Resort and Spa Management: History, Major Players, Current Paradigm, and Customer Expectations

Running Head: RESORT AND SPA MANAGEMENT 0
resort and spa management
JULY 7, 2018

RESORT AND SPA MANAGEMENT 1
Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................2
History and development of the Resort & Spa industry............................2
Major players and influencers...................................................................4
Current paradigm......................................................................................5
Customer expectations...........................................................................7
Conclusion................................................................................................8
References..............................................................................................9

RESORT AND SPA MANAGEMENT 2
Introduction
The resort industry is one of the significant sectors of the Australian economy and it
includes the hotels that have more than 15 rooms and various other facilities. It is central to
creating entertainment to the millions of people and visitors. There may be as many as 6,807
hotels in Australia, and most hotels are relatively small businesses, which employs people
between ‘0 to 30’. Spa consists of the resorts, which provides therapeutic baths, or the resort
having mineral springs and they are a part of the wellness industry. The hotels and resorts
include spa and wellness, and are the establishments that have the permission to operate a
public bar, and accommodating on room basis other facilities. The revenue earned in the
hotels in Australia from the sale of alcoholic beverages and other hotels with the gambling
activities. The spa resorts need to emphasise on the benefits, focussing on providing them
enough knowledge about the health, wellness, and relaxation to the customers. Thus,
Australia is likely to emerge as the leading player in the spa tourism market (IBIS world,
2018).
History and development of the Resort & Spa industry
Health and wellness remains a key focus on the Australian customers and the industry
in this sector includes products such as five and four star accommodation, other
accommodations, and beverages. Three of Australia’s premier resort spas are located in the
tropical north Queensland. Spas use a wide range of nourishing oils, cleaning agents and
detoxification elements. According to the intelligent spas, the profile of the spa industry in
Australia from the year 2002-2007, the approximate spas were 506 in 2006. In addition,
according to this report, the spas has increased by 68%, from 300 to 503 in the year 2006.

RESORT AND SPA MANAGEMENT 3
Then followed by 36%, in different locations within the time-period of 2002-2004 and the
industry employed 3,100 people. In addition, the major spas in Australia are located in the
eastern part of the country; the three largest states in spas are New South Wales (30%),
Queensland (27%), and Victoria (24%). The increasing numbers in the spas clearly represents
that there is a growth in the spa industry. The figure of 2.4 million-spa visit between the years
July2002 to June2003according to the report depicts the growth of 17.5% (Health and
Fitness, 2018).
The research identifies 590 suppliers of the health and the wellness tourism services
that consist of 262 day-spas, 201 spa resorts/hotels, 28 lifestyle retreats, and 84 spiritual
retreats. Despite the development of the resort and spa in Australia, there have been certain
challenges; according to Victoria Tourism, wellness in the country’s industry provides
training to deliver a professionalised services to their customers. The development in the
industry in Australia is mainly emphasised by the objective to deliver effective spa treatments
to their customers, the spa industry is focused towards the personalized spa therapies and
other services. The development in terms of the customer satisfaction is one of the vital
factors leading to the success (Smith & Puczko, 2018). .
There are certain associations in Australia with direct or indirect tie-ups with the spa
industry; Australasian Spa Association is the body, which represents the members of the
wellness industry, fostering the growth professionalism and awareness to the industry.
Massage association of Australia, Australian association of Massage therapist, Australian
Natural therapists Association. There is an involvement of the tourism in the spa industry and
the survey reported the 78% of the spa visits are from the female customers (Hannah
Wilkinson, 2016).