Time to sharpen the sword

This month's issue of Leisure Manager reveals reassuring steps being made to professionalise the region's fitness industry, ahead of theSportex Middle East exhibition for health club and recreation professionals, which is being held from November 3 to 5 at Dubai World Trade Centre.

Impact British Training Solutions managing director Amanda Brewer announces a programme underway in Bahrain that has the ultimate mission of legislating that gym instructors and personal trainers must have internationally-recognised qualifications, such as those from the American Council on Exercise (ACE) or Central YMCA Qualifications (CYQ).

The progress is being driven from outside the industry by the Bahraini military, but if international certification is required by law for trainers in the army, then this is more than likely to impact health clubs and hotels.

Hopefully, the expected legislation will also act as a role model for the industry in the UAE and other countries.

After all, although Dubai is leading the sector in terms of the number of commercial operators eyeing the market, it has not prioritised industry regulation.

This was a point acknowledged by the gym management experts brought together in Leisure Manager's roundtable. As MEFITPRO CEO Greg Boucher points out, there are not even checks carried out on whether staffs hold current CPR certificates, let alone on what type of courses trainers have completed.

And it seems there is still a reluctance from clubs to invest in staff training, meaning that employing someone on aptitude and attitude isn't enough. Clubs must either employ people with the right qualifications to back up their skills, or provide appropriate training for them.

If operators don't start doing this now, they will find themselves in a very costly predicament should legislation on qualifications be passed. While staff qualified locally or in Asia may seem to provide an easy talent pool, putting your entire team through training in order to keep within the law will make this an expensive investment.

With new chains set to launch - World Gym looks likely to be next - this will become even more important as clubs compete for the best staff.

As The Aviation Club's Simon Brown says below, now is the time for operators to "sharpen their sword". Get ahead of the game and make sure your team is up to standard.

Louise Oakley is the editor of Leisure Manager.