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DELIVERING WELLNESS
AT THE 98 PERCENT
BY JEREMY McCARTHY
A
t most industry conferences,
whenever the conversation
turns to wellness, we invariably look to destination spas
(e.g. Canyon Ranch Health Resorts, Miraval
Resort & Spa, Rancho La Puerta, etc.) to
figure out how to deliver it.
And why wouldn’t we look to these
industry leaders? They are the ones that
truly are delivering on the spa industry’s
promise of holistic wellness. They feature
comprehensive programs that include not
only spa treatments, but fitness, nutrition,
mind-body classes, educational programming and sometimes, medical services and
evaluations. Guests typically stay for several
days and come home feeling completely
transformed.
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December 2012
But here is the problem: 98 percent of the spas, at least in
the U.S., are nothing like the destination spas. They don’t
have the extensive facilities, the comprehensive programming,
the physician, the chef, the nutritionist, or the personal trainer
on staff. And the guests don’t stay with them for a week. At
most spas around the world, spa clients are not necessarily
expecting to be transformed. They just expect to come in for
an hour and want to feel...better.
So when I recently delivered a presentation at the 2012
ISPA Conference & Expo, I tried to focus on the 98 percent.
The topic (based on my book of similar title) focused on “The
Psychology of Spas & Wellbeing.” It was about using the
science of psychology as a guide to show us how we can
deliver a holistic wellness experience at any spa: hotel spa,
medical spa, day spa, cruise ship spa, even a beauty salon in
a strip mall.
If we really want to make an impact as an industry, we
have to think beyond the destination spas, and dig into how
we can deliver wellness in the spas that the majority of spagoers are familiar with—the friendly neighborhood day spa.
In these smaller spas, we can’t possibly deliver the same
kind of comprehensive programming that the destination spas
offer. But we can think about the smallest things that can
make the biggest impact, even if the guest is only visiting us
for 60 minutes or less.