Last Tuesday, guests were invited to Zeta Bar at the Hilton Hotel, Sydney, to hear Tyra Lowman, senior director, global spa, full service and luxury brands, Hilton Worldwide and Andrew Flack, Vice President Global Brand Marketing, Hilton Hotels and Resorts discuss emerging global spa trends as a result of extensive research conducted by Hilton Worldwide.

Clare Matthews, director and co-founder of VitaMan; Tyra Lowman, senior director, global spa, Hilton Worldwide; Andrew Flack, vice president, global brand marketing, Hilton Hotels & Resorts and Bryan McGoldrick, director, Angliss National, William Angliss Institute, unveil the Hilton Blue Paper.

The Hilton Blue Paper released July 17, 2012 outlines insights from a collection of industry experts notably the Hilton Worldwide Spa team and founders of top spa product brands. In addition, the Blue Paper draws insight from over 6000 survey respondents throughout the United States, Great Britain, Australia and China.

“Spa is a key differentiator for us within both the leisure and business travel segments today,” said Horton. “This new research emphasizes the importance of spas in the decision to book a hotel stay, particularly in the rapidly expanding Chinese market. We found that 69 per cent of travellers said they were at least somewhat likely to visit the spa at their hotel.”

Key findings presented in the Hilton Blue Paper include:

• The growing importance of men to the global spa industry and how a successful spa should tailor its offerings for this audience.
•  The need for global spa concepts to offer consistent services across their portfolios while also allowing for local flexibility.
• The overall importance of spas to the hotel industry, which are offering properties a distinct competitive advantage in booking, driving revenue and attracting local customers beyond the overnight guest.
• The significance of business travellers, who are increasingly looking for relevant ways to decompress between meetings, as well as extend their visits as part of the "blended travel" experience.

“While we find many of the global spa trends are consistent around the world, there are also notable and significant regional differences,” said Lowman. “A successful spa concept on a global level is one that offers reliable services across its portfolio while respecting regional differences by providing locally influenced treatments and services.”

Eforea Spa

This Hilton Blue Paper is released as Eforea: spa at Hilton, the global concept created by Hilton Worldwide, continues to expand its global footprint. Since its October 2010 launch by Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Eforea has grown to include 11 locations in seven countries., with more than 90 additional locations in development., making it one of the fastest growing spa concepts worldwide.

Visit www.hilton.com/eforea to find out more.