The impact of the 2015 ASEAN Economy Community (AEC) and spa-goer habits were the focus of Thailand’s 2014 Spa Industry Study which was revealed in September. The study by Stenden Rangsit University, in collaboration with the Thai Spa Association, was based on a survey of nearly 300 spa consumers and over 100 spa operators (see right) and provides some interesting insights.

Spas in the AEC
This year, the anticipated AEC comes into effect, influencing businesses in Southeast Asia. The AEC is a single market initiative led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which represents 10 member countries – Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Likened to the European Union, it will see the free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labour and capital flow between the 10 countries.

With this in mind, the 2014 Spa Industry Study asked operators to compare certain aspects of the spa sector in eight ASEAN countries by ranking them on a scale of 1 to 5 (poor to excellent). It should be noted this part of the study was optional and is based on the views of 20 spa managers. The answers give some idea about which countries in the region will have the most robust spa industries in the wake of economic integration, as well as pinpointing those that will need to raise their game if they want compete with their neighbours. Overall strengths of spas in the region were also highlighted.

l Therapist skills, training and availability. Survey respondents (spa managers) feel spas in Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia are clearly in the strongest position when it comes to employees, and in many other areas too. They believe Thailand has the most skilled therapists out of all ASEAN countries – it scored an average of 3.9 out of 5 – followed by Indonesia and Singapore.

Meanwhile, it’s perceived that the best therapist training is available in Indonesia, with Thailand and Singapore a very close joint second. Although, training is thought to be the most frequent in Singapore.

When it comes to recruitment, survey respondents feel that both Thailand and Indonesia have the highest availability of therapists, after which comes the Philippines, then Singapore.

l Spa hygiene/standards, and infrastructure. In terms of hygiene/standards, and infrastructure, it was noted that spas in Singapore were ranked the highest by far (scores of 3.9 and 4.3 respectively) and that those in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia followed some way behind. Facilities in Cambodia and Myanmar are perceived as having the worst hygiene/standards and infrastructure. In fact, these two countries were consistently the bottom two scorers across all aspects, suggesting that there’s much room for improvement.

l Innovation. As far as innovation in spa therapies and products is concerned, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore came top once again, with a better rating than other ASEAN countries. Yet respondents felt spas in Singapore had the most dynamic approach to marketing, giving a score of 3.9 points on average, compared to Thailand and Indonesia in joint second place on 3.2 points each.

Spa-goer trends
As well as getting feedback from spa managers, the 2014 Spa Industry Study focused on the preferences of 295 spa-goers. Most questions were presented in a multiple-choice format with respondents indicating how often they to do something, or how they rated things on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being least often or poor).

On average, spa-goers had visited a spa seven times in the previous 12 months and when choosing where to go, online is the favourite source for spa consumers in Thailand, followed by recommendations from friends and social media. Websites and social media are also the two marketing tools used most frequently by spas.

Relaxation remains the primary reason for visiting a spa in Thailand, the study found. Rewarding or spoiling oneself, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and health issues are the three purposes that came in a close second. Meanwhile, Thai massage, foot massage and aromatherapy massage are the most popular treatments.

In the future, it’s felt that facilities would benefit from highlighting the efficacy of services – 61 per cent of the spa managers questioned believe it’s important that treatment claims are scientifically validated. Using or linking up to resources like wellnessevidence.com – a search engine for existing research on spa modalities – might be useful in this case.

Most consumers in Thailand have a significant preference for female therapists, especially female consumers – 73 per cent of them said they prefer to have women administering their treatment. And the top three important characteristics of therapists for spa consumers are pleasant behaviour, the ability to explain treatments and responding to individual customer needs.

In addition, spa managers feel quality is key – 52 per cent of the managers questioned believe consumers are willing to pay more for certified therapists, while 66 per cent feel that voluntary standards – such as belonging to a marketing consortia with qualifying benchmarks – attracts customers too. Yet in reality, the take up of voluntary standards is low. Out of 10 standards the study listed, Spa Excellence – a benchmark by verification company SGS Thailand and the Thai Spa Association – was the most popular and even then only 24 per cent of spa operators were signed up to it.

As part of the study, spa-goers were asked how much a spa visit usually costs. Most think they spend between THB750-THB1,500 (US$23-US$46, €18-€37, £14-£29), a category picked by 31 per cent of the respondents picked; followed by THB1,501-THB3,000 (US$46-US$91, €37-€73, £29-£58), the range that 18.8 per cent of customers chose.

When buying products, it’s no surprise that price remains the most important consideration for all customer types. But after that, the top priorities are natural ingredients, organic ingredients and having a recognised brand.

A promising future
In its conclusion, the 2014 Spa Industry Study asked spa-goers about future visits and expectations – and the results were promising. Eighty-three per cent of survey respondents say it’s likely, or very likely that they’ll visit a spa in the next 12 months. What’s more, they expect to visit an average of nine times, compared to seven visits in the previous 12 months.

Spend could potentially increase too. Forty-nine per cent of Thai spa-goers think they’ll spend more than THB1,500 (US$46, €37, £29) in the next 12 months – that’s 8 per cent more people than last year.

But in return, spa-goers have some clear demands. They’d like to see more discounts on treatments or packages for repeat customers, as well as customised services. Next on the list was an expectation for spas in Thailand to have more respect for traditional treatments. Consumers are less bothered about the improvement or expansion of facilities, décor refurbishments or having healthy food/spa cuisine options.

Given the findings of the study, it seems operators who meet these requests, will be setting themselves up as recipients for that all important extra spa visit or increased revenue spend.

A full copy of this report is available from the Thai Spa Association.

Details: www.thaispaassociation.com