If you think everything is being studied to death, you are probably right. I suspect the explosion of information has as much to do with access to the medium as it does with necessity.
Logically we should be asking ourselves, do we really need all the information available to us? As individuals, probably not. Do most people need to know how to raise yaks for fun and profit or the finer points of quantum physics or how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? As interesting as these subjects might be, most of us have little use for such information.
If, however, you are involved in a specific endeavor or want to be, then the answer is yes. The information age is upon us and we must take full advantage of it or risk being left behind and uncompetitive.
Today, people are demanding value for their money. They want personal attention, excellent service, helpful, professional staff and above they want to feel their business is appreciated.
In today’s world you have to know as much about your target customer as possible. If you don’t know your customers how do you decide where and when to advertise, or what services and accommodations to provide? How will you make staffing and menu decisions, activities to be provided while at the same time keeping your competitors from eating your lunch?
One specific industry in need of information, is the tourism sector. While tourists have been around a long time, it was not deemed particularly important to know what made them the tick. Today, tourists are a fickle lot and many travel in packs. If you offend one, you can easily lose customers you never even knew were interested in your establishment.
Today, word of mouth can spread like a blessing or a curse in a few hours by cell phone or e-mail. As a result, business can be won or lost. It might not be fair, but it is reality.
In the early days, tourism was a simple. You could build a few cabins not too far off the highway near a lake or river and people would come. Or you might open a roadhouse, burger joint or motel and customers would find their way to you. In the 1920s, 30s or 40s mass transportation was just coming into its own with accompanying infrastructure to accommodate it.
And for a few decades into the early 60s, the options available to tourists did little to change. There wasn’t much competition and there wasn’t much disposable income around. But that all changed over the next 30 or 40 years as we sped toward the new millennium and the equally new reality.
In Canada we were suddenly confronted with competition for tourist dollars, yen and Euros from the Caribbean, Australia, Asia, and Europe. Why? Because the new world economy put more money into the pockets of huge swaths of the population in more countries. Travel was no longer just for the rich. More people were better educated, had more leisure time and wanted more out of life.
To meet these needs, the tourism industry had to change from being generalists to becoming specialists and that trend is accelerating. How then can we in Canada cater to our more sophisticated, more demanding and more discerning clientele if we do not know what makes them tick? This now takes us back to research.
Up here in the Cariboo, I have been watching the tourism scene with some interest. One aspect of it involves the growing interest in the health-oriented tourist looking for a spa vacation. Interestingly spa facilities appear to be evolving out of the guest ranch business that makes up a large portion of the region’s tourist facilities.
In fact, the South Cariboo is recognized as the Guest Ranch Capital of Canada. And, with good reason. The sheer number of these operations in a relatively small geographic area is staggering and each of them offer some variation on services available to guests.
For this article, however, I am concentrating solely on the health spa and the first ever spa-traveler study undertaken as a joint-effort by the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) and the International SPA Association (ISPA). The study was released in April 2006 and contains nearly 100-pages of statistical information that should prove invaluable to anyone interested in the subject.
Before you run screaming from this website consider that 6.3 million Canadians and 57 million Americans have at some time visited a spa. That’s a combined total of 63.3 million possible tourists. Not too shabby.
So who are these people? Well, in both Canada and the U.S. 64 per cent of them are women and 36 per cent are men. On average they are 42 years of age in Canada and 43 in the U.S. Average annual income of spa travelers in the U.S. is $98K and $68K in Canada.
And here are a few more tidbits.
- a third of spa travelers are male.
- Generally spa travelers most popular leisure pursuits are culture, cuisine and shopping.
- Americans (63 per cent) are more likely to visit a spa while traveling than Canadians (49 per cent).
- Both Canadian and American travelers are more likely to take their spa vacations close to home although distances are not specified. The figures probably suggest the Cariboo could attract travelers from the Lower Mainland of B.C. and the Seattle area of Washington State.
- With the Cariboo currently engaged in examining winter tourism, the study points out that Canadian spa travelers are more likely to take spa vacations in winter than Americans.
- And what is the most popular service among spa travelers? By far most, 86 per in Canada, want a massage followed by facials, body treatments and manicures and pedicures.
- The five most important factors consumers consider when choosing a spa vacation destination are: (5) type of spa treatment offered, (4) affordable destinations, (3) cost/value for money, (2) personalized service and (1) lodging accommodations.
Given the services available in the Cariboo, the study contains valuable information, not only for operators but also for their associations and travelers as well. If you want more information from the study you can try www.experienceispa.com or go to
www.canadatourism.com . For specific spas try www.SouthCaribooTourism.com where you can research individual properties.
I am planning to visit a few of the health spas in this region to talk a little more about specifics. I will not, however, be rating or recommending any particular facility. The articles will focus instead of services, benefits and related issues.
Bill McIntyre
Communications Specialist
FairForce Communications
e-mail: billmci@telus.net
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