2011 Global Spa Summit will Shine Spotlight on Fastest-Growing Global Spa, Hotel and Tourism Market
Asia Pacific Leads World in: Economic and Tourism Recovery & Growth - Hotel/Spa Development Pipeline
New York, NY (PRWEB) January 19, 2011
The Global Spa Summit (GSS), the leading annual event for spa and wellness industry executives, heads to Asia for the first time in its five-year history when the conference convenes in Bali, Indonesia from May 15-18, 2011. And, under the 2011 Summit theme “Engage the Change: The Customer. The Money. The Future,” a key focus of the agenda will be to explore the diverse, emerging spa and wellness markets; investment opportunities; and hospitality/tourism models across the Asia-Pacific region - the fastest-growing hotel and spa economy in the world.
"With the Global Spa Summit coming to Bali in 2011, the entire Asia-Pacific region will benefit from a wealth of up-to-date industry knowledge and the collective insight of the global industry players that will gather,” noted Andrew Jacka, Chairman of the Asia Pacific Spa & Wellness Coalition (APSWC), a non-profit organization formed to bridge organizations across the region’s spa and wellness industries. “Diverse therapies that spa operators around the world now consider ‘standard spa menu offerings’ all have their roots firmly in Asia. We look forward to welcoming the worldwide spa industry to Asia Pacific."
Research firms concur that across nearly every metric, from overall economic and tourism growth - to the hotel/spa pipeline - to hotel financial performance measures, Asia Pacific is the current leader and future “market to watch.”
A Few Facts:
Quickest Economic Rebound: For Asia Pacific hotels, the falloff from the global recession was the briefest, and the recovery fastest, compared with any global region. Occupancy, Average Daily Rate and RevPAR all clocked double-digit increases in 2010 over 2009. Unmatched Hotel Pipeline: Asia Pacific has the largest number of hotels and spas under development of any region worldwide. 77% of 2011 Asian hotel expansion is earmarked for the world’s fastest-growing economies: China and India. 2,009 total hotel projects (484,161 rooms) are currently in the Asia Pacific pipeline. China & India: 1,248 hotel projects (336,349 rooms) are slated for China, representing 35% of the world’s total hotel projects (and 44% of all rooms under construction globally). China’s hotel pipeline is larger than every other global market combined, when the U. S. is excluded. India boasts the 2nd-fastest-growing Asian pipeline, with 450-plus projects and nearly 80,000 rooms under construction. The Luxury Pipeline: 33,000 luxury hotel rooms are under development, adding over a third to the existing inventory of 116,000 luxury rooms. Explosive International Brand Expansion: Every high-end global brand has aggressive, regional development programs underway. I. e., the 33,000 luxury rooms under construction are being developed by some 25 brands, with Shangri-La, InterContinental and Kempinski contributing nearly 14,000 rooms to the mix. Other major brand movers: Accor, Banyan Tree, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt, Langham Hotels, Mandara, Marriott International, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Taj Resorts, Hotels & Palaces, etc. etc. Tourism Powerhouse: China is predicted to be the world’s largest tourist destination within 5 years, and Asia Pacific outbound travel broke records in 2010, growing 15% from ‘09. China, South Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia all saw 20%-plus outbound tourism increases, while Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and India also clocked double-digit growth. By 2020, Chinese outbound travelers are predicted to double, while Indians traveling abroad should grow five-fold. By 2015, China will have 100 million outbound travelers, more than visit France (the world’s #1 tourist destination) each year. In anticipation of the Global Spa Summit taking place in Asia this year, top industry analysts and regional experts were asked to weigh in on the spa market component within the Asia Pacific hospitality/tourism explosion.
Experts on Asia Pacific Spa Industry Growth:
Jan Freitag, Vice President of Global Development, Smith Travel Research (Global leaders in market share analysis and data collection for the hospitality industry): “As 2011 unfolds the luxury hotel development activity in Asia will continue to heat up. While not all 33,000 luxury rooms will be added in 2011, it’s fair to assume that a significant portion will welcome guests over the next 48 months. And it’s safe to assume that the vast majority of these hotels include a spa and work-out related facilities, as these have moved from ‘optional’ to de facto standard amenities.”
Julie Garrow, Founder & Managing Director of Intelligent Spas, a leading independent research company specializing in the spa industry: “The majority of spa owners and managers in the Asia Pacific region predict double-digit growth in total spa revenue in 2011. Many spa concepts put on hold during the downturn are now back on track, and preliminary results of Intelligent Spas’ Global Spa Benchmark Program suggest the size of the regional spa industry is forecast to increase by approximately 16% during 2011.”
Andrew Jacka, Chairman of the Asia Pacific Spa & Wellness Coalition (APSWC) “The Asia Pacific spa market has shown rapid growth in recent years, often exceeding 20% annually, as the middle class expands and society as a whole recognizes the importance of preventative healthcare. We see further steady and sustainable industry growth for the Asia-Pacific spa industry in the foreseeable future."
2010’s “Asian Spa Capital,” Bali, Plays Host:
Quite fittingly, 2010’s “Asian Spa Capital,” Bali, Indonesia, plays host to the upcoming Summit. As a more mature (and yet still expanding) tourism and spa market, Bali saw an 11% growth in tourism arrivals in 2010 (attracting a record 2.5 million visitors), where world-renowned, centuries-old spa/wellness traditions exist alongside numerous state-of-the-art luxury spa resorts. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Indonesia, is a Platinum Sponsor of the 2011 Summit, helping educate assembled delegates (and the world) about the extraordinary pan-Asian spa market, and the unique opportunities and offerings within Bali and Indonesia.
Summit registration: http://www. cvent. com/EVENTS/Info/Summary. aspx? e=7b1d0897-311b-404c-9e4e-cf14c664eb9a
Information regarding registration/sponsorship opportunities:
Email info(at)globalspasummit(dot)org or visit http://www. globalspasummit. org/
Press inquiries:
Beth McGroarty @ beth (at) rbicom (dot) com (+1 213 300 0107)
About Global Spa Summit: The Global Spa Summit is an annual event that attracts top-level executives and leaders from around the world with an interest in the spa and wellness industries. Delegates from diverse sectors including hospitality, tourism, finance, medicine, real estate, manufacturing, technology, consulting, products and other related industries attend this intimate, high-level gathering focused on advancing the spa and wellness sectors. The Summit has been responsible for some of the most important recent spa industry research, including the landmark Global Spa Economy Report and Spas and the Global Wellness Market: Synergies and Opportunities (both conducted by SRI International). The Summit was honored as the "Spa Event of the Year" for both 2009 and 2010 by AsiaSpa magazine’s awards program. The 2010 conference in Istanbul, Turkey, attracted a record number of delegates (40 different countries, from all continents).
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