

7. Prevent escalation. If you listen closely, bad reviews are often less about the issue itself than how staff responded when it was brought to their attention. Train employees to prevent on-property issues from escalating to online complaints by listening, empathizing, offering solutions and following up to ensure guests are satisfied. Some issues take time and money to fix; in the meantime, ensure staff are minimizing fallout by expertly managing complaints.

 

 

8. Take the good with the bad. In addition to occasional false and malicious reviews, we also receive reviews that overstate our virtues. Exaggerated praise can be just as damaging, setting expectations we can't meet. And yet nobody is threatening to sue these reviewers. In the end it all balances out, and the wisdom of the crowds prevails over the folly of the few.

Daniel Edward Craig is a former general manager turned hotel consultant and the author of the hotel-based novel Murder at the Universe and other books and articles. His blog about issues in the hotel industry are considered essential reading for hoteliers, travelers and students alike. Visit www.danieledwardcraig.com or email dec@danieledwardcraig.com. Twitter: dcraig

Top 10 Global Spa Trends to Watch in 2011

President Susie Ellis Predicts All Eyes Will Be on Asia, An Explosion of Spa Brands, A New Focus on Aging Demographics (and a Liberal Dose of Salt) Will Hit the Spa Scene Next Year

1) AGING...RAGING

Whatever term you use, “aging baby boomers,” “silver spa-ers” or “active retirees,” the fact is that the 65-plus spa-going demographic will have a massive impact on the industry for years to come. The data on the “graying” of the North American, European and Japanese populations could fill a library, with these regions’ populations aging at a rate unprecedented in human history. And millions of baby boomers (the generation that galvanized the spa/wellness revolution) turn 65 each year…

This demographic viciously rejects labels, and the days of “over-65” as a catchall “old-person” category will soon become ancient history. (After all, there’s a huge difference between a 70-year-old who plays tennis three times a week and an 85-year-old seeking pain relief.) Savvy spas will now be rethinking everything to address these all-too-often-ignored niches’ specific needs: from facilities, to equipment, to programming, to marketing and staffing. Physical therapy, rehabilitation, recuperation and just plain old pain relief will increase on spas’ menus, to meet the needs of clientele with back, neck, knee and mobility issues.

A few forward-thinking examples:  Fairmont’s Willow Stream Spas are adding an extensive muscle and joint program promising pain relief. We’ll see more spas (modeled after a Canyon Ranch) featuring exercise physiologists, sports medicine professionals, chiropractors, orthopedics, naturopaths and physical therapists on staff (or on call). Look for the rise of the term “corrective” — “corrective” massage, “corrective” facials, etc., and for the already used-to-death term “anti-aging” to get a further workout. We’ll see a rise in offerings like Biofreeze Pain Management massages; infrared saunas, which function at far-less searing heat (but penetrate heat further into the body than a traditional sauna); and new chilled loungers that accomplish what cold plunge pools do, but are more comfortable and safer for older guests. Many spas are even using bigger print for their spa menus!

A renaissance in spa bathing is looming, as the pain-relief benefits of soaking in thermal water are rediscovered.  While finding new expressions (i.e., the Scandinave and Le Nordic models in Canada, the Hakone Kowakien Yunessun in Japan, or the lucrative Glen Ivy Hot Springs in Southern California), SpaFinder forecasts a renewed respect for the benefits of sanitas per aqua that has recently taken a backseat to weight loss, beauty and fitness.

Prior research has concurred that the number-one reason people go to spas is to “relax and de-stress,” but in some regions of the world that may soon be replaced by to “relieve aches and pains.”

2) ALL EYES ON ASIA

The role Asia has played in the modern spa industry is profound: Approaches like yoga, shiatsu and Thai massage, Ayurvedic medicine, TCM and acupuncture, etc. have become the very staples of global spa menus (and people’s well-being regimes) for decades. The “Zen” nature of Asian design has influenced spas across the world. And some of the most famous hotel/resort spa brands have emerged from Asia, not only because of the continent’s diverse, established cultures of wellness/healing, but because low labor costs made for strong profits.

But historically, it’s been a tale of the mass exportation of Asian therapies/design/brands. Now an incredibly powerful new story is unfolding: The explosive growth of hotel/spa development within Asia (a market of 4.1 billion people), and especially within the two fastest-growing world economies, China and India. These markets, and others like Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, etc., are developing at a breakneck pace, unleashing extraordinary new class mobility and massive opportunities for hotel/spa development.

There’s an avalanche of data about the runaway economic development in China and India. In the last 30 years, China’s gross domestic product has grown 72 times, while India’s GDP is expected to quadruple by 2020. There are 150 airports under construction in China, and 171 cities with populations of a million-plus — but most still don’t have a major, internationally branded hotel! China is predicted to be the world’s largest tourist destination by 2015. Incoming tourists skyrocketed 500% in the last decade, and India’s tourists doubled in the same time.

