Boston—October 4, 2018—Today, the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) announced plans to enhance its popular IHRSA Passport Program, which offers members of participating IHRSA clubs discounted guest access to a global network of health clubs when they travel. Beginning in 2019, the IHRSA Passport Program will be available exclusively on mobile devices via a convenient and user-friendly app for gyms and gym-goers alike.

IHRSA has chosen TrainAway, based in Copenhagen, to digitalize the IHRSA Passport Program, capitalizing on the company’s innovative technology and user interface to give members of participating IHRSA facilities access to a worldwide network of health clubs when they travel. In 2018, more than 1,500 health clubs worldwide participated in the IHRSA Passport Program.

“Pairing the IHRSA Passport Program with a mobile app will give millions of members at IHRSA clubs a convenient way to easily find and gain discounted access to quality IHRSA clubs around the world,” said Jay Ablondi, IHRSA’s Executive Vice President of Global Products. “The IHRSA Passport Program gives participating clubs a valuable benefit that they can give to all of their members, which makes it easy for them to stay physically active when they travel,” he added.

Erkki Torn, CEO of MyFitness, an IHRSA-member facility located in Estonia, agrees. “We looked for a good digital platform for travelers for some time, and wanted to promote active lifestyles among our members while they travel,” he said. “The TrainAway platform is technologically very easy to use and, most importantly, it is not integrated into our IT system,” Torn added. “We are very happy with it!”

“As the global association representing the health club industry, it is important that the mobile app chosen to power the IHRSA Passport Program is available in several languages,” says Joe Moore, IHRSA’s President and CEO. The app is now available in Portuguese and TrainAway plans to add French, Spanish, Italian, and Russian languages prior to the IHRSA European Congress later this month in Lisbon (October 15-18).

“The IHRSA Passport Program is invaluable to us,” says Alan Leach, an IHRSA Board Member and Chief Executive of the West Wood Clubs located in Ireland. “The IHRSA Passport Program is a great selling and marketing tool for our membership team, particularly with the corporate market. The program gives us a great competitive advantage because it adds a special exclusivity to club membership. Also, as a retention tool it’s indispensable, as members who leave us lose out on that ‘exclusive’ perk of being able to use other clubs when they travel.”

Win-win for Gyms and Users

By digitalizing the IHRSA Passport Program and allowing users to search for and purchase gym passes via a mobile app, IHRSA has removed any administrative obstacles associated with the program for IHRSA clubs. Club staff will only be required to identify a mobile pass on a user’s phone—with a clear activation timer countdown indicating a valid guest pass has been purchased. For IHRSA member clubs, they simply share a discount code with their traveling members to save 25% when purchasing a one-day pass at clubs that participate in the IHRSA Passport Program.

How It Works

Members of gyms that are part of the IHRSA Passport Program will use the TrainAway app to search for and find IHRSA health clubs around the world. Using a discount code provided by their home club, users will save 25% on the purchase of one-day passes at IHRSA Passport clubs. TrainAway collects all payments from consumers and sends the club an activity report and payment each month. There is no cost to the club to enroll in the IHRSA Passport Program, powered by TrainAway, nor is any IT integration required. As always, the IHRSA Passport Program is free but only available to IHRSA member clubs.

The IHRSA Passport Program, powered by TrainAway, will launch in 2019. Even if your club already participates, you must enroll through TrainAway in order to provide this benefit to your members. To learn more or to enroll, visit the program's site.

About IHRSA

IHRSA, the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association is a not-for-profit trade association representing health and fitness facilities, gyms, spas, sports clubs, and suppliers worldwide. IHRSA and its members are dedicated to making the world healthier through regular exercise and activity promotion. IHRSA's events provide a vast array of speakers on business and corporate culture, instructional sessions on all aspects of succeeding in the health club industry, social events to mix and mingle with peers, and the most spectacular trade shows in the industry. For more than 30 years, the IHRSA Passport Program has provided discounted guest access for members of participating IHRSA facilities worldwide.

About TrainAway

TrainAway is dedicated to eliminating barriers to fitness worldwide, by making it as easy to work out on the go as it is at home.

  • Founded in January 2017, TrainAway is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • Launched the world’s largest gym database of approximately 130,000 gyms.
  • Users have the option to purchase one-day, three-day, or one-week access to a partner gym. TrainAway is not a subscription-based service.
  • It is free to download the TrainAway app; the only cost occurs when users buy a pass via the platform.
  • For more information, visit TrainAway website.