An Essential Service
Image courtesy of Myzone.
In the month when the world marks two years of living with COVID, members of the Global Health and Fitness Alliance’s Advisory Council share details of their mission with Kate Cracknell
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orged in 2020 as COVID lockdowns first impacted, the Global Health and Fitness Alliance (GHFA) has set out to confirm health and fitness clubs as an essential service. Since the early part of 2020, the health and fitness industry around the world has been decimated, with thousands of gyms closing their doors forever - a direct result of the devastating impact of lockdown. All of this has happened in spite of surging interest in health and wellbeing among populations and governments across the globe. It’s happened in spite of the health and fitness sector’s unparalleled health credentials. At the very moment when fitness facilities’ physical, mental and emotional health benefits were needed more than ever, lockdown saw those clubs forced to close.
This was the catalyst that led to the creation of the Global Health & Fitness Alliance (GHFA). Sector leaders around the world recognised an opportunity and a need to come together with a singular focus, a global remit and the authority to move at pace. Facilitated by IHRSA, they did exactly that, forming the GHFA in 2020: a global alliance of expert leaders from across the health and fitness industry, collaborating to evidence the sector’s value to society and public health, establish clubs as an essential service, and lay new foundations for the future growth and success of the entire sector. Here, the members of the GHFA Advisory Council go into more detail about what the Alliance has set out to achieve, why, and how it’s approaching this important task.
Greg Oliver, Chief Executive, Fitness & Lifestyle Group (Australia and Asia-Pacific) “Our mission is to have health and fitness clubs recognised, across the globe, as an essential service - one that is committed to solving the crisis of physical inactivity. This is both a long- and a short-term mission. “In the short term, it’s about survival. We have to grow awareness of our sector’s vital health contribution, so clubs can stay open even if other sectors go back into lockdown. “In the longer term, ‘essential’ 44 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 148
is about the evolution and growth that comes from being recognised as a powerful, value-adding sector for societies and individuals worldwide. “It all starts by evidencing our sector’s value to society and public health; many of the decisions made during the pandemic stemmed from external lack of awareness of what our sector really does. The clue to our value is in our name: we are health, not hospitality. “Through research and advocacy, we will strengthen our sector’s voice at the table of the World Health Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and other United Nations/international organisations. We will demonstrate our value to their agendas, to in turn influence the agendas of national governments.”
