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27THE MARKET OF FITNESS SERVICES IN KAZAKHSTAN: PROBLEMS AND
DIRECTIONS OF DEVELOPMENT
Moldasheva Altynay Boranbaevna,
PhD, Acting Associate Professor of «Tourism and service», Taraz State University. MH Dulaty Atasheva Daria Orynchanovna, PhD, Acting Associate Professor of «Tourism and service», Taraz State University. MH Dulaty Muratova Diana Baltabaevna, PhD, Acting Associate Professor of «Finance», Taraz State University. MH Dulaty
ABSTRACT
The article is devoted to the fitness industry as a part of the services market with certain problems and directions of development in the conditions of strong competition.
Keywords: fitness, gym, sports, recreation, services, business
Recently, fitness clubs and gyms have become very popular in Kazakhstan, in particular, in the Kazakhstan business.
In our country clubs have emerged as an alternative to dilapidated sports center of the Soviet Union. In the early 1990-ies, in Kazakhstan began to form a class of people whose material wealth allowed absorb the latest achievements of the Western world in the field of physical and spiritual self-improvement. That moment was the most appropriate for the promotion of comprehensive fitness services under the existing conditions of Kazakhstan.
Physical training and Sports in the XX century became one of the most important spheres of human activity. Enormous advances in this field were the basis of many social, scientific and technological changes in society. Status of physical training and sports in society is much determined by the role played in social development of the physical health of people, their physical ability and activity, skills, opportunities to develop their professional and personal qualities.
With the development of market relations in the sphere of physical training and sports, there is arising an increase in competition, requiring attract significant financial resources for the development of the sector and providing competitive sports and recreational services for public.
The transition to new forms of property and production relations caused a reduction in the capacity of state social guarantees primarily due to a decrease stability of state budget and affected the state of all sports and recreation complex.
The need for rationalization of the marketing strategy of sports and recreation organizations arose on the basis of: dynamic fitness and sports needs of the population, causing the continuous provision of physical training and fitness services, the introduction of methods of activation to increase the quality level in the delivery of health and fitness services; requirements change existing standards in the field of physical culture and sports.
The characteristic features of the modern fitness industry functioning of enterprises have an impact on the use of marketing management. The fitness industry is one of the fastest growing service industries in the world, and the nature of fitness services has an impact on consumer behavior. Increased interest in personal fitness and well-being due to the rapid growth of the health industry (health clubs, fitness), changes
in eating habits has led to an increase in sales of foods and beverages that promise to consumers to improve health and fitness. Modern fitness industry is now quite difficult, because services in the field of fitness require the involvement of culture, sports, medicine, entertainment, tourism and leisure.
The main factors as the rapid development of the fitness industry are socio-cultural and economic. Investments in health are considered the most serious and recoverable. The industry is of great importance for the individual and the state as a whole, creating public health in each country. The development of the fitness industry is influenced by environmental factors (globalization, economic and financial factors, and others.), which are for each company largely uncontrolled, and companies need to adapt and take them into account when planning, implementing marketing activities [1, c 38].
In Kazakhstan, the history of fitness services related to culture change on people's attitude to their own health and well-being. During Soviet times, such services were provided mostly free or almost free from the state. As a rule, it was the service and the game of professional sports, and services aimed at maintaining a healthy lifestyle in fact, were not represented in the Soviet sports culture. Even in 1973, an outdoor athletic gymnastics club in Leningrad, was recognized by then ruling party in a bourgeois sport, distracting people from the Soviet social goals and ideals. Although the development of the fitness industry in developed and developing countries is due to the state support in one form or another. Most heads of state are aware of the importance of fitness services for the health and well-being of the population, annually allocates significant budget funds spent on the development of sport and fitness services.
Social and economic changes in the country, which began in late 1980-s, brought a change in the attitude of the population to physical culture and sport. The lack of culture using paid services has created a barrier to the development of a fitness culture.
At the beginning of the 1990-s. in Almaty, and several years later in Astana as well, began to be opened fitness clubs that operate according to international standards of the industry.
