There are over 120 thousand employees of gyms and wellness centers back to work on Monday 24 May thanks to the reopening of Italy back to yellow. «After months of sadness, pain and sacrifices – commented the president of Coni Giovanni Malagò – today reopens a world that is the basis of almost all the physical activities of society. There has been a clear penalization of these indoor spaces. Better late than never, even if it is very difficult for the owners of the companies to cope with the great difficulties. Now we wait for them to reopen too swimming pool indoors”.
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Uecoop: “The sector has lost 9 billion”
To the sector that involves 20 million Italians more or less continuously – calculated theEuropean Union of Cooperatives (Uecoop) – are missing from the call nine billion euros due to the Covid emergency in the last year. But from October to the end of May there was a blockage of sports activities and sportspeople can return to using subscriptions already paid but not used due to the various lockdowns and anti-contagion limitations. Since the pandemic broke out, the wellness sector, among companies, associations and cooperatives that manage sports facilities, has lost almost 90% of turnover annual, Uecoop estimate. Recovering the money will now also be difficult “because – explains Giampiero Guglielmi, president Anpals (national association of gyms and private sports facilities) – who has a subscription rightly he will claim to use them without counting the months he was unable to attend, on the other hand, however, the manager had to incur expenses, although not receiving refreshments, to keep the gyms functional even if closed ».
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The problem of small structures
“Not all gyms will be able to reopen without economic problems – says the president of theInternational Fitness Observatory, Paolo Menconi – because an important chunk of the fitness industry facilities did not receive refreshments. Reopening does not allow money to enter the cashier and also requires an effort to dispose of the vouchers. They find themselves reopening at a time that usually sees the downward curve of registrations and business in general ». Then there is the problem of bank loans particularly felt by the small structures. «Financially speaking – warns Menconi – the bank” listens “to those who enjoy an economic solidity that makes them solvent in loans. This discourse cannot be applied to so-called young sports structures that have difficulty applying for funding without having an important economic history behind them. Fortunately in Italy most clubs have a long history that exceeds 10 years of activity, but Covid has undermined the solvency of many structures “.
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