Nuno Almeida

Direction and Management of Health & Fitness Clubs Nuno Almeida

Analysis of business management strategies and services of fitness clubs With the increase in social awareness of the benefit of practicing physical activities, gyms have begun to invest in new techniques to increase the number of people interested in their services. The purpose of this study is to collect information in order to understand: 1) the attributes made available by the gym; 2) the environment and competence of the staff; 3) other ancillary attributes aimed at pleasing the customer. The information was collected through surveys of the managing bodies and users of health clubs in Portugal. It was concluded that customers give preference to the cleanliness conditions, the friendliness and competence of the staff, the opening hours and the environment in the gym. The managers need to improve these conditions for their customers so that they attend the health club more often and thus become loyal for more years in their gym. It was found that preferences and degrees of satisfaction may change according to the seniority of the customer in the Health Club.