HOS302A: Growth & Customer Expectations in Australian Resort & Spa

This essay provides an analysis of the Australian Resort and Spa industry, examining its historical development, major players, current paradigms, and customer expectations. The industry has experienced significant growth due to an increasing emphasis on health and wellness, attracting both domestic and international visitors. Key players like Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort & Spa and The Lyall Spa influence customer decisions through social media and unique offerings. Current paradigms include higher investment in physical assets, wider target segments, increased training costs, and intense competition. Customer expectations revolve around excellent service quality, organic products, and personalized treatments. The industry has shifted dramatically over the past 50 years, with businesses adopting effective strategies to cater to evolving customer needs and preferences. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

Running Head: RESORT AND SPA MANAGEMENT 1
Resort and Spa Management

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Executive Summary
The connection between health and tourism is not a new concept since the people started to
travel to other countries and it has grown all over the world. Health resort and spa is a growing
sector of tourism industry where there is the new interest in new age solutions and traditional
remedial therapies. The Resort and Spa Industry in Australia is one of the most grown and
profitable industry worldwide. With the development of different methods and innovations, the
industry is able to establish a brand image among customers. The international guests travel to
Australian states for leisure and entertainment purpose and they stay in resort spas. The major
objective of this report is to analyze the growth and different aspects of Australian resort and spa
sector. It includes the history of industry that how the resorts and spas have grown in Australia.
There are some players which have well-established business and customer base in the industry.
The report covers the current paradigms in the industry and customers expectations from this
sector.

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Brief History of Resort and Spa Industry......................................................................................................4
Major Players and Influencers.....................................................................................................................5
Current Paradigms.......................................................................................................................................7
Current Customer Expectations...................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................10
References.................................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The revenues of resort and spa industry have grown over past five years. Demand for this
sector’s services have enhanced due to an increasing emphasis on health and appearance. In this
industry, the growth of revenue has also come despite unstable sentiment affected by economic
uncertainty over the period. Resorts and spas have become famous with a broader client base
including males, females, corporate users, families and couples. Nowadays, this is one of the
most beneficial industries all over the world. Considering the interests of people and trends, there
are so many entrepreneurs in Australia who have introduced resorts and spas in the country. This
essay is focused on analyzing the Resort and Spa industry of Australia. This industry in Australia
is the growth phase of its economic life cycle. This paper includes the discussion about leading
players and influencers in Australian resort and spa industry. Moreover, the report covers the
current paradigms within this sector in Australia and how these paradigms have shifted over past
50 years. At the end, it discusses about the current customer expectations within Australian resort
and spa industry. Over all, this essay provides a detailed analysis about the Resort and Spa
industry in Australia.
Brief History of Resort and Spa Industry
In Australia, health and wellness concerns are the major focus for both domestic and
international visitors in Australia. Health Consciousness is there to stay and the effect that it is
having on packaged food and beverages purchases of Australian customers continues to grow
every year. It is one of the reasons that people in Australia are getting attracted towards Resort
and Spa industry. In this country, spa and wellness travel sector is expanding faster than overall
tourism industry (Cohen & Bodeker, 2008). The history indicates that the resort and spa industry
in Australia is comparatively young and profitable. This sector seems to be well-organized and it
is identified as a significant economic asset for Australia. There are various emerging firms and
day spas, medical spas and destination spas in the industry which offers different services
including hospitality, facial and body treatments, massages and other spa services. Since its
establishment in Australia, the sector has been getting the assistance of government and local
bodies. It helped the industry to grow with a significant growth rate. The revenues of resort and
spa industry are estimated to increase at annual rate of 3.0% over 5 year through 2017-18 i.e. to

