A new report by the UK Spa Association, sponsored by numerous industry stakeholders including Spa Life International and The Salon Life Beauty Convention, has revealed the significant impact the COVID-19 health crisis has had on the UK Spa Industry. The association’s ‘What’s next for Wellness?’ study released this week, concluded that 92.3% of businesses have experienced severe or significant impact to their business as a direct result of the lockdown measures put in place in late March.
The study compiled through interviews with operators, consultants, therapists and suppliers found that 87% of respondents reported that the majority of their staff have been furloughed. Over a quarter (27.7%), anticipate the need to make redundancies on re-opening. Almost eight in ten (79.5%) of the spa businesses surveyed have applied for the government’s business interruption loan.
The report also revealed that missing important calendar dates, such as Mother’s Day, Easter and Summer holidays, are deemed to have had a negative effect on revenue, with 31.1% believing that gross revenue will be down by at least 50%.
A big focus for the industry is the desire to re-open their doors to the public. Just over half (54%) of participants admitted they aim to re-open as soon as the restrictions are lifted for the sector, although only 13% anticipate opening in full, with the safety of both staff and clients being paramount in any decision to re-open in any capacity.
The industry study ran simultaneously alongside a consumer-focussed survey by The Good Spa Guide to gauge consumer attitudes towards spa. Hearteningly, this latter survey discovered consumer desire for spa is as much as it was prior to the pandemic, with the majority of those (47.79%) that stated they visited spa every few months prior to lockdown intending to return. The study also revealed that eight out of ten (80.1%) intend to spend the same as they did on spa before COVID-19.
The ‘What’s next for Wellness?’ survey, found that over a third (38.3%) of participants plan to restrict the use of thermal facilities, with 21.8% intending to phase the re-opening of their pool areas with restricted usage. They are right to do so, as the Good Spa Guide Consumer Spa Survey reveals that with regard to thermal facilities in particular, opinion is divided. 43.3% respondents feel spas offer a safe environment, however, 41.98% are hesitant and give the answer of usage to a ‘maybe’. 13.94% of respondents state however, they wouldn’t use these specific thermal facilities under any circumstances.
On the topic of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), 78.2% believe that therapists should wear face masks, whether the government advise it or not, with the survey findings pointing to the cost of the masks being passed on to clients. The Good Spa Guide Consumer Spa Survey seems to echo the thoughts of industry insiders, with 81.10% expecting a therapist to wear a mask and 40.77% respondents expecting to see their therapist wear a disposable apron.
The study also revealed that it is generally expected the industry may need to temporarily suspend facial treatments, with many reasoning that a body massage may be a better option for spas to offer as the guest will face away from the therapist. The Good Spa Guide Consumer Spa Survey indicates that the body massage option received 44.57% of positive votes, with the facial only favoured by 20.60%.
According to the UKSA’s general manager Helena Grzesk the survey was commissioned to understand “what the short term impact this pandemic and the enforced period of lockdown has had on the spa and wellness industry so far, as well as the estimated impact our industry feel it will have long term.”
Other reasons included establishing the effectiveness of existing government support measures such as SME grants, and the Coronavirus job retention scheme and what reopening support, post Covid-19, will be required from government and the UKSA.
To find out more about the survey and the measures the UKSA are taking to support the industry with the transition back to opening visit https://www.spa-uk.org
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