Making money from a hotel health club presents a challenging task. Here, the region’s key fitness equipment suppliers provide their top tips to help ensure your gym is fit for business.
AL KAMDA
The major issue where hotel fitness facilities are concerned is to ensure they are in-line with the standards maintained across the rest of the hotel, according to Al Kamda SVP —business development Andy Dick.
“I find it very hard to understand why hotel GMs treat a gym differently to other areas of the hotel. Would someone book into a room or use a restaurant if the decor was tatty, the furniture old and broken, or the choice of menu poor? Why is it still a challenge to get management to realise that gym and spa is crucial in customers making choices about where to stay?” says Dick.
Firstly, the gym must be integrated within the rest of the hotel, he says. “Show images of the gym and associated facilities such as the spa on all hotel brochures, flyers and websites. Have in-room promotions to encourage guests to book an appointment with the gym or spa, link the restaurants’ menu for healthy options with the gym and vice versa. Ensure all front of house staff do an induction in the gym so they understand the service,” says Dick.
Selecting equipment for the target clientele is also important. “There is always a core of equipment that is required for all groups, such as standard CV products like treadmills, ellipticals, bikes and rowers and strength and toning stations for the major muscle groups. However, we can select specific machines that ladies feel are important. The main reason that women exercise is for weight management and toning so popular machines are for inner/outer thigh, gluteals, abdominals, posture exercises, stretching and core stability. Power Plate has been a very important product for women seeking fast toning results.
“Men’s primary reason for exercise is muscle tone so they tend to demand more strength machines, freeweights etc. Power Plate is a very useful product for those short on time such as busy executives looking for a 20-minute work out to cope with corporate stresses,” explains Dick.
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Hotels should also consider offering exercise facilities for children, he suggests.
“Children are only interested in fitness if it is mixed with fun and referred to as activity. Al Kamda provides interactive children’s activity games such as Xergames, which includes individual and team agility and fitness games with Xertrainer, where children can throw balls, hit targets with batons, kick footballs at light targets and have energetic relay races against each other. Very little room is required for this as the product is fixed to one wall . Commercial dance mats are also extremely popular especially with younger or teenage girls — the hardest group to get to exercise,” says Dick.
Hotel gyms must also work harder to drive secondary spend, Dick urges. Top tips are:
- Promote PT sessions via in-room offers
- Offer Power Plate and offer special one-on-one sessions with an instructor; you charge for a 20-minute work personalised workout.
- Specific courses for weight management, core stability, or training for a specific event over a set period of time, usually six to eight weeks, can generate additional revenue. These are usually conducted at off-peak times and are a good way to get new members.
- Sell PT sessions into the user’s hotel room. Some people like to exercise in privacy. Al Kamda can provide hotels with space efficient, easy-to-move equipment for this.
- Sale of accessories; have retail gloves, belts, aerobic mats and so on available.
- Sales from cafe/juice bar, protein bars etc.
Product highlights
Al Kamda best sellers: Star Trac CV equipment, Nautilus strength equipment, Power Plate
New for 2009: Star Trac E Spinner, Xergames, which includes Xertrainer
Al Kamda
Tel: +971 4 266 4200
Email: sales@alkamda.com
Web: www.alkamda.com
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