Page 130 - BWA FEB 2013

130 | Business World Magazine | February 2013
the human body), one can begin to develop
greater appreciation for Kaltschmidt’s simple
assertion, “Massage helps maintain health.”
As much as that has been understood by
classic culture, there is certain irony consid-
ering how that awareness dissipated during
the modern era. With the emergence of large
healthcare systems and increasedpharmaceu-
tical marketing, demand for massage waned
during the early 20th Century in America,
but that isn’t the case anymore. More and
more consumers are grasping the benefit of
massage.
According to industry data, some 38 mil-
lion Americans schedule therapy, at least
once a year, though many undergo treatment
more frequently. Consumer demand has re-
sulted in an industry that generated from$10
to 12 billion in 2011 according to studies of
the American Massage Therapy Association.
Earnings have dipped from that sustained
in 2010, attributed to issues in the national
economy, but to the degree this industry is
seen as an essential augmentation to health
maintenance, the overall industry prognosis
is deemed as healthy. The U.S. Department
of Labor suggests that demand for massage
therapists will lead to as much as a 19% in-