Leisure Media HCM March 2010 - TourismInsights

The one thing
our partners
must have is
a passion for
health and
fitness. That’s
fundamental
to success in
our businessss
developed fi tness industry. In my
opinion, it’s going to take a long time
for conditions to accelerate there, so
we’re not in any rush.
“We have a list of high priority
countries, but from there it comes
down to opportunity: waiting until the
right opportunity comes along, which
primarily means fi nding the right master
franchisee for each market.”
Those partners may or may not have
actual fi tness experience but, stresses
Kersh: “The one thing they must have is
a passion for health and fi tness. That’s
fundamental to the success of this
business. If they don’t have that passion,
they might as well run an automotive or
restaurant franchise. We want them to be
involved in this business because they see
the need for it and want to help people,
and that’s something we can’t train.”
He continues: “Each master franchise
agreement includes a development
schedule that spells out the minimum
number of clubs we anticipate should
open in that market in every year of the
agreement. However, it’s very hard to
predict, so we keep those expectations
moderate. What’s the potential in India,
for example? We’d like to see as many as
500 clubs there, but what’s the reality?
Maybe it’s 300 clubs. Maybe it’s 2,000.
There’s just no way of telling how well
the concept will work over time and
how franchisable it will be in that market.
“I don’t think we’d enter a market
unless we thought there was potential
for at least 100 clubs, but it’s not until
you’re on the ground that you really
know how well you’ll perform there.”
on these shores?
As for Europe, Kersh says: “Some of the
more developed fitness markets in
Europe are interesting to us, including
the UK, Germany, Holland, possibly
Spain. We’re already looking at
opportunities and we’re confident that
Kersh believes the Anytime Fitness model will work well in the UK market
we’ll be operating in at least one or two
European markets by the end of this year.
“In terms of the offering, generally we
try and avoid too much variation in the
model. However, we recognise that it
may be necessary in some markets – I
imagine the Indian clubs will be slightly
more luxurious, for example, as well as
being able to take on more staff thanks
to the lower cost of employment there.
“But I can see the concept working
very well in the UK without any major
variations. They’ll probably be new
clubs as opposed to acquisitions, as
I think it’s harder to convert a club
than it is to start afresh, although any
smaller operators who are struggling
may benefi t from converting and coming
under the Anytime umbrella.
“I’d expect property to be the biggest
challenge and we may have to look at
some fi rst-fl oor locations – in the US,
we always choose ground fl oor sites.
Other than that, though, I don’t think
we’ll need to change anything. Our
preferred suppliers in the US – Life
Fitness, Precor and Star Trac – also have
a presence in Europe, so we’d hope to
extend those relationships over here.
“We don’t underestimate the quality
of operators in the UK market right
now, but we do believe that what we
have, and the way we deliver it to our
customers, is strong enough to make a
difference in the UK.”
kate cracknell
healthclub@leisuremedia.com
march 2010 © cybertrek 2010
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