Sports | Sunday 10 May, 2015 12:34 am |

Key players in KSA’s thriving sports & fitness industry discussed and recommended steps for the industry to take advantage of the huge opportunities presented by the GCC’s biggest economy.

The exclusive meeting, which was held at the Hilton Hotel in Jeddah, also served as a “kick off” for Saudi International Sport & Fitness (ISF Saudi), the Kingdom’s only major international sports and fitness exhibition, to be held on the 25th – 28th of November this year at the Jeddah Centre for Forums and Events. ISF Saudi is the Kingdom's only event dedicated to the international Sport, Fitness, Health and Wellness industry, and is powered by FIBO – the worldwide leading trade fair for Fitness, Wellness and Health. The meeting was organized and led by Reed Sunaidi Exhibitions, organizers of ISF Saudi.

To kick off the meeting, Nasser Obeid, Managing Director for Delta Fitness Authority (Distributors of Life Fitness) commented that while the world’s leading exhibition in Germany, FIBO, was all about promoting the industry, FIBO’s KSA exhibition, ISF Saudi, is an exhibition to help establish the industry in the first place.

“The industry needs to develop, and we have a long way to go” said Mr. Obeid, “and an exhibition like ISF Saudi can help this development”. He stated that KSA is still at the first stage of sports development, that being improving the sport and fitness infrastructure and facilities in Saudi Arabia. This needs expertise, both local and international. To be able to have the expertise you need talent, and to be able to bring talent you need good management.
“Once you have the infrastructure, the expertise, the talent and the management you are in the position to advance in terms of education, to get professional business community and general public fully engaged in sport and fitness and ultimately promote a sporting culture for Saudi Arabia.”

Ahmed Mohiy, from Fitness and Fun said: I’m really happy to attend this meeting because we need to be well organized in advance as a sector this year. Last year was a trial, but it exceeded all our expectations. We are expecting a bigger and better exhibition this year and look forward to participating in a big way for 2015. We need to see more key players in the government, and important decision makers in the sporting industry more involved as well as the federations, we look forward to working together to achieve this.

At the meeting, some of key trends in the sport and fitness sector in Saudi Arabia were identified and discussed. These include signs of a move towards healthier lifestyle in the Kingdom, which has facilitated a 16 percent year-on-year growth in the private fitness club industry in the country. Accordingly, the sport & fitness equipment and infrastructure needs over the next 5 years are currently valued at US$20 billion, while current imports of vitamins, sportswear and sports equipment stand at just under $1bn. This means that the level of importation and development of sports equipment, facilities and expertise needs to increase exponentially to meet this demand.

A growing trend of new concept fitness training has spurred growth in the refurbishment and re-kit of an increasingly competitive fitness studio market. With sports and leisure infrastructure growth going hand in hand with a hospitality boom in KSA, public and private investments in Saudi Arabia’s sports sector registered an increase of 40 percent each year. Such investments have included the privatisation of sports clubs as an economic strategy. Furthermore, an emerging sports sector for women has facilitated the requirement for separate and specific sports facilities

Haitham Alwakil, Operations Manager for World Gym and Mazen Fitness, highlighted that in developed Fitness markets, Sports and Fitness club operators are very sophisticated in the way with they use customer information. He said a technological advance is need through bringing software firms into Saudi to help analyse customer behaviour, enabling fitness club operators to be able to focus on what is most important for customers. The organization highlighted that through FIBO and the ISF Exhibition they can bring these companies to Saudi Arabia.

“The continued attention and emphasis on health, fitness and wellbeing in Saudi Arabia, as well as the fantastic response we received from last year’s event, has clearly encouraged us to organise the second edition of ISF Saudi” said John Tappin, Show Director, Reed Sunaidi Exhibitions. “These elements serve to confirm the huge business opportunities that can be further exploited and maximised in Saudi Arabia by manufacturers and importers of sports, health and fitness products and services from around the world. Our focus this year will be on Sport and Fitness equipment and infrastructure, as well as allowing exhibiting companies a space for professional training, education and certification at the exhibition.” 

This year’s edition of ISF Saudi promises to be bigger and better as it is expected to surpass the 6,365 unique attendees, 58 exhibitors and 104 brands from 14 countries recorded during its inaugural edition last year.

Following last year’s successful staging of the event, ISF Saudi 2015 will continue to have various zones focused on different sports and product categories, to address the specific requirements of the market.
Accordingly, three key sectors will continue to be represented within these segments: Fitness, Retail, and Infrastructure.

In addition, ISF Saudi 2015 will also continue to serve as a unique platform for industry dialogue and relationship development among private organisations, industry brands and government bodies. Apart from offering an unmatched venue for discussion about the Kingdom’s health and fitness sector, its Business Connect Program will once again facilitate direct and effective business networking and trading opportunities.