MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS of all spas ( 68 percent ) said that they did not have an employee vaccination policy in place , while 16 percent either require or plan to require employees to be vaccinated or provide a qualified exemption . Day spas , for their part , are likelier to impose such a requirement , with nearly a quarter ( 24 percent ) indicating they require or plan to require employee vaccinations .

Similarly , very few spas — just four percent of all spas , one percent of resort / hotel spas and 10 percent of day spas — require guests to provide proof of vaccination prior to admittance . One in five spas do , however , require unvaccinated guests to follow guidelines that are different than those for vaccinated guests . Still , more than three quarters of all spas ( 76 percent ) have no guest vaccination policies .

Despite the low number of spas requiring vaccination for employees , many respondents noted that they are strongly encouraging employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine , several of whom are incentivizing vaccination by offering employees some type of reward . Everything from paid time off to cash and gift card bonuses to prize drawings were named as incentives offered to employees willing to get vaccinated . Overall , however , only around one-third ( 36 percent ) of all spas are offering employees some sort of incentive , while 64 percent said they are not extending such offers .

Does your spa currently offer an incentive to employees who show proof of vacination for COVID-19 ?

ALL SPAS RESORT / HOTEL SPAS DAY SPAS

YES NO

ASIDE FROM QUESTIONS related to COVID-19- and vaccinationrelated policies , the August Snapshot Survey asked respondents to share information about their spa ’ s plans for investing in new technologies in 2021 .

Spa management or online booking software was the top choice among resort / hotel spas , with 48 percent of that group reporting a plan to invest in that technology this year ( one-third of day spas said the same ). Cleaning or sanitation technologies were a popular choice as well , with 45 percent of all spas and 67 percent of day spas indicating a decision to invest further in UV light equipment , electrostatic sprayers and the like . Contactless payment systems ( 31 percent of all spas ); recovery technology , such as percussive massage devices ( 30 percent of all spas ); and mobile apps ( 25 percent of all spas ) were also popular choices .

Technologies that allow spas to provide touchless , or “ provider-free ” services to guests , including infrared saunas , cryotherapy devices or meditation pods , were relatively popular choices as well , with nearly a quarter ( 23 percent ) of all spas having invested in or planning to invest in them . ^�

Of all spas either have invested or plan to invest in spa management or online booking software in 2021 .

Want to see your spa featured in Member Perspectives or Sound Off ? Answer the Pulse add-on questions at the end of the monthly Snapshot Survey and a member of the ISPA team may reach out to you about participating in an upcoming story .

OCTOBER 2021 ^� PULSE 59