DR JOHN MORGAN

Way of the future: The
Apple Watch marks an
evolution in fitness and
activity tracking
DAVID MINTON
Director The Leisure Database Company
ext year the industry is going to
“Nhave to adapt or lose out. New
technology is making the consumer more
powerful and clubs are going to have to
react. Innovations like the Apple Watch
and the iPhone 6 with iOS 8 – which includes the new Health
app – will become the most useful repository for all sorts of
health and fitness data, with some collected automatically by
the barometer inside the new phones.
Harvard has just released a report saying that US waistlines
are getting even bigger. The UK is close behind and the industry
needs to do something radical – like offering free PT to help
people get results – if it’s to be taken seriously.
As the economy picks up, I think the growth of the low-cost
sector will slow. People like to pay for a bit of comfort, luxury
and broader facilities, otherwise everyone would stay at budget
hotels. Microgyms are adding value to the industry with a good
product and these will continue to grow as people value unique
experiences. However, the biggest growth will come from the
public sector, which is embedded in the community and puts
the customer first in a way that private sector clubs cannot.
Usage of public sector facilities is going up enormously: the top
seven operators had almost 100 million visits last year.
”
DAVE STALKER
CEO ukactive
n 2015, wearable technology will
“Iget a hot Apple injection, as the
Apple Watch heralds the start of the next
evolution in fitness and activity tracking.
The major private institutions on which
the industry grew in the 1990s will either have to rediscover
a purpose, as we have seen with Fitness First, or drift off into
irrelevance. Driven by efficiency drives, enhanced service
levels and greater competition, the public sector will continue
to thrive and drive growth. The pressure of continuous
growth in the low-cost sector will be joined by the imperative
to retain, or else implode. Meanwhile the proliferation of
specialist microgyms will continue to explode, charging fees
previously only dreamt of by mainstream operators. Within the
health community, stakeholders will get even harsher in their
appraisals of what we offer: show them your evidence or they’ll
show you the door, for both leisure and health contracts.
Finally, health clubs, leisure centres and activity providers are
now part of a wider ecosystem trying to get the world fit and
healthy. Embracing this position, and understanding our role
within it, will enable us to dramatically redefine the value and
impact of our sector, with a continued growth in our sector’s
importance to all stakeholders as a result.
”
November/December 2014 © Cybertrek 2014 Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 41