PULSE POINTS
BY JOSH CORMAN
Reopening Updates
THROUGHOUT THE ONGOING CORONA-
VIRUS PANDEMIC, ISPA has used monthly Snapshot
Surveys to provide members with detailed insights into
the spa industry’s response to COVID-19, its massive reopening
efforts and the creative adjustments it has made
so that guests and staff can feel safe as they return to
spas around the globe. The June Snapshot Survey continued
this trend to a degree, but its scope was broadened
to capture additional data about the day-to-day practices
and experiences of spa owners and operators who had already
reopened.
By mid-June, just over 60 percent of spas had already
reopened, and an additional 21 percent reported a
planned reopening date of July 15 or earlier. Because such
a substantial number of spas had resumed operations at
the time the June survey was conducted, the data it collected
is largely rooted in the actual—rather than the
planned or anticipated—experiences of those working in
spas as guests returned.
After months of concern that treatment menus would
be forced to shrink drastically due to physical distancing
restrictions, early reopening figures suggest that, with a
couple of exceptions, guests still have access to a broad
range of services at most spas. Massage (95 percent) and
nail services (98 percent) remain almost universally available,
while in-person fitness or yoga classes (68 percent),
body wraps or scrubs (75 percent) and waxing services (81
percent) were still offered in a large majority of reopened
spas. Encouragingly, facials—a service that many suspected
might remain absent from menus for a considerable
period—remained available in 80 percent of
reopened spas. Saunas and steam rooms, however, remain
unavailable to guests at nearly three quarters (72
percent) of all spas.
Surely, guests will be excited to find services so widely
available when they return to spas. They will likely also be
pleased to find that those services will, in the vast majority
of cases, cost the same amount as before the pandemic.
Although 10 percent have raised prices (likely to
offset the added expense associated with heightened sanitation
efforts and other protective measures for guests),
90 percent of the spas that had reopened by the end of
June had not changed their pricing or even decreased it.
Not all of the figures surrounding reopening were quite
as positive, however, as limitations on spa capacity and
strained budgets made it challenging to restore staffing to
pre-pandemic levels. Just 23 percent of reopened spas
were able to bring back all of their staff members by the
For another look at this crucial Snapshot
Survey, turn to this month’s “Snapshot
Survey” feature on page 58, where you can
read spas’ answers to the survey’s short
response questions and learn more about
how COVID-19 is affecting resource partners.
40 PULSE ■ SEPTEMBER 2020