The decline in number of people taking spa days over the previous 7 months may be starting to level out and even increase according to new figures.

Most people would class them as a luxury due to the fact they tend to cost quite a bit. Despite this, the popularity of spa days soured over the last 10 years, and more spas are now open all round the world than ever before. Higher levels of stress in modern society is one reason that has been suggested for why this is, as well as people having more free time and money.

The outlook for many spas over the last year has not been good however. The current economic climate has seen a dramatic drop in the number of people coming in for spa treatments and also purchasing products from the spas. Many have had to make cutbacks on staffing and also reduce the ranges of treatments that they offer, especially skin care treatment. A spa in Spain suffered pretty badly, with the owner saying “our bookings have been the worst for 5 years, there is no one willing to spend any money at the moment.” Lots of spas have cut down on their opening hours whilst the recession blows over, but some could not survive and have to shut.

There has been better news however from Spa Break, the spa booking agent in England. Sales of spa packages, individual treatments and also spa vouchers have all increased on last month according to them.They have attributed this to people realising that the recession did not hit them as hard as they first thought it would. They would rather spend the extra money on something for themselves and something that will help combat any stress that they might be experiencing.One spa in Norwich has already opened its doors again and one in Bath also.Many people who are involved in the industry will be watching future reports closely to see if the trend continues to increase