New-Press.com:
She dreams of becoming the ‘Disney of spas,’ creating a string of retreats where guests relax and rejuvenate in an entertaining atmosphere.
The magic kingdom? For Amy Sbarra, it lies in area resorts and luxury residential communities. Already the owner-operator of a 1940s-themed spa at Tween Waters Inn on Captiva Island, Sbarra Day Spa Services over the past year has branched out to Casa Ybel Resort on neighboring Sanibel.
Sbarra also is scheduled to debut an interim spa operation at Captiva’s South Seas Island Resort early next year, as well as a facility at Verandah, a residential community in east Fort Myers developed by The Bonita Bay Group.
‘I offer hassle-free operation,’ said Amy Sbarra, who worked in marketing and event promotion before becoming a licensed massage therapist in 1997.
Resorts ‘get the cachet of having a spa. They can charge a higher room rate because they have a spa. They also book more rooms, because they have a spa,’ Sbarra said.
Lending credence to her assertions are results from a recent national survey by the Travel Industry Association and Synovate:
• More than half - 54% - of travelers said they were interested in going to a spa or to a similar setting for health and beauty services;
• 28% said they were more interested now than 5 years ago;
• The largest number of those interested in spa vacations - 40% - are 35 to 54 years old. Interest also is strong among 18- to 34-year-olds - 37%.
And it’s not just leisure or business travelers using resort-based spas. Continued…
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