Last week, a new report was published about the recent decline in revenue for spas. While it has taken spas a long time to finally show signs of economic effect, many seem optimistic that the industry will rebound.

I thought it would be fun to look back on the beginnings of spas and their staying power!

Spas originated in Belgium in the 1500s and the term “spa” is associated with a type of water treatment known as “balneotherapy,” which is the treatment of disease by bathing.

The water treatment emerged from a small town in Belgium where illnesses were caused by a lack of iron in the water. People flocked to “spa towns” to drink spring water that contained chalybeate or iron.

One thing led to another and in 1571, William Slingsby discovered the medicinal effects of bathing in the Chalybeate spring in Yorkshire. Slingsby enclosed a part of the spring and created the first Spa resort in England – Harrogate.

While the practice of bathing in hot or cold springs for “medicinal purposes” was not a new thing, it actually can be traced back to the prehistoric times, enclosing a spring for communal, medicinal purposes was.

In the 1770s, bathing became a commonly suggested treatment from physicians and by the mid-1800s, European spa’s started the concept of bathing aside from drinking these medicinal treatments. And they also incorporated “treatments” in their spas – including steaming in vapor, drinking hot water and relaxing in a cool room.

And in the 1900s, spas began the mixture of strict diet and exercise along with treatments to create a holistic approach to well-being.

So if the spa industry can weather two world wars, multiple economic recessions and a major depression, I think we can muster through this. What do you think?