Choosing holidays which also offer spa facilities, both in the UK and overseas, has become increasingly popular reflecting the trend toward greater concern with health and well being, say travel industry pundits.
Hustyns Spa
In its 2007 report, Mintel estimated that £135m was spent in the UK on health and wellness holidays the previous year, and forecast that this spending will have doubled by 2011.
ITTFA (International Tourism Trade Fairs Association) launched its Spa Expo two years ago; this year's event, staged in the autumn, will be held in Thessaloniki, Greece.
"As visiting a spa becomes a more integral part of people's lifestyles and personal grooming regimes, an increasing number of spa goers will look to combine the occasional luxury spa experience with a visit overseas," said a spokesperson.
Spas at Club La Costa Resorts & Hotels' UK properties have proved popular not only with its members, but also with visiting journalists. Hayley Lawrence tried out the revamped spa at the company's luxurious Hustyns resort in Wadebridge last summer. A confessed "spa junkie", she celebrated in words the range of treatments and massages under the headline 'Pure Bliss' in the local Cornwall Today newspaper.
Meanwhile, Club La Costa's sophisticated spa amenities at Trenython Manor resort in Cornwall, earned it the 'Spa of the Week' title in a June issue of the Star newspaper.
Priding itself on being among the first to catch the wave of new trends, Club La Costa Resorts & Hotels, with more than 50,000 Club members, is planning to build one of the three largest spas in Spain at its flagship California Beach Hotel on the Costa del Sol. Amenities at its 22 fully-owned and managed resorts rank among the best in the vacation ownership industry in Europe.
"We are very attuned to the trend for wellbeing facilities and in addition to offering spa experiences in the UK and other destinations, one of the resorts we offer through our Vacation Club, Loryma Resort in Turkey, has an Ayurvedic centre offering health and beauty treatments, together with yoga instruction," said Alastair Fitchett, Club La Costa's Call Centre Manager for Club Operations.
