» Canadian Forum
The IHRSA Canadian Health Club Report is a “game-changer”
BY CRAIG WATERS
and compiling the results in Profiles of Success. That publication has given club operators, employees, developers, suppliers, and investors a clear, com- prehensive, and reliable sense not only
F
or more than 30 years, IHRSA has been conduct- ing an annual Industry Data Survey (IDS) of the U.S. health club industry
This publication, produced in coop-
eration with Fitness Business Canada, canfitpro, and the Fitness Industry Council of Canada (FIC), provides both a way to quickly educate oneself about the Canadian market, and the quantitative means for club operators and fitness practitioners to assess their own performance. In doing so, it helps them to identify weaknesses, as well as new opportunities. “This a great addi- tion to the resources of the Canadian industry,” notes David Hardy, the pres- ident of FIC and a former member of IHRSA’s board of directors. “Having in- dustry statistics and information read- ily available is something we’ve never had before. As a club owner myself, it’s great to be able to see how individu- al facilities compare with one anoth- er and what makes certain ones stand out.” Joe Moore, the president and CEO
Craig Waters
of how the U.S. industry, in general, is doing, but also of how well individual clubs are performing vs. similar opera- tions. Until recently, there was no simi- lar study documenting, in detail, what was going on in Canada. Now, howev- er, that’s changed, dramatically, with the release of The IHRSA Canadian Health Club Report.
of IHRSA, suggests that, “This pub- lication is a must-have reference for anyone interested in better under- standing the size and scope of the Canadian fitness industry.” A review of the report, based on survey respons- es from 57 club companies, represent- ing more than 170 facilities, confirms Moore’s conclusion. Like Profiles, the Canadian report delivers detailed sta- tistics on a wide range of industry and club metrics—e.g., facility, membership, and revenue growth; retention; and staffing and payroll. It also includes a section on “Fitness Industry Outlook: Canada In the Global Community”
“This publication, produced in cooperation with Fitness Business Canada, canfitpro, and the Fitness Industry Council of Canada (FIC), provides both a way to quickly educate oneself about the Canadian market, and the quantitative means for club operators and fitness practitioners to assess their own performance.”
50 Fitness Business Canada January/February 2014
that will prove instructive for anyone, whether Canadian or not, and is espe- cially revealing with respect to “The Health of Canadians.” This chapter also features in-
cisive essays on “Investing in the Canadian Club Business,” by Hardy; a “Legislative Review,” by Trisha Sarker, the association manager at the FIC; and on “Health Clubs: The Business & Investment,” by John Frittenburg, the president of the JF Group, a manage- ment-consulting firm. A personal, insider’s view of the
Canadian market is served up in “Club Operator Insights,” which offers comments by several industry lead- ers. There’s also a section based on the results of the Canadian Fitness Professional Survey, which illuminates, among other things, how practitioners provide, feel about, and promote their services. The Canadian report, gen- erously sponsored by Orangetheory Fitness, resembles Profiles not just in terms of concept and content, but also with respect to some of its findings for 2012, the period covered. In the “Club Operating
Benchmarks” section, it, too, notes that, “While there were pockets of strength, consumer spending and un- employment continued to be a head- wind that health clubs are struggling against on a daily basis in a battle to increase revenues.” And, like Profiles, it concludes that operators achieved “modest improvement in some areas, and were able to maintain the status quo in other areas.” The IHRSA Canadian Health Club
Report is clearly a game-changer. Concludes Hardy: “Now we have a way to learn from each other, to track our improvements, and to build on our successes—with a writ- ten record.” FBC
Craig Waters is the editor-in-chief of Club Business International magazine, an IHRSA publication.
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