An opportunity exists for clubs and fitness professionals to tap into the growing market of holiday-makers, who are opting for fitness-focused experiences over the traditional stay-by-the-pool type adventures.
While there will always be a place for relaxing holidays with cocktails by the pool, fitness tourism or challenge-based holidays are now a popular option for those looking for something more from their annual leave.
There is a growing desire for people to tick more items off their bucket list and return from a trip feeling accomplished, rather than simply relaxed.
Why Aussies are opting for fitness getaways
22-year-old personal trainer, Kate Collins from Geelong (VIC) decided to make her very first overseas trip, one that would push her personal and mental levels, by trekking the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea.
In her professional life, Kate was questioning her decision to be a personal trainer and felt she wanted to be really challenged. As a result, she chose to endure nine days of thick jungle, muddy, narrow tracks and on some days, torrential rain and came out the other end feeling like she could take on the world.
This inspirational journey proved to be the impact she needed to drive her to continue in her career and encourage her clients to push themselves harder as well.
Kate took on a stringent training program in the eight weeks leading up to her trek and as a PT discovered a few training tips to help others preparing for Kokoda or similar, which should be including in their training.
Such tips included:
1. Training while wearing a backpack.
2. Only introducing walking poles closer to the trip so the support on the track is a pleasant surprise.
3. Working out with the hiking boots on.
Adventure Travel and Fitness Getaways to Try
There are lots of awesome adventure and fitness-focused travel businesses, including:
- Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority has just launched a new campaign and website called Do Kokoda, which is designed to encourage Australians to share their Kokoda stories and images on www.dokokoda.com and to provide a platform for people wanting information about trekking.
- Wild Women On Top teach women how to climb the highest peaks in the world (wildwomenontop.com)
- Health and Fitness Travel are a company specialising in tailor-made healthy holidays (healthandfitnesstravel.com.au)
– Sharing Bali, originally known for its fitness retreats in Bali have expanded to now offer health and fitness programs in The French Alps and South Africa (www.sharingbali.com)
Check out these articles:
Changing Your New Mum Goal Setting Language
Your new-mum client walks into the gym. You congratulate her on her recent arrival, move through her pre-exercise questionnaire and then it’s time for goal setting! An often overlooked aspect of working with clients is helping them to reframe their view of what health and fitness means. Jen Dugard, founder of MumSafe, shares some advice
The Underestimated Versatility of Sandbag Training
When we think of functional fitness and strength training, barbells, dumbbells, and high intensity cardio machines like the Technogym SkillMill might come to mind first. There are also some simple, yet highly effective tools that can be absolute powerhouses for functional fitness workouts such as BOSU, battle ropes and the humble, often overlooked sandbag. Sandbags
An Insider’s Guide To Securing Sponsorship For Athletes
Sponsorship is abundant, and it’s available to athletes of all levels from elites to beginners as well as clubs, sporting organisations, businesses and individual professionals. Now more than ever before, sponsorship is about the benefits you can give to your sponsors off the sporting field. Media, social media, social networking and brand ambassador activities are
Finding The Right Sports Bra For Bigger Boobs
Anecdotally, we know that women often use their breasts as a barrier to activity, or as a reason to avoid doing certain activities or drills. However, this was demonstrated more scientifically during a study in the UK, which found that a whopping 17 per cent of women opted out of an activity due to their
Corporate Escapee Helping Others Find Balance From Burnout
James Zammit was inside a float tank, prepping for an upcoming interview when he decided he’d had enough of his corporate career. Fifteen years of long hours and what he described as a “toxic environment” had been taking its toll on his health and wellbeing. “I just decided, I’m not doing this anymore. I’m opening
Attract New Members By Offering Altitude Training At Your Facility
The fitness industry is always changing, and one of the newest trends gaining popularity is altitude training. Traditionally, this training was done naturally in the mountains, however, thanks to modern technology, we can now create high-altitude environments at sea level. This means that the same physical benefits are on offer to both elite athletes and
Can Sauna Therapy Help With Anxiety and Depression?
Millions of people deal with mental health issues like depression and anxiety every day. Many of them look for different ways to relieve stress, whether it’s from work or just feeling overwhelmed all the time. Among these, sauna therapy is becoming more popular due to the positive effects it may have on mental health. In
A Pilates and Recovery Franchise Opportunity For Investors
As demand for recovery modalities continue to rise and the popularity of Pilates keeps growing, entrepreneur David Altamura saw a gap in the health and wellness landscape. His successful studio, Wildsoul Wellness, is now available for franchising and opens up a real opportunity for potential investors and business owners to step into the Pilates and
TotalFusion Chermside Announces Exciting Expansion Plans
The team at What’s New in Fitness first visited TotalFusion Chermside back in 2018, when it was Australia’s newest studio concept – a heat-controlled, premium health and fitness facility built on the ethos of ‘movement as a way of life’ and a completely holistic offering that nurtures the mind and the body. The business has