Approx. 5,600 visitors and more than 100 exhibitors came to FIBO Global Fitness South Africa from 26 to 28 October. It was the first time that the event, which was created to serve as both a summit and a festival, had something for both trade and private visitors. In addition to local providers, exhibitors also included international firms from the fitness industry such as Dis-Chem Pharmacies, Technogym, Matrix, Miha Bodytec, StimaWell EMS, Bounce Inc and Dranged. Their participation demonstrates the importance of the South African fitness market, whose trends are not very different from those evident in the European and American markets.

Digitisation, for example, is a key theme found everywhere from trainee support and digitally equipped fitness equipment to measuring one’s own performance and sharing it in social networks. Tony Payne, Joint CEO of PentaSystems (Pty) Ltd, exclusive distributors of Technogym in South America, has identified another trend in “more motivational and intensive training experiences, such as group fitness, functional training and HIT training“. Here, people prefer to train with other like-minded individuals, and competition has a major role to play, as does the incentive to train like professional athletes. Furthermore, trainees are increasingly looking for programmes that have been tailored to their individual needs. The international fitness industry should continue to keep an eye on this exciting market.
The next FIBO Global Fitness Africa will take place from 25 to 27 October 2019 in Johannesburg.

New source:https://www.fibo.com/en/News/FIBO-is-shaping-the-fitness-market-in-South-Africa/n418/