HOTELS GET

Business travelers now place a greater innportance on fitness, moving all

segments of the hospitality business to re-evaluate their fitness offerings.

ot many hotel guests expect to

use an 85,000-square-foot fitness center for free with their
$259 per night hotel room.
Nor do they expect to take a
Zumba class, book a session
with a personal trainer or
receive nutritional counseling while there.
However, at Renaissance ClubSport, they
can do just that.
Leisure Sports, a development and
management company headquartered in
Pleasanton, CA, operates five ClubSport
athletic clubs. But it also operates two
Renaissance ClubSport facilities, one in
Walnut Creek, CA, and the other in Aliso
Viejo, CA, that are more than fitness centers. Through a franchising arrangement
with the Marriott, which owns Renaissance hotels, each of these facilities is a
fitness center and a hotel operating as
one business, says Brian Amador, general
manager of Renaissance ClubSport and

director of hotel and club operations for

Leisure Sports. (For more on Renaissance ClubSport, read the online story at
www.clubindustry.com.)
"The club is very insulating against
the shifts that a hotel can have due to the
economy or business moving in and out
of the area," Amador says. "A hotel can
be very volatile, and the club can be very
stable. So as a business model, working
together is a sound model."
Although Renaissance ClubSport
may be unique, fitness has become an
important draw for guests in much of
the hospitality business, starting in the
luxury brands, then making its way to
full-service brands and now even at
economy brands. One of those economy
brands is Days Inn Worldwide, Parsippany, NJ, which will introduce a fitness
program starting in September. (For
more on Days Inn's plan, read the online
story at www.clubindustry.com.)

Several studies on hotel fitness

offerings led to a re-evalution of fitness
amenities by many hotels. A 2006 study,
in particular, had an effect on Hilton
Worldwide, McLean, VA, according
to Jodi Sullivan, senior director of '
global fitness for Hilton. That study
found that the majority of the more
than 500 business travelers surveyed
said fitness centers were among the top
five most important features of a hotel.
Hilton Worldwide's own research in
2006 found that the presence of a wellmaintained hotel fitness center featuring
high-end equipment could increase guest
satisfaction by as much as 30 percent,
Sullivan says.
"It was extremely important back
then, and it continues to grow in importance," she says.
After reviewing the research, Hilton
determined in 2006 to make fitness a
high priority by teaming with Precor,

By Pamela Kufahl, editor-in-chief

Leisure Sports operates two Renaissance ClubSport facilities, which are hotels and 85,000-square-foot fitness centers. The centers offer hotel
quest access to the same pools, kayaking classes. Zumba classes and other amenities as members. Photos courtesy of Leisure Sports.

Hiiton Woridwide tries to

locate its fitness centers in
premium spaces witiiin its
hotels (right). Photo
courtesy of Hilton Worldwide

brands (right), InterContinental Hotels

Group is launching a
wellness brand called
EVEN. Photo courtesy
of Intercontinental
Hote

HOTELS GET FIT

Woodinville, WA, to launch co-branded

Fitness by Precor fitness facilities at fullservice Hilton, Doubletree and Embassy
Suites hotels in North America and at
the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.
A year later, it was rolled out across the
entire portfolio. Today, Hilton has fitness
centers in 3,900 hotels, Sullivan says.
Also in 2006, Hilton Worldwide created a fitness department to oversee fitness
centers and Wellness programming across
each of its brands. Sullivan leads the department with support by the property,
operations and other departments.
"It is my responsibility to create that
state-of-the-art environment to motivate
and empower our guests to continue a
healthy Hfestyle on the road, especially when
they are staying with us," Sullivan says.

TAKING MEASUREMENTS
Other hotel chains also began responding to these survey insights, moving their
fitness centers out of converted former
conference rooms to more prominent

locations. At least one hotel group, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), Denham, UK, which operates nine brands, has
announced a Wellness hotel brand called
EVEN Hotels. (Read more about EVEN
Hotels online atwww.clubindustry.com.)
Since 2004, the number of hotels that
offer a fitness option has grown, according to the American Hotel and Lodging
Association's (AHLA) 2012 Lodging
Survey of 12,000 hotels. In 202, 84 percent of hotels at all levels offered a fitness
center, up from 63 percent in 2004.
Ninety-nine percent of luxury hotels
offered a fitness center in 2012 compared
to 92 percent in 2004, and 99 percent
of upper upscale hotels had an exercise
room or fitness center in 2012 compared
to 95 percent in 2004.
Ninety-eight percent of upscale hotels
had a fitness center or exercise room in
2012 compared to 95 percent in 2004.
Almost as high were the upper midscale
chains with 96 percent in 2012. The 2004
survey did not include this category.