The hotel/spa pipeline is a crystal-clear indicator of the headline story unfolding. Asia-Pacific has the largest number of spas and hotels under development of any region in the world, with 77% of that regional hotel expansion in 2011 earmarked for China and India (56% and 21%, respectively). Experts compare the current hotel/resort growth in China to the U.S. in the 50’s and 60s, but predict the Chinese boom will be even bigger. Forty-seven international hotel brands are now busily entering India, to meet demand over the next decade for 400,000 new rooms.

If incoming tourism is exploding, so is outbound and intra-Asian tourism. By 2015, China will have 100 million outbound travelers, a number greater than the people who visit France annually — the number-one tourist destination in the world. And, as more newly minted middle- and upper-class Asians begin to travel abroad, across the region, and in their own country, an extraordinary new tourist demographic is being born, oft-seeking the luxury lifestyle that includes spa-going the “western” way. Chiva Som, a revered Thai destination spa, recently reported 25%-plus of its guests now hail from China, while the Starwood Hotels brand reports 50% of its guests in China are now Chinese.

Prediction: Hotel/spa developers will attempt to strike a balance between incoming tourists’ desire for authentic, local ambiance and indigenous, Asian treatments, and many local spa-goers’ desire for super-modern, “western-style,” luxe spa-going. Also, note: While many spa markets will be courting the aging baby boomer, emerging economies like China and India will be targeting a much younger generation. (Roughly 65% of Indians are under 35, while roughly 70% of the Chinese population is under 44.)

The year 2011 will prove a watershed year for new, breathtaking hotel/resort spas, western-style day spas, wellness/destination spas, and impressive medical tourism facilities — all rising up alongside traditional village spas from Bali to Vietnam. This hotel-spa surge will be taking place across many cities/regions that westerners can’t even yet name, and in destinations as surprising as Tibet. (i.e., the St. Regis Lhasa Resort/Iridium Spa just opened, promising to be “the highest luxury resort spa in the world.” Western explorers now heading East will find opulent spa resorts and wellness retreats at attractive prices compared to what they would pay for the same (or less) luxury back home.

…It’s all eyes on Asia, as a new “Spa Road” stretches from China and India to Thailand and Indonesia. The hotel and spa explosion over the next few years will be phenomenal, and it’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Examples of the Asian Hotel Brand Explosion:

• Hong Kong-based Langham Hotels: 10 luxury hotel spas in development across China, India and Thailand.
• Marriott International: 89 new Marriot Hotels in India by 2015, including a Ritz-Carlton brand introduction.
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts: 60-plus hotels in China now, with 86 in the pipeline; 27 properties in India, with 16 on the way. (The Starwood Chinese pipeline: 24 Sheratons, 13 Westins, 7 St. Regis’).
• One-third of InterContinental Hotel Group’s pipeline is in Asia.
• Accor has 50 hotels planned in India.
• Hyatt has 40 hotels planned in India.
• Conrad Hotels & Resorts: 10 luxury hotel spas planned, from Thailand to Bali.
• Mumbai-based Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: 47 luxury resorts from Da Nang to Sri Lanka in pipeline. (Just launched upscale brand Vivanta by Taj: 22 in India, 12 in pipeline).

3) SALT ROOMS AND SALT CAVES

Yes, you heard right, spas are busy designing new ways to up your salt intake! A rediscovery of the therapeutic benefits of inhaling (and being physically immersed) in salt-infused environments is underway, and new salt rooms/caves at spas, and dedicated salt therapy (‘halotherapy’) centers, are springing up across the world.

Basking in naturally occurring salt caves (“speleotherapy”) is a centuries-old Eastern European health tradition, and spas are recreating the natural salt cave microclimate using technology that precisely infuses pure salt and negative ions into the air. But this “old salt” therapy is coming of age in stylish, new ways: Spa-goers can now take their salt in dramatic stalactite-drenched grottoes (comprised of tons of imported Himalayan salt crystals) or in chic, hyper-modern rooms made of sea salt blocks. Spa-goers glide through inches of salt, curl up on a lounger in the cocooning, tranquil whiteness, and breathe in.

More than folk tradition is behind the spa-salt resurgence: Medical studies reveal it’s beneficial for respiratory illnesses like asthma and allergies, skin conditions like acne and psoriasis, and even cystic fibrosis. (On a side note, asthma is a global epidemic: 300 million people worldwide suffer, with 40% estimated to be children. Therefore, many of the new salt therapy “day” centers feature dedicated kids’ rooms, while home salt-inhalation devices are also on the rise.)

Salt inhalation rooms come in two varieties:  steam (a salt steam bath) or dry. On the hotel/resort front, they’re best suited for larger spas, adding a new twist to existing traditional hydrothermal facilities — and, of course, they’re most relevant to inland properties away from the sea. And with no need of a therapist’s involvement/labor costs, they’re very attractive to spas.

