What are spas about these days? They seem to be places for sleep, fertility and real estate. That certainly woke me up early one Saturday morning last month when I sat in on the spa workshop at the Virtuoso Northeast Regional meeting in New York along with dozens of Virtuoso agents. There's a lot more to spas than that, of course, and much of what agents learned about was the importance of keeping abreast of an industry that continues to grow, attracting well-heeled and highly knowledgeable clients.

Susie Ellis, president of Spa Finders, talked about "fertility tranquility." Some couples having trouble conceiving a child go to spas in search of tranquility. In response, spas are beginning to offer treatments and diet regimes designed to boost fertility. Examples include the Program for Infertility at The Raj Ayurvedic Spa in Iowa, the Ritual de Fertilidad at the Tides Riviera Maya (where an ancient fertility ritual is simulated in a special "Maya House of Fertility" treatment room), the Lunaception Treatment at the Qua Spa at Caesar's Palace, and Fertility Reflexology and Fertility Yoga at The Spa at Little Dix Bay. Fertility-oriented acupuncture is becoming especially popular as a natural alternative for couples worried about the health effects of taking fertility hormones.

In our time-starved society, many of us sacrifice sleep. So sleep has become a specialty for some spas. Weight loss experts say that too little sleep can undermine efforts to lose weight. Medical studies have found that adequate sleep is important for everything from improving productivity at work to cardiovascular health. The result is a new focus on sleep at some spas. For example, Rancho la Puerta and Red Mountain spas feature sleep-health workshops.

Spa Finders' Ellis says that the number of residential communities with a spa or health living component has grown from a mere handful to more than 250. Spas are adding residences, developers are adding spas, and hotels and resorts with spas are adding condo units.

Ellis says that wellness is the overriding trend among spa goers. Pampering isn't out of favor, but it has taken some twists, such as having high-thread count sheets to fall into after a day spent working out in a luxury boot camp. Ellis says that there's also a new focus on therapists, who are, quite understandably, becoming increasingly important. They are the people who deliver what the spa has to offer, and in recognition of that, SpaFinders now has an SpaFinders' online hall of fame for top therapists.

Spa executives also had their tips for agents attending the session. Carole Carter, of the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Scottsdale, Ariz., says that resort spas are seeing trends that are cross-selling opportunities for agents. For instance, golfers might do combinations of golf outings and golf-enhancing spa treatments. Hikers might do a vigorous hike and then come back for a spa treatment designed to complement that workout.

Carter also points out the differences between the way men and women approach spas. Men tend to reward themselves with a spa treatment after a hard workout. And once they've finally started to indulge themselves in spas, men can be major converts. "We take some of the strongest, burliest men and introduce them to a facial and they say, ‘Oh, my God, this is what my wife has kept from me,'" Carter says, adding that once men start to indulge in spa treatments, they often become enthusiastic fans.

Women have a different attitude about spas. "Women, we've found, don't really need an excuse," Carter says. "For them it's, ‘I'm tired, I need to go to a spa.' And we love you for that."

Whether their clients are men or women, travel agents should be sure to book at least a few spa treatments for them in advance. Otherwise, according to JoAnn Kurtz-Ahlers, president of Kurtz-Ahlers, a hospitality consulting company, you risk your clients arriving at a spa only to discover that the treatments or therapists they want are all booked. She adds that many spas are specializing in helping clients work through injuries.

When matching clients to spas, it's important to know a client's lifestyle. For example, do they do yoga once a week or work out regularly? What sort of hotels do they like to stay in -- small and boutique or bigger properties? Panelists suggested referring to a spa's philosophy and treatment menu when playing matchmaker between client and spa.

Because of the number and variety of spas, it can be confusing, according to Ellis, who says that there are more spas in the United States today than there are Starbucks. She encourages agents to train to take Virtuoso's SpaFinder training program (Non-Virtuoso agents can take The Travel Institute's Spa lifestyle program). She also encourages them to use tools such as the advance search tool on the SpaFinder website, which lets you sort spas by almost any criteria you can imagine, so you can do things such as find a spa in a wine region for wine-loving clients.

Ellis says agents also need to know spa industry terminology. A destination spa, for example, is a total immersion spa. It's completely about the spa experience. A resort spa is a resort with a variety of options -- golf, tennis, perhaps even a casino -- as well as a spa. Many of these resorts are making their spa programs more like resort spas. That is, they're offering longer stays and more education.

Spas are a high-end product, but some of the agents attending the Virtuoso session were concerned about how to make them profitable for themselves, saying that spa services are not always commissionable. David Lyon, of the CusinArt Resort & Spa, encourages agents to book packages that include spa treatments. CuisinArt, for example, sells a five-night package that includes six spa treatments. "It is a commissionable package with two meals in it," he says. Besides being commissionable, it also offers clients a big savings over the rack rate and you can still customize around it. Lyon says that this year CuisinArt has added a customizable wedding package as well.

All the panelists were bullish on spas. "In our research, we've found that 95 percent of people who go to a spa love it," says Ellis. If you send your clients to a great spa, be it a destination spa or a resort spa, they're probably going to love it."