th s The Spa Of Your Life A growing number of "health and wellness centers" cater to a wider range of interests as more Americans head to the spa. JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER Above: Like these two Canyon Ranch clients, more and more vacationers are choosing spas. PHOTOS COURTESY OF TH E CANYO N RANC Below: Seventy-five percent of spa-goers are women. 11 -6 G errie Kalt knows a good spa when she sees one. She ought to. As a trav- el agent she has heard the feedback from thousands of clients she has sent on spa vacations over the past 15 or so years. Many a va- cation day away from her offices at Bee Kalt Travel in Birmingham has been spent in a spa as well. "I love it," she said, noting that the Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Ariz. is her all-time favorite. "I go main- ly to feel good, to calm me down. I recommend it and I believe in it." Ms. Kalt is one of the growing numbers of people who make their way to these health and fitness meccas each year. According to the International Spa and Fitness As- sociation (I/SPA), Spa Finders, a travel group specializing in spa va- cations, sent 14,000 Americans to 250 destination and resort spas in the United States last year. That doesn't include thousands more who booked their own travel through independent agents. Although no exact numbers are kept on smaller day spas, it is es- timated that hundreds of thousands have made their way into over 600 locations, said Kim Marshall, an I/SPA spokesperson. `This is the ideal time to be in the spa business because it is growing so rapidly," Ms. Marshall said. "And more and more people are finding spas fill their needs as far as health and wellness services go." The guests, 75 percent of whom are women, are heading to these wellness centers as opposed to a beach paradise or European city for the services that will relax their minds, tweak their waistlines and pamper their bodies. To attain such nirvana, the spa- goers are willing to fork over thou- sands of dollars. While the average spa stay was just shy of a week in an I/SPA 1995 survey, guests spent up to $840 a night for personal services, from paraffin wraps to mud baths. The craze has been slow to start. In fact, the first known spa in North America was Rancho La Puerta, a resort spa located three miles south of the United States border near San Diego. Founded in 1939, it was seen in a somewhat cultish light, with cuisine that featured entire meals planned around grapes and speakers who encouraged physical and mental fitness. By 1978, the country had 30 des- tination spas. The slow growth from the '30s to the late '70s was due in part to the popular opinion at the time that spas were for wealthy clients or for overweight people looking to lose weight. "For so many years, spas were seen as fat farms for the rich and famous. Or it was the rich person trying to get away or they were try- ing to dry up from alcoholism," Ms. Marshall said.