Break out the bubbly.

Virtually unheard of a decade ago, Canada’s spa industry pumps nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars into the national economy and is poised for another record-breaking year, especially in Alberta and B.C.

“We’ve had stunning rates of growth – 16 per cent per year for nine consecutive years,” says Pat Corbett, chairman of the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) spa taskforce and owner of Canada’s first destination wellness spa.

The Canadian Spa Association predicts the spa industry will double again over the next five years, and opportunities abound in western provinces, where the industry is less mature and there are more opportunities for luxury real estate development.

Larry MacDougal, Business Edge
Dr. Wendy Smeltzer of the Institut de Santé says spa visits are no longer perceived as pampering, but necessary.

B.C. and Alberta have nearly a third of Canada’s 1,300-and-growing spas. Spas are so lucrative, they are seen as good investments regardless of the depth of the owner’s pockets.

Typically, spas enjoyed revenue of $500,000 on an average of 6,500 visitors in 2001, according to a survey by the International Spas Association. But revenues in high-end spas and chains climb into the millions.

Spas are the centrepieces in new luxury residential and resort developments, such as Shutters in Victoria and Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort and Spa in Osoyoos. Established resorts are adding spas to compete with newer developments in the luxury market. Spas cater to weary travellers in both the Calgary and Vancouver international airports.

The day salon is replacing the beauty parlour in cities and small towns throughout Alberta and B.C. In smaller centres, business owners – mainly women – are refurbishing residential basements to add several swank rooms in which to offer posh treatments such as herbal body wraps, aromatherapy sessions and warm-stone massages.

Spas can also give a competitive edge in hot tourism markets.

“To be a leader in the industry, you need some sort of spa facility,” says Jamie MacFayden, public relations manager for Tigh-na-Mara Resort, Spa and Conference Centre in Parksville.

Once considered an amenity, a spa is now the deciding factor in choosing a resort, says MacFayden.

There’s been a resort at Tigh-na-Mara since the 1940s, when rustic seaside cabins on a bluff overlooking Georgia Strait and Rathtrevor Beach drew tourists wanting to get back to nature.

Joe and Jackie Hirsch bought the property in 1981 and over the years have moved it up-market. Tigh-na-Mara today is a rustic luxe experience – lots of log bungalows scattered through a pine forest, a modern condominium development with stunning sea views and a conference centre, posh restaurant and spa.

The Hirsches wanted to add a pool in the late ’90s, but were persuaded by a consultant to build a spa instead. Their own research told them to go big.

“Everywhere we went, everybody told us they hadn’t built big enough and had to expand into areas that weren’t appropriate,” says Jackie.

Thus, The Grotto: A three-storey, $3-million, 16,000-sq.-ft. building with large mineral pool, treatment salons and room to grow. They’ve only finished the first two floors, leaving one in waiting.

And they’re glad of it – just five months after opening, all the treatment rooms on the first two floors were in use.

“It’s been really, really busy,” said Hirsch. First-year operations “exceeded expectations without advertising,” said MacFayden. The Grotto logged 12,000 treatments and services – pampering with manicures and pedicures, facials and esthetics as well as European treatments including reflexology and therapeutic massages.

The Grotto has a new spa manager and will move more into health and wellness services in the next year, offering wellness weekends, yoga and meditation sessions, and exercise programs.

Spas also help smooth out the up-and-down tourism revenue cycle for resorts. Locals want continuing fitness programs and ongoing services and education. Tigh-na-Mara plans to encourage that, through specials for locals and off-season and mid-week deals.

The Canadian Tourism Commission’s Pat Corbett and his wife Juanita established the first destination wellness spa in Canada in 1982 after a quest to overcome Juanita’s long bout of mystifying recurrent internal infections.

“That changed our understanding of life and health,” he says. “And we began to go to health resorts.”

There were no such spas in Canada then, so they decided to build one: Hills Health and Guest Ranch on a 200-hectare site near 100 Mile House, about 400 kilometres north of Vancouver. They chose the remote site because “to compete internationally, we had to offer four true seasons,” says Corbett.

The remote site lends to the spa’s cachet. Horseback riding and hiking in summer and cross-country skiing in winter over trails radiating 60 kilometres from ranch central set this spa apart from other centres offering the same menu of services.

Initially, marketing involved educating prospective clients, said Corbett, but by the ’90s the spa movement had taken off worldwide. The ranch now has a guest capacity of 150, 18 treatment rooms, more than 100 staff, including registered nurses, a kinesiologist, a physician and nutritionist, and programs offering a full buffet of health, wellness and fitness programs.

Spa developers can count on continued growth, because spa visits are no longer perceived as pampered luxuries, but necessary to living healthier and working longer in a stressful environment, says Dr. Wendy Smeltzer of Calgary’s Institut de Santé, Canada’s first medical day spa, which opened in 1998.

In addition to the pampering and wellness programs, the Institut also offers non-invasive medical therapies such as pulse light treatment, skin rejuvenation and botox treatment. Staff include a physician, registered nurses, dietitian and a psychologist to help clients develop wellness routines.

The spa has been so successful that Smeltzer will invest in two more. The first is a 3,000-sq.-ft. medical spa as part of the $89-million Osoyoos Spirit Ridge Resort and Spa, breaking ground this month. And she’s now negotiating for the second, in Victoria. Although appealing initially to Baby Boomers, spas have become mainstream and are now starting to specialize – resort spas, destination spas, mineral spas, day spas, medical spas. The customer base is changing, too. Once the realm of the wealthy Baby Boomer, eight per cent of the market is now people under 25. Markets are growing for men’s services, treatments for teens and family packages.

Corbett is head of the CTC taskforce evaluating growth and trends in the spa industry with an eye to adding it to its menu of tourism experiences. The CTC now promotes culture/heritage tourism, outdoor tourism, cuisine tourism and aboriginal tourism.

“The spa experience is now part of Canadian culture,” he says.

(Sharon Adams can be reached at sharon@businessedge.ca)