Mr. Green

Spas, Health & Fitness

Maximizing the Revenue Potential of Your Fitness Center

By Bryan Green, President & CEO, Advantage Fitness Products

So often, hotel and resort managers view fitness centers and related services as merely a "value-added" amenity, provided to reinforce a positive guest experience. Granted, this is without question, a valuable role. But at the risk of sounding harsh, it's a perspective that is often short-sighted and may eliminate a wealth of profit-generating potential inherent to any fitness center when managed with an eye toward generating revenue.

I spend a great deal of time working with clients to illuminate the various revenue-generating vehicles that can be brought to bear with any fitness center, whether they be through retail offerings, training programs or other unique platforms. That being said, I thought it would be valuable to break some of these down and demonstrate just how a fitness center can go beyond merely pumping up your guests, and pump up your bottom line:

Fitness Retail

One of the opportunistic attributes about a focus in health & fitness is that it carries a unique and built-in merchandise demand. From workout apparel to bottled water, to headphones and yoga mats, a moderate inventory investment in these products supportive to fitness can be turned into easy and high-margin sales. It's not uncommon to have fitness-minded guests who forget to pack workout clothes or headphones for their ipods or for use with personal viewing screens on your cardiovascular equipment. Others may prefer to gain a workout within the privacy and peace of their own room or suite. This is more common than one might think with the growing popularity of yoga, mat and resistance-band based exercise modalities, and female guests in general. An in-room fitness workout is often a quick, safe, and potentially less intimidating way to stay fit while on the road for many travelers. With the increase in entertainment-based fitness equipment featuring viewing screens or digital music technology; rentable headsets, I-pods and other electronics devices or accessories can also provide an additional revenue source. Finally, every fitness environment also carries a sustainable demand for healthy refreshments and snacks.

Personal & Group Training Programs

When traveling on vacation, guests are typically looking for and willing to pay for, something more than they experience day-to-day at home. Better restaurants, better activities and thrills, better clothes and toy. There too exists this impulsive mind set amongst travelers that you can capitalize on within your offering in fitness. To this point, customized personal training and potentially group exercise services should be considered within any resort hotel environment or full-service property. Establishing such programs within your facility can generate considerable revenue through your fitness center. Obviously this carries a need for qualified trainers, but that doesn't mean you have to hire a full time training staff. There are independent training companies in every market that can provide ample qualified training staff to accommodate the needs of your fitness center's unique programs, whether for personal or group training. For a larger facility or those attached to spa offerings, several companies provide a 3rd party managed solution that often can be supported with as little as a shared revenue agreement. Personal training is always attractive for those quests who want that individual attention they may not pay for at home. It's the idea of being "pampered," even when they're breaking a sweat. Another aspect common to vacation travel is the preponderance of group activities. Whether its scenic tour groups, group fishing or diving exhibitions, group arts and crafts...travelers come prepared to engage in such group activities. A fitness center can capitalize on this with its own group exercise programming. Many facilities are seeing wonderful returns for group training in the hottest fitness trends such as yoga, outdoor "boot-camps", and other mixed fitness or fusion classes.

Specialized Equipment and Services

In addition to the consideration for establishing a retail component as well as managed fitness programs, there exist a handful of specialized services that can command incremental revenue. One example would be the emergence of high-tech products. A current example is the rapid growth in popularity of vibration training products. Vibration training products like those from brands such as Power Plate, Vibraflex, Itonic or others in this rapidly-emerging new category offer the ability to train the entire body in a fraction of the time as conventional methods. Furthermore, they represent arguably the most low-impact, yet effective form of training. This opens the door to travelers who don't want to devote much time to exercise, elderly travelers for whom higher impact training isn't an option, not to mention die-hard fitness enthusiasts who want to try the latest innovations in high-tech fitness. Fitness centers and Spas can incorporate the use of such high-tech devices with the supervision of a trainer or certified clinician and the investment in such equipment. However, the economic returns can be substantial with the proper program promotion and revenue model. Additionally, there are other services like body-fat analysis, heart-rate monitoring and diet/nutrition analysis that can be valuable for those travelers who use their vacations as a benchmark to kick off new commitments to better health and more-active lifestyles.

Bryan Green is a fitness expert and advisor to core & non-traditional businesses alike in industries including hospitality, multi-family housing, corporations, and Academic institutions. Mr. Green serves as President and CEO of Advantage Fitness Products (AFP), a leading provider of innovative fitness and wellness-based solutions for commercial facilities worldwide and specialized residential environments. AFP offers expertise across multiple facets of the health & fitness industry, including facility design, equipment supply, and ongoing support. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with additional offices in Miami, New York, San Francisco, Phoenix, & Las Vegas. Mr. Green also serves on the Editorial Board for Fitness On-Site Magazine, and advisory boards for leading industry equipment and content providers TechnoGym, Star Trac, & Netpulse. Mr. Green can be contacted at 310-559-9949 Ext: 110 or bgreen@afproducts.com Extended Bio...

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