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Development of the Fitness Industry in Germany

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The Rise and Size of the Fitness Industry in Europe

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Abstract

Fitness has significantly grown in popularity over the last decades in Germany. Private operators, responsible for the majority of offerings, have reported a constant increase of memberships accompanied by an ongoing growth of revenues and a number of fitness facilities. Over this time the market has changed considerably. On the demand side, health-related aspects are the primary reason why people become physically active in a fitness club. This trend has led to a new group of fitness participants who is more heterogeneous including people from all age groups and equally men and women. On the supply side, the market can be classified into chain, single and micro-club operators. Single operators have the most facilities whereas chain operators account for the most members and the highest revenues. The supply side has adapted to the changing market by, for example, setting their focus on health-oriented programmes and by ensuring a sufficient level of their staff qualification.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Only since 2009 the DSSV has included data on private fitness clubs which have a functional area smaller than 200 \(m^{2}\).

  2. 2.

    The DSSV changed in 2017 the terminology for operators with less than 200 \(m^{2}\) from special interest to micro-clubs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Sport Economics and Sport Management, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Sören Dallmeyer, Kirstin Hallmann & Christoph Breuer

Authors
  1. Sören Dallmeyer
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  2. Kirstin Hallmann
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  3. Christoph Breuer
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Correspondence to Sören Dallmeyer .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Jeroen Scheerder

  2. University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Hanna Vehmas

  3. KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Kobe Helsen

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Dallmeyer, S., Hallmann, K., Breuer, C. (2020). Development of the Fitness Industry in Germany. In: Scheerder, J., Vehmas, H., Helsen, K. (eds) The Rise and Size of the Fitness Industry in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53348-9_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53348-9_10

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-53347-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-53348-9

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