BY RUSSELL DONALDSON

FOR THE SPA INDUSTRY , the value of which is so frequently found in touch and close contact , the onset of a global pandemic could easily rate as one of its ultimate nightmares . The sharp fall in the industry ’ s metrics driven by COVID- 19 in 2020 , therefore , came as no surprise . But new research among both spa leaders and consumers in the U . S . shows clear evidence of a significant bounceback in the industry ’ s key metrics . The lofty pre-pandemic heights of 2019 are back in sight and the industry is clearly well down the road to recovery as it welcomes back its customer base post-Covid . At the same time , the so-called ‘ new normal ’ has brought challenges and new opportunities for spas , with changes in customer behaviors and preferences combining with an ever-changing economic climate to create an environment where spas need to show agility and make key choices and decisions to keep the industry moving forward in this new era .

A Return to Growth in 2021 Unsurprisingly , the second quarter of 2020 generated an economic shock to the spa industry similar to that suffered by the wider U . S . economy . ISPA ’ s 2020 U . S . Spa Industry Study showed a sharp fall in each of the industry ’ s famed Big Five statistics ( the statistics widely regarded among the industry ’ s most important performance metrics ) with industry revenues falling an estimated 36 percent year-on-year , their first significant fall since the impact of the Great Recession in the late 2000s . But comparisons between the two periods of economic turmoil may not be all that helpful . The crisis created by the pandemic has a very different context to what happened just over a decade ago . The Great Recession generated a crisis of demand — people had less disposable income available , so demand for activities like spa-going fell . The pandemic was a short-term crisis of supply — like so many businesses , many spas had to temporarily close , so spagoing became one of many things people were unable to do . At the same time , a large proportion of the population was able to save more money than they ordinarily would , creating pent-up demand in the economy for the time when some normalcy resumed . That generated a so-called ‘ V-shaped recovery ’ in the wider U . S . economy — a relatively quick recovery after a sharp decline . And the data

16 PULSE ⁿ JULY 2022