Expanding gym and yoga businesses fighting fit

Expanding gym and yoga businesses fighting fit, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com

California Fitness & Yoga was named Best Fitness Place of the Year at the Men’s Fitness Awards 2023 last month as a testament to the brand’s efforts to enhance Vietnamese people’s health.

The company entered the Vietnamese market in 2007 and owns the largest gym chain with nearly 50 facilities. A couple of months ago, the brand announced an investment of $25 million to continue the upgrade and innovation of products and services and for the renewal of leases.

Dane Fort, CEO of Fitness & Lifestyle Group Vietnam, owner of California, said they would focus on continuously investing in development and innovation.

“We focus on only one thing, which is to create and provide a cutting-edge workout space at all branches to develop healthy exercise habits for Vietnamese people,” Fort said.

California serves approximately 500,000 members with more than 11 million workouts per year. According to Fort, the brand has witnessed the shift of gym services from being expensive and inaccessible to a necessity for Vietnamese consumers during its 16 years here.

Fort said the percentage of people who have access to high-quality fitness centres in Vietnam is less than 1 per cent. “The growth in membership and demand shows that the gym market is solid, and the services we offer are precisely what our members are looking for,” said Fort.

According to German online platform Statista, the fitness industry was estimated to be worth about $400 million by 2020 and is forecast to grow at an average of 14 per cent per year to 2025. Up to now, Vietnam currently has about 600 gyms and fitness clubs.

Those focusing on traditional gym services and yoga are led by names like California, Elite Fitness, Fit24, CitiGym, and Getfit Gym & Yoga.

Based on the number of gyms, Statista assessed that gym and yoga businesses hold the largest market share in the fitness club segment, with a market share of about 40-45 per cent and 15-20 per cent respectively.

California Fitness is currently on top, with the highest-grossing brand in the gym market at about $13 million per month in revenues, accounting for about 73 per cent of market share, according to Ken Research.

Ranked fourth in terms of number of gyms with 14 facilities nationwide, behind 25 FIT and MBS Pilates, Elite Fitness from conglomerate BIM Group is considered California’s counterpart in the gym business.

Elite Fitness was established in 2010 and has up to 35,000 members. The chain used to record sales of up to $19 million before the pandemic, but this figure dropped to more than $8 million in 2021, according to Vietdata’s 2022 fitness industry report.

Franchise chain 25 FIT ranked second in terms of number of training facilities, with 34 fitness centres operating under the name as of the end of April this year.

Star Kickboxing and Fitness in Hanoi’s Tay Ho district recently had to move to a new, bigger location as they had outgrown the premises.

“We knew this day would come, but it happened faster than we expected. Even though we are a community gym, the sky is the limit. Our branding is strong, so there is no reason that we cannot have several gyms throughout the capital over the next few years with the right investment,” said co-founder Mai Ngoc Phu.

Elsewhere, Getfit Gym & Yoga, a system owned by Getfit Holdings, only has three clubs in Ho Chi Minh City after 13 years of establishment, but has built a franchise and initial public offering plan for 2026 with the ambition to increase the number of gym facilities to 128.

Getfit’s ecosystem also boasts spas, personal trainers, and sells workout clothes and supplements. “We are rebuilding the process, having to stabilise the service and experience for new franchisees,” said CEO Trinh Thi Thuong.

Meanwhile, US fitness brand Anytime Fitness opened a second facility last year, after more than two years in the Vietnamese market. Anytime Fitness owns 5,000 gyms and has three million members worldwide. The brand opens 24 hours a day all year round to help customers exercise whenever they have the time.

In addition to the potential of an open market, the average rate of return is also an attractive factor for investors looking for opportunities in this sector.

“The average profit rate of the whole industry is 20 per cent, but if the business is good and strategic, this rate can reach 27 per cent,” said Fort of California.

Int’l Day of Yoga marked in Ba Ria - Vung Tau Nearly 1,000 yogis in the southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau gathered at an event on June 25 to celebrate the International Day of Yoga 2023 (June 21).