Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) announced today that they will assist the Open Travel Alliance with their new 2.0 Object Oriented Platform in the lifestyle development areas of golf and spa. These development areas have been prioritized by the Open Travel Alliance for development during 2016.
Spas of America, the #1 spa and wellness travel website today launched a new online experience featuring 500 of the best resort, hotel and health spas in high-definition (HD) quality.Spas of America's new online experience provides a more powerful search function that allows consumers to search for spas by name, keyword, geographic location and type of spa and wellness experience. A partnership with Google allows spa-goers to browse spas on a map. The site also features original content on healthy living and product news from the industry's leading companies including Bellicote Paris, Beauty Through Balance and Caviar of Switzerland. Visitors will also find the latest spa specials, industry news and events."Spas of America's mission is to inspire healthy living and travel," says Spas of America founder and president Craig Oliver. "Our goal is to become the leading resource for consumers seeking helpful spa and wellness travel information, and a valuable marketing medium for wellness companies seeking to connect with a very targeted audience.""The spa industry continues to evolve and grow," says Michael Tompkins, co-CEO of PALM Health. "Consumers today have a wide selection of health and wellness experiences to choose from. Consumer-focused websites like Spas of America help connect consumers with the spa experiences they're looking for."The growth of wellness travel has also been identified as one of the top ten wellness trends for 2016 by the Global Spa Summit. Omer Isvan, president of Servotel Corp., says, "Wellness will only become a bigger player in the destination resort space, while resorts without wellness and 'purpose' will decline." According to the International Spa Association, consumers made 176 million visits to spas in the United States in 2014, generating an estimated $15.5 billion in revenue."We wanted to create an online experience that wasn't available just a few years ago," says Oliver. "Consumers today want the freedom to access travel content across all platforms and wireless devices. The growth of technology and increased bandwidth allows us to feature images of resort, hotel and health spas in HD quality, helping inspire consumers on their next spa and wellness travel destination."
Hoteliers have numerous opportunities to lure nonguests to their property in hopes of generating extra revenue. “It’s become a nice way to augment the slow periods,” said Kory Keith, spa director at The Ritz-Carlton Spa in Los Angeles, where locals take advantage of daylong wellness retreats and after-work pedicures and cocktails in the adjacent beauty salon.
The J House Hotel is anything but ordinary; and this year, the multifaceted contemporary hotel launches a newly built wellness spa boutique, adding the perfect balance to the already-peaceful guest experience. Whether seeking a quick mid-day escape or complete mind-body-soul rejuvenation, the J House Spa is designed with every customer in mind– and gentlemen are welcome. Brought on to oversee the spa is Director Danielle Cervi, an acclaimed and locally admired Esthetician for 15+ years, formerly with Equinox and Partners Salon and Spa, both located in Greenwich. She will lead a fully trained staff of 14+ including massage therapists, estheticians, and makeup artists.
The Hotel at Kirkwood Center now offers a unique amenity for health-conscious guests. Two bicycles are available for checkout at the front desk. Guests can get their exercise and enjoy the beautiful weather as they tour Kirkwood's campus and local area on two wheels.
PAR Springer-Miller Systems, Inc. (PSMS) --- a wholly owned subsidiary of PAR Technology Corporation (NYSE:PAR) and the leading provider of guest-centric hospitality management systems today announces the expansion of their Markham, Ontario location to create a hub focused on providing the best spa technology available.
Westin Hotels & Resorts, part of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT), has revealed the next phase of its year-long Westin Well-being Movement with the announcement of Westin Wellness Escapes, an ongoing well-being series led by experts in the fields of mindfulness meditation, nutrition, yoga, running and more. Taking place at Westin properties around the globe, the series will first launch in North America before rolling out internationally. Established health and fitness personality Holly Perkins will kick off the series by hosting the Women's Strength NationTM LIVE retreat this April, following her appointment to Westin's Well-Being Council as the brand's Move Well Advocate.
Business is back for hotels across the United States with occupancy levels surpassing long-run averages and hotels raising room rates more aggressively. According to PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR)'s forecast, occupancy is estimated to be above the long-run average in 49 of the 55 U.S. markets they track, 14 of which are achieving their highest occupancy levels in the past 25 years. By 2015, the U.S. lodging industry will experience six consecutive years of increasing occupancy, the most since 1988. The hotel industry has finally climbed out of the recovery period following the Great Recession as people are traveling more than ever before, and at higher prices.