Prediction: More salt therapy "time" integrated with massage, meditation or yoga, to maximize the experience.

Examples:

• ·         1,000-plus traditional Eastern European salt caves/spas
• ·         CastaDiva Resort (Lake Como, Italy): Exiting the Himalayan salt room, guests can dive into a floating pool, suspended on the lake.
• ·         Aria Resort & Casino (Las Vegas, US): Hypermodern “Shio” salt room, featuring walls of illuminated salt bricks and massage chairs vibrating in sync to music.
• ·         Taba Heights Resort (Sinai, Egypt): New “Dead Sea Salt Cave.”
• ·         Numerous salt therapy day centers, including Halo/Air Salt Rooms (New York, U.S.), where “HaloGenerators” pump salt into hermetically sealed rooms fashioned after European salt caves; Salt Chalet (California, U.S.); Salt Therapy Spa (Dublin, Ireland); Galos Caves (Illinois, U.S.), Salt Therapy Health & Wellness Center (Ontario, Canada).

4) SPA BRANDWAGON

The modern spa industry is young, and historically, it’s been fragmented: The majority of spas operate a single facility. While spa brands have existed since Elizabeth Arden opened her second “Red Door” a century ago, generally, the industry hasn’t cracked the large-scale brand expansion code. Until now: 2011 will prove a breakthrough year for global spa franchise expansion and spanking-new spa brand models.

Spa-goers are about to have an unprecedented number of global brands to choose from. And unlike the facelessness one associates with “McBrands,” the new spa brands are working overtime to create unique identities and offerings, so consumers will be able to choose from a hip, urban Bliss or Exhale spa, or the eco-friendly “barefoot luxury” vibe of a Six Senses. In addition, people can select from more price-points than ever before: from the over-the-top luxury of a Mandarin Oriental, to the three- and four-star properties now developing spa brands, to a super-affordable, no-frills option like a Massage Envy (800-plus franchises awarded across the U.S.). With 80,000-plus spas worldwide, many consumers will embrace the “know-ability factor,” with spa brands offering them consistent experiences wherever they happen to live or travel.  

ESPA (in over 50 countries) can be credited with first un-riddling how to make the spa brand equation work globally. And now brands are aggressively moving into hot, emerging markets like China and India (i.e., L’Occitane, Woodhouse Day Spas, etc.); brands indigenous to emerging markets are expanding (China’s Dragonfly or Spa Moment chains, etc.); and major hotel brands are busy launching carefully crafted new brand concepts. Newly minted hotel brands charging to market include: Sheraton’s Shine spas (planned for all global properties by 2012), Hilton’s Eforea concept (to be rolled into 80 global properties by 2013), Steiner’s Chevana spas, W’s Away spas, Le Meridien’s Explore spas and a new Iridium spa brand for St. Regis properties. There is even a “no therapist” spa franchise, Planet Beach Contempo Spas, expanding from Australia to South Africa. (Another breed of “brand,” Leading Spas of the World, an organization that curates fine spas worldwide, will help consumers make decisions in a crowded market.)

Many of the brand-new brands are taking angles such as: 1) affordability; 2) greatly simplified and sub-branded menus, i.e., three to five “signature spa journeys”; and, 3) an attempt to balance turnkey menus/design with some nod to local specificity (i.e., a percentage of the menu is dedicated to regionally-specific treatments, etc.).

Fueling this historic “spa brandwagon”: sheer globalization; a vast, mainstream global spa market; a strengthening economy; and the advantages economies of scale bring to larger enterprises.

A Few Additional Brands on the Move: Banyan Tree, 63 locations; Bliss Spas, 21; Blue Mercury, 30; Body Minute, 221; Champneys, 12; Clarins, 136; Dove Spas, 12; Dragonfly, 14; Exhale, 15; Facelogic, 40-plus; Hand & Stone Massage & Facial Spas, 30; Mandara, 72; Mandara’s Chavana, 4; Massage Envy Spas, in conjunction with Murad, 600-plus; Massage Heights, 50-plus; Red Door, 32; Red Door’s all-new Simply Face+Body, 1; Sanctuary, 2 (with 4 opening in 2011; Spa L’Occitane, 40-plus; Woodhouse Day Spas, 23. (Note: Each one has significant expansion plans in the works.)

 5) DEALS GONE WILD

Remember when coupons were unfashionable things people snipped out of the paper? And spa deals were mostly found on chalkboards near the spa reception desk? (Or, when spas didn’t even discount or consider using the term “deal”?)

