The fitness punt

01 January 2000
The fitness punt

Ireland 35%

UK 45%

USA 55%

Australia 55%

Traditionally, the core activities of Irish hotels have been in accommodation and food and drink sales. However, the number of leisure centres attached to hotels has tripled over the past 10 years. More than IR£100m (£84m) has been invested in new centres in Irish hotels, and a number of UK leisure-club chains are actively seeking locations for dedicated leisure clubs in the Dublin area.

The EU, the Irish government and private invesors have all bankrolled the boom which, according to industry insiders, is to continue for at least another six years. The Irish Hotels Federation is even arguing that leisure facility management should become a module in all hotel management courses. Over the past decade 140 new hotels have opened, and the ratio of leisure centres has grown from one-in-19 in 1988 to one-in-six by 1998.

A 1997 report by market researchers Mintel says the leisure club market throughout Europe is continuing to expand. It adds that the Irish leisure club market is the least developed and will expand at a quicker rate than other developed countries in Europe.

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) provided IR£369m (£310m) over five years to 1999 to support focused development in the Irish hospitality industry. Under the programme, Bord F ilte, the Irish tourist board, approved specialist accommodation-related development grants for weather-independent leisure facilities attached to hotels and other approved establishments offering a minimum of 20 bedrooms or equivalent, subject to a minimum investment of IR£100,000 (£84,000). In practice, that meant an average grant assistance of 25% for approved projects.

Priority was given to ensuring that investments would fill gaps, generate additional tourism business, and would be sustainable in the long run.

Grants authorised under the programme ranged from IR£150,000 (£126,000) to almost IR£500,000 (£420,000). However, no new applications are being accepted because the ERDF funds have all been allocated.

The provision of hotel health club facilities has become almost essential as guests become more discerning. Most hotels now have gyms, saunas, steam rooms, Jacuzzis and pools - if not a pool, then they certainly have the minimum facility of a gym for guests.

Niamh Harrington, marketing manager with Leeside Leisure Centre in Cork, says: "A leisure centre is an essential item for marketing. If the hotel is busy, a lot of people use the facility. People do look for it who are members of facilities in their own areas."

In the four years since Leeside opened the industry has grown rapidly, says Harrington. It operates as a separate company from the Metropole hotel, where it is based. "We have our own membership as well as residents who use the centre," she says. "During fine summer weather attendance will drop, but at night, with the pool facility, it will be busy."

A club atmosphere is cultivated at Leeside to retain its members, who pay IR£450 (£378) for a full 12-month, single, peak-time membership. There is an off-peak rate of IR£305 (£256) available. Both amounts include a registration fee.

In contrast, at the Tethra Spa at Dublin's Merrion hotel, where membership is limited, a joining fee of IR£250 (£210) on top of an annual fee of £1,000 (£840) was quoted when the club opened last year. The nearby IR£3m (£2.52m) Shelbourne Club in the Shelbourne hotel quoted IR£900 (£756) a year with a joining fee of IR£400 (£336) when it opened during the same period.

Fees around the country for large-membership, popular clubs range between IR£200 (£168) and IR£600 (£504) for annual membership.

In five years, eight large leisure centres with an estimated cost of up to IR£6m (£5.04m) each have been built, or are planned, along the route of a new motorway around Dublin.

British firms eyeing the Irish market have found that building costs up to 20% higher than in Britain. LivingWell, Whitbread, Fitness First and Virgin all show interest in opening in the Republic and say they are assessing sites. Most already operate clubs in Northern Ireland.

To maximise yield, successful leisure centres manage to avoid conflict by guiding customer groups towards specific times. Clubs target members in different categories, including families, senior citizens, couples and employee memberships as well as single-peak customers. But hoteliers have to be focused on their own aims.

Gerry O'Connor, managing director of the Blarney Park hotel in Cork, told a recent Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management (ILAM) seminar on hotel leisure clubs: "Operating the club as an internal cost centre or department of the hotel, or as a more independent profit centre, is a strategic issue that requires careful consideration in line with the hotel's other strategic objectives."

ILAM (Ireland) director Roddy Gaynor says of the future: "In the early 1990s there was a quick sell-out of memberships at all new clubs and there were waiting lists. By the late 1990s sales of memberships had taken a longer approach and waiting lists were not so prevalent. In the next decade retention will become the main focus and waiting lists will be a thing of the past."

Investment in health club facilities is continuing as Irish marketing changes towards product rather than destination marketing. The provision of health centres in hotels will assume an added importance as niche marketing continues into 2000 and beyond. n

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