According to recent spa industry statistics, the global Spa and Wellness market has been on a steady incline since 2007, growing by nearly 12.7% annually. Just in the past 6 years, revenue earned by spa services has increased by $34 billion dollars, going from $60 billion in 2007 to $94 billion in 2013. And this number only reflects the service sector of the market. Add spa media, associations, events, education, consulting and capital investments to the mix for an additional $20 billion. So what’s going on beneath the surface of these macro numbers? Let’s take a closer look.

Growth in Global Spa Establishments

Since 2007 the number of sp s has increased by 47%, totaling an estimated 105,591 spa establishments in 2013.

With more businesses comes an increase in jobs.  Since 2007, the spa industry has added over 700,000 jobs to the global market, starting from 1.2 million people and growing to over 1.9 million (2013).

Spa Growth per Region

While the spa market has grown worldwide, growth is not evenly distributed across the globe. Here is how that growth stacks up across the world:

Asia and Latin America

Revenues aside, Asia currently holds the largest number of spas with Europe close behind.

For both Asia and Latin America, spa industry statistics are driven by economic expansion in emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina.

Europe:

Europe comes in second for number of spas. However, due to higher average revenues pre spa, Europe still has the largest spa market.

Africa:

In terms of revenue growth (2007-2013), Sub Saharan Africa and Middle East-North Africa are the fastest growing regions.

This may sound like surprising spa industry statistics but consider the following factors:

When compared to other areas of the world, this region started at a low spa base in 2007. Countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates and Saud Arabia have experienced rapid economic growth. In addition, many countries such as Morocco, Kenya, Mauritius, and Botswana have seen huge growth in tourism.  Both of these factors have contributed to the large growth of spas in this region.

United States/North America:

Considered to be an already mature spa market, North America grew modestly despite the slow economy.

The United States alone accounts for 88% of the North American spa market.

Travel and Wellness Tourism

Wellness is a fairly new trend and as more people start to reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, new opportunities and sub trends are born. Many people have started to extend their wellness lifestyle into their travels. This has presented a new business opportunity for the tourism market.

There are two types of wellness travelers: primary and secondary wellness travelers. Primary wellness travelers are those who travel for a specific wellness reason or event while secondary wellness travelers partake in wellness activities, but those activities may not be the main focus.

Wellness travelers, both primary and secondary, are often considered “high-yield” tourists. These travelers are typically well educated, hold higher paying jobs and thus, spend more money than the average tourist. Not only has wellness helped attract tourists to many regions where tourism was once low or nonexistent, in many cases it has helped boost economies, creating jobs and improving the local lifestyle.

As you can see from these spa industry statistics, the wellness market is on the up rise and will likely continue to grow for many years to come. There are many aspects of wellness, health and spas to take advantage of with many more opportunities that are likely to present themselves as the industry continues to ripen.

Contact Florida Spa Association today for more information about spa industry statistics or how to get started in this wonderful and booming industry.

Call (954) 475-1246 today to learn more about spa industry statistics. Florida Spa Association is Florida’s favorite resource for wellness trends.