The increased demand for the services of health centers analysts attributed to the increase of wealth of the population. In addition, interest in the culture of «healthy lifestyle»
demonstrated not only by individuals, but also by large regional context.
corporations. In 2014, 417 Youth deal with issues of training athletes in
Consider indicators of quantity of organizations in the field the Republic. of sport, operating on the territory of the country and in the
Table 1
Number of Youth by regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2013-2014.
Indicators Years The share of Youth,%
2013 2014
The Republic of Kazakhstan 417 417 100
South Kazakhstan 56 57 13,6
Karaganda 40 40 9,6
East Kazakhstan 34 34 8,1
Zhambyl 32 32 7,7
Akmola 28 28 6,7
Kostanay 28 28 6,7
Aktobe 27 27 6,5
Pavlodar 26 26 6,2
North Kazakhstan 26 26 6,2
Almaty 24 24 5,7
West Kazakhstan 23 23 5,5
Kyzylorda 21 21 50
Almaty city 18 16 3,8
Mangistau 15 15 3,6
Atyrau 10 10 2,4
Astana 9 10 2,4
The largest number of Youth in 2014 was located in the South Kazakhstan region (57 schools that are 13.6% of the total number of Youth), Karaganda region (40 schools, 9.6%) and the East Kazakhstan region (34 schools, 8.1%). The least number of all Youth was presented in Astana and Atyrau region, where are only 10 Youth (or 2.4% of the national level) [3].
In relation to the previous year in 2014 the number of Youth has not changed in the country. Although there was a reduction of Almaty Youth by 2 units, in the South Kazakhstan region and
in Astana and their number increased by one school in each of the these regions.
Moreover, another important indicator of the development activities of sports education is the indicator of the number of students receiving education in athletic Youth .
In 2014 the number of sportsmen in the country involved in the Youth, was 26.5 thousand, which is 8.7 thousand more than in the previous 2012.
Table 2
Distribution of the number of persons engaged in DYUSHS , sectional Regions
Indicators The number involved in the Youth, people Share ,% Abs. deviation + / - People
2013 2014 2013 2014
The Republic of Kazakhstan 256246 264901 100 100 8655
South Kazakhstan 40773 42730 15.9 16.1 1957
Karaganda 25525 26510 100 100 985
Almaty 19450 21471 7.6 8.1 2021
East Kazakhstan 20475 21299 8.0 8.0 824
Pavlodar 20056 19537 7.8 7.4 -519
Kostanay 16382 16664 6.4 6.3 282
Aktobe 15601 15748 6.1 5.9 147
Zhambyl 15487 15597 6.0 5.9 110
Kyzylorda 12953 13566 5.1 5.1 613
Almaty city 13085 13244 5.1 50 159
Akmola 12113 12333 4.7 4.7 220
North Kazakhstan 11485 11499 4.5 4.3 14
West Kazakhstan 10971 10730 4.3 4.1 -241
Mangistau 7771 8989 3.0 3.4 1218
Atyrau 8467 8501 3.3 3.2 34
Astana 5652 6483 2.2 2.4 831
Table 3
Number of people involved in national type of sports
Indicators The number people engaged into national type of sports Share,% + / - People
2013 2014 2013 2014
The Republic of Kazakhstan 208442 229891 100 100 21449
Almaty 41099 42374 19.7 18.4 1275
Karaganda 41090 41990 19.7 18.3 900
South Kazakhstan 34787 35112 16.7 15.3 325
East Kazakhstan 11594 24222 5.6 10.5 12628
Kyzylorda 9181 13034 4.4 5.7 3853
Akmola 10453 10784 50 4.7 331
Pavlodar 9656 9936 4.6 4.3 280
West Kazakhstan 4218 8875 20 3.9 4657
Atyrau 8095 8225 3.9 3.6 130
Kostanay 7162 8070 3.4 3.5 908
Aktobe 9533 7768 4.6 3.4 -1765
Zhambyl 9940 7541 4.8 3.3 -2399
North Kazakhstan 5897 5909 2.8 2.6 12
Mangistau 2966 3566 14 16 600
Astana 1647 1361 0.8 0.6 -286
Almaty city 1124 1156 0.5 0.6 32
At the same time, in two regions of the country there was This is primarily due to the fact that in regions to step up a decline in enrollment to Youth: in Pavlodar region by 519 work in the community youth clubs, children's and youth clubs, students, and in the West Kazakhstan region by 241 students. children's and health clubs.
