FITNESS AND WELLNESS BUSINESS TRENDS IN ASIA

By

Ross Campbell

Founder and CEO

FIT Summit

www.thefitsummit.com

September 2019

BIG BOX 2.0 – NEW & IMPROVED (& GROWING)

The health, fitness and wellness network in Asia-Pacific. 2

Market leaders to

market monopoly?

Asia’s big boxes still

reinvesting for new

growth in their core

geographies – have

capital, stability and

ambition to unlock new

growth (FF in Thailand,

Pure in HK and China,

True in SG, Elite and

CMG in VN)

Portfolio operators still

acquiring new brands

(FLG with CMG and EW

with FIRE) and

launching new brands

(EW with GoFIT)

Product diversification

with upgradable

premium products (TF

with TFX) + (FF with F-

Zone)

Further innovation

coming – small box in

big box concepts,

proprietary software,

additional GF

concepts/classes,

integrated customer

technology

BOUTIQUE/INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES –BOOM TO BUST?

The health, fitness and wellness network in Asia-Pacific. 3

Strong dual-modality or multi-modality operators

have considerable growth upside (Absolute You,

Base, Upside Motion, UFIT, FIRE Station, boOm,

Evolve MMA, H-Kore, R Fitness, Flyproject)

Multi-site/Multi-country success stories remain

small, especially in SE Asia – main successes are

mostly single modality focused (yoga, barre, pilates,

hiit, spin – Yoga Movement, WeBarre, Electric

Studios

Who is really making money – and future

growth/revenue limited by big box renaissance, lack

of capital, vision, ambition and exit options

Fads to remain fads, especially niche single

modality studios (aqua bag boxing, strength boxes,

bounce) – is ClassPass prolonging the shelve life

and survival of many?

Be the best or just be better than the rest – still low

barrier to entry but now higher barrier to success

THE RISE OF THE FRANCHISE IN ASIA

The health, fitness and wellness network in Asia-Pacific. 4

Growth opportunities

exist pan Asia – large

international

franchises flocking to

region (9Round, UFC,

Tapout, F45, Snap,

Orangetheory, Gold’s

Gym)

Smaller, boutique

franchises now

looking into Asia

(Body Fit Training, Fit

Stop, ZADI), across

Asia (Trib3,

FightZone, Spartans

Boxing) and out with

Asia (Ritual)

Will Anytime Fitness

continue to dominate

(new management

team and larger

vision for Asia) or

struggle against

increased wave of

competition?

More Asian boutiques

and independents

now considering

franchise

opportunities

Shipping the West to

the East: the good,

the bad and the ugly

from proof of

concept to failure to

launch – challenges

with location,

product, culture,

pricing, Plan B

FITNESS & WELLNESS AGGREGATORS: DISRUPTORS OR AGGRAVATORS?

The health, fitness and wellness network in Asia-Pacific. 5

ClassPass now

dominating APAC

marketplace (421

studios in SG, 199 in

Thailand, 219 in HK,

100 in Indonesia, 299

in Philippines, 219 in

KL. In comparison,

1777 in NYC, 1313 in

LA, 895 in LON, 362

in Sydney and 315 in

Melbourne)

Marmite reputation

as disruptors or

aggravators – helps

builds the best,

destroys the rest?

Piece by piece, the

non-believers

becoming believers

(too big to ignore,

too difficult to refuse

– Yoga Movement,

Ritual, Barry’s

Bootcamp) – what

about their

commitment after

guaranteed revenue

slots run out

High revenue

potential from b2b

clients and corporate

wellness dollars

(ClassPass gunning

hard, the birth of

Gympass and Switch

& Co)

Indigenous platforms

evolving ‘better than

Guava’ (Flexible Pass

in Myanmar [over 100

gyms], Wefit.vn in

Vietnam [over 600

gyms], Fitpass in India

[3500 gyms]) + new

launch of Gojek &

DOOgether JV

(GoFitness)

