In 2006, the Association Resource Centre Inc., Research and Strategy Division, conducted a Profile of the Canadian Spa Sector for Canadian Tourism Commission, in partnership with Tourism British Columbia, Alberta Economic Development, Travel Manitoba, Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Tourism Québec, Spas Relais Santé, Economic Development Canada-Québec, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Leading Spas of Canada, and Premier Spas of Ontario. Click here for the full report.

A number of conclusions and industry implications can be drawn from the study findings.
The following is a summary of key conclusions and implications for Canadian spa industry.

• Industry growth is strong and steady. Over the past decade, the number of spas in Canada has been growing at an average rate of 17% per annum. With few peaks and valleys, growth has been steady which bodes well for stability and continued growth. Moreover, all key industry measures are growing at a comfortable rate.

• Saturation is not widespread — yet. There may be some markets where saturation may have been reached; however, despite some of the executive views to the contrary, it does not yet appear to be country wide. Despite the widespread view that most of the growth is taking place on the supply side and that demand is not growing at the same pace, spas are still seeing growth in their key performance indicators (e.g., revenue, visits, etc.), even if the growth is only modest. True saturation will be reached when the number of spas is still growing but per location visits and revenue decrease. This point has not been reached yet on a national basis; but there are signs that it is coming.

• Day spas are the largest industry segment in terms of number of establishments; but other spa types are more dominant. At 74% of all spas locations, day spas are by far the largest industry segment. These spas also have a higher average number of visits. However, it is resort/hotel spas and other spas that are on top where it counts — revenue. With higher average revenues, these segments represent a disproportionately high share of overall industry revenue.

• Tourism is a key component of the Canadian spa industry. Spas rely on tourists for 29% of visits and 25% of revenues. However, only 20% of marketing efforts are geared toward tourists. While resort/hotel spas certainly understand the importance of the segment, there is great untapped potential with this segment. To take advantage of this potential is going to require the education of spas about their potential role in the tourism sector. British Columbia and Quebec are the most tourism-oriented regions. While Ontario has the highest number of tourism-oriented spas, that number is not much higher than it is for British Columbia or Quebec. These regions are significantly smaller, but have a greater proportion of their spas being tourism-oriented. While these regions are smaller than Ontario, they are well positioned to take advantage of lucrative tourist market.

• Spa tourism is one of Canada’s best kept secrets. Despite the fact that Canada has world class facilities staffed by some of the best trained professionals in the world, nobody seems to know about it. At the end of the day, the bottom line and foremost challenge for today’s Canadian spa industry is clear: The spa industry needs to ‘tell its story.’
The spa industry still needs to recruit qualified resources. The rapid growth of the industry
creates a never ending shortage of qualified staff. While the issue has begun to shift from
one of quantity to one of quality, the shortages will never disappear as long as the
industry grows quickly.

• The spa industry is here to stay. While it is still a young industry, the spa industry has proven that it is a significant industry that is not going to go away. It has surpassed the $1 billion per year mark. The industry has moved away from an image of pampering to one that fills the need of a busy, stressed society.

Below are a some other links that indicate the current growth within the Spa Industry:
•experienceispa.com/ISPA/Media+Room/Press+Releases/2004+Industry+Study+Summary.htm
• http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/546301