Council aims to boost spa sales in '02 - news

Pool & Spa News, Dec 19, 2001 by Shannon Harman

Promoting hot tub sales through several studies became an overriding theme at the National Spa & Pool Institute Hot Tub Council meeting during the International Pool & Spa Expo in Phoenix.

A Lower Back Pain Research Project, commissioned earlier this year, will be implemented Jan. 1, with the results available between July and September 2002.

The study's findings could boost hot tub sales by documenting the therapeutic effects of hot water on lower back pain.

Council members also formed a subcommittee to follow up on the findings of a 1999 New England Journal of Medicine study on Type 2 Diabetes. The committee is assigned to discover whether any additional information has been obtained on the benefits of hot tub therapy for Type 2 Diabetes sufferers and how the study might be broadened.

New member drive

NSPI Hot Tub Council members voted to use new revenues collected from the creation of a new member category to fund the council's public relations program.

Council members sought to create a new classification for retailers selling primarily hot tubs as a way of creating a new revenue stream for the council. NSPI board members approved the action in March. These members will pay annual dues of $695. Of that fee, $250 will be directed to the national office.

In addition to the new classification, council members are looking for other ways to boost the number of hot tub retailers as members, according to Joe Stone, the council's incoming chairperson and vice president of marketing at Balboa Instruments in Tustin, Calif. Stone succeeds Lauren Stack, consultant with Aristech, Florence, Ky.

Council members considered partnering with manufacturers in the coming year to aggressively promote the value of NSPI membership. Members also discussed a consumer-based national Ultimate Backyard Sweepstakes promotion as a way of enticing new retailer membership. Available to retail members only, the sweepstakes program would be a method of improving their sales.