Nineteen (19) hotel waterpark resort projects opened in the USA during 2014, a 7.5% increase over last year. This compares with 25 in 2013, 20 in 2012 and the record high of 40 in 2007. Twelve (12) projects were brand names such as Lego, Great Wolf, Royal Caribbean, Ramada and Four Seasons and 7 projects were independent owner projects. Seven (7) projects were all new openings, and 12 were additions or conversions of existing properties.
As more travelers emphasize personal wellness while on the road, hotels are benefiting from increases in revenues and profits. According to the recently released 2014 edition of Trends® in the Hotel Spa Industry, spa department revenue increased by 4.6 percent in 2013 at the properties that participated in the annual survey of U.S. hotels conducted by PKF Consulting USA, a CBRE company (PKFC). With total spa department expenses increasing by just 2.5 percent, hotel spa department profits posted a very healthy 13.9 percent increase.
JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts is pleased to unveil Spa by JW. Created to demystify and re-imagine the spa experience, this new concept offers guests an intuitive experience that is luxurious yet purposeful with treatments and products designed to address four core benefit states: Calm, Indulge, Invigorate and Renew. The first Spa by JW will debut in September at the new JW Marriott Houston Downtown, followed by the JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar in December, with more than 20 Spa by JWs in the pipeline.
Don't expect to find a front desk when you walk into an EVEN Hotel, a new wellness-oriented brand set to debut next year. Guests will instead be directed to a "Well-ness Island," where an employee will hand them either cool or heated hand towels, depending on the season. They'll also get a cup of water with a slice of lemon or lime to sip. When checking in, they can forgo the traditional room key card for a bracelet that serves the same function, which they can wear while running.
Adding online booking for spa appointments dramatically increased revenue for the Spa at Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Northern Florida. With the SpaDirect online booking solution from Ryatta Group integrated seamlessly with their SpaSoft Spa Management System, the Spa was able to capture business regardless of whether or not the Spa was open for business.
As in the rest of the world, the spa industry will face some interesting challenges in the next decade in North America. How will the industry cope? How could it evolve? RALPH NEWMAN is the Chief Operating Officer of Rockville, Maryland-based WTS, a spa consultancy, and here he shares his insights with us on the outlook for the ten years to come.
Book4Time, Inc., the industry leader of cloud-based enterprise spa software has announced its successful completion of the ISAE 3402 type II audit, an international standard to make sure our clients' and their customer data and transactions are securely processed.
CNBC's Simon Hobbs reports on hotel rooms that are designed to make guests healthier, and discussing whether travelers will pay more to stay in them, with Scott Sibella, MGM Grand president & COO, and Morad Fareed, Delos co-founder.
Over the years, PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR) has analyzed the cyclical nature of lodging industry. Most recently, a lot of attention has been paid to the pace of recovery from the depths of the industry recession in 2009. Typical of historical recovery sequences, lodging demand and occupancy levels bounced back strongly in 2010, followed by real increases in average daily room rates (ADR) in 2011.
New York, NY March 12, 2012 - The Global Spa & Wellness Summit (GSWS), the leading annual event for spa and wellness industry executives, today announced that John Kao, one of the world's thought leaders on innovation and enterprise transformation, will be a keynote presenter for the event being held in Aspen, Colorado from June 3-6, 2012. Kao, dubbed "Mr. Creativity" by The Economist, is the author of global bestsellers on innovation and business creativity, serves as an advisor to numerous Fortune 500 companies and governments, and is one of the most sought-after speakers on the topic of innovation in the world.
"The ISPA 2011 U.S. Spa Industry Study takes an in-depth look at how spas managed the recession, as well as providing information on the types of treatments offered, a breakdown by spa type and marketing tactics employed by spas," said ISPA President Lynne McNees. "We're excited to report positive growth in the data and look forward to sharing the information with spa professionals to help them strengthen their business."
Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos will close out the ISPA Conference during the Wednesday, November 9 General Session. He will speak to attendees about the different ingredients used by Zappos.com to build a long-lasting enduring brand, including the importance of customer service and company culture. Hsieh will talk about how focusing on delivering happiness to customers and employees has enabled the company to expand beyond selling shoes to clothing, bags and other product categories.