When my brother and I were kids, my mother would always fill our backpacks with new coloring books and reading material before we headed to the airport for cross-country flights. She had just one caveat: We were never allowed to open them until we were on the plane. While I now see it as a shrewd way to keep small children under control for long airborne hours, it’s a tradition I still maintain.

So before visiting family for the holidays late last year, I stopped at the airport newsstand and picked up a few magazines to peruse on the plane. Given that I now work for one, there aren’t many titles I don’t automatically read each month. However, I ended up with one that—oddly enough—I hadn’t checked out before: Spa. As in, the magazine that wellness-minded consumers read to incorporate more elements of your facility into their everyday lives. It seemed like a great way to conduct research into the demographics visiting your spa, and the more I know about the people you’re serving, the better I can serve you.

Spa’s enthusiasm for beauty and wellness was obvious, and the magazine addressed implementing spa fundamentals as wide-ranging as décor or food offerings into readers’ routine. (That’s nothing but flattering.) But my interest was truly piqued when I turned to a section titled “Readers’ Choice: Your Favorite Spas,” which awards the magazine’s Silver Sage prize to a wide range of facilities across numerous categories. At first, I was surprised to see groupings such as “Favorite Green/Eco Spas” populated by honorees such as Canyon Ranch and Rancho La Puerta. It’s not that those facilities aren’t deserving; after all, Canyon Ranch in Miami Beach, Florida, was named Top Resort in our 2010 DAYSPA Top Honors, which similarly recognizes outstanding facilities. But I can think of a dozen day spas across the United States that are much greener before arriving at any resort or destination spas. The same thing happened on subsequent pages—subject areas such as spa cuisine and affordability were filled by the same big names over and over.

I finally got a clue as to the thinking behind these awards when I turned to the page with the “Favorite Day Spas” listing. (Yep, out of 27 categories, this was the only one that explicitly said “day spa.”) The winners included the all-star Glen Ivy Hot Springs in the top spot; as well as the chains Burke Williams, Bliss Spas and Spa Nordstroms (as in the department store). Only in last place did I see a spa that we cover on a semiregular basis New York City’s Oasis Day Spas, which also happened to win our 2010 DAYSPA Diamond Top Honor.

In a magazine that’s devoted to showing its readers how to incorporate the spa lifestyle, only one award honors the types of facilities that are easiest to visit on a day-to-day basis—and Spa certainly isn’t the only publication to do so in this manner. However, something’s off about that to me.

Of course, I don’t mean to say that destination or hotel/resort spas don’t have their place in the industry. After all, they get their own category in our Top Honors. The lists of superlative spas across the various regions of the United States and around the world that constitute the majority of Spa’s “Readers’ Choice” section will undoubtedly help those who are planning vacations in those areas and want to schedule spa stops.

But in this economy, how often is that happening anymore? What we’re hearing from you is that while business is down in general, many clients are simply downsizing their menu selections. Mini-services are popular across the board, especially those that reduce stress in these tough times. The pampering treatments that typically characterize a trip to the more lavish spas just aren’t selling as prevention and results-oriented services now prevail.

So why is there still this emphasis on the far-flung and the exotic? What’s the best way to reach out to this higher-end clientele and bring them back to earth? Or are they better left to seek their spa satisfaction after leaving on a jet plane?

I don’t know if I have the answers to these questions, but it does seem to indicate that awareness of the unique day spa environments in each and every town needs to be raised. As much as we’re tired of hearing the phrase “staycation,” perhaps it needs to be dusted off and presented as an alternative to jetting off to Hawaii or Thailand or…wherever.

Maybe we could all take a cue from Pamela Onges of Colonial House Day Spa in North Easton, Massachusetts. Her facility offers a $10,000 spa experience, and while no one has purchased one, just the fact that it’s available still garners press attention.

As an editor at DAYSPA, I know that we’ll continue to show you how to offer unique touches to clients in cost-effective ways—and we’re always up for hearing how you face these challenges as well. So fasten your seatbelts; hopefully, the ride will be as smooth as possible. —Allison Rost

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 30th, 2010 at 10:33 pm and is filed under Editors' Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.