RESORT AND SPA MANAGEMENT 5
$432.7 million. It includes expected revenue growth of 2.2% in 2017-18 (Euromonitor
International, 2018).
There are various resorts and spas which have been offering the related services in different
cities and states of Australia. The data reflects that the majority of Australian spas can be found
on Australia’s eastern side. According to a report, the three largest states in terms of spas are
Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. The report shows that Australian resort and spa
industry produced more than $200 million between 2002 and 2003 (Association Resource Center
Inc. 2006). Most of the sources state that this sector in Australia is growing gradually. This
growth is due to development of destination and resort spa sectors. In the duration of 2002 to
2007, number of spas grew by 68% from 300 to 503. It shows that there was a strong growth in
the Australian resort and spa industry’s history (Wilkinson, 2016). Australia is considered as one
of the best destination for the purpose of tourism so many people are travelling to the country’s
states. They prefer to book a destination and resort spa so that they can avail other services for
their body relaxation and health management. These services may include steam baths, body
scrubs, massages, facials, body scrubs, etc. These holiday destinations in Australia are more
about the healthy and body relaxation. These are the luxury resorts which different amenities like
gyms, leisure areas, upmarket restaurants and they offer spa treatment packages. In the future,
industry is forecasting to nurture at 3.4% over 10 years via 2022-2023 (Association Resource
Center Inc. 2006).
Major Players and Influencers
As mentioned above, Resort and Spa industry in Australia has been experienced a significant
growth since past few decades. With the passage of time, many players and influencers are
emerged in the industry. These players have introduced and provided their resort and spa
services with more innovative specifications. In this industry, there are various brands which are
working as influencers and they affect the purchasing decisions of domestic and international
visitors. These resort spas affect the buying decisions of their customers through social media
sites and other networking sites. They are setting trends in spa social media activity and show the
traits that other competing brands seek to imitate (Elias-Almeida, Miranda, & Almeida, 2016).

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One of the major influencer is Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort & Spa that is established by one
of the largest hospitality group i.e. Marriott Group of Hotels. This resort and spa is using social
media sites to influence the buying decision of international and domestic visitors to Australia.
Considering the value of social media and networking sites, it has used Twitter to attract people
(Rawlinson, & Heap, 2017).
In addition to this, another resort and spa with excellent amenities is The Lyall Spa that is the
part of chic boutique hotel. This is popular with high profile fashion, celebs and television
personalities; this resort spa has various treatment rooms with relaxation, pedicure, hydrotherapy
etc. The resort spa is one of the leading players in the industry that affected the buying decisions
of visitors (Newsroom, 2016).

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Apart from these influencers, there are some other players in Australian resort and spa industry
which are offering destination spa services to their customers. These players are such as Chuan
Spa at The Langham, Aurora Spa Retreat, Breathtaker All Suite Hotel and Spa Retreat, Salus
Day Spa, The Byron at Byron Resort & Spa, Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat etc. These are the
leading players in Australian which are posing competitive threat for each other. Among all the
players, Breathtaker All Suite Hotel is a most-talked resort spa that is located on Mount Buller
(Okech, 2014). It has steam rooms, hot bubbling pools, indoor heated pool, wet treatment room
and tub rooms. Others are using innovative and trending features to the visitors. The
organizations offer prescriptive and therapeutic treatments by using different skincare and
organic products. It indicates that the level of competition in Australian Resort and Spa is higher
than other sectors in the country.
Current Paradigms
With the passage of time, the Resort and Spa Industry in Australia has changed significantly. It
has considerably shifted over past fifty years. Currently, businesses in this industry are operating
their business by using different Paradigm which has led the industry towards growth and
success. Australian people are getting healthier. As per the Australian Wellness Index, overall
health of country has seen various improvements. The wellness of Australian and international

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visitors have seen an uptick in healthy paradigm and physical activities as well. With the
wellness and health clearly in the mind of Australian population, it is a perfect opportunity for
Australian resort and spa industry to step ahead (Dryglas, & Salamaga, 2014). With the different
services like spa treatments which can assist relieve chronic pains which lead people to the
depression, the higher rates reflected in Australian Wellness index can be addressed easily.
By analysing the Australian resort and spa industry, some major current paradigms are identified,
which are given below:
Higher Investment in Physical Assets
As the people are becoming very concerned towards their health so they prefer to in resort spa
for health management and body relaxation (Navarro, 2014). Considering the situation, the
current paradigm in the industry is that organizations are making heavy investments in the setting
up the physical assets like pool with massage jets, exercise machines, steam rooms, air seats and
areas for personal treatments. It assists the organisations to attract more customers but it has
some adverse impact its business like higher fixed costs, higher amortization costs and market
confusion.
Wide Range Target Segments
This is the second current paradigm in Australian resort and spa industry. The focus on targeted
market of resort spa has shifted in last 50 years. In the introduction phase of this industry, only
females prefer to use the services of resort and spa. Now, spas have widened their target segment
to men and kids as well (Lin, 2015).
Higher Training Costs
To fulfil the needs and demands of different target market segments, the resort and spas have to
hire larger staff that increased the overhead expenses of the organization. Additionally, there is
need of training for specialized staff that enhances training costs to the firm. This paradigm in
Australian resort and spa industry may influence the operational efficiency of organizations.
Higher intensity of Competition