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS AND INVESTMENTS

The health, fitness and wellness network in Asia-Pacific. 6

Setting new norms: boutique, big box and recreation/leisure

club digitalization continues across Asia (wearables, HRM, smart

lockers, digital pin loaded equipment, fobs,

CRM/booking/payment apps)

Rush by tech cos, equipment manufacturers, operators and

entrepreneurs to develop ‘white label’ tech and “an app to rule

them all” (CRM, bookings, payroll, payments, content, analysis)

On demand streamed fitness to your home, phone, office and

gym – growing number of companies seeking opportunity in (i)

content [Alo Moves, Freelatics, Les Mills], (ii) platforms [Sweat,

Cure.fit] and (iii) equipment [Mirror/OliveX,

Pelton/Zwift/SoulCycle]

Continued investment in B2C and B2B gamified, reward-based

apps with consumer marketplaces (AIA Vitality, ManulifeMOVE,

Pulse by Prudential, CXA, Strike & Co, Rewardz, PUML)

EMERGING HOSPITALITY TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES

The health, fitness and wellness network in Asia-Pacific. 7

Launch of On-Demand Fitness: in-

room fitness equipment, web-based

personal training, and streamed digital

fitness classes (Hilton’s “Five Feet to

Fitness initiative”; pilots in Netflix &

Hilton USA; Peleton & Westin; will they

be Asia bound?)

Traditional Hotel Group launching

wellness/fitness focused brands (IHG -

Even, Wyndham - Tryp, Hyatt -

Exhale/Miraval)

Growing number of wellness centred

hotels and resorts (single property and

multi-property operators – Six Senses,

COMO, Five Elements, REVIVO

Wellness)

Evolution of traditional spa real estate

to include more fitness and wellness

activities/equipment

Development of partnerships to add

new GF content to customers

(AccorHotels with Les Mills) and

wellness/fitness focused retreats (W-

Retreat, Como)

Hotels using Li-Fi Technology to

seamlessly pair smart fitness

technologies, apps, wearables, digital

fitness content, AI-programs and at

their own convenience with

entertainment.

INTEGRATED WELLNESS AND THE INTEGRATION OF WELLNESS

The health, fitness and wellness network in Asia-Pacific. 8

Launch of new

integrated healthcare

and wellness facilities

(LifeHub in HK,

Octave/Sangha in

China) and even a

wellness focused city,

Xiong’an (in Hebei,

China)

Growth of co-habited

ecosystems with

multiple fitness and

wellness services

under one roof (Core

Collective in SG)

Gyms adding in

complimentary

services to become

more holistic (physio,

massage, chiro, food,

nutrition, genetic

testing, BCA) –

balancing FOMO,

showroom and

perception

New boutique

assessment and

testing companies

opening, including

Fatty acids (Pufapro),

Iron levels

(theironsuites) and

Muscle oxygen

(humon)

Big box investing in

new wellness

experiences such as

sleep pods,

hydromassage, salt

inhalation chambers,

healthy snack

vending machines

(Virgin, Pure, Elite,

TFX)

NEW INDUSTRY GROWTH – NEW MARKET MAKERS AND SHAKERS

The health, fitness and wellness network in Asia-Pacific. 9

Well capitalized, mid-sized gyms chains capitalizing on

unsaturated markets (Jetts 24 Fitness and Fitness24Seven

in Thailand, GO24 in HK, Space Cycle in Taiwan, UFIT in SG)

The growing demand for rehab and recovery-based

services and solutions, anti-aging services and solutions,

sleep productivity and plant-based nutrition

Real estate developers looking for fitness businesses as

anchor tenants – including development of malls with

multiple fitness businesses (fitness and wellness hubs)

Expansion of high-end personal training (UP, ATP and ONE

PT all have studios now in SG and HK)

Micro box gyms (The Gym Pod in SG, Pod in JKT) and

equipment for small spaces (such as Ziva’s Infinity X series)

New demographics – active aged, sedentary, female only

The rising commitments to investing in corporate wellness –

in facilities, experiences, executive allowances and budgets

THANK YOU

ross@thefitsummit.comwww.thefitsummit.com