The spa industry in the United States
One of the largest regions within the spa industry is the United States, where almost 352 thousand employees were working in the health and wellness spa sector in 2022. Overall, the spa industry market size within the United States stood at 19 billion U.S. dollars in the same year. There are a wide range of establishments that fall under the umbrella of the spa market, including hotel spas, massage parlors, and day spas. Indeed, the number of spa visits in the United States rose from 143 million annually in 2009 to 192 million a decade later. This all suggested an upward trend in this industry, before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic changed the entire landscape.COVID hit the spa industry hard
The steady rise of the spa industry was thrown into chaos with the arrival of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Many spas were forced to close their doors to the general public and those that were fortunate enough to be allowed to stay open were often required to limit the number of guests and put in place strict hygiene regulations. Some of the most common hygiene standards implemented by spas as a result of the health crisis were offering hand sanitizer to guests, having visible employee hygiene standards displayed within the spa, and implementing a no handshaking policy when greeting guests. However, the months of limited or no income is sure to have a huge impact on these spa establishments, especially given that 80 percent of spas worldwide were forced to temporarily close during the pandemic, according to one survey. Moreover, 31 percent of spa industry professionals anticipated that the number of spa visits as a result of the pandemic would change by more than 70 percent when compared to the same period in the previous year. With members of the public showing some reservations about visiting spas once they are able to reopen, it remains to be seen how devastating the impact of the pandemic will be on the spa industry.