Well, put an “e-” or “group” in front of “coupon,” and you suddenly have the hottest Internet mania of 2010, poised to accelerate at an even more dizzying pace in 2011. Online group-buying deals have suddenly burst onto the global scene, and the old-fashioned “deal” has morphed into a hip online industry. And with spa and wellness deals such a mainstay of generic sites like GroupOn or LivingSocial (where roughly 20% of total deals are spa-related), it’s a sure sign that spa-going has achieved massive, mainstream traction.

The phenomenon is mushrooming globally, with 500 group-buying sites estimated worldwide. North America alone has 130 “daily deal” sites, including first-mover GroupOn - and LivingSocial, the DealList, Yelp, BuyWithMe, etc. The UK has its Groupolas and Wowchers, Spain its Groupalias, Australia its Jumponits, Scoopons and Spreets, China its QQTuans and Meituans, Thailand its Ensogos and Sanook Coupons, and Singapore its AllDealsAsia. Dozens of sites cater to a single city.

And with so many spa deals (treatments, yoga classes, even Botox) being blasted into email inboxes, there has been one extraordinary effect: Millions of people now are expanding their spa/wellness horizons, trying new spas and experiences they wouldn’t have without the “50%-75% off!”

With so many companies backed by hundreds of millions in venture capital, deals will certainly remain a huge deal in 2011. Here is what we see ahead for the spa consumer and industry:  

• ·         Consolidation: Consumers will still have an overwhelming number of sites to follow, but a “dot-deal” shakeout (on the dot-com model) looms, in part because of an avalanche of similar/“cookie-cutter” sites, along with players like GroupOn marching across the globe buying and re-branding local deal sites. Branding and meaningful differentiation will become important factors in determining the “shakeout” winners.
  
  
• ·         More personalized and spa-specific deals: Spa deals have typically been thrown in between blow-out specials on lube jobs or “two hours of whitewater river rafting,” but new personalization science/software, and the rise of luxury and spa-specific platforms like SpaFinder’s SpaRahRah or Gilt City, will deliver discriminating spa-goers more relevant deals, even “curated” by experts. With the more exclusive customer targeting, higher-end spas (who avoid mob deals like the plague) will jump in to offer luxury, unique experiences far beyond the $39 massage/facial. For many, the spa deal quest will evolve beyond the “rock-bottom price at any old place,” to seeking (and finding) credible, real values (i.e., $130 for $300 worth of spa services) at a location you actually dream of visiting.
  
  
• ·         More manageable, exclusive deals: “Flash-mob” deals that have a small day spa selling 5,000 massages has led to well-publicized gripes by both businesses and consumers — no appointments, short-shrift service, etc. — leaving spas so overwhelmed their businesses are jeopardized. Look for the parameters of deals to become more exclusive and more manageable.
  
  
• ·         Location-based “deals on the spot”: With location-based powerhouses like Facebook, Google and Yelp getting in on the action, deals will soon be even more ubiquitous online, as well as headed to your mobile phone. Around the bend: A spa-seeker launches a mobile app, finds real-time deals in that area, clicks and buys the coupon and then strolls into the spa to redeem.
  
  
• ·         Retention and engagement: In 2010 spas embraced group-deals to attract new customers, but in 2011 there will be a much more intense focus on how to retain them, with new tools, training and technology to engage customers after the hordes rush in.
  
  
• ·         Deal fatigue: Look for some consumer push back, especially from the spa enthusiast, who is, after all, seeking stress reduction.  Ultimately for them, having a regular spa appointment with a favorite therapist at a familiar spa will trump the few dollars saved and the energy needed to engage in deal frenzy.

6) THE SCIENCE OF SPA

Is there scientific proof that massage reduces stress? Are mud-packs and mineral-baths medically proven to alleviate pain? Is ear candling proven to remove ear wax? The answers: yes, yes and no.  Get ready for a new era where more questions about the effectiveness of spa therapies and spa products will be asked, and where these questions will get answered more transparently, as the emphasis on evidence-based medicine and the “science behind spa” heats up. 

Science is about verifiable knowledge and adhering to the method of documenting outcomes and effects. Well, there’s a growing body of medical evidence about the proven benefits of spas’ ever-expanding wellness approaches like massage, meditation, acupuncture, healthy sleep, weight loss, hydrotherapy, exercise, etc., which are now becoming more available and visible.

Take for example the recent New York Times article, “A Good Massage Brings Biological Changes Too,” reporting on a Cedars-Sinai study that revealed a 45-minute massage resulted in a significant decrease in stress hormones, while boosting immunity. Or a recent study in the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation documenting that pain caused by knee osteoarthritis was significantly alleviated by two weeks of spa therapy, including mud-packs and mineral-water baths. Just this month (November 2010) medical studies revealed mindfulness therapies can improve quality of life in multiple sclerosis patients, adequate sleep is crucial to losing body fat, and increased exercise reduces breast cancer risk. The evidence is not all new: Medical professionals (especially in Europe) have been prescribing spa therapies for decades, and thousands of studies are buried in archives around the world. (For example, much of the evidence on the benefits of another 2011 trend, salt inhalation/halotherapy, comes from Russian medical studies.)

