54.3 F
San Diego
Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024
-Advertisement-

Fitness Trade Show to Fill 400,000 Square Feet at the Convention Center

The San Diego Convention Center is preparing to host the 27th annual International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association Conference and Tradeshow from March 5 to 8.

Representing a $17.6 billion industry based on the most recent 2006 census, fitness businesses from more than 74 countries are registered for the event, including more than 400 exhibiting companies.

The Boston-based trade association serves the health and fitness club industry, with 5,600 U.S. members and 8,500 members internationally.

IHRSA spokesperson Rosemary Lavery said that trade show organizers typically expect to host between 10,000 and 12,000 fitness professionals annually, making IHRSA one of the top five largest tradeshows in the world, she said.

“This year we’ve already broken our 2007 record for square footage sold, having sold 400,000 square feet at last year’s San Francisco convention,” said Lavery.

San Diego represents one of the top nine cities in terms of health club memberships, as 21 percent of San Diegans hold a health club membership. An estimated 42.7 million people, or 15 percent of the U.S. population, have memberships.

Kelly Nakai is director of marketing for Sorrento Valley-based IDEA Health & Fitness Association and said that while IHRSA is the major health club association, IDEA is for fitness professionals.

“We offer educational programs and opportunities to personal trainers and teachers, the professionals who link our organization with the consumers,” Nakai said.

IDEA representatives say they are scheduled for an exhibit at the IHRSA show this March, Nakai said, as the two associations work together, promoting fitness education and inspiring a fight against youth obesity.

Local business owner Judi Sheppard Missett said that while trade shows do not directly increase her customers, she plans to attend her 15th IHRSA convention this year because of the educational and industry networking benefits it provides her.

Missett founded Jazzercise Inc. in 1969 and moved the business to San Diego in 1972.

By 1980 she started franchising her exercise class business, and she now employs 7,200 instructors teaching more than 32,000 classes weekly, with 120 employees in San Diego.

“I attribute a lot of my successful business growth to the healthy, ‘body beautiful’ attitudes of San Diegans and Californians,” said Missett, who said that the local military presence helped to spread Jazzercise internationally, as some military-affiliated instructors continued to teach classes when transferred overseas.

The company has grown 12 percent in revenues from 2006, earning $85.1 million for the 2007 fiscal year.

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-