According to a recent survey conducted by The Irish Spa Association (ISA), the Irish spa industry is highly capable of taking the difficult decisions needed for business continuity and avoiding the spread of COVID-19.

104 Irish businesses participated in the survey during October 2020, including day spas, destination spas, beauty salons, and hotel and resort spas, which employ over 3000 people combined.

According to ISA co-founder, Anita Murray, the survey’s most interesting findings were that 100 per cent of respondents were compliant with appropriate PPE measures and that no surveyed facilities experienced confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks within the salon or spa setting.

“This has given us every reassurance we need that we can continue to trade throughout the pandemic, keep people in employment, take care of our communities and minimise the impacts of COVID-19 on people's wellbeing and mental health,” she said.

Murray continued by saying that findings also included encouraging figures around responsible self-isolation and stated that it was practised without exception if a staff member or family member had any symptoms.

At present, Ireland is in a third self-imposed lockdown with all spas and salons remaining closed.

Business impact

The ISA survey also showed that 77 per cent of all respondents experienced a decline in revenue in 2020.

81 businesses gave more detail on this, with 26 indicating experiencing more than a 40 per cent decrease in business.

In addition, 33 facilities reported a 30 per cent decrease, 15 respondents experienced a 20 per cent drop and the remaining 7 reported a 10 per cent business loss.

With regards to demand, the survey showed that in Q3 and 4, the most popular treatments in Ireland were massages (39 per cent), followed by facials (32 per cent), general grooming (16 per cent), body treatments (9 per cent) and nail services (5 per cent).