At the 2010 Global Spa Summit, Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier, Clinical Professor of Medicine at major U.S. university hospitals, put forth what more integrative medical experts are increasingly arguing: There is no larger body of scientific evidence that exists than the archive proving mind-body approaches work — while, conversely, there are numerous studies (i.e., the Cochrane Collaboration in London) revealing that only 30%-35% of conventional medicine is adequately evidence-based. Dr. Pelletier challenged the spa industry to “be less conservative and get organized about generating and communicating the evidence-based data about the efficacy of its various approaches and therapies.” And that’s exactly what we’ll see more of in 2011, with industry projects underway to aggregate and curate into an accessible archive and promote existing scientific research highlighting the medical value of various spa modalities.

There is always the frustrating circularity that with the vast majority of medical research funding coming from the pharmaceutical companies’ deep pockets, their offerings have the most evidence to back them. But with more medical professionals embracing integrative/alternative medicine — greater awareness that the colossally expensive traditional healthcare system is less focused on “staying healthy” and more narrowly on “disease management” — and consumers more proactive about their own well-being, look for clinical studies, on everything from the effects of massage on pain, anxiety, depression or immune health in preterm infants to how eating green, leafy vegetables prevents diabetes, to accelerate next year.

And as so many more hospitals not only co-opt the “look of spa,” but also directly incorporate spa/wellness therapies on site, consumers will have powerful visual evidence of “medicine” validating “spa.” Example: The new Inspiritas Spa (brainchild of oncologist Dr. Amy Lang) on site at the START Cancer Center in San Antonio, Texas, which revolves around massage/energy therapies like reiki, mind-body interventions (including meditation), acupuncture and nutrition treatments for cancer patients and their caregivers, all in a gorgeous space rivaling any luxury spa. Their message: “All modalities offered are evidence-based…”

Another key way the spa industry will get more aggressive on the evidence-based front: More smart spas will start specifically yoking their offerings (in marketing messages, on their websites, in talking to clients) to this growing archive of medical data

As these initiatives and forces accelerate, the benefits of spa/wellness will be increasingly not only heard, but also believed by more consumers (often desperately) seeking health alternatives — by doctors who prescribe, by public officials who legislate and by insurers who reimburse. These nascent evidence-based initiatives should ultimately prove the bedrock for future, perhaps unimagined, industry growth. 

7) HYPER-LOCAL SPAS

Spas have been trying to move away from the generic “could be anywhere” vibe for years, meeting spa-goers’ intensifying desire for authenticity and immersion in treatments, food, design and experiences indigenous to the spa’s unique place and culture. A maple scrub in Canada, organic food from the spa garden, or facilities built of local stone, while not new, were, until relatively recently, novelties.

But spas are now going hyper-local, putting unique twists on the “farm-to-table” movement, with farm-to-spa cuisine and farm-to-massage-table treatments. (Fruits, herbs, honey, etc. are grown on site, and then dished up in both meals and in treatments/products). Hyper-local also means ramped-up community and philanthropic projects; 100% locally sourced building materials; mandating local staff hiring policies; and finding creative new ways to connect people more deeply with place and nature. Guests aren’t just passive consumers of the experience: They’re gardening, farming, preparing their own food, making expeditions to local artisans and schools and even helping with wildlife rescue work.

A couple of years ago spas hit, maybe, a couple of local angles. But these new über-local spas are locally embedded on almost every imaginable front. Call it “indigenous squared”…or even “cubed.”

Endless examples:

• ·         Hay Barn Spa (Cotswolds, UK): Daylesford Organic Farm marries day spa to 20-acre farm producing everything (fruits, herbs, milk) that graces both dining room tables and their branded spa products. Floors are hewn from local trees, while sheep’s wool from the farm’s flock insulates the walls. Guests learn to grow and cook food, rear animals and make local crafts.
  
  
• ·         Hotel de la Paix (Siem Reap, Cambodia): Spa Indochine’s Khmer/Jamu beauty treatments use spa products made on site daily, while restaurants source ingredients from local farmers. The spa’s “Cambodia Community” projects engage guests with local sewing training centers and orphanages.
  
  
• ·         Blancaneaux Lodge (Belize): One of three of Francis Ford Coppola’s hyper-local Central American spa-lodges, built of local materials by local craftsmen. Organic gardens supply restaurants and the spa, staff is sourced from local villages, and wide-ranging local philanthropic efforts include protecting jaguars and the Mayan forest and providing four-year scholarships to local students.
  
  
• ·         Masserio Torre Coccaro (Puglia, Italy): 500-year-old farmhouse-compound-spa built from all local materials; spa carved out of a stone cave; food and spa treatments direct from vast gardens, orchards and farm. In the evening guests receive spa treatments derived from olives they handpicked themselves that morning.
  
