Tag Archives: medical tourism

Lance Armstrong Gets 200 Massages a Year: Spas are Important

Lance Armstrong Gets 200 Massages a Year : Spas are Important
By Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider

Lance Armstrong gets 200 massages a year! That – and the reason he even mentioned this – was one of the “pearls of wisdom” I gleaned from yesterday’s closing session at what turned out to be a very good ISPA Conference in Austin, Texas.

It was around 11:00 a.m. and Deborah Szekely walked onto the stage to give some background information regarding the ISPA Alex Szekely Humanitarian Award, which is named in honor of her son (a past leader of ISPA) who passed away from melanoma cancer in 2002. As always she was eloquent, and this time, had a bit of a surprise for the audience. She came across a letter that Alex had written to Lance Armstrong during his bout with cancer. He expressed how inspiring Lance’s book had been to him and that he had even purchased 100 copies to give to all his friends and family. Thus Deborah read Alex’s words from that letter to introduce this year’s award recipient. It Armstrong200px 765586 Lance Armstrong Gets 200 Massages a Year: Spas are Importantwas all very moving.

Lance Armstrong (38 years old) came out from behind the stage curtain receiving a great deal of applause. He was wearing blue jeans, a tight blue t-shirt and sneakers with yellow soles that matched the yellow “Live Strong” bracelet he was wearing on the tanned right arm of his very toned body. It would be an understatement to say that the entire audience fell in love immediately. (And yes, I do mean men and women!)

He spent the next 30 – 45 minutes talking about his bout with cancer, winning the Tour de France seven times, his family and the work he is doing now raising funds for his foundation. He also answered some questions from the audience.

Filtering Lance’s remarks through my spa and wellness lens, here are some things that stood out to me:

  • Lance Armstrong addressed Deborah as Ms. Szekely and began his remarks saying that while watching her introduction on a monitor backstage his reaction was, wow, this woman should continue speaking!
  • In brief, his cancer began with a major headache (that later showed to be as a result of lesions on his brain), spitting up blood (that later turned out to be a result of golf ball size cancer in his lungs), and swelling in his testicles (that later turned out to be testicular cancer).
  • When he was first approached with the idea of a “Live Strong” yellow bracelet, he didn’t think it was such a great idea feeling that few people would want to wear it.
  • Today, 70 million “Live Strong” wrist bands have been sold ($1.00) which means $70 million has been raised for cancer research.
  • He has four children – the oldest is a boy, followed by twin girls, and a six-month-old baby.
    He has won the Tour de France seven times and came in third in last year’s race. He mentioned that it was good for his kids to see their dad not win the top prize.
  • Lance acknowledged that his yellow wrist bands are made in China and that he has gotten some criticism for that in the past. However, he isn’t apologizing any longer since he met with the Dalai Lama and noticed he was wearing an orange wrist band with the word “Compassion” on it. Curious to know where he had them made, Lance surreptitiously turned it over to see that it too was made in China! (That got huge laughs!)
  • In answer to a question about heart rate levels during training, he mentioned that they no longer monitor heart rates at all. Now it is all about power – thus they measure watts.
  • Another thing they are beginning to use for training is compression boots.
  • He has a great relationship with his mother, and although he is not currently married, he is in a committed relationship.
  • He is all about prevention and thinks physical education should be put back in schools. (That’s where he formed his interest in competitive athletics.)
  • He does not always eat healthfully and faces the same temptations that everyone does. Chips, salsa, etc. Like most of us, he needs to talk to himself about getting back on track with his training.

And finally the most memorable moment for me was his reaction to the question: How can spas make their establishments more physically appealing to men?

His face basically said, “Why is that a problem? And anyway, who cares?” He went on to say that he gets 200 massages a year and how important massage is to improve performance. It was as if he was saying that the decor of a place wouldn’t even factor in to his decision on where to have a massage. It’s all about the massage.

Hey spa industry…we’ve come a long way!
**
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/susieellis
**
If you wish to be put on a list that automatically sends my blog posts to your email, just let dulcy.gregory@spafinder.com know and she will add you to that list. Thanks so much!

Dr. Andrew Weil and Spas: SpaFinder Visionary Award Winner

Dr. Andrew Weil and Spas: SpaFinder Visionary Award Winner
by Susie Ellis
SpaFinder Insider
A couple of nights ago it was our privilege to hand Dr. Andrew Weil SpaFinder’s 2009 Visionary Award. Our Visionary Award goes to one person each year who has made a huge contribution to the field of spa and wellness. (Previous recipients include Dr. Deepak Chopra, Dr. Howard Murad, Mel and Enid Zuckerman, Dr. Bruce Katz, Dr. Stephen, and Lyn Krant and last year’s recipient, Deborah Szekely.)

