Executive Summary of The International SPA Association's 2003 Spa-goer Study - Canada - Spa Studies in the News at Discover Spas with Julie Register

Spa Studies in the News

Executive Summary of The International SPA Association's 2003 Spa-goer Study - Canada
(reprinted with permission)

STUDY OBJECTIVE
In 2003, the International SPA Association (ISPA) engaged NFO Plog Research to conduct the 2003 Canada Spa-goer Study. This report highlights the key study findings.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
This research is designed to examine the industry and its patrons as follows: to gauge consumer incidence, understand consumer attitudes and satisfaction with spas, and to evaluate industry trends. These results can be used to formulate marketing strategies to increase usage frequency among current spa-goers as well as target new clientele.

The analysis in this report is based on a total sample of 481 respondents to a telephone survey. Three hundred fifty seven (357) interviews were conducted between September 3rd and September 29th, 2003; a supplemental phase was added to increase spa-goer base sizes
between November 24th and December 12th, providing numbers large enough to support subgroup analysis with statistical reliability. In this analysis, "overall Canadians" include only the random selection, but the spa-goer behavior includes respondents whose attitudes were
gauged in either the random or supplemental phase.

A total of 481 completes at the 95% confidence level represents results at ±5%

APPROXIMATE SAMPLING TOLERANCES AT 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL

Sample Size	10% or 90%	20% or 80%	30% or 70%	40% or 60%	50%
481	2.8	3.7	4.2	4.5	4.6

In each phase, respondents were contacted using RDD technology, a computer assisted system that generates nationally representative telephone numbers randomly. Canadian residents were screened to ensure that they were 16 years of age or over. In the supplemental phase only, respondents were also screened to ensure that they have been to a spa at least once in the past twelve months. Upon completion of the fieldwork, NFO Plog edited, cleaned, and tabulated the results.

Spa definitions by type as used in this research are as follows:

Club Spa: A facility whose primary purpose is fitness and that offers a variety of professionally administered spa services on a day-use basis.
Cruise Ship Spa: Provides professionally administered spa services, fitness and wellness components and spa cuisine menu choices aboard a cruise ship.
Day Spa: A facility that offers a variety of spa services on a day-use basis only.
Destination Spa: A spa whose sole purpose is to provide lifestyle and health improvement through spa services, physical fitness, education, and on-site accommodations. Spa cuisine is served exclusively.
Medical Spa: Individuals, solo practices, groups and institutions comprised of medical and spa professionals whose primary purpose is to provide comprehensive medical and wellness care in an environment that integrates spa services, as well as conventional and complementary therapies and treatments.
Mineral Springs Spa: A spa offering an onsite source of natural mineral, thermal, or seawater used in hydrotherapy treatments.
Resort/Hotel Spa: Owned and located in a resort/hotel providing spa services, fitness and wellness components and spa cuisine menu choices.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report for the International SPA Association examines the spa industry and its patrons in Canada, and provides comparisons to a similar study conducted in the United States where appropriate.

Incidence. One in ten Canadians (about 3.2 million) have visited a spa - usually a day spa - in the past 12 months. In Canada, day spas are most popular (6%), followed by resort/hotel spas (2%). Canadian women are about twice as likely as men to visit spas.

In the Future. Canadians that actually went to resort/hotel spas or day in the last 12 months indicate a strong likelihood that they will go a spa in the next year. This suggests an increasing interest in spas and spa treatments, which could be further encouraged by marketing that
emphasizes the benefits of spa treatments.

SPA Services. There is a great deal of similarity between the treatments taken by Canadians and those taken by Americans. Spa staples such as massage (58% purchased in the last 12 months), pedicures (43%) and facials (37%) are very popular among Canadian spa-goers. Women tend to prefer haircutting/styling, pedicures, facials, hair removal, and yoga; men are more likely than women to request steam bath/saunas and hydrotherapy.

Canadian spa-goers assign extremely high satisfaction levels to the value they receive from their spa visits (4.0 on a 5-point value satisfaction scale). This is consistent with results from American spa-goers, suggesting that North American spas successfully meet the expectations of their clientele.

Reasons for Selection/Spa Image. Convenient location (74%) is the reason most frequently cited by Canadian spa-goers as the reason for selecting the spa they chose on their last visit. Having friendly staff members (55%) is of critical importance, as is atmosphere of the spa facility (52%). Past quality of treatment (45%), professionalism (44%), price (42%), reputation (41%), and past experience (38%) also score at significant levels.

Canadian female spa-goers' reasons for selecting a spa generally mirror those of Canadian males. Males, however seem more influenced by cuisine, i.e., availability of healthy/spa cuisine (35% male vs. 8% female) and availability of gourmet cuisine (19% male vs. 5% female). Canadian females are more likely to cite beauty treatments available (37% female vs.
23% male) as a reason for their spa selection.

As 91 percent of spas in Canada are day spas according to the ISPA 2002 Spa Industry Study, Canadian respondents' reasons for choosing a spa are compared to those of US day spagoers. Results are generally comparable, although Canadians report choosing spas because of special services not offered by other spas (4% US vs. 20% Canada) and appear more
concerned with employees having professional qualifications (19% US vs. 34% Canada), a key point to emphasize in marketing materials.

Nearly four times as many Canadians as Americans (19% Canada vs. 5% US) indicate that they chose the spa they last selected because it is the only one they know. Further research is needed to establish whether this finding indicates room for more facilities and/or different types of specialties.