Golf and spa activities are both important components of many meetings, incentives, and conventions, but golf is still more popular, according to
Successful Meetings’ “2014 Golf & Spa Usage Survey.”
The study found that 64.8 percent of respondents said they always or sometimes include golf in their meetings, incentives, and conferences, compared to 48.9 percent for spa treatments.
Nearly one-third (31.1 percent) of survey respondents said they are seeing more men using the spa. “Golf and spa are always a big draw, but spa usually has the highest number of participants,” says Tracy Hatch, a meeting buyer for Wilmington, MA-based UniFirst Corp., a uniform supplier.
Then there’s the perception issue. Of the survey respondents who are not offering a golf or spa experience, 93.9 percent said that their organization is concerned about being perceived as too lavish if they include spa time in their itineraries, compared to just 54.5 percent concerned about the perception of golf. And 90 percent said the spa doesn’t add value to the meeting, compared with 72 percent who said that for golf.
One difference is that golf allows colleagues and senior managers to “have a social outing centered around casual conversation and common interest,” says Diane McKinnon, director of meetings and events division for Virginia Beach, VA-based third-party planners CI Travel and Azumano Corporate Travel. But McKinnon also notes that spa is being seen more often as a wellness activity where “meeting participants find that massage therapy and use of mineral pools, steam, and sauna help relieve the stresses of sitting for long periods in multi-day meetings.”