Spa Industry Experienced Upswing in Revenues and Staffing

The International SPA Association (ISPA) released the findings of the 2023 ISPA U.S. Spa Industry Study, which indicate continued industry growth after the previous year’s initial recovery from a COVID-era downturn.

The ISPA Foundation commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct the study. The U.S. Spa Industry Study presents the “Big Five” spa industry statistics: total revenue, total spa visits, number of spa locations, revenue per visit and total number of U.S. spa industry employees.

“The spa industry is making up for lost time, and revenue growth of 11.1 percent is the spotlight statistic,” said ISPA President Lynne McNees. “But the increase in staffing—especially full-time employees, up more than five percent—is an even more unmistakable indicator of vitality.”

The study reveals that U.S. Spa Industry revenues grew from $18.1 billion in 2021 to $20.1 billion, an increase of more than 11 percent. The revenue figure sets a new all-time industry record, outpacing the previous high of $19.1 billion revenue realized in 2019. Continuing the report’s good news, the total number of U.S. spas reversed a downward trend that started in 2020 and persisted into 2021. In 2022, the industry added 280 locations over the prior year’s figure. The number of spa visits grew from 173 million in 2021 to 181 million. Revenue per spa visit increased by $7 for the second time in year-over-year numbers, settling at $111.5—another all-time high. The number of industry employees also continued to rise in 2022, increasing to 360,700, a 4.6 percent increase over 2021.

“The U.S. spa industry has rebounded very strongly,” said Colin McIlheney, Global Research Leader at PwC, “and the iconic $20 billion revenue threshold has been reached and indeed exceeded. This is the milestone—the dawn of what I believe will herald the new decade of growth.”

ISPA will release the complete U.S. Spa Industry Study later this year.