What are the hottest trends in the world of spas? Spa Finder has compiled a listing of the top ten spa trends, covering everything from detoxing at spas to the rise of green spas.
1) Healthy Sleep At The Spa Healthy sleep joins exercise, nutrition and stress management at the spa. Hotels and resorts will put greater emphasis on creating ideal sleep environments through minimal light and sound, aromatherapy, and ultra-relaxing spa treatments. At destination spas, sleep specialists will help educate, diagnose and treat sleep apnea, insomnia and other disorders.
2) Detox At The Spa As the culture continues to identify more "toxins" - such as dietary no-no's, stress, and environmental pollution - look for more people to turn to spas for a range of detox solutions, including relaxation, all-organic diets, sweating (exercise, steams and saunas), and the purging of emotional baggage through one-on-one or group therapy work.
3) Spa Retreats At Resort Spas For years destination spas have offered "specialty weeks" in yoga, sexual health, or medical concerns such as arthritis or quitting smoking. Now resorts and hotels are getting into the retreat business, adding specialty programs or special accommodations that appeal to their past guests.
4) Medical Tourism - In Search of Affordable Health Americans are going online and discovering global destinations that offer cutting-edge medical procedures for a fraction of the cost ... often in beautiful, culturally rich locales like Bangkok, South Africa and India. Many hotel and resort spas recognize the new opportunity that medical tourism presents and market themselves as ideal pre- and post-operation stays.
5) Move into a Spa Lifestyle Community...and Bring the Kids Recognizing the growing priority among parents on raising their children in an active, healthful, communal environment (and avoiding the growing problems of childhood obesity and diabetes), more spa lifestyle communities will offer structured outdoor/exercise activities and healthy eating options just for children.
6) The Bottom Line Becomes a Top-Line Consideration More spa trends in the New Year will be driven by the bottom line. Look for more “destaffed” spa treatments or experiences like the Kuyum at Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, where same-sex groups of eight slather themselves with mud in a heated room and experience a guided meditation with a pre-recorded voice.
7) Social Spa-ing For hundreds of years, "taking the waters" had been a social event, but more recently hydrotherapy have become solo undertakings. SpaFinder predicts the search for spa solitude will be trumped by the natural desire for community and a growing awareness that social interaction is an important aspect of health.
8) How Green Is My Spa? Consumers are now factoring in a spa's green commitment when they choose a spa, and they're looking for a spa that does more than just recycle and offer organic food. Both spas and spa consumers are getting serious about terms like "natural," "organic," "holistic," "green," "eco-friendly," and "sustainable."
9) Beauty Inside-Out and Outside-In The spa industry will continue to lead innovation in skincare with new technologies and programs that recognize that beauty is much more than skin deep. Consumers will become more aware of anti-aging foods rich in antioxidants - such as berries, dark green leafy vegetables, salmon, and nuts - as well as a new generation of clinically enhanced skincare products.
10) Spa Fusion Look for more combined modalities that are even more beneficial than the sum of their parts, such as Thai massage (a fusion of yoga stretches and massage), Watsu (water and shiatsu) and yogalates (yoga and Pilates).
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