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Growth is on the agenda for operators everywhere. For multinational and multi-site organisations, it rarely comes without complexity. In this article, we unpack results from our global survey of 180+ fitness and leisure operators, revealing the stats, strategies, and hard-won lessons shaping fitness industry growth right now.

The last few years have been strong ones for the sector globally.

The 2026 European Health & Fitness Report bears this out. EuropeActive found that fitness club memberships across Europe reached 75.5 million in 2025, up 5.8% on 2024. Meanwhile, total revenues climbed to €39.1 billion, up 9.1% year on year.

In the UK, ukactive reported industry revenue rising to £6.5 billion in 2025 (from £5.7 billion in 2024). At the same time, memberships climbed past 12.2 million people — around 18% of over-16s, up from 14.6% in 2022.

Growth elsewhere in Europe has been just as pronounced. Fitness club sales revenue in France nearly tripled between 2021 and 2024, from around €621 million to €1.7 billion. Meanwhile, Spain’s gym membership penetration has grown to roughly 16.5%, up from around 11.4% a few years previously.

In the US, the Health & Fitness Association reported a record 81 million Americans belonging to a gym or fitness studio in 2025, up 5.2% on the previous year.

For enterprise-level operators, this growth brings a specific set of trade-offs. How do you scale consistently? Where should you invest? Which levers actually move the needle across a large estate?

In this article, we preview what the Xplor Fitness Industry Growth Report 2027 found, and share what multi-site and enterprise operators told us directly.

The scale of growth across the sector

Between 16 February and 24 May 2026, Xplor surveyed more than 180 fitness and leisure operators across 19 countries to understand what growth looks like on the ground.

The results give a detailed picture of how the industry is expanding, what’s driving it, and where operators are being more cautious. The full findings are set out in the Fitness Industry Growth Report 2027. Here’s a taster of what stood out most:

• 68% of multi-site operators have opened a new location in the last three years, and 87% of those chose to open a brand-new club rather than acquire an existing one – a sign of confidence in organic expansion
• 74% reported strong or moderate growth over the same period, with only 2% seeing decline
• Memberships are one of the fastest-growing revenue streams for 69% of operators, whether through volume, price increases, or new tiers
• 34% of operators who saw growth cited price increases as a direct driver, and several told us their best business decision was simply raising prices sooner
• Marketing is the number one growth driver overall, followed closely by retention and group fitness – a reminder that growth is rarely down to a single lever
• 37% of operators are planning new locations in the next one to two years, with 12% of those planning four or more
• 58% of operators favour self-funded growth, reflecting a preference for steady, sustainable scaling over speed
• Member acquisition costs have risen for 60% of operators, making retention and referrals a more valuable route to growth

Expansion is happening, and it’s largely organic

Well over two-thirds of operators surveyed have opened a new location in the last three years, with a clear preference for building something new rather than acquiring an existing club – a strong vote of confidence in the sector.

That confidence comes with real operational challenges. Finding the right location and recruiting qualified staff were the two biggest hurdles operators faced when expanding.

Where those challenges sit shifts by market. UK operators ranked staffing as their single biggest challenge, while operators in France were more focused on maintaining a consistent member experience across sites.

When asked what surprised them most when expanding to their most recent location, operators told us:

“New members said we should be charging more.” – Traditional gym operator with locations in the South East of England

“The positive reception by customers.” – Health club operator with locations in Spain

Growth has multiple drivers

Almost three-quarters of operators surveyed reported strong or moderate business growth over the last three years, and no single factor explains it. Marketing tops the list, with retention and group fitness classes close behind.

The mix differs by market: UK operators lean more heavily on operational efficiencies, while operators in France rank retention a full 20 percentage points ahead of where UK operators place it.

Despite these differences, the takeaway holds across markets – growth comes from getting several things right at once, not from a single lever.

Operators shared which growth initiative they felt delivered the best return relative to effort and investment:

“Efficiencies in process management.” – Hotel health club operator with locations across the UK

“Customer service training.” – Health club operator with locations in Spain, Mexico, & the US

“Continually looking to innovate, annually investing 5-10% of annual turnover back into the club, creating new studios (e.g. Sweat, Pilates, outdoor spin), a café, and lounge areas, over the last 5 years.” – Health club operator with locations in North West England

Some initiatives cost more than they returned

Operators were equally candid about where time and money delivered less than expected:

“Virtual classes. Whilst investment required is low, it has only attracted existing members. This means payback period = long time but is an effective tool for retention of existing customers.” – Public sector leisure operator with locations in Scotland

“Facebook marketing and Google ads are most expensive and most time-consuming to manage but they do deliver good results if managed properly.” – Traditional gym operator located in North West England

“One initiative that took significantly more time, energy, and money than expected for the return delivered was exploring expansion and additional premises opportunities.” – Traditional gym operator located in the UK

Memberships are driving revenue

Memberships are the lifeblood of most fitness and leisure businesses. So, it makes sense that they were named as the fastest-growing revenue stream by more than two-thirds of operators. Price increases played a real role too, with over a third of growing operators pointing to pricing as a growth factor – several even said they wished they’d made the change sooner.

Meanwhile, acquiring new members is getting more expensive. That’s particularly true in the UK, where 70% of operators report rising acquisition costs.

Amidst the high cost of winning new members, retention and referrals have taken the spotlight as the more reliable, lower-cost route to sustainable growth.

The future is being approached with cautious optimism

Despite strong growth over the last three years, plans for future expansion are more measured.

More operators say they’re unsure or not planning new locations in the next one to two years than are planning to expand. This cautiousness is largely driven by market conditions, access to capital, and the property landscape.

Where operators are funding growth, the preference is clear. 58% favour self-funded expansion, a sign that operators want confidence in their numbers before committing to future investment.

What experienced operators would do differently

Asked what growth decision they were glad they made, operators overwhelmingly pointed to a strategic, considered approach:

“Retain profits to fund growth.” – Boutique fitness studio operator with locations in North West England

“Focusing on retention.” – Traditional gym operator located in Occitanie, France

“To invest in technology to improve customer experience.” – Public sector leisure operator with locations in Scotland

“Working with partners.” – Health club operator with locations in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

On the other hand, the most common warning was about growing too fast. Expanding faster than the business could support drained resources and momentum.

Competing on price over differentiation was another common regret, a reminder that competing purely on cost rarely builds the loyalty that sustainable growth needs:

“Competing on price – what really matters is the value proposition. Our DNA should define our strategy and pricing.” – Health club operator located in Île-de-France, France

“Don’t always jump at the first opportunity, make sure you do your research and attain background information from other operators.” – Public sector leisure operator with locations in Scotland

“Keeping prices down to compete.” – Health club operator with locations in South East England

“Not investing in advertising.” – Boutique fitness studio operator in France

“Not increasing membership prices in line with every other service that puts their pricing up without warning.” – Traditional gym operator located in South East England

Where this leaves multi-site and enterprise operators

Growth is very much alive across fitness and leisure. The operators seeing the most of it are pairing ambition with a clear strategy – on pricing, on retention, on staffing, and on the systems that hold it all together as they scale across sites, brands, and borders.

For enterprise and multi-site organisations in particular, club and leisure management technology that supports consistent access control, cross-site membership management, and a smoother sales cycle is now the backbone of sustainable, well-managed growth.

Want the full picture? Download the complete Fitness Industry Growth Report 2027 to benchmark your organisation’s growth against operators around the world.

Download the report

If any of these themes resonate with the growth decisions your organisation is navigating, we’d be glad to talk. Get in touch with the Exerp team to find out how our platform supports operators managing exactly these kinds of decisions, every day.