Spa Canada Magazine
ESI and Spa Canada: Revamping websites
By Jim Carr
Two major players in Canada’s spa industry are revamping their websites to reflect the dynamic changes that are reshaping the industry – and their role in it.
“We don’t feel that our site represents who we are and what we do today,” observed Bernard Renaud, promoter of Esthétique Spa International, which operates shows in Las Vegas, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver, Québec City, Calgary and Moncton.
Peter Cole, president of Partners Publishing and publisher of Spa Canada Magazine, is adding a fresh face to the magazine’s website and expanding its coverage of the industry at the same time “to bring more value to our readers and advertisers.
“It will provide an international presence and voice for the industry in Canada that will reach out to the spa community worldwide and enhance our industry’s place in it.”
Bernard also feels that exciting times are driving the industry onto new pathways and feels it’s important that ESI’s website not only keeps up but takes a leadership role in these changes.
Communications are also quicker and sharper than they were and ESI’s website, he adds, must reflect this as well.
“At the moment, ESI’s website provides basic information but there’s a growing sense that it needs to go much further and provide a better picture of what we do.”
ESI’s website has about three million hits (visitors) a year and he expects that this will increase once ESI’s new look goes on stream before the end of the year.
In the case of Spa Canada, its revamped website will become a more interactive tool.
“We’ll be able to expand on articles published in the magazine on our website. We’ll also be able to add audio and video, especially to the articles appearing in future issues, and provide a different dimension to our existing coverage.
“It’s also opens up a lot of other opportunities for our advertisers to expand on their coverage and extend their reach to an international audience.”
He recognizes that the current changes are an important first step in “a series of changes needed to keep pace with the technological changes that are transforming communications these days at almost lightning speed”.
Spa Canada, he notes, is the largest spa magazine in Canada, with “great traffic” on its website. He expects this is to dramatically increase once the new website is launched, around mid-November.
