Fitness 2030: all about technologies?
The ability to adapt to future changes in the fitness industry provides sectoral leaders with a competitive advantage. Knowledge on the future shape of the fitness market is therefore ubiquitous in the media and provides valuable insider information. EuropeActive has as well joined the movement of foresight activities to provide its members – and particularly to operators, professionals and training providers – with the information they need to make informed decisions on developing their skills for future challenges.
Andrew Grill is practical futurist and spoke about enhancing digital for business at the recent Technogym 2019 Digital Transformation Event. Data will provide operators with information about clients’ behavior and patterns that could be used to enhance retention and commitment.
Similar to EuropeActive’s skill foresight, he believes that technology will support individuals with routine day-to-day tasks such as booking a fitness class. However, the 55+ European fitness experts who participated in the activity reached consent about the value of human to human interaction: people skills – communication, service-mind, conflict solving – will be critical in the future.
Grill listed four practical advices to operators in his presentation to prepare for digital change: hiring people with digital skills at management level, business leaders educating themselves on digital, making more of big data and making sure there is connectivity between a business' systems (such as apps, fitness platforms, CRM) and their partners and suppliers.