THE
2019 ISPA
U.S. SPA INDUSTRY
STUDY
Solid growth for the spa industry in 2018
BY RUSSELL DONALDSON, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS (PWC)
the PASt yeAr hAS Seen Another period of solid
growth for the spa industry in the U.S., with the industry
continuing to evolve and adapt to meet the needs of its
customers. In this report, which marks the twentieth
anniversary of ISPA’s first U.S. Spa Industry Study, all of
the ‘Big Five’ statistics rose once again in 2018 to reach
all-time high figures.
The U.S. economy grew by 2.9 percent in 2018. Spa
industry revenues are estimated to have outstripped this,
growing by 4.7 percent to surpass $18 billion for
the first time ($18.3 billion), and a step closer
to the iconic $20 billion milestone—a target
that’s certainly in sight for the industry in
the next few years if fair economic winds
continue to prevail.
With an estimated 2.1 percent
increase in personal consumption expen-
diture in 2018, consumers had more
disposable income, so it’s no surprise that
the number of spa visits increased by 1.6
percent to 190 million. That’s the equivalent of
more than 520,000 people visiting U.S. spas every
day. And there were more spas for consumers to visit in
2018—openings outpaced closures by a total of 400,
meaning there are now an estimated 22,160 spas open
across the U.S. This is the first time since records began
that there are more than 22,000 spas in the U.S.
The particularly strong revenue growth in 2018 gave a
healthy boost to the ‘revenue per visit’ metric, which
increased by 3 percent to $96.50. That represents a $10
increase in the 10 years following the Great Recession.
Employment in the spa industry kept pace with the
wider U.S. economy, which saw unemployment fall yet
further. A net 5,800 new jobs were created in spas in 2018,
bringing the total employed in the industry to 377,900. A
broadly 50:50 split remains between full-time and part-time
positions, but interestingly, following an entire decade of
successively declining contractor numbers, the number of
independent contractor positions is estimated to have risen
very slightly from 27,300 in 2017 to 27,400 in 2018.
Time will tell whether this data is a ‘one-off’
occurrence, or whether this increase
signals a reversal of a long-standing
trend or indeed a plateauing of the
contractor numbers.
The issue of unfilled vacancies
has been one of the spa industry’s
biggest battles in recent years. 2019
saw an estimated 32,730 unfilled
positions – 28,420 service providers
and 4,310 director or manager positions.
This is a slight fall compared with the
vacancy numbers recorded in recent industry
studies, which is positive news for the industry and
suggests that some of the many efforts being made to
augment the industry’s workforce and fill some of the key
skills gaps are proving successful.
Initial estimates from the beginning of 2019 show the
U.S. economy continuing to perform well. With that in
mind, it is encouraging that the U.S. Spa Industry Study’s
demand indicators show a degree of optimism in the
period up to March 2019, with almost three quarters of spas
“2019 saw
a slight fall
compared with
the vacancy
numbers in
recent industry
studies.”
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PULSE
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SEPtEmbEr 2019