Simmone, Dulcy, and I gave Dr. Weil his award (see the great photo of the two of them with Dr. Weil and the not-so-great photo of Dr. Weil and me) for his tireless efforts to bridge th Dr. Andrew Weil and Spas: SpaFinder Visionary Award Winnere worlds of medicine and spa, and his prediction decades ago, that the hospital of the future would look more like a spa. Dr. Weil’s background includes being a Harvard Medical School-trained doctor, becoming a pioneer in integrative medicine, writing 12 books (mostly best sellers) and working with spas – notably Canyon Ranch and now Miraval.

Dr. Andrew Weil and Spas: SpaFinder Visionary Award Winner

And …talk about timing.

Dr. Weil (who has a way of simplifying things into understandable nuggets) spoke to the 92nd Street Y audience here in New York City and introduced his new book, “Why Our Health Matters….a Vision of Medicine that can Transform Our Future.” Given that the U.S. is on the eve of health care reform and other countries are also struggling with how to contain their health care costs, I think it was fascinating to hear what Dr. Weil had to say in that regard – and what all this means for the spa and wellness industry. Last night Dr. Weil was on Larry King Live. Check out the link to hear the actual 18-minute segment.
**
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/susieellis
** If you wish to be put on a list that automatically sends my blog posts to your email, just let dulcy.gregory@spafinder.com know and she will add you to that list. Thanks so much!

Spas and Recession

Spas and Recession
by Susie Ellis
SpaFinder Insider
This morning I read the sad news that Spa Sydell, with six locations in Atlanta, is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They have been in business for 25 years. This is just one week after I learned that Iatria spa in North Carolina is closing its three locations and filing Chapter 7. They started their business 10 years ago.

Heartbreaking – yet not particularly surprising given the current economic climate. In fact, I am sure that we will be seeing more spas closing. Frankly, I am surprised that we haven’t seen more already. I think it speaks to the fact that these businesses likely did everything they could to try and weather the recession, but at some point they had to pull the plug. recession 737641 Spas and Recession

While I know there are many people who will participate in these losses – the landlords because the spas can’t pay their rent, lenders who lent money in good faith, product companies who won’t get paid, as well as some consumers who hold their unused gift certificates – I think it is likely that those who will suffer the most are the proprietors of those businesses. They will probably lose everything personally and professionally and have to start over.

What I don’t think many people understand is how difficult it is to run a day spa business – in the U.S. especially – because the profit margins are razor thin due to high labor costs.

Most people who own and run day spas do so because they are passionate about spas. Often, these owners are care givers themselves who love nurturing their clients, and sometimes business skills are secondary.
In addition, expansion is always a slippery slope; running one spa isn’t easy but managing multiple spas doesn’t usually result in economies of scale -in fact, it often makes operations more difficult because the owner can’t be in all locations at the same time.

Industry numbers show that many day spas are barely profitable, some only seeing 5% – 10% profit in a good year and much less than that during negative business climates. It is truly a labor of love for many.

I thought I would share some of what I have learned over the years about the day spa business and invite you to share your thoughts and knowledge as well. Perhaps together – both consumers and spa industry professionals – we can better understand what is happening, and in some small way make the transition that much easier for those affected.
  1. Day spas have the smallest profit margins of all spas and so are more vulnerable to a downturn in the economy than are hotel, resort or medical spas.
  2. Labor costs are the main culprit. Most spas find that they need to pay more than 50% of their revenue in labor costs.
  3. In my opinion one change that would take costs down is for the entire industry to adopt the European model where all staff are “dually licensed” – that means the therapist can do both massages and facials. The result is much more flexibility in scheduling, more career opportunities for staff, and ultimately lower costs for the spa.
  4. Summer is a slow season for spa-going so businesses struggling will have a hard time making it through. Usually business picks up in the fall.
  5. Another challenge facing day spas this year is that resort and hotel spas have become more aggressive in building their local clientele thus increasing competition.
  6. When a spa closes, other spas sometimes offer to accept outstanding gift certificates from the spa closing in an effort to help the industry through the transition and of course to hopefully gain a new client. When this happens, it is a great plus.
  7. Allowing outstanding gift certificates to be used to purchase product at the spa closing is one way to satisfy some of the customers. recessionstress 759414 Spas and Recession
  8. During a tough economy, consumers would be wise to be careful about purchasing series of treatments where you pay up front (six massages for $500) or gift certificates in large amounts ($1,000, etc.). Purchasing a smaller denomination gift certificate ($100 or so) which the recipient is likely to use soon is less risky.
  9. While spas are not “recession-proof” they have done better than many other businesses because one driver that increases demand is stress – and people are more stressed than ever.
  10. This is a good time to discourage additional spa openings. (Unless you are in one of the few areas where there is vibrant growth – Brazil for example.)
It is my hope that our industry will do better than most in navigating through this…and at the end we will all be strengthened by the challenges. We may, in fact, end up with some helpful adaptations!
**
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/susieellis
**
If you wish to be put on a list that automatically sends my blog posts to your email, just let dulcy.gregory@spafinder.com know and she will add you to that list. Thanks so much!

