IHRSA, ChinaFit Announce Strategic Membership Licensing Agreement
Posted: June 7, 2021 in IHRSA
BOSTON, MA and BEIJING, CHINA – Following an effective and mutually beneficial 11-year partnership, IHRSA, The Global Health & Fitness Association, and ChinaFit have announced a Strategic Membership Licensing Agreement to expand IHRSA knowledge and membership services through China.
“2021, the beginning of a new decade, marks the upgraded cooperation of ChinaFit and IHRSA. IHRSA will open its Chinese-language membership services to the fitness industry in [the] Chinese mainland for the first time,” said Arthur Yan, ChinaFit president.
As part of the agreement, and to support China’s growing fitness market, key IHRSA documents, presentations, web and social media pages, and research and data reports from around the globe will be translated and offered in Chinese. A team will be in place to provide real-time support to IHRSA members in China to service their additional needs.
“IHRSA is very excited to officially launch our full-immersion membership service program in Chinese,” said John Holsinger, director of IHRSA Asia-Pacific. “IHRSA currently works with several international club brands operating in China. With local translation and servicing personnel providing even greater depth of support to the industry, we look forward to helping raise the operational professionalism, standards, and success of all health and fitness operators throughout China.”
As the second-largest health and fitness club market in Asia, the Chinese market serves upwards of 9 million members across 27,600 clubs and generates roughly $5.2 billion in revenue ($34 billion RMB).
“IHRSA is fully committed to and focused on international fitness industry growth and success,” said Brent Darden, IHRSA interim president and CEO. “We are honored to expand our cooperation with ChinaFit to position the Chinese industry for future success and hope to gain more global outreach from this partnership. Now is the time to widen awareness, trends, and knowledge globally to harness the public’s increased perception of health.”
“We hope—and also believe—that the IHRSA membership service system of over 30 years will surely help the domestic fitness industry of China better understand and upgrade their membership services,” said Yan.
IHRSA and ChinaFit have successfully hosted the annual ChinaFit / IHRSA China Management Forum in cities across China for the past 11 years. The forum is the largest, high-end senior-management conference in the Asia-Pacific region. Attendees participate in interactive workshops focused on personal training management, sales and marketing, customer service, member retention, and more. This year’s event will take place in Hangzhou, China, in December.
