"As we emerge from the craziness of 2020, this year has amazing growth potential for our industry," shares Daron Allen, president and CEO of VFPnext. "This is the greatest member grab opportunity—likely ever—and making sure to be up to speed on the best ways to take advantage is key. 2021 or as I like to say '2020-WON' is our opportunity to come back strong post-pandemic and really drive revenue in the second half of the year!”
From March 2020 to March 2021, what some people have called the annus horribilis (a Latin phrase meaning “horrible year”), we, as an industry, learned just what we were made of. IHRSA and its members took action. Clubs helped their communities and members cope by reaching out to give them tools to stay active and healthy. The good news today is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel—and the road to revival leads to Los Angeles on September 20-22.
“As conditions continue to improve in the United States and Asia-Pacific regions, clubs are seeing renewed interest from consumers on improving their health and returning to their fitness activities,” says Jay Ablondi, IHRSA’s executive vice president of global products. “The number of vaccines distributed is growing exponentially each week, which is boosting optimism that a return to a ‘new normal’ will be here by the second half of 2021.”
A Revival at the IHRSA Convention
IHRSA 2021 will not just be a health and fitness convention. It will be a celebration of the revival and perseverance of our industry. In fact, it is likely to be the first large in-person gathering for our industry in more than a year.
“It’s early days, but IHRSA has already received commitments from nearly 100 industry partner companies who are planning to exhibit,” says Ablondi. “There is excitement building toward getting everyone back together and of course, back to business!”
Jeff VanDixhorn, CRO at Club Automation, Motionsoft, CSI Spectrum, attests to that. “We are excited to see everyone again at IHRSA 2021!" he says. "In addition to catching up with old friends, like many others, we met some incredible people through virtual events and roundtables. We can’t wait to finally connect with these individuals in person at IHRSA! Post-pandemic, there is so much potential for our industry. The timing of IHRSA couldn’t be better to seize this opportunity and drive growth in the second half of the year.”