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Curious Spa Pricing

We went to a Dutch spa last weekend, having gone to a very similar German spa in March, and enjoyed swimming and sauna-ing. The day price for us senior citizens (65 and up) was $19.50, as compared to $31.50 for younger people. At the German spa, the senior discount was far less; and it only applied during the day, Monday-Friday. Why the difference, given the similarity of potential client base and services offered?
One possibility, I am told, is that the Dutch government subsidizes the spa owner to increase demand from older people, and the German government may not. Regardless, the Dutch policy does not take advantage of variations in the timing of demand from younger people, so that the spa is very crowded (with older people as well as young) on weekend evenings. Both spas are engaging in price discrimination by age, but the discrimination doesn’t seem to be as rational at the Dutch spa as at the German spa.


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