Two-thirds of the world's fitness clubs are currently closed

Latest News

Two-thirds of the world’s fitness clubs are currently closed

April 7, 2020

Fitness / Marketing / Safety / Wellness /

The Coronavirus outbreak has seen nearly two thirds (64%) of the world’s fitness clubs, gyms and studios close, either voluntarily or as a result of Governmental restrictions.

The closures, part of measures to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, have resulted in around 230 million people with fitness club memberships around the world being unable to attend their regular place of exercise.

The figures have been released by new global fitness data platform fitNdata, launched in March 2020 by David Minton, the founding Director of The Leisure Database Company.

As club closures began impact across the world last month, fitNdata began monitoring the effects of the pandemic on the fitness industry.

fitNdata combines real-time supply data with consumer fitness data and has pledged to issue regular updates throughout the coronavirus crisis by monitoring the global fitness industry during the lockdown in real-time.

To do this, fitNdata has developed 'crawlers', trained to identify all fitness sites around the world, as well as aggregating sources of fitness-related data from the public domain - including site details, facilities, classes and social media links.

fitNdata's website is currently under construction but will soon be operational at https://fitndata.group/

3rd April 2020 - Eight out of 10 New Zealand trainers and exercise facilities now operating online

2nd April 2020 - Fitness Australia encourages Australians to ‘Keep on Moving’

31st March 2020 - With clubs closed fitness providers go online

30th March 2020 - ClassPass launches live-streamed classes to help fitness centres during COVID-19

30th March 2020 - One-on-one fitness training still approved during COVID-19

29th March 2020 - Les Mills and TVNZ partner to deliver fitness classes during COVID-19 lockdown

25th March 2020 - Belgravia Group launches online fitness program

25th March 2020 - Technogym’s Mywellness Cloud allows fitness clubs to remotely manage members’ training

24th March 2020 - Fitness Australia shares clarification on what constitutes a gym

24th March 2020 - Queensland Government says theme parks, indoor gyms, fitness centres and sports centres ‘must close’

23rd March 2020 - Fitness Australia calls for urgent government clarification around gym closures

23rd March 2020 - Fitness Australia flags outdoor exercise as an alternative to imminent gym closures

20th March 2020 - Step Into Life exercise franchise facing potential collapse

18th March 2020 - Fitness Australia’s Barrie Elvish says ‘gyms do not need to close’

17th March 2020 - Fitness First highlights gym hygiene measures

9th March 2020 - Hygiene essential in fitness facilities reassuring members over Coronavirus fears

1st February 2020 - Fitness First Singapore advises that claims of club closures due to Coronavirus are ‘bogus’

8th January 2020 - Anytime Fitness makes history as the first franchise with locations on all seven continents

13th February 2017 - World Gym announces Australian expansion plans

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.