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Julie Garrow
Managing Director
Intelligent Spas
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News Release
Intelligent Spas Found Most Reliable Spa Benchmark Company by
Independent Review
Singapore, 18 December 2009
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Intelligent Spas is the most reliable spa benchmark and research company
according to an independent review conducted by US-based spa consulting
company, Health Fitness Dynamics, Inc. (HFD).
The review aimed to "determine if the studies are 'real research' or
'press-release' research, e.g., are they following the best practices
for valid, reliable research or are they providing information that get
people's attention?" Judy Singer, President of HFD stated "there are
lots of established, well-known as well as new research and consulting
companies that are conducting various types of spa benchmarking studies,
but their reputation and expertise in one area does not mean they have
the experience, industry knowledge, objectivity, etc. to conduct
reliable spa research."
The Results:
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"Right now there is only one company, Intelligent Spas, that is
totally dedicated to spa research. They are the pioneer and leader
and have set the benchmark for other research companies that aspire
to contribute to the growth of the spa industry."
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"Intelligent Spas is the only dedicated spa-specific research
company that does nothing other than collect, analyze and report
findings. They have been doing spa research since 2001 which is
longer than any other company, do it globally, collect the most
amount of data and have the greatest number of metrics. They are the
only company that does not provide any consulting; therefore, there
are no conflicts of interest in terms of how the data is used. They
only release research which achieves a response rate of at least 5%
of the spa population, which provides a statistically reliable
sample size in industry research terms."
"We
are pleased to receive this important recognition as it is troubling to
see the volume of unreliable information circulating within the industry
- it wastes people's time and increases their business risk. I am very
proud of our unique 100% independent, professional research model and
look forward to continuing to provide reliable spa industry research to
help spa operators, suppliers and consultants realise their true
potential. I commend Judy on her initiative to conduct this independent
review" stated Julie Garrow, Managing Director of Intelligent Spas (www.IntelligentSpas.com).
How to Identify Professional Research Versus Marketing Releases
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Disclosure: Market
research is a science therefore industry studies and benchmarking
statistics should be developed based on professional market research
principles. Therefore, the research objectives, methodology and
survey response rates achieved and the related sample size as a
proportion of the survey population should be disclosed so the
readers may accurately interpret the results. If this information is
not provided, the content was probably not produced by conducting
professional market research or the study likely did not succeed due
to lack of responses. Such content is not reliable research and
therefore should not be released, circulated, promoted or used.
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Price:
Professional market research is too
expensive to conduct if the results are only going to be given away
for free. Any research which is free, is most likely a marketing
campaign. Conversely, just because you pay more, does not mean the
research is higher quality.
Key Success Factors
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Respecting we cannot do it without the spas participating, there is
no charge to participate and participants are rewarded with the full
survey results, plus extra benchmarking tables which are not
available for sale. Non-participants and non-spas may purchase the
professional industry reports to access the business intelligence.
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Intelligent Spas'
unique 100% independence policy ensures all individual survey data
submitted by spas is not used for any other purpose, so spa owners
and managers may feel comfortable their data is kept strictly
confidential.
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The benchmarks are comparable across the entire spa industry due to
the consistent global research methodology implemented.
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Intelligent Spas does not conduct anonymous surveys. Each respondent
must identify themselves, comply with Intelligent Spas' benchmark
definition of "spa" and pass numerous screening criteria to qualify
to ensure the research is accurate and reliable for users.
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Julie Garrow, Managing Director of Intelligent Spas personally takes
time to "clean" the survey data to ensure the responses are correct,
explaining "this is an important part of our research process which
requires 'spa industry' experience, it cannot be conducted by just
anyone. Obvious input mistakes such as a single spa entering 199,534
in the 'number of employees' field can easily be corrected. However,
I also check for less obvious errors by cross referencing specific
survey questions to ensure the data is realistic, for example, spa
size versus number of treatment rooms and average revenue per visit
versus pricing."
"...unreliable
information wastes people's time and
increases their business risk"
Julie Garrow, Managing
Director, Intelligent Spas
Join
Intelligent Spas' 2010 Spa Benchmark Program Now
Intelligent Spas' Global Spa Benchmark Program is currently
underway in over 80 countries and aims to produce reliable and
comparable statistics to help spas maximise their performance, provide
business intelligence to assist other organisations to better
understand, service and support the spa industry plus generate greater
awareness of the spa industry to increase spa visits. To join
Intelligent Spas' free Global Spa Benchmark Program, register at
www.spabenchmark.com/industry.
Spa Benchmarks Available
Intelligent Spas is the only 100% independent research company
specialising in the spa industry and holds the largest database of spa
industry intelligence in the world after conducting comprehensive spa
industry research over the last eight years.
Intelligent Spas' research aims to provide a reliable update of the spa
population, profile, size and value, plus calculate updated and reliable
industry benchmarks for key financial and performance indicators.
Intelligent Spas' reports are available for immediate download at
www.IntelligentSpas.com and typically contain over 800 updated spa
industry benchmarks relating to total spa revenue, treatment revenue,
spa expenses, visits and employment, with many topics showing historical
data available from 2005 to 2008, plus forecast data for 2009 and 2010.
Other statistics and benchmark ratios featured in the reports include:
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Average
Revenue per Visit
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Total
Revenue and Treatment Revenue per Available Treatment Hour and
Minute
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Total
Revenue and Treatment Revenue per Square Meter/Foot
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Total
Revenue and Treatment Revenue per Available Treatment Room
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Total
Revenue and Treatment Revenue per Employee
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Breakdown
of Total Revenue including retail revenue
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Breakdown
of Total Expenses including salaries
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Visitor
Profiles by Gender, Age and Residence
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Proportion
of Hotel Guests Visiting the Spa
The reports also present a collection of supporting business
intelligence including:
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Spa
business models describing ownership, business structure, management
structures.
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Spa infrastructure covering spa size, space breakdown, treatment
rooms and stations, standard support facilities versus water-based
support facilities.
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Spa menus such as variety of hydrotherapy and water-based treatments
offered and the range of treatments practiced.
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The latest spa industry trends.
To read the full review,
click here.
Related Articles and News
Releases:
Intelligent Spas
Releases Updated Thailand Spa Industry Report
Intelligent Spas
Publishes
Fifth Spa Study for Australia
Intelligent Spas
Publishes
Updated Research on South Africa
Intelligent Spas
Publishes
Updated Dubai Spa Benchmarks
Intelligent Spas Publishes First Global Spa
Benchmark Report
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Intelligence Newsletter
Source: Intelligent Spas,
December 2009
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