middle east market
residential areas and all offer pools, tennis and squash courts, kids’ clubs, restaurants and so on, and we wouldn’t have built those clubs ourselves. “However, as an acquisition it made sense as the clubs are located in a very strategic catchment. They also allow us to tap into the kids’ market – not only within the clubs themselves, but also going into local schools to run outreach programmes. Kids’ fi tness is something we really wanted to get into, and we’ve introduced a great kids’ swimming programme in our clubs that have pools. However, generally it’s been diffi cult to introduce kids’ fi tness to our core estate due to health and safety restrictions and so on.” Membership at FFME in the UAE
costs around 4,000 dirhams (£700, €890) a year for Plus clubs, 5,000 (£875, €1,110) for Platinum, and 6,000 (£1,050, €1,330) for Platinum Plus. Interestingly
FFME has, says Botha “shifted its entire membership base over the last 12 months to be heavily focused around upfront, cash lump sum payments”. He
Media attention: FFME’s high profi le initiatives have included a fl ashmob event outside Dubai’s Burj Khalifa
explains: “The mentality here is ‘I didn’t use it this month, so I won’t pay for it’. The notion of a contract is very foreign – everything’s cash and based on usage – so we’ve had to work within that. “All the innovation we’ve been
introducing in our clubs has helped warrant that shift in members’ minds.” Third-party revenue streams also contribute signifi cantly to FFME’s bottom line, says Botha: “Businesses are very commercial out here. They pay a substantial amount of money to advertise their products and services on our TV screens in-club. We’ve also managed to create a revenue stream out of our tea and coffee: we’re not only supplied with the best quality products for free, meaning we can offer complimentary tea and coffee to members, but we’re actually paid to do that. And Adidas has signed a
Fitness First Middle East (FFME) is opening clubs so rapidly that it’s hard to keep track, but at the time of going to print the portfolio comprised:
• UAE: 23 clubs – three in Abu Dhabi, one in Sharjah, the remainder in Dubai
• Jordan: Three clubs • Saudi Arabia: Two clubs • Bahrain: Two clubs • Qatar: Two clubs (including one opening in September)
• Kuwait: One club (opening in September)
FITNESS FIRST MIDDLE EAST – IN NUMBERS With these fi gures, the brand
currently dominates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), “although we’re preparing for the arrival of competition – we don’t just sit back and think we have the markets,” says FFME sales and marketing director Mark Botha. Competition in other Middle Eastern markets varies. “We’re learning as we go and Kuwait, for example, is going to be interesting,” Botha says. “It’s a competitive market and we have plans to open a number of clubs in quick succession.”
52 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
fi ve-year contract with us to kit out our staff with top-of-the-range clothing and trainers, knowing members will ask for advice on what kit they should buy.”
INNOVATION & EXPANSION And so to the Motor City club, Dubai’s latest opening – in May – and the project about which Flooks and Botha seem particularly proud. “The club is fantastically designed, with a great diversity of activity options off the gym fl oor,” says Flooks. “In addition to the large gym with freestyle area, we have PurMotion, an open-air studio with a boxing ring and Swing Yoga, and an open-air MyRide group cycling studio. Our PTs are very excited about everything they can do with their clients.” All this, and it’s only a Plus club; the facility Flooks and Botha refer to as the fl agship is the new Platinum offering that opened in Abu Dhabi Mall last month. So does FFME have more innovations up
its sleeve? “We’ve already taken GX onto the gym fl oor via small group training, but now we’re taking it to parks as well, running bootcamp sessions for members and non-members,” says Botha. “We’re also opening a CrossFit studio in one facility – it’s in an area with lots of students and we think it’s what they’re crying out for. We’ll build more if it’s a success.” And what about expansion as a whole?
“We’ve gone from 16 clubs to 32 since April last year, when George and I joined. We aim to be at 45 by June 2013 and 50 by Christmas next year,” says Botha. “The Arab Spring uprisings have perhaps postponed some expansion plans in other territories, but by mid-2014 or 2015, we intend to have 80–100 clubs. “We have a great opportunity to grow
the overall fi tness market well beyond its 2 per cent population penetration.”
healthclub@leisuremedia.com kate cracknell
september 2012 © cybertrek 2012
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