Q: WHAT ARE THE MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR fitness AND RECREATION IN HOTELS?
KELLY: Customer service is the number one challenge in hotel gyms. It starts in the recruitment process — don’t hire staff without a great attitude. All things being equal, staff with a great attitude will perform better than those without a great attitude.

That is easier said than done in the UAE hospitality industry where turnover is 30% and the costs of employment are high. It puts pressure on the organisation and the bottom line from the first day.

YOUNG: Hoteliers do rooms really well, they can have challenges making their F&B outlets compete against the local offering, and when it comes to managing the health club, it is still viewed as a cost centre with not a lot of understanding around the look, feel, and customer journey.  User flow patterns tend to be unsophisticated and staff managing the fitness rooms are still often attendants rather than qualified fitness instructors.

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MORO: The major challenge is the number of hotel owning companies and investors who tend to see the gym simply as a room that they must have to comply with their rating level, rather than an important and integral part of the guest experience.

As part of this challenge the ROI of the gym is typically lower than any other facilities and amenities that hotels offer. We believe that the fitness and wellness component of the hotel experience can generate a strong added value to the guest’s stay and therefore business for the hotel.

MCCURTIN: One of the major challenges is keeping up with the changes in technology and trends. Some hotels will replace their fitness equipment every seven to 10 years. Given the changes in technology a facility like this will not meet the demands of their guests.

Those hotels that opt for a networked fitness experience, such as Precor’s Preva Networked fitness, have the opportunity to constantly change the features and functionality of the equipment through free software upgrades and apps without further investment.

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