Spa and wellness- are there environmental challenges?

This article focuses on sustainability and environmental challenges in spa industry and describes motivations and possible barriers spas can face while addressing them. Environmental issues are gaining on importance for spa industry, as visiting spa becomes a popular leisure activity, leading to steady growth of the industry and increased public visibility. Spa companies are known to consume natural resources such as energy or water, cleaning chemicals, personal care and disposable products, as well as to produce waste, all in amounts related to the type of spa. Additionally, as customers’ environmental awareness grows, they are becoming an important stakeholder group interested in receiving wellness treatments not burdened with substantial environmental impacts.
The research related to this field is however still rather fragmented and not well represented in academic literature. This meta-analysis highlights therefore the sustainability challenges in spa industry by drawing upon existing academic literature related to this industry as well as to better established research fields of sustainability in hotel and hospitality industries. With use of comparative analysis it demonstrates the relevance of sustainability concept for spa industry, discusses the environmental implications of spa operations as well drivers and possible obstacles for companies to tackle them. It also highlights the potential role customers may play in the greening process of spas. This paper contributes as well to development of the research field by highlighting possible future research directions.