  
• ·         Six Senses: Eight resort/spas from Thailand to Portugal, all with extraordinary permaculturalist initiatives around local food, building and design, staffing and philanthropy. At Six Senses Phuket, “farm” often doesn’t even make it to “table,” as guests can eat the landscaping!
  
  
• ·         The Farmhouse Inn & Spa (California, U.S.): Coined the “farm-to-spa” terminology, and in every meal and spa treatment the farm is intensely present.

8) EXTREME BEAUTY: SPA EDITION

The common element in spa beauty these days is that beauty-seekers are pushing all known boundaries and taking it to the max.  

Extremes are, of course, easy to spot when surveying the new technologies and scientific innovations appearing on the market with increasing regularity. Lash stimulators and extensions are not new, but are definitely gathering steam. We are now “beyond Botox,” the botulinum toxin (itself extreme) that fueled the medi-spa industry when the FDA approved it in 2002.  There are now all sorts of fillers and other injectables with ever-increasing potency, each longer lasting than the one that preceded it. “Stem cell” is the latest lightening rod term being used (mostly by marketing departments at the moment), and applied to everything from “stem cell facials” to stem cells in skincare products to “stem cell facelifts.”  Plasma therapy for cosmetic uses is also a new buzz concept…yes, that’s where a person’s blood is drawn, their platelet-rich plasma is extracted, and then re-injected into their wrinkles, etc. And how about the extremely un-invasive new (FDA-approved) Ultherapy (no anesthesia, no surgery), which uses ultrasound to regenerate collagen deep under the skin, shifting the skin into a youthful position.

Plus, let’s talk about extreme pain, which is something people seem to be tolerating more and more, as long as it delivers the goods.  Facial injectables have always been somewhat painful — derma-rolling hurts, chemical peels can be uncomfortable and the zapping of lasers is no picnic.  Facial massage, for example (long a popular component of all spa facials), is, in some cases, now being administered to the point of agony. One example is the Buccal Technique, an intense facial massage performed from inside the mouth…reported to be acutely painful, but still popular among the likes of Keira Knightley and Angelina Jolie.

Spa and wellness approaches where pain meets pleasure seem to be rising in popularity over their “kinder and gentler” brethren. Witness the upsurge in military-style boot camps, Rolfing, Bikram yoga, Thai massage and vigorous scrubs in Turkish hammams or Korean bathhouses. People are embracing things like alternating the searing heat of a Russian sauna with a dip in an icy pool because they find the results worth it. Check out the new Sparkling Hills Resort and Spa in Canada, where one of the newest European-imported modalities, Chryotherapy (cold therapy), can be experienced.  Labeled the “cold sauna,” it involves three minutes in a room that is -110 degrees Celsius!

Facials aren’t just for faces anymore; they’re now being extended to every “extremity”…and we do mean the whole body. Back, foot and hand facials have been around for a couple of years, but what about “booty” and “vagina” facials?  The Smooth Synergy Day Spa in New York will pamper your “booty” — exfoliate it, use microcurrent therapy to help reduce the appearance of cellulite, and then even apply spray tan! Phit, another New York spa, focuses on pelvic health, and “encourages good muscle tone,” and “restores labial and vulvar contour to a plump firmness” with a process involving lasers. 

Even organics and natural products are being taken to extremes, as evidenced by the extraordinary lengths many brands will go to assert their hardcore purity. “Internal beauty” is emphasized with increasing vigor. Raw cuisine is becoming popular during intense detox retreats: Fresh Start in Canada has a 14-day detox (no pain, no gain!) with a 100% raw food menu for the 50% of days guests are actually allowed to eat solid food. Dr. Howard Murad’s new book, The Water Secret, makes the radical, but convincing, claim that one doesn’t need to drink eight glasses of water a day.  Instead, one should “eat one’s water” through fresh fruits and vegetables, providing our cells with a much more nutritious, effective water source. Phyto 5 products (out of Switzerland) have a unique approach, suggesting that “true beauty is health made visible,” with products that are really energy medicine. And now there’s the possibility of re-attaining “virgin hair,” according to innovative new hair color products like INOA that eliminate damaging chemical developers.

And finally, what might be considered the most interesting extreme: More people’s comfort levels with simultaneously embracing both the "yin" of the natural and the "yang" of invasive, medical beauty procedures. It isn’t either/or anymore. (A tangible example: The popular NewBeauty magazine now features a dedicated SpaFinder section in each issue.)  In the end, people are increasingly demanding extreme results, and they’re happy to pay the price for it. At a staggering $679 billion annually, the beauty and anti-aging sector represents by far the largest share of the estimated $1.9 trillion wellness market.* Expect even more extremely profitable, extreme beauty innovations hitting your local spa next year. 