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Eighty-three percent of midscale

chains had exercise rooms or fitness centers in 2012, an increase from 2004 when
the midscale hotels were broken out by
those with food and beverage (72 percent
had a fitness option) and those without
(78 percent had a fitness option).
In the economy market, 46 percent
offered a fitness center or room in 2012,
an increase from 2004 when 29 percent
offered the same.
Despite these numbers, Joe Mclnerney, president and CEO of AHLA, says
that the importance of hospitality fitness centers often depends on the hotel's
location. Hotels on an interstate highway
typically attract travelers who are just
passing through and are less interested in
working out. However, hotels in citieseven economy hotelstypically attract
more multi-night business travelers who
are more focused on fitness.
For hotels with a large contingent of
business travelers, competition can be
fierce, so meeting expectations is key.

"Everything now for the hospitality

industry is about the guest experience,"
says Kent Collins, director of global
national accounts at Life Fitness, Schiller
Park, IL. "Everything they are trying to
do is enhance that guest experience. The
fitness center is no different from any
other common area in their facility."
Hotel operators also know that guests
expect more of their hotel's fitness center
today, Sullivan says.
"They are expecting the same if not
better workout experience than they have
at their local gym," she says.
The growing importance ofthe fitness
center can be seen in the fact that they
are no longer relegated to the basement.
Sullivan's department works with every
Hilton Worldwide property globally to
assist them with building out the space,
advising them to seek premium space on
upper levels.
Luxury hotels often had a good mix
of equipment, but now, more mid-priced
hotels are adding a better mix of equip-

Later this year, Intercontinental Hotels Group will open its first EVEN Hotel, a wellnessoriented brand. Image courtesy of Intercontinental Hotels Group.

ment that includes balance along with

cardio and strength equipment, according to Steve Suchanek, director of product management at Cybex International,
Medway, MA. Cardio still takes up the
majority of space in most hotel fitness
centers, he adds.
The importance of cardio means that
the options on cardio are becoming more
vital, including entertainment options and
technology that allows users to track their
workouts. Tracking has become easier with
the networked fitness options on the latest
generation of most cardio equipment.
Because fitness offerings are more

important to the hospitality market, that

market has become more attractive to
vendors. Even though most hospitality
growth is occurring in Asia Pacific where
Collins estimates two hotels open every
day, the U.S. hotel market also remains
attractive. In 2011, the United States had
51,214 hospitality properties, according
to AHLA. Those properties refresh their
equipment every four to six years, Collins says.
Beyond that, inclusion in a hotel fitness
center is good advertising for vendors.
"Consider the fact that hotels are like
show rooms for us," says Jay MuUer, area

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HOTELS GET FIT

sales developer-hospitality for Technogym, Cesena, Italy. Guests use that
vendor's equipment for the length of their
stay, which equals brand exposure that
could translate to an equipment sale.

OPERATION PLANS
Even with the growing emphasis on
providing higher quality fitness centers,
few hotel operators have the expertise
to manage the larger centers that need
oversight. Some hotel operators have
turned to management companies or
even commercial clubs, Mclnerney says.
Other hotels partner with health clubs to
place a club inside their hotel walls.
None ofthe U.S.-located IHG brands
have third parties manage their gyms,
the company says. However, in certain
markets and where appropriate, IHG has
partner gyms. For example, the company's Crowne Plaza Times Square hotel
partners with New York Sports Clubs,
which is located inside the hotel.

Management at Hilton brands varies.