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With the emergence of more players and influencers in Australian Resort and Spa industry, there
is an intense competition. All the players are trying to adopt effective differentiation strategies so
that they can make their services different from others in the sector. The increased focus on body
and heath assisted the industry to intensify the competition and implement effective strategies.
In this way, the Resort and Spa industry in Australia had shifted dramatically in last 50 years.
Previously, the people were not much aware about these services, but now they know and they
show their interest towards this industry. Now, the businesses are using effective techniques and
processes to give body treatment to the customers (Lo, Wu & Tsai, 2015). Thus, the industry has
been changed and developed intensively during past 50 years.
Current Customer Expectations
With the paradigm shift in this industry, there are continuous changes in the needs and
expectations of customers towards the industry’s resort and spa services. Some of these
customers’ expectations are given below:
Excellent Service Quality
It is the foremost expectation that customers in Australian resort and spa industry have. There are
some aspects which the customers use to measure the perceived services quality such as
cleanliness and hygienic conditions, beautiful natural environment, personalized treatments,
well-behaved staff, competitive prices, comfortable rooms, updated thermal equipment and use
of modern technology to offer the services (Consolvo, Klasnja, McDonald & Landay, 2014).
Organic Products
In modern environment, Australian people are very much aware about their eating habits and
product ingredients. They expect and prefer to eat the food prepared with organic ingredients.
So, any resort and spa with the natural and organic food products will find its guests connected
as visitors are concerned about the chemically prepared products.
De-Stress Therapies and Capsules
With the development in the corporate world, the business professionals have been facing the
conditions of stress and tiredness. They expect that booking a resort or spa can help them to

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release that stress and get relaxed from their busy schedule. Thus, their current expectations are
such as de-stress therapies like lava shell massage, hot stone therapy etc. These techniques can
promote the mind and health relaxation and aims to develop balance on all the levels (Cain,
Busser & Baloglu. 2016).
Naturopathy
Some of the people expect to receive these services through naturopathy methods like sun heat,
using steam, water steams, smells, colours and sounds of nature.
The expectations of customers are increasing with the growth of industry in Australia.
Considering their expectations, the businesses are also making innovation and including more
features in their services (Lagrosen, & Lagrosen, 2016). It assists them to appeal more and more
domestic and international visitors towards its services.
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that Resort and Spa industry has experienced a
significant growth during past few decades. This is because people are becoming very concerned
towards their health and wellness. They want to get relaxed from their busy schedule and take
the services of spas. The above essay indicates the development of Australian resort and spa
industry where there is a considerable increase in the profits and revenues of the industry. There
are various leading players and influencers which pose competitive pressure to each other. The
firms are using effective and innovative strategies so that they can attract more guests towards
their services. Thus it is found that industry is growing by developing current paradigms and it
has shifted significantly over last 50 years. The people prefer to take the body treatment by using
modern equipment rather than traditional methods. In this way, it can be stated that expectations
of customers are increasing in Australian resort and spa sector.

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References
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profiles. Retrieved from
http://www.spaindustry.ca/files/file/Business%20Tools/spa_health_wellness_sector_forei
gn_competitor_profiles_2006_.pdf
Cain, L. N., Busser, J., & Baloglu, S. (2016). Profiling the motivations and experiences of spa
customers. Anatolia, 27(2), 262-264.
Cohen, M., & Bodeker, G. (Eds.). (2008). Understanding the global spa industry: Spa
management. Routledge.
Consolvo, S., Klasnja, P., McDonald, D. W., & Landay, J. A. (2014). Designing for healthy
lifestyles: Design considerations for mobile technologies to encourage consumer health
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Dryglas, D., & Salamaga, M. (2017). Applying destination attribute segmentation to health
tourists: A case study of Polish spa resorts. Journal of Travel & Tourism
Marketing, 34(4), 503-514.
Elias-Almeida, A., Miranda, F. J., & Almeida, P. (2016). Customer delight: perception of hotel
spa consumers. European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, 7(1), 13-20.
Euromonitor International. (2018). Health and Wellness in Australia. Retrieved from
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Lagrosen, Y., & Lagrosen, S. (2016). Customer perceptions of quality–a study in the SPA
industry. European Business Review, 28(6), 657-675.
Lin, I. Y. (2015). Marketing Global Luxury Spa and Wellness Trends, Experiences, and
Challenges. In Handbook of Research on Global Hospitality and Tourism
Management (185-202). IGI Global.

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Lo, A., Wu, C., & Tsai, H. (2015). The impact of service quality on positive consumption
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Navarro, J.V. (2014). Unfolding The Spa Industry: Spa Business Models Trough The Product
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