HFA Strengthens Global Partnerships Throughout Asia

Bangkok: A Debut Show and a ‘Dark Horse’ Market

The circuit began at the inaugural SPORTEC Thailand 2026, held at BITEC in Bangkok. Organizers billed the show as a gateway to the Asian fitness and sports market, and the debut drew more than 16,300 attendees and 222 exhibition booths.

Tan moderated a keynote panel examining whether Thailand is emerging as Southeast Asia’s fitness “dark horse.” The panel brought together Mark Buchanan, CEO of Evolution Wellness Group, which operates Fitness First locations across Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines; Mike Lamb, CEO of Fitness and Lifestyle Group Thailand and Jetts Fitness Thailand; and Jack Thomas, founder and CEO of BASE and co-founder of The Fit Guide.

With two of the three largest fitness operators in Thailand represented on stage (Fitness First and Jetts), the discussion came against a backdrop of several international fitness groups signaling plans to enter the Thai market. This group includes Virgin Active, the country’s third-largest operator, represented at the show by Julien Bera, Virgin Active country director for Thailand and Singapore.

Japan: A Key Market Continues to Grow

Wagner and Tan traveled to Tokyo for SPORTEC Japan 2026 and met with the board of the Fitness Industry Association of Japan (FIAJ) to exchange views on how the industry can get traction with governments and health authorities in expanding access to exercise. HFA and FIAJ said they hope to continue the dialogue at The HFA Show in Las Vegas next March.

“Japan is one of the world’s most important fitness markets,” Wagner noted in her remarks to attendees of SPORTEC Japan. “More than 8,400 commercial health clubs serve approximately 6.2 million members. When public facilities are included, that grows to roughly 20,000 facilities serving about 10 million people—just over 8% of the population.”

The HFA representatives also reconnected with Toshikazu Saito, founding chairman of Renaissance Inc., one of Japan’s largest fitness companies and recipient of HFA’s John Holsinger Global Leader Award in 2025. Wagner toured a Renaissance facility and Genki Gym, the company’s new senior-focused rehabilitation concept. Saito and Renaissance CEO Misao Mochizuki have learned a number of lessons from serving Japan’s aged population, which includes Okinawa, one of the world’s Blue Zones, regions with the largest concentration of centenarians.

On the exhibition floor, Purpose Brands Chief International Officer Sander van den Born discussed the growth of the company’s Anytime Fitness, Orangetheory, and The Bar Method brands in the region. Anytime Fitness alone has grown to nearly 1,300 locations in Japan. Other concepts have scaled quickly in the market as well, with Curves operating roughly 2,000 Japanese locations and chocoZAP around 1,700, a track record that has drawn growing interest from other international brands eyeing entry into Japan.

ChinaFit: A 15-Year Partnership Continues

In Beijing, Wagner built on those themes while acknowledging China’s rapidly growing fitness industry.

“The Chinese fitness market, which is valued at over $2.1 billion, is Asia’s second largest,” said Wagner. “The Chinese commercial club market serves an estimated 50 million members. Although total penetration remains under 5%—lower than more developed markets—the massive population presents vast growth opportunities.”

Wagner encouraged operators to look past traditional business metrics and prioritize measurable health outcomes, stronger ties with healthcare providers, dedicated programming for older adults, and more deliberate use of technology to improve the member experience. She also pointed to HFA’s role in convening operators from more than 50 countries to exchange ideas, coordinate advocacy, and build the case for exercise as a preventive-health investment.

Like Japan, China has challenges related to serving a growing aging population.

“Our 2026 HFA Global Report shows that the fastest-growing fitness segment worldwide is adults over 60,” Wagner explained, sharing data from the report set to be released in September. “Adults in this age group now make up approximately 23% of China’s 1.4 billion people. Operators who design programs specifically for older adults—functional movement, balance, fall prevention, and social connection—are finding that this demographic is not only loyal but deeply grateful. They tell their friends. They tell their doctors. They become your best ambassadors.”

Tan delivered one of the event’s keynotes, citing figures from HFA on the Asia-Pacific region alongside economic data from the Global Wellness Institute. He closed with a rundown of trends shaping the industry worldwide, including HYROX and other fitness-racing formats, strength training, Pilates, wellness tourism, GLP-1 medications, longevity and recovery, and racquet sports such as padel and pickleball.

Following the keynotes, Tan moderated an international CEO panel featuring Sander van den Born of Purpose Brands; Elaine Jobson, CEO and managing director of BeWell Brands; Rey Bolivar, group managing director of PURE Group; and Robert Sawhney, global chief commercial officer and APAC CEO of Watson Gym Equipment. The panel discussed recent developments in the industry and the considerations shaping major business decisions at each of their companies.

The forum’s final morning introduced a new dialogue format pairing international club owners and operators with roughly 80 Chinese club owners and operators for direct exchange—a format organizers said they intend to expand in future editions.

The Beijing forum drew top fitness executives from across China and the broader Asia region for workshops on personal training management, sales and marketing, customer service, and member retention. It ran alongside the ChinaFit Expo.