Elevate 2023 – Our Takeaways
Back in June, the team at Alliance Leisure attended Elevate 2023; the UK’s largest trade show dedicated to fitness, sport and physical activity. During the event, the team took part in a number of workshops and seminars about issues facing the industry today, future trends, new technology and more.
One in two people will be over the age of 50 by 2030
This statistic demonstrates how the industry must adapt to meet the needs of a changing audience. It is critical that the industry recognises the needs of the people using our facilities, and provides the services relevant to them. A number of traders at Elevate 2023 were aimed at active aging, as well as long-term health and longevity of fitness.
The language of leisure
A significant point that was raised numerous times during Elevate is the language that is used within the sector. A point is being reached where the language of leisure is starting to change to focus more on health, wellness and physical activity, rather than fitness, as well as inclusivity. The shift to a language of health and wellbeing is a direct response to the rising wellness trend that is emerging, and immersive language makes facilities feel more accessible to some potentially marginalised groups, as well as those who feel as though they don’t ‘fit in’ to their idea of someone who uses a leisure centre. These factors combined will help the sector to start reaching more of the 85% of the population who aren’t currently members of a leisure facility.
Working together as an industry
The need for collaboration within the leisure industry is more important than ever. In order to work towards an overall objective of getting more people active, operators must be willing to share data and insight into their successes. By sharing data, we can start to build a clearer picture of the needs of the public, and what can be done in order to meet these needs.
The need to collaborate with the NHS
There is a growing focus on health and wellbeing within the sector (and has been for over a decade now). Elevate 2023 demonstrated this clearly with an influx of traders representing health and wellness businesses, including supplement providers, body composition analysis businesses, medical testing facilities and more. Some of these businesses are already working closely with the NHS, which is a critical source of data which would be highly valuable to the leisure sector. As well as this, many conversations took place across panels covering the need for the NHS and leisure sector to work together. There is a missing link between healthcare providers and the leisure industry; it is possible that fewer people would need to seek healthcare if they were more active. There is a growing need for the NHS and the leisure industry to collaborate to encourage more people to partake in an active lifestyle to help improve their health and keep them out of hospitals, as well as the NHS being a crucial source of data for the sector to work with.
Innovation and sustainability
It is critical that a new innovative approach is taken in the development and delivery of leisure facilities in order to create a sustainable model for the public sector. By encouraging participation in schemes such as PSDS, the leisure industry can start to make changes to its enviromental impact. Suppliers, operators and contractors are all taking significant steps towards working collectively towards creating a more sustainable leisure industry, and by continuing this collaborative effort, positive changes will continue to be made.