Some manage their own fitness centers
while others use third-party management, Sullivan says. Hotels with commercial clubs in close proximity may have
an agreement allowing guests to use the
commercial club.
In 2010, Core Performance, Phoenix,
began designing workout programs for
Sheraton Hotels & Resorts Worldwide,
which invested $120 million in rolling out
the program that also includes healthier food
options in hotels and room service menus,
in-room workouts and healthy snacks.
Exhale, New York, operates its clubs
in several hotels. The Sports Club/LA
has agreements with The Ritz-Carlton
Boston and Washington and several Four
Seasons hotels.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Although some hotels do charge for
the use of the fitness center, many do
not. The 2012 AHLA study found that

Paying too
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^ i ^

25 percent of hotels charge, down from

41 percent in 2004. Luxury hotels are
most likely to offer free use ofthe fitness
centers (93 percent in 2012 compared to
92 percent in 2004) while that number
steadily declines with each price segment, ending with just 24 percent of
budget clubs offering free use of the
fitness center, compared to 26 percent
in 2004.
Because few hospitality fitness centers provide a direct financial reward, the
return on investment can be intangible,
measured solely by scores on guest satisfaction surveys.
"Sometimes the return on investment
is that if you don't have it, you won't
get the customers so you have to have
it, but you can't put a number to that,"
Mclnerney says. "You can't say that I
got another 20 people because I had the
fitness center."
However, Clyde Guinn, president of
Days Inn, part of the Wyndham Hotel

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wet foors.
The DayFit program that Days Inn will introduce in September will convert
one to two guests rooms (depending on the size of the hotel) on the grouhd
level into a fitness room. Image courtesy of Wyndham Hotel Group.

Group, says one ofthe main ways to measure return is through

the STAR Report, developed by Smith Travel Research. Most
U.S. hotels participate in the STAR Report, which collects all
the occupancy and average rate data for the majority of North
American hotels. Smith Travel Research puts each hotel in a
competitor set, which is a group of at least five competitors in
that hotel's tier level and neighborhood. The participating hotels
can then compare their performance to that of their competitive set on a weekly and monthly basis. Guinn says that through
this report, operators can determine if adding a fitness center
translates to higher occupancy rates than competitors without
fitness centers.
However, the more immediate indicator of a return on this
investment comes from feedback online, particularly through
Trip Advisor, Guinn says. Days Inn's first statistics from its Trip
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HOTELS GET FIT

5.0 on the high end) showed that the difference in revenue per available room for
a hotel that rated a 4.0 vs. a 3.0 was $10
more per day per room, Guinn says. For
a 100-room hotel with 36,500 available
room nights per year, that equates to an
additional $365,000 per year in revenue.
"That is a difference in every room
you have available in a year regardless of
whether you sold it or not," Guinn says.
"That difference is almost pure profit."
Guinn says he is convinced that his
brand's DayFit program will help Days
Inn franchisees improve their rankings
and increase their revenue.
"You can monetize this," Guinn says. "I
am extremely confident that it will result in
a better market share for our brand and a
better financial situation for our owners."
HOTELS FOLLOW CLUBS
Despite the greater focus on fitness
in the hospitality business, the industry

has room for growth in this area. MuUer

says that some hotels still shop by price
point, but as the world continues to become more social and mobile, hotels will
look for partners to provide content that
offers guests a unique, entertaining and
engaging experience. To do so, hotels
will need to know their guests, how they
like to exercise and their motivations for
exercising.
"Understanding what motivates them
to move to help personalize the experience
is probably the most critical thing in the
future for the properties," Mller says.
As the equipment at more commercial
clubs become networked, hotels will feel
the pressure to offer the same, says David
Diehl, global hospitality sales manager
for Precor, because people will expect
more from their equipment, including the
ability to track their progress. This movement means opportunities for creative
marketing and loyalty programs, which

could turn hospitality fitness centers into

revenue generators. These types of marketing opportunities are already being
used in commercial clubs.
"I think the club industry is setting
the pace for the hotel industry because
club members are the heart ofthe traveling sector," Amador says. "And they are
becoming more knowledgeable, and they
are driving a lot ofthe decisions that we
are making in the hotels these days because it is a very educated clientele."
Equipment quality, environmental
quality, and the cleanliness and condition
of the facility drive successful clubs and
will drive successful hotel fitness centers.
Amador says.
"People have come to realize that
travel may not be the healthiest thing to
do," Amador says. "People are looking
for healthy travel, and I think hotels have
positioned themselves to accommodate
that need. They have to."

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