Fitness industry boom: Taiwan boasts 900 gyms, 80% more than in 2019

Fitness industry boom: Taiwan boasts 900 gyms, 80% more than in 2019

2023-05-24

The fitness industry is booming in Taiwan since the pandemic. All over the country, new gyms are sprouting up in droves. Official figures show there were more than 900 gyms nationwide in February, an 80% increase since four years ago. And it’s a boon for real estate, as gyms require lots of commercial space. But trends vary across the country. In smaller cities, the demand for fitness centers has seen the number of gyms more than double, while in Taipei, rents are so high that opening a gym on the first floor isn’t so viable.

Get in the correct position, press with the feet, and voila – the barbell lifts off the ground. Not just once, but twice. This gym of just 20 or 30 ping is located on the first floor of a residential apartment building. The people who live here can pop down for a quick workout anytime, without worrying about the traffic downtown.

Queena
Fitness coach
This is very convenient in relation to home – just come straight down to work out. In the evenings, lots of working people come and exercise after work. In the morning, it’s mostly moms.

The small but elegant gym provides a quiet space to exercise and has revitalized the first floor of this building. Big chain gyms are very different, full of hundreds of different machines. The gym business is booming post-COVID, and all kinds of venues are opening. According to the Ministry of Finance, there were 902 gyms operating in Taiwan this February – 80% more than in February 2019.

Chou Yi-tieh
Gym founder
Since the pandemic, awareness of preventative medicine has been gradually growing. People are becoming aware of the important of muscle strength. And that’s why the demand for classes just keeps growing – for example, in our classes, besides training muscles strength, we also offer nutrition plans.

Chang Hsu-lan
Real estate trends expert
In the north, rents are higher, so we see a very large number of businesses going towards the second floor or even higher. But in central and southern Taiwan, on the one hand rents are cheaper, and on the other hand there are larger venue spaces available to choose from, and parking is easier. Advertising is more effective too, and it’s easier to attract new members.

Although rents are high in Taipei, the population is also a lot denser. There are 146 gyms in the capital – more than in any other city. Meanwhile, in Taoyuan and Taichung gym numbers have recently grown by more than 140%. The national craze for fitness has caused a veritable mushrooming of gyms. It’s also a big win for commercial districts, who are struggling to fill vacant store space.

後疫情時代健身房暴增比4年前成長8成

2023-05-24

後疫情時代，全民瘋運動，也讓健身房如雨後春筍般，一間又一間開出，根據財政部統計，全國健身房數量，在今年2月突破900間，比4年前成長8成之多。其中北部大多是社區型健身房，或2樓以上店面，而中南部租金便宜，不僅佔地廣，還附加停車空間。

擺好姿勢，用腳部施力，讓槓鈴離開地面，一下不夠再來一下。20幾坪大的健身房，選在住宅社區1樓，讓住戶省去舟車勞頓，隨時都能動一動。

[[健身教練 Queena]]
“因為這裡離住家比較方便，直接下來就可以運動，晚上比較多上班族下班來運動，早上都是偏媽媽族群”

微型精緻的健身房，提供安靜訓練的空間，也活化社區店面；大型連鎖健身房，則擺滿各式各項的器材。後疫情時代，業者看好運動商機，大舉展店，根據財政部統計，今年2月全國健身房多達902間，對比2019年同期增加8成。

[[健身房創辦人周依蝶]]
“在疫情之後，預防醫學的意識逐漸提升，他們會意識到肌力的重要性，也因此對課程的需求量越來越大，譬如說在課程裡面，除了肌力訓練之外，還包含飲食規劃”

[[房產趨勢專家張旭嵐]]
“在北部的話租金是比較貴的，所以看到非常多的業者，都是往2樓以上發展，但是在中南部一方面租金便宜，再加上大的店面選擇也比較多，比較好停車，廣告效益也比較高，比較容易吸引會員的加入”

儘管北市租金高，但看準人口密集，業者多達146家，是六都裡最多，至於桃園市和台中市，成長幅度更超過140%。全民瘋運動之下，健身房如雨後春筍般開出，也解決了不少商圈空租店面的問題。

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Ximen’s Far Eastern department store to be knocked down for huge makeover

Taiwan’s longest-operating department store is soon to be demolished and given a total remake. The Far Eastern Baoqing Store has been in Taipei’s Ximen district for 51 years. But the old family favorite has lost customers to nearby competitors as well as the younger department stores across the city. In August, the store will enter a five-year reconstruction phase. Its owners hope a fresh, new look and more fashionable concessions can attract a younger and more affluent crowd.

After 51 years in business, Far Eastern Taipei Baoqing Store is planning a grand closing auction. In August the building will be knocked down and rebuilt.

Local resident
It’s been there so many years. It’s the oldest department store. It’s not as big as the others. If there were lots of tourists, it would be doing great.

Ximen’s Far Eastern is the first department store to get a makeover as part of the government policy to reconstruct unsafe, old buildings. When the 6,000 ping block has been knocked down and rebuilt, it will have a new floorspace of over 10,000 ping with an estimated value three to four times that of the current building.

Lin Yung-chin
FTV reporter
It’s been officially announced: Taiwan’s oldest Far Eastern department store, located beside exit 3 of MRT Ximen Station, will be knocked down and given a huge makeover, in