Global fitness franchise, Anytime Fitness is set to achieve true worldwide representation, following a world-first announcement. The opening of Anytime Fitness Antarctica sees the gym franchise become the first with locations on all seven continents.
Chuck Runyon, CEO and co-founder said the Anytime Fitness Antarctica development marked a significant milestone for the global brand.
“People used to think that our mission, ‘To improve the self-esteem of the world,’ was unrealistic,” Runyon said. “But we’re very serious about it. And when we reached an agreement last year involving the opening of several dozen gyms in Morocco [Africa], we knew that our next destination had to be Antarctica.”
The first Antarctician gym is currently being built on board a new adventure expedition ship operated by Antarctica21. The boutique luxury vessel, Magellan Explorer accommodates 69 passengers and was custom built in Chile for Antarctic air-cruises.
The Anytime Fitness Antarctica expansion continues the group’s international growth, with outlets in nearly 40 countries worldwide. Now serving over four million members across 4500 gyms, Anytime Fitness has grown to be the world’s largest fitness chain.
Challenges for Anytime Fitness Antarctica
Francesco Contini, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Antarctica21 said the expansion presented a specific set of challenges.
“The treaties and conventions that govern Antarctica, coupled with subzero temperatures during the winter months, make building a fitness club on the continent extremely challenging, if not impossible,” Contini said.
“However, we were in the early stages of planning the buildout of Magellan Explorer, when Anytime Fitness first contacted us last fall about building a gym in Antarctica. We quickly recognised our shared values regarding the benefits of active, adventurous lifestyles.”
Runyon said developing a multinational platform for members was critical to the success of Anytime Fitness.
“One of the coolest things about Anytime Fitness is, if you join one gym, you get to use all 4,500 gyms around the globe,” he said.
“The polar adventurers aboard Magellan Explorer won’t need to be Anytime Fitness members to use the ship’s gym. But I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of them already are.
Magellan Explorer is set to sail its inaugural voyage on November 28, 2019.
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