Toffer said that the completion of several new spas is planned for the end of next year and the beginning of 2028. In her view, an incorrect impression may have formed about the spa market, as if large amounts of money were circulating there.

"These perceptions have arisen from the fact that during school holidays and on Saturday evenings the prices in spas are very high," she explained. Toffer said these are isolated days when visitors have time to go to the spa, which makes it possible to charge higher prices.

She said that starting spa entrepreneurs may lack an understanding of what the cost side of spas looks like, such as electricity and water consumption. "It's worth looking at companies' financial reports — the accommodation sector is not a very profitable business," Toffer noted.

Still, she is optimistic that every product has a consumer if it is created in the right place and is distinctive and innovative. But at present, according to Toffer, Estonia does not have enough solvent customers to fill all spas.

Gross: if you do it well, there should be enough customers

Next year, a spa hotel will rise by Lake Viljandi, owned by Lääne‑Virumaa entrepreneur Oleg Gross. He said that if you do something, you must do it very well. "And if you do it very well, there should be enough customers," he added.

Gross noted that a spa must offer a premium‑class product. "Besides, life has shown that Estonians have started going to spas more," he said. Gross explained that although foreign tourism has decreased, Estonia's climate encourages Estonians to visit spas more. He stated that a spa hotel is not a profit project but rather an emotion project. "But that it would start running losses — I don't believe that," he said.

According to Gross, there is room on the spa market for one more spa. At the same time, he noted that many developers have built a hotel with a spa only with bank loans and have no other business. "But we have a parent company in food retail," he said.

Gross said that if the spa should run a slight loss in its early years, he does not plan to sell or close it, and the spa will be kept alive by force if necessary. "It will get going in any case, there is no doubt about that," he noted.

According to Toffer, whether every spa will have enough guests does not depend solely on Estonian visitors. "Many other things also play a role here — for example, how accessible Estonia is, whether we have flight connections, what will happen with airBaltic," she explained. Toffer stated that when designing a tourism service, foreign visitors are always considered as well.

Foreign visitors are also needed

"Certainly, we also need to do something at the national level to find visitors from other target markets outside Estonia who would come to Estonia because of the spas," she said. Toffer explained that this requires better marketing messages and promoting Estonia even more as a health‑oriented country.

While it is often visible how various companies close their doors because customers do not have the money to visit them, this is not seen much with spas. "Perhaps spa entrepreneurs have been more patient and have become accustomed to the fact that this is not a very profitable business," Toffer suggested.

She explained that in the current economy most entrepreneurs are trying to make ends meet, and if many more spas are added, it is not excluded that someone may have to close their doors.

"Entrepreneurs have a very high tax burden, and our VAT is unreasonably high compared to neighboring competitor countries," Toffer said. She added that if someone decides to end their activity in the current economic environment, they cannot be blamed for it.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!