Therme Group Buys European Mega-Spa

Therme Group is heating up.

What’s happening: The Austrian spa-resort operator secured €320M ($336M) and acquired Munich’s Therme Erding, the world’s largest thermal spa, from its strategic partner.

House of healing. Attracting 1.9M annual visitors, the 180K-sq-m facility features 35 group saunas, 40 thermal springs, cold plunges, spa services, and a waterpark for kids.

Building for physical, social, and mental well-being, Therme Group has an existing destination in Bucharest plus ground-up plans for Manchester, Frankfurt, Toronto, and DC.

Hot stuff. Well-established in Europe and Asia, newfound North American interest in thermal/mineral springs will grow the category 9.8% YoY, as fresh concepts emerge.

• Currently in TX and CO, WorldSprings opens its third outdoor mineral spring spa near Zion NP next year.
• Also in Utah, Deepak Chopra broke ground on geothermal wellness resort AMEYALLI.
• NM’s Ojo Spa Resorts feature mineral baths, outdoor adventures, and farm-to-table food.

In addition to Othership and Sauna House’s boutique concepts, large-scale facilities like AIRE Ancient Baths and NYC’s BATHHOUSE are bringing social bathing to urban dwellers.

Punchline: Ancient healing to countless cultures, many wellness consumers are just wading into geothermal waters — and those offering a social soak can market a cure for modern times.