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Real men love spas
In a surprising trend, more women than men said they planned to visit a spa resort this year, according to 3,000 travelers polled by TripAdvisor.com.
In fact, spa vacations ranked only behind sightseeing and shopping as reasons to make a trip.
Spas are expected to be a major trend this year.
The number of spa locations grew at an average annual rate of 20% over the past eight years, according to various studies.
“Creativity is the hallmark of the world of spa, which has incubated some of the most important new ideas in health, beauty, wellness and style,” said Susie Ellis, president of Spa Finder, a travel company specializing in spas.
She said once men go to a spa for the first time, they are often repeat customers.
One trend for male spas is more macho offerings. Spas are more often offering old school amenities such as boxing robes, bars, cigar rooms and hardcore gyms.
Other trends Ms Ellis sees coming up this year:
- Spa-smart customers are becoming more confident of what they want. This trend will further raise the level of quality and service.
- The blurring of living/spa environments in hotels will be accelerated.
- Water therapies, which originally defined spas, will continue to be popular and more sophisticated with vapor caves, liquid sound, deluge showers and other new wrinkles.
- More Americans will travel out of the country to try new alternative medical and aesthetic treatments.
- The spa industry will see expansion both in luxury outlets as well as new spa chains offering far lower prices while maintaining high quality.
Report by David Wilkening
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