Benchmarking boom

An ongoing challenge for leisure industry professionals is the lack of valuable research, robust statistics and comparable benchmarks available.

I am inundated with requests for industry data by Leisure Manager readers, and disappointingly, I have few sources to which I can refer them. Instead, I suggest they look to surveys conducted overseas.

This month I am pleased to report a shift in this trend, with both global and local research released for the spa industry, plus the promise of future studies to come from yet more UAE researchers.

With the UAE spa market generating total industry revenues of AED 253 million (US $70 million) in 2007, managing director of Intelligent Spas Julie Garrow says that in comparison to more mature international spa markets, the UAE spa market is performing well.

Garrow is perfectly placed to comment on these findings - her company also recently carried out benchmarking studies in New Zealand, Australia and Thailand.

The spa industry is set to benefit from more benchmarking over the next 12 months. Enrst and Young is undertaking an independent study, while Leisure Manager has also spoken to analysts at Dubai Investment Group about a smaller study it is conducting over the summer.

It will be interesting to see if these reaffirm the findings from Intelligent Spas.

Meanwhile, in a global first, a huge international spa benchmarking study is being undertaken by Smith Travel on behalf of the Global Spa Summit (GSS).

With the hugely useful first-ever Global Spa Economy 2007 report - carried out in partnership with SRI (formerly Stanford Research Institute) - released at this year's GSS, the benchmarking study holds much promise.

After all, the Global Spa Economy 2007 report identified a global spa and wellness industry, including its sub-sectors of beauty, nutrition, and fitness, to be worth $1 trillion.

A global industry valued this highly surely deserves proper benchmarks to help it grow in the right direction?

This month's issue also highlights the key findings of the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) Global Report 2008.

Although interesting in its range of findings and the personal insights given by senior industry experts, this report is not truly global in the way the Global Spa Economy report is. It does not include Middle Eastern countries and only covers a small sample of Asian markets.

Though this is perhaps a reflection of the maturity of these fitness markets compared to those in the US and Europe, some research into the health and fitness industry in the region would still be valuable to help shape it.

The same is true for the attractions and amusements industry. Last year's PricewaterhouseCoopers Global and Media Outlook 2007-2011 was useful; the 2008-2012 forecasts were released at the time of going to press, so see next month's Leisure Manager for the highlights.

Louise Oakley is the editor of Leisure Manager.

RELATED LINKS: Benchmarking boom for UAE spas, Spa industry benchmarks go global

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