The world of spa and wellness is still booming! From local day spas to international wellness destinations, it seems everyone is booked and enjoying ongoing success. The current Global Wellness Institute (GWI) prediction is that wellness tourism, thermal mineral springs and spas are expected to experience significant growth as the wellness economy approaches the $7 trillion mark by 2025.
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The world of spa and wellness is still booming! From local day spas to international wellness destinations, it seems everyone is booked and enjoying ongoing success. The current Global Wellness Institute (GWI) prediction is that wellness tourism, thermal mineral springs and spas are expected to experience significant growth as the wellness economy approaches the $7 trillion mark by 2025.
Consumers are savvier than ever about their beauty and wellness routines, so it’s important that spas and wellness facilities stay up to date with innovative treatments and experiences that address guests’ self-care needs and wants. So, it’s time to get inspired with these top 10 trends we expect to see in 2024!
1. Healthy Aging
The term “anti-aging” has been in flux for a few years now, but the movement away from anti-aging and toward healthy aging, or pro-aging, is officially full steam ahead. And it makes a lot of sense, considering that the passage of time is not within anyone’s control!
Spa and wellness professionals have an opportunity to uplift their guests by helping them embrace the natural changes that come with aging, whether it’s drier skin or the gamut of menopause symptoms. Importantly, you can offer some amazing support in the form of services and products that help people feel their best at all ages. This can include beauty products that support skin health, therapeutic pain relief treatments, healthy nutrition guidance, fun fitness and mindful movement classes, workshops that promote positive mindsets, and so much more.
2. Functional Beverages
Most spas offer some form of herbal tea, flavored water or the like, but the rise of beauty ingestibles and alcohol-free lifestyles means that spa drinks are being taken one step further. Enter the functional beverage that promotes health and well-being from within—the perfect complement to any spa and wellness treatment.
Functional beverages allow you to tailor your sensory wellness experiences by adding taste, all while nourishing and hydrating the body. The great news is that there are tons of options available and you can easily find the right fit for your clientele, whether it’s fermented drinks for gut health, beautifying collagen teas, vitamin infusion drops, prebiotic sodas or any number of powders and healthy mocktails.
3. Aromatherapy Everywhere
Aromatherapy offerings are blooming beyond the diffuser into all aspects of wellness—both in spa and at home. Of course, diffusers and candles will remain spa staples, but essential oils have now infused their way into skin and body care, shower mists and pillow spritzes, not to mention a wave of bath oils, milks, salts and teas. Even aromatherapy jewelry and nose rings popped up at trade shows, with blends ranging from earthy to floral and everything in between.
Moving forward, expect to see more in the way of “neuroscents,” a growing aromatherapy category that addresses a direct connection between scent, mind and body for customized therapies, such as nausea relief, vagus nerve stimulation, or feelings of bliss and surrender.
4. Lovely Lips
Another noticeable trend emerging in a big way is lips. Beyond the balms—of which there are still plenty—products like scrubs, masks, plumpers, hydrators and even special LED therapy devices for the lips appeared all over industry events across the country.
It’s likely that this is tied into the fact that consumers are looking for ways to not only maintain their injectable results, but also to cut back on injectables or avoid them entirely. That means that any alternatives, especially on and around the lips, will continue to be in high demand in the New Year.
5. LED All Over
Thanks to a range of health benefits like pain relief, skin rejuvenation, cellular support and so much more, light therapy is as popular as ever. Luckily, it’s only getting easier to implement LED sessions into treatments, with plenty of versatile devices available for the face and body.
You can now bring light therapy into your spa for targeted lip and eye treatments, rejuvenating face and body treatment add-ons, whole body sessions in beds or pods—or a combination of them all! Regardless of which you choose, there’s no question that light therapy is an investment that’s sure to pay off.
Related: 7 Beauty & Wellness Trends to Look For in 2024
6. Green Cosmetics
Sustainability is still at the forefront of spa and wellness, but this year makeup is getting the makeover! B-Corp brands are growing in number, which is great news for spas as you look for green vendors, and many are tackling makeup in their quest for eco-friendly offerings.
Not only is more sustainable packaging available, but so are sustainable ingredients and farming practices. Look for biodegradable bamboo powders, naturally sourced hues and even eco-friendly nail polish for your retail areas.
7. Social Spaces
It’s true that, especially after the pandemic, people are looking for connection—and that extends to spas and wellness centers. According to Mindbody’s 2024 Predictions Report, “More than a third of consumers are likely to choose wellness businesses that are well known for their community-building activities, and over 60% have attended or would like to attend an event at a salon, spa, med spa or wellness center.”
Now is the time to think about offering group events, such as wellness workshops, retreats, mindful movement and other fitness classes, and more. You may even be able to take advantage of spaces you already have, such as hydrotherapy areas and saunas, which are perfect for socializing while enjoying the spa.
8. Well Beauty
Prepare for skin care and beauty treatments and regimen to become more of a wellness ritual. One example where this has come to the forefront of consumers minds has been in the shower sandwiching and shower oil trends that surfaced in 2023. Both of these trends introduces a ritual for the consumer to apply oil to their entire body before relaxing in the shower or tub to help seal hydration into the skin.
This is just one example of how a more comprehensive wellness ritual is beginning to surge into skin care and beauty treatments. This may not happen necessarily in the spa itself, but it is a great opportunity to help your guests take their wellness experiences home. This can be done by offering guidance and products for creating a well-being ambiance in their bathrooms through aromatherapy, bath oils and milks, wellness drinks and snacks, sheet masks and body scrubs. Anything that turns a generic routine into a relaxing ritual will be a must.
9. Room to Recover
Facilities are now adding spaces designated to recover and general well-being, and this is going to bloom even more in 2024. An example of this would be Conrad Spa Los Angeles who has Recovery Cabins. These cabins include health mats, LED therapy, lymphatic drainage pants, and more. These types of recover rooms allow guests to experience touchless treatments as well as meditation and relaxation opportunities.
Anticipate these recovery rooms to be high tech too. They will incorporate touchless treatments with innovative tech. Some other examples of how they may take form includes through salt rooms or with vibroacoustic loungers.
10. AI in Wellness
It is no secret that artificial intelligence (AI) is booming in many industries right now including spa and wellness. Cassandra Cavanah wrote a brilliant article about this in the September issue of WellSpa 360, where she highlights some of the main ways AI is being seen in the spa and wellness space. AI is being used especially when it comes to automating tasks and helping with marketing efforts, but it can also be used in aiding with setting an ambiance or mood, think Soundscapes. One area in particular that Cavanah highlights is massage robots that are beginning to enter the space from Massage Robotics, Aescape and Capsix Robotics.
One thing is for sure, even if AI has not fully entered the wellness arena yet, there is no doubting that it is not very far off on the horizon.
