The second State of the UK Spa Industry Report has been released by The Leisure Database Company, on behalf of the international meetings forum SPATEC.

The 2008 survey shows there has been a 6 per cent increase in the number of spas operating in the UK since the beginning of April 2007 – in total, 24 new spas have opened in the year since the inaugural survey was published.

The estimated number of spa treatments purchased in the last year has also increased by 4 per cent to 6.35 million per annum.

According to the survey, 4,814 therapists are currently employed, an increase of 243 therapists since April 2007, with 3,482 treatment rooms available. Average, median treatment room occupancy currently stands at 75 per cent.

The female/male client base split is currently 76/24 per cent respectively and the top reasons to visit a spa were given as relaxation, a wide range of treatments and the reputation of a spa.

A spa was defined in the survey as offering “professionally supervised treatments to enhance health, wellbeing and relaxation, with a minimum of five treatment rooms”. Details: theleisuredatabase.com