The benefits of signing up for National Spa Week

As the UK Spa Association gears up for National Spa Week 2017, we talk to the association's vice chair Lisa Barden about the ethos behind the week and why spas should sign up

What are the main objectives of National Spa Week? 

The first is to raise awareness among the UK public about the physical, mental and emotional health benefits that regular spa going can offer and drive more people into more spas more often. In our increasingly stressful lives we need to understand the importance of resting, eating sensibly and allowing our overstimulated minds and bodies to find balance. 

The second objective is to engage as many UK spas as possible in National Spa Week (NSW). If we’re encouraging the public to give spa treatments a try during this week, we need to make it easy for them to find a local spa that’s taking part.

So, the more spas that get involved, the better. The upside of both objectives is, of course, that there will be more people in spas as a result of the week, which will help the long-term growth of our industry.

How do spas sign up and what are the key benefits? 

Registering for NSW is really easy and only takes five minutes at spaweek.co.uk. It’s important to specify the offers you have planned for the week. They can be anything you like: the UK Spa Association (UKSA) won’t dictate the terms, though if you’re stuck for ideas you can speak to us and we’ll happily give you some pointers on promotions that have worked other years. 

Once you’ve registered, your spa and your offers will appear on the interactive map on the NSW website, which has been designed for consumers looking for a spa during the week. It’s important to point out that although there will be special offers available between October 30 and November 5, consumers don’t actually have to have the treatments they book during that week. We appreciate that spas couldn’t possibly cram everyone in during one week.

More than 40% of the spas that participated in National Spa Week in 2016 saw a significant increase in bookings during that week and throughout November – often a quiet time in the spa calendar – and over 20% of that was new acquisitions. It’s important to note that the spas that received the best response during NSW were the ones that used the free marketing toolkit on the website and really promoted their participation to the local community.  

What can we expect from the week this year? 

We have a huge focus on the consumer press campaign and have commissioned a survey of thousands people in the UK in order to better understand attitudes to stress, the interpretation of downtime and relaxation, and how the public uses and sees spas. The results should make for some very newsworthy reports to kickstart NSW.

National Spa Week 2017 will take place from October 30 to November 5. Participation is free and any spas interested in taking part can register via spaweek.co.uk