 * 2010 SRI International Report, Spas & the Global Wellness Market:  Synergies & Opportunities

9) SPA, IN A NEW YORK MINUTE

“In a New York Minute” means in an instant, referencing how things get done faster in hectic New York City. It’s also the name of a whole suite of mini (15- to 30-minute) spa treatments (designed to be performed simultaneously by multiple therapists) at the new Auriga Spa at The Setai Fifth Avenue (NYC). In our stressed-out, expected-to-be-working and on-the-go, 24/7 world, we’ve all morphed into frenzied New Yorkers. And the spa industry is responding, helping people spa anytime and far more efficiently, from open early, open late, and all-night spas to “express,” “sampler” and simultaneous treatments to new, more efficient treatment technology and facility design.

Traditionally spas have kept banker’s hours, closing primly at 5-6 p.m. Just a couple years ago, articles spotlighted “late-night” spas that stayed open until 9 p.m.! But suddenly a 9 p.m. closing time is the new spa norm, addressing people’s real-world schedules, whether they’re seeking stress-relief in preparation for sleep, or a beauty boost for late-night partying. The Massage Envy and Bliss franchises are typical: open until 10 p.m., 7 days a week. “Open late” now means midnight, 2 a.m., or all night. A few examples: In New York, Homme Spa is open until 3 a.m. weeknights, Osaka Health Spa until 2 a.m., and Juvenex Spa around the clock. In London, Lost in Beauty’s “after-hours beauty club” performs everything from threading to massage as late as its customers want, while Chelsea’s trendy Diva Beach Club serves up mani/pedis between 9-10 p.m. and massages with cocktails from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. once a week. Seoul has all-night spa-ing at Hair Party 24 Hours; the Chinese day spa chain Dragonfly does massage until 2 a.m.; and Tokyo has Spa Qua for 22 hour-a-day hot springs soaking. Spa-goers report that not only is the night-owl spa scene calmer, but that many love the cocktail-hour “free drinks” atmosphere. But the trend is also towards earlier. For instance, most major Las Vegas spas (i.e., Canyon Ranch SpaClub, Qua Baths at Caesars Palace or Hard Rock’s Rock Spa) open at 5:30 or 6 a.m., while the Spa at Mandarin Oriental, London, opens at 7 a.m. The variety of times attracts both business people jumpstarting their day and revelers calling it a night.

The trend towards “express,” “sampler” or “mini-sized” treatments will continue to rise in 2011, gratifying time- and budget-crunched consumers. Not just 30-minute massages, but even 15-minute massage will increase, as consumers realize the critical relaxation response can be elicited pretty quickly. More spas like Spa Helani at The Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas (Hawaii) or Dorit Baxter (New York) will stage their massage menus in 25-50-80 minute increments. We’ll see more quickie treatments like Repechage’s (locations from Poland to Ghana) “Spa Express Facial,” where clients grab 30-minute (or less) beauty treatments sitting fully dressed and upright at the “bar,” right next to each other. There will be more à la carte sampler menus like The Mirage Las Vegas’ “Small Indulgences” 25-minute treatments, each aimed at a different body part. The explosion of airport spas worldwide plays into the “express” trend neatly, as does the decline of elaborate rituals (foot bathing, etc.) at many spas, to get right to the heart of the matter: the therapeutic treatment.  

More treatments will be administered simultaneously by multiple therapists, apparent at Swissotel, the Stamford (Singapore’s) “Multi-Tasking Spa Experiences,” or The Delano, Mondrian and Shore Club spas (Florida, U.S.), where massage and mani/pedis are performed poolside.

The quest for efficiencies is also reflected in new directions in facility design and

treatment technologies. Global spa designers report the locker room is on the decline, being replaced by the Spa Suite, where guests change and shower right in treatment rooms. It’s “sweet” for the spa (eliminating non revenue-generating spaces) and wonderful for spa-goers, who will have more private, personalized experiences. (Examples of the locker-less: All new Iridium Spas at global St. Regis properties, i.e., the St. Regis Florence, opening in 2011, or The Waterfalls Spa at Greek Peak Mountain Resort (New York, U.S.). And more spas (including the new Iridium brand) are eliminating or modifying formal reception/front desk areas and time-consuming check-ins.

Spas are also watching their budgets, and many hotel-resort spas are scaling back in size and featuring more compact hydro-wet areas. Water treatments are morphing into semi-private experiences thoughtfully sequenced for maximum therapeutic value. And we’ll see more self-service wet areas, where guests grab product kits and perform DIY scrubs, masks, etc., on their “spa journeys.” Necessity is the mother of invention: Rather than spas installing big, expensive contrast pools, watch out for “wind chill experiences” and “chilled ceramic loungers,” where bathers can simulate cold plunges after thermal experiences. Hot Bamboo Massage is gaining on Hot Stone Massage because the bamboo is so much easier to heat and work with, while still providing the same incredible deep tissue penetration. (It’s a featured element in Hilton’s new Eforea spas, rolling out to 80 locations worldwide over the next couple years.) The ultimate, futuristic “efficiency” design concept: Planet Beach Contempo Spas’ 100% therapist-free “automat” spas, where push-button machine-pods perform massages, facials and guided meditation.

