Hot Tubs Remain in High Demand

It’s been an explosive two years of unprecedented growth for the hot tub and spa industry. A resurgence of consumer interest in backyard amenities such as swimming pools, hot tubs, and spas has seen hot tub sales jump in recent years.

More consumers than ever before are looking to install a new hot tub or spa in their backyard and the demand for them remains white-hot. According to the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance, a trade association for the industry, sales of hot

tubs and pools are rising across the country. In 2020, almost 45 percent of its members predicted revenue growth of 10% or more.

“Hot tubs have been in the top 10 of ‘I want’ lists for a long time, but they’ve now moved up close to the top because some of the other things aren’t currently attainable, like travel,” says Kevin Richards, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Master Spas. “We’re seeing more people finally saying, ‘It’s really time to get a hot tub’.”

The president and CEO of the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance, Sabeena Hickman, is fully aware of the rising customer interest. “Hot tubs are definitely in hot demand,” she said.

Hickman suggested a large percentage of that growth can be attributed to the quarantine conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic. Consequently, that demand has created another underlier for consumers to purchase a hot tub, they’re still relatively low-cost in comparison to building a swimming pool.

Prices for inground pools have steadily risen over the past two years. Since 2020, the price for a swimming pool has gone up roughly 40%, skyrocketing throughout many areas of the country.

The market for hot tubs and spas in the United States has expanded over the past decade.

In correlation with a growing number of distributors, one of the two biggest new markets for hot tub sales has been Nevada and Arkansas which are the two states most likely to have hot tubs in their home listings according to Realtor.com.

However, in the Northeast region of the United States, the growth has been explosive. “We’re selling more hot tubs than we ever have in our entire history,” said Jim Grammaticopolous, owner of Your Backyard Haven who says that their spa sales are way up since the beginning of the pandemic. “Pool sales have slowed over Q4 and into Q1 but hot tub sales tripled during that same timeframe”.

Adjusting for seasonality is a norm in the pool industry, however, Grammaticopolous attributes other factors such as rising costs for construction. “Some folks may be getting priced out of the market for a pool and suddenly a hot tub becomes a very appealing alternative.”

A representative for Life’s Great Spas in Malta, NY said that for their firm it’s about making the cost as feasible as possible for their dealers and for the consumer. “It’s why we aggressively price our hot tubs to make it an obtainable purchase.”

The market for hot tub and spa-related products was valued at $1.875 billion in 2020 and is projected to grow by 5% over the next two years.

The biggest player in that space is Watkins Manufacturing which through its parent company Masco Corporation, acquired Endless Pools back in 2015.

Masco is the largest in hot tubs with $8 Billion annual revenue and over 22,000 employees.

They may have found themselves best equipped to deal with the swell in demand; with the largest customer base and channels of distribution.

One of the hottest emerging markets for hot tub and spa sales is the Asian-Pacific market. Rapid urbanization is driving much of that expansion. Hot tub and spa sales are predicted to continue their trajectory well into 2024 and will account for a large percentage of the projected $3.56 billion in growth the industry is expecting during that timeframe.

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