Hong Kong gyms reopen but owners say financial toll of Covid-19 is too great – ‘We’re dead in the water’
- Most locally run gyms and fitness studios feel as if they won’t survive the Covid-19 pandemic
- Owners also have reservations about requirement to wear masks while working out and say it could be harmful
The recently formed Hong Kong Alliance of Boutique Fitness Operators, which represents more than 100 locally owned and operated gyms, studio and personal training centres, offered a dire assessment of the industry.
Eighty-five of the gyms polled do not think they will survive 2020 financially if they do not get immediate government financial support and will be forced to close. This does not count the dozens of local establishments, said the alliance, who have already been forced to shut down this year.
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Hong Kong gyms reopen, but many owners say financial damage of Covid-19 may already be too severe
Fernando Junior, the founder of BeWater Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu studio in Central, which also offers yoga and movement classes, said when gyms were first ordered to shut in March, he understood there was a general confusion and lack of information about the impact of the virus.
BeWater shut its doors a week before the government mandated the closure, hoping to help fight the virus as best they could, said Junior.
