Massage therapy business? (rentals, insurance, how much)

[Lomistick]

I have checked just about everywhere I can on the internet, but I just want to hear from somebody that might live there and know personally.

How is the massage therapy business doing in Hawaii now?

I'm really only curious about Oahu and Maui.

Are there always job openings? Are they decent jobs? Or are they impossible to survive on?

How are the massage schools there?

Thank you kindly...

[Lisa From Maui]

Lomistick: I'll ask you to help answer your own Q.

What type of person do you think pays for massage therapy? Locals? Tourists? Other? Not who want it, not who likes it, but who is willing to actually pay $$ for it?

What have you read on this forum about how much money locals might have to spend on MT today? What about Tourists?

Have you taken time to read the last 3 months of posts on this forum... posts that talk about money in Hawai'i? What do these posts tell you about how much $$ people make - in general? What do the posts tell you about how much $$ you need to make to "survive" in Hawai'i?

People from the mainland ask alot of questions... that can be answered by reading other posts. Please, read other posts & take a few guesses. What do YOU think the answers to your questions are? Take your best guess. -- Lisa ;-)

[24kgold]

seems like every massage therapist or student from santa cruz to miami ends up in hawaii. i knew several massage therapists and students and only one had a regular paying job at turtle bay resort. lots of competition amongst a small local population and a dwindling tourist base.
i have a friend from germany married to a us soldier in hawaii,and he is a physical therapist who is very much in demand in the military and private hospitals aiding injured vets, paralyzed seniors,etc.
maybe shift your focus to medical-oriented training.

[hothulamaui]

there are always people who will spend money on a massage no matter what the economy. maui is slow as are the other islands but we still have locals and tourist that come and spend their money on what they like. with that being said here on maui we have a ton of MTs we have a great little school upcountry that offers massage. even now you can call for an appt. and it still takes a week or so for an openeing. that could be because it is way cheaper than a massage at the resorts but it has a steady client base for sure. all the hotels for the most part offer MT and of course we have freelance MT. jobs here are hard to come by at the moment MT included. if you could get a MT job now in maui I doubt you could live on that alone and would most likely need a second job to live. good luck

[Lomistick]

Lisa from Maui, please go back and read the first line of my post... I think maybe you missed it...


hothulamaui and 24kgold, thank you for your friendly, helpful, and informative posts.

I welcome anyone else to add their personal knowledge or opinions on the matter.

[Balad1]

Originally Posted by Lomistick

Lisa from Maui, please go back and read the first line of my post... I think maybe you missed it...


hothulamaui and 24kgold, thank you for your friendly, helpful, and informative posts.

I welcome anyone else to add their personal knowledge or opinions on the matter.

If you are looking to go into the massage business and support yourself on Maui the answer is forget it. 1000 others have thought of this before you. Part time yes, fulltime NO.

[Calico Salsa]

My neighbor is a massage therapist here on Maui.

All of them are contractors, no employees. She works at 3 resorts to get enough hours. Right now she's got full days because it is peak season, but last year she had a huge cut in hours. She is a senior therapist, so she can get bookings before others, but many other therapists were cut when the bookings went down.

In the golden years, everyone wants to be a massage therapist because they see it as easy work (it isn't as you well know), and because they can finish the school fairly quickly. During those times small day spas open up in strip malls, and people have out-call bookings too. But now those day spas have closed, and many of the former massage therapists are working at retail or food service.

It isn't gloom and doom, just a down economy where the middle income folks aren't going for massages, especially locals. Even the higher income visitors are only going for one treatment per visit, versus years when they would go for 2 or 3 per week. Tips are way down.

Costco offers a gift card for $80 that gives the user $100 worth of treatment. I'm told that folks tip less when using those cards, perhaps figuring on a lower total? Or perhaps because those that are using them are also in a cash crunch.

If you know some specialty treatments, and/or can teach those, you may get a look-over by the resort spas. Otherwise it might be difficult to be a new hire right now.

[Calico Salsa]

I will add that I used to get 2-3 massages a year, because friends who visit would buy me a gift certificate at a resort spa. The cost was about $150.

These days my visitors buy me dinner, or offer to help BBQ!

I went for massage treatments when I needed some chiropractic work. The chiropractor I use has 2 ladies who offer chair or table massage before the chiro treatment. They seem to have a steady business - one of them rotates between 2 chiros.

You might try talking with some of the chiros here, to see if they would let you set up a chair in their offices during certain days, maybe kick back some portion of your bookings. It benefits the chiro to have a massage person there, but then again they give up some floor space and you would have to figure out the risk/insurance side if someone claimed injury.

My suggestion is to consider alternatives to just the resort spas.

[hothulamaui]

we also have at least 2 MT who st up a tent at the swap meet. I forget what they charge.

[nwcountrygal]

I know you didn't ask about the BI but will respond for it is close. I have a friend here that has been MT since 82. She is contracted through many resorts in Kona area. Been here a long time. During the holidays it has gotten better but the last couple of years has been tough. She lives very frugal, stays in cheap housing because of this - talking cheap but nice other side of the island and drives for work. I have been back for two weeks and I have had 5 offers for massage from ramdom people talking to at the beach that moved over here to do the same. All offers are come to my house even though they work out of clinics. You have to jump through some hoops to get the contracts - it isn't Hi I am MT and would like to work in your hotel.

I always have thought though if someone got into the vacational rentals offering free massages to the owners to put word of mouth out to their customers and advertising that would be a good start up for clients/tourists. Maybe???