Flying Will Never be the Same – Spas to the Rescue

internetonflights 730136 Flying Will Never be the Same Spas to the RescueFlying will Never be the Same – Spas to the Rescue
by Susie Ellis
SpaFinder Insider
As I was boarding my American Airlines flight from New York to San Francisco there was a young woman handing out free Internet cards to anyone who wanted one. I immediately realized that this must be one of those flights where you can connect to the Internet while in flight. I knew that some airlines on some routes were now offering this, however this was the first time I would actually have a chance to test it out.
And so I did. The card gave me a promotion code which allowed me to save the $12 fee that they would normally charge me to be connected to the Internet for the entire length of the flight. A fair price I thought.
To my surprise, it was extremely easy to connect to the Internet and the connection was fantastic the entire time, even during turbulence. I was in email heaven. 5 1/2 hours of uninterrupted time to send and receive emails. No phone calls, no co-workers stopping by to ask questions – I really got a lot done.
The only downside was that my eyes became extremely dry. I learned from my eye doctor many years ago that when we work on the computer, we don’t blink as often and so our eyes can become irritated and red. Since it is very dry on airplanes, the not blinking as often can cause even more problems.
So my time to read and relax on planes is probably over. That’s sad. However the option to work via Internet is really exciting. My husband is already upset since airline trips were the one place he felt that he didn’t have to compete with my Blackberry.

kindle 788913 Flying Will Never be the Same Spas to the Rescue But there is another change I noticed during this flight. That change had to do with what people (who weren’t on the Internet) were doing. It seemed like almost everyone around me was reading on a Kindle. (shown here on the left) And that’s when it hit me…..these developments are going to accelerate and become an even greater negative for the print industry. We all know that print media is struggling because of the Internet’s increasing dominance, yet the one bright spot that many had pointed out to me was that people still loved buying magazines at airports to read during flights. Well, I imagine that’s going to change.

With Internet service on flights and Kindles which give you access to books, newspapers and magazines, a new era is being ushered in. On the one hand it is sad to see these changes, on the other hand the technology has given us more options and more convenience.

What it does say to me, however, is that spas are becoming more important than ever as people’s stress levels continue to escalate. The spa is still a sanctuary where we can de-stress and rejuvenate.
Let’s just hope that no one figures out how to get the Internet or Kindles into the massage room.
**
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/susieellis
**
If you wish to be put on a list that automatically sends my blog posts to your email, just let dulcy.gregory@spafinder.com know and she will add you to that list. Thanks so much!

SpaFinder’s Ice Cream Social Networking Social Really Connected with Our Spa Friends

IceCreamSocialPoster.Welcome.Small 796581 SpaFinders Ice Cream Social Networking Social Really Connected with Our Spa FriendsSpaFinder’s Ice Cream Social Networking Social Really Connected with Our Spa Friendsby Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider

I love it when events really work. And last night’s Ice Cream Social Networking Social here at the SpaFinder offices was one of those that I think hit the right tone. We always host a get-together the night before ISPA’s New York media event, since so many from the spa industry are in town.

Each year we do something different to keep things fresh and focused on what’s cutting edge. This year we felt that social media was a big part of the buzz and also that everyone was ready for a bit of lighthearted fun. So we put the two together and did an Ice Cream Social with social networking component. Our guests had the opportunity to have a quick personal intro to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and SpaBooker. Some people signed up and sent their first tweet, others had fun viewing themselves on YouTube since we took a quick video of them with a FlipVideo when they entered the party, etc.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGkF53omrqk]

There were chocolate martinis, ice cream cones, M&M;’s… well, you get the picture. And yes, there were a few healthy choices if you wanted to stick with carob covered pretzels and fresh strawberry popsicles. (I did not.)

IceCreamSocialPoster.Twitter 720940 SpaFinders Ice Cream Social Networking Social Really Connected with Our Spa Friends

What I learned from the evening (other than it was fun to mix the socials) is that everyone is either talking about social media, experimenting with certain sites, or trying to get a balance between being overwhelmed and sitting on the sidelines. Seems like finding time to learn and keep up a social media site is a shared challenge for all of us, and no one out there (and I do mean no one anywhere) is really an expert all the way around. Learning from each other is probably the way to go – and with a chocolate martini in hand, well, it’s a little less frustrating and a bit more fun.

More on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube!

**

Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/susieellis

**
If you wish to be put on a list that automatically sends my blog posts to your email, just let dulcy.gregory@spafinder.com know and she will add you to that list. Thanks so much!