SpaFinder Wellness has revealed a preview of its 10th annual report that forecasts top trends in the spa and wellness industry around the globe.
The SpaFinder Wellness Trend Report is developed by company research analysts and based on ongoing surveys with spa and wellness businesses and stakeholders around the globe, thousands of travel agents and hundreds of thousands of consumers.
Healthy hotels
In 2013 and beyond, what constitutes a true “vacation” will be redefined and “hospitality” will be rewritten. In addition to an explosion of new “wellness everywhere” hotel chains, established hotel chains are re-branding around wellness.
The mindfulness massage
The “mindfulness massage” uses breath work and techniques such as “body scans,” where attention is brought to every part of the body and the action of the therapists’ hands.
Earthing
“Earthing” refers to the movement promoting direct contact with the earth’s electron-rich surface (walking barefoot, etc.). The premise is that “grounding” the body to the earth’s surface stabilizes natural electrical rhythms and reduces disease-causing inflammation.
Spa-genomics … telomeres and beyond
Humans have 30,000 genes and a three billion-letter DNA code. The future of medicine is mining this information to identify breakthrough approaches to support a new age of predictive, personalized medicine grounded in each person’s unique genetic profile. Perhaps no genomic breakthrough holds such profound implications for the spa industry as telomeres: the only malleable part of DNA, which some studies are showing can be repaired by stress-reduction, exercise, sleep, healthier food and meditation.
Authentic Ayurveda and other ancient revivals
Expect more aggressively authentic and comprehensively executed global wellness experiences at spas with a distinctly ancient look, feel and language — and a far more expansive, exotic menu of wellness traditions. Best known is Ayurveda, a medical system identifying imbalances in a person’s “doshas” and prescribing a personalized, detoxifying regime of diet change, exercise, meditation, massage and herbal medicine.
Color self-expression
Expect more in-your-face shades on hair and face, from reverse ombré to neon lashes; more body art hitting bodies of every gender and age; and nail art with less bling and more nuanced textures and designs from 3D art to freehand mini-paintings.
Inclusive wellness
With more than one billion people who are formally “disabled” and a massively graying global population, the industry will shift focus from luxe pampering to delivering wellness to persons of all age and ability levels.
Label-conscious fitness
From Yogalates and Piloxing to CrossFit and The Skinny Jeans Workout, health and wellness have become the new luxury, giving the fitness world a fashion world vibe.
Men: From barbers to Brotox
More men are having more serious “work” done at medspas and plastic surgery offices as injectables, love-handle remedies and advanced new surgery technologies make for little downtime and telltale scars. Look for far more spas to build out comprehensive, for-men “beauty” menus.
Where the jobs are
Spas simply cannot find enough people (with the right skills) to fill spa management/director or therapist jobs, and this need promises to expand in years ahead.
The full SpaFinder Wellness report will be released January 15.