Visiting a spa might sound like an indulgence incompatible with a business meeting. But spas get plenty of bookings these days from corporate clients and organizations, whether for team-building, wellness education or even “manicure meetings.”
Some groups send employees for guided meditation classes in hotel spas, or to tackle outdoor challenge courses at destination spas. Other companies offer staff spa credits for a private massage or sauna time. An automotive group meeting in Florida at Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort enlisted the spa to provide 25-minute services during meeting breaks such as facials, massages and manicures.
Spafinder Wellness 365 Research Director Beth McGroarty estimates that corporate meetings and executive retreats account for 4 percent of day spa revenue and 11 percent of revenue at resort, hotel and destination spas.
Eve Salon and Haven Spa in Manhattan have hosted “manicure meetings,” including one recently at Eve for Jenee Naquin’s staff. Naquin, a handbag designer and branding consultant, recalls working in places in the past where people “would cut out for a quick pedi when things were slow. So I thought, just make work more productive by combining the two.”
Sara Daly, who owns a wellness company called a’chromatherapy has taken her staff of eight women for spa days a number of times. “When we put on robes together, we create a uniformity to our ideas,” Daly said.