Finally, the quest for stress-free efficiencies will mean more spa-seekers embracing 24/7 online appointment booking and mobile apps that let them locate and book spas on the fly.

Spa anytime, anywhere, for as little or as long as you want, at the price-point you can afford…it’s all about letting spa consumers have it their way.

10) SURPRISING SPECIAL EVENTS

Downright surprising special events and activities will continue to pop up at both destination and resort spas. The “spa surprises’” will span everything from dramatically more unique, super-targeted “specialty weeks” — fun, even quirky, new activities for spa-goers — and unusual programs aimed at groups, far more imaginative than the old “golf and spa” package.

Destination spas have, of course, been doing yoga and healthy cooking “weeks” for years, but retreats are moving in bold new directions. Consider Solace Spa at Boyne Mountain’s (Michigan, U.S.) “Trapeze Experience,” where trapeze artists teach spa-goers to soar through the air like circus performers, and artsy, creativity-focused weeks like Canyon Ranch’s “Don’t Worry, Bead Happy” jewelry-making retreats, or “Raw Food Week” at Canada’s Spa Eastman, and “Gluten-Free Cooking Week” at Baja California’s Rancho La Puerta. And celebrity authors, artists, actors (even politicians) now headline these specialty weeks. For instance, Soneva Fushi Six Senses’ (Maldives) recent “Dine and Dive Week” was headed up by Fabien Cousteau (Jacques’ son), and featured an island bicycle race where the slowest bicyclist wins. The trend also embraces the serious: i.e., Miraval Arizona’s (Arizona, U.S.) “Sisterhood of Survivors” retreat, for those who have survived a loved one’s suicide.

Hotel/resort spas (also getting into “specialty weeks”) will continue to surprise traditional and business groups with unpredictable programming. Consider Sanderling Resort & Spa’s (North Carolina, U.S.) monthly “artisanal butchering classes” or Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa’s (Vermont, U.S.) “Naked Table Project,” where guests make a “simple family table from scratch,” and then join tables together for a locally grown feast. The Montage Resort & Spa (California, U.S.) offers falconry and “Plein Air Painting” programs, while Joie de Vivre Hospitality’s (U.S.) boutique spa hotels’ “Joy of Meetings” program includes bubble-blowing and kite-flying to relieve stress in business meetings.

If therapeutic carpentry and tight-rope walking are any indication, the sky’s the limit with the spa programming surprises ahead.

To Learn More about SpaFinder’s 2011 Trends Report, or to speak to SpaFinder president Susie Ellis, contact: Beth McGroarty, (213) 300-0107 or beth@rbicom.com

 

Gillian McKeith Finally wins Celebrity 'Bushtucker Trial'!

TV 'holistic nutritional guru' and quack 'doctor' Gillian McKeith, chosen by viewers to undergo every Bush Trial in 'I'm A Celebrity..." so far, has at last triumphed in a test that had her opponent, comedian Dom Joly, presenters Ant & Dec and several of the TV crew vomiting and evacuating their bowels uncontrollably.

"Och, it was a doddle" says Scots lassie Gillian. "I haven't been able to stomach the kangaroo penises, spiders and dingo gonads that they've been dishing up, but this was much nearer my area of expertise and didn't go against my Vegan principles. Easy-peasy!" she giggles.

The first part of the trial, to be aired tonight, consisted of drinking a glass of wombat's urine. "I've been drinking my own urine for years, it's healthy, nutritious and delicious. So that was no problem. Straight down the hatch. I don't know why Dom was such a big girl's blouse about it." the diminutive non-doctor recalls.

 

The final part of the test, which had all concerned bar McKeith in waves of nausea and rivers of vomit, involved eating a plate of Australian Aberdeen Angus excrement.

"Initially I thought they wanted me to eat a steak. Yuk!" says McKeith. "But when they revealed the plate and it was yummy poo - well - I just grabbed my spoon and dived in! But it certainly wasn't 'nom nom' for Dom!" she cackles. "I just hope my daughters, Skylon and Ibuprofen were cheering on their mummy!"

Unrepentant 'I'm Almost a Celebrity..." producer Paul Thomas Barnum would only comment wryly, "This will been the most-watched episode we've ever done. We've taken on 200 extra temps to man the phones for the flood of complaints."

He added, "Makes a change. The great British TV viewing public have been spoon fed her bull-shit for years."

Original Source:: The Spoof

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