According to statistics at the end of 2014, that 229.9 thousand people in the country are engaged in the national type of sports, which shows an increase compared to 2012 by 21.4 thousand people.
Increasing the number of involved in national sports in 2014 compared to 2013 year was demonstrated in the East Kazakhstan region by 12.6 thousand people, in the West Kazakhstan region by 4.7 thousand people and in Kyzylorda region by 3.9 thousand people [2, c. 76].
Along with the increase in popularity of the national sports in some areas, in certain areas there was a decrease in numbers of involved - in Zhambyl region by 2.4 thousand people, in Aktobe region by 1.8 thousand people and 0.3 in Astana thousand people.
In Kazakhstan, there are more than 450 thousand people with disabilities, about 200 000 or 45% of them are people with
intellectual disabilities, with disorders of the musculoskeletal system, sight and hearing. For such people also created conditions for physical culture and sports, including at the professional level.
The growing number of disabled people engaged in physical culture and sports has become possible due to the work of the Department of Physical Culture and Sports in cities and regions in collaboration with associations of sport among people with disabilities.
However, there is a decrease in the number of disabled people engaged in systematic sport in Zhambyl region by 646 people, in the South-Kazakhstan region by 290 people and by 88 people in Astana.
A dynamic process of development of new technologies has defined the scope of the intensive development of sports infrastructure services.
3072,7
3737,9
2010
2011
2012
2013
Figure 1 - Services of recreational, cultural and sporting events in Zhambyl region, mln. Tenge
As the figure shows, the amount of revenues from services in organization of leisure, cultural and sports activities in Zhambyl region increased year by year. So, if in 2010 the revenue of provided sports service were 1.5558 billion tenge, in 2013 this figure increased by 2 232.1 million tenge (or 2.4 times), which in total was 3.7879 billion tenge [ 3, c. 221].
In addition, population growth is an important indicator in the development of the industry.
At the beginning of 2015 the population of Zhambyl region was 1084.5 thousand people, 49% out of them were men and 51% were women. In general, the total amount of women is higher than men in the region, by 21.9 thousand. For every 1,000 women there is accounted by 960 men.
The number of women is more than men in Taraz (by 22.5 thousand people), the proportion of women is 53.2%, while men - 46.8%. In Kordai area proportion of women outnumber men by 1 thousand people, in Baizak and Merke by 0.8 thousand people.
In T.Ryskulov area per 1000 women - there are 1022 men, in Moyinkum - 1015 men, in Zhualy - 1017, in Zhambyl and Sarysu there are 1009 and 1006 men respectively. The lowest proportion of men per 1,000 women is in Taraz, 880 men.
The most intensive development of the fitness industry has Almaty - the largest city in the country, actively pick up the latest trends in different spheres of society; nowadays in the southern capital operates about 200 fitness clubs. In the regional centers the number of such institutions is generally limited to a couple
of dozen. However, despite the increase in population in the country, according to the National Association of professionals in physical culture and sports, even in Almaty, where the sports halls more than in any other city in the country, the number of people visiting them does not exceed 1.5% of the total population. A similar situation is observed in Russian market. Thus, the potential growth in this market segment is pretty big. According to the National Association of professionals in physical culture and sports, fitness capacity of the domestic market is estimated at more than $ 200 million per year [4, c. 57].
Currently, Kazakhstan fitness industry is represented by clubs of premium and economy classes, as well as by clubs with lowest price segments; consequently, that almost all segments', from the democratic to the most respectable, supplies do not satisfy the demand. One of the main criteria in determining club to a particular segment is the cost of membership, but it would not be quite right to dismiss other criteria determining the ranks of «elite» or, alternatively, to the mass market. The level of a club depends on the quality of sports equipment, qualified personnel, range of additional services and the level of service. In addition as a rule, higher the segment an institution is positioning itself, greater requirements to the quality of related services from existing and potential customers [5, c. 102]. Fitness industry premium class in Kazakhstan is represented by wellness-club Luxor, as well as a network of fitness clubs Fidelity. In the segment of economy class in the market of
Almaty, there are work clubs such as network of fitnessclubs Fitnation, club UniFlex, Rakhat-Fitness, Renessans and Samal de Lux. Networks such as Fidelity and Fitnation, do not work only in the southern capital, but also in the market of Astana, where Fitnation, for example, recently opened a new club; in regions gym and fitness clubs of lower rank form a network within the city. However, the fitness clubs and gyms of this level do not have for sale a monthly, three months or six months membership and the customer usually buy an annual membership to the club. According to the market, this approach minimizes the problems associated with failure of complying of sanitary regulations, as well as to create for regular members a comfortable environment, and avoid from the agenda the criticisms about crowded dressing rooms and rooms for training. On the other hand, buying a membership for a long time, the customer unwittingly becomes an incentive to exercise regularly, because the money paid in advance and there will be regret if they are lost [6, c. 44].
The same Rakhat Fitness, for example, created on the base of Central swimming pool attracts mainly lovers of water programs, those for whom the main condition of visiting the fitness club is the presence of a spacious swimming pool. UniFlex was initially opened as an academy of judo, and according to these plans, gyms were equipped. Nevertheless, today in the schedule of almost all leading clubs exist as power, and dance programs, programs of classical and step-aerobics, yoga and Pilates, water program. Despite the fact that the cost of club membership in segments of premium and economy class can hardly be accepted as democratic (especially taking into account the need to make the payment for the year), the demand for their services is high. Moreover, demand is still exceeds supply. And this despite the fact that in recent years the number of clubs working in this low price range, not only has not decreased, but increased - Fidelity network opened two new club in Almaty and Fitnation, as mentioned above - in Astana.
Thus, currently there is a problem of increasing competition in the market of fitness services. The more clubs become, the competition for consumers has become more intensive. Each fitness club uses its own methods to attract them. But, the competition is necessary to any market, as this leads to the improvement of clubs in order to gain its market share in its segment of consumers. Therefore, fitness clubs do anything.
The market of fitness services is growing rapidly, there are began to appear strong competitors, who have an experience of providing fitness services in larger cities, so the situation is very tense because of the loss of their best customers.
Meanwhile, we cannot say that the difficulties caused by the crisis bypassed the fitness industry side. According to assessment of market participants, demand for the fitness industry has decreased by 20-30%: someone had to give up going to the fitness club due to financial difficulties, some chose to continue his studies in the clubs with more democratic prices and the possibility of monthly payment. During crisis, there is a low demand for premium membership - many of those who acquired before the annual membership which allow accessing the fitness club with unlimited access, by analyzing the usual
schedule of visits decided to buy a membership, limiting visits by morning or afternoon hours. In addition, there is decreased a demand for corporate offers: companies previously taking into account the cost of season membership for their employees in the fitness club, in the current conditions prefer to direct these funds to the payroll [7, c. 88]. Moreover, some teenagers were forced to give up the gym due to the financial condition of their parents. On the other hand, the crisis served as an incentive for improvement and development, many companies began to pay more attention on customer service, offers and membership price have become interesting, which could hardly have been expected in the more prosperous years [8, c. 35].
However, the interest of a significant number of entrepreneurs to the market of fitness services is holding back the two main factors. The first is the lack of suitable accommodation and high, according to entrepreneurs, rents. The second problem is the fitness market - the lack of systemic support on the sports and health industry from the government, although the advisability to make fitness more accessible and massive, obvious.
As entrepreneurs of fitness market believe, this type of business should be supported at the government level, because its development can make a real contribution on the improvement of the nation health, will direct the energy and effort of children and adolescents in a peaceful way, take them off the street, to divert from suspicious companies. In addition, the development of the fitness industry, the opening of new high-quality and affordable clubs is one of the most effective steps towards the improvement of the nation health, in order to prevent diseases. Hereafter, according to medicine, it is better to prevent disease rather than cure.
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