One area of tourism, which is struggling to recover from worrying economic times, involves hotel spas. This is despite their owners doing well for themselves.
Much has been made in recent years of the woes of the hotel industry, especially in USA and North America. Overnight stays were down to a minimum towards the end of 2009 and luxury hotels ended up having a similar atmosphere to graveyards.
The news is now better for hotels and luxury items are back on the agenda for many people and income around the world begins to rise. This is still not true, however, of certain facilities associated with hotels, including their spas.
According to PDK consulting USA, hotel spas in the US suffered a 10.5% drop in revenue in 2010, an obvious result of the outset of economic horror the year before. The spas were, in fact, in deeper decline than the hotels themselves. This could somewhat be expected for a luxury within a luxury. If people managed to stretch their money to stay overnight somewhere it is unlikely they would splash out on extra luxuries such as spas.
The middle-sized spas are the ones suffering the most. Cheaper versions of this ancient form of relaxation are still affordable and the more expensive ones are either subject to special deals or are the aim of the visit to the hotel. The problem for middle-sized spas is that they are an absolute extra, often serving as an unnecessary guest amenity. The spas with 10-20 treatment rooms have found themselves in the biggest trouble, thought the outlook for 2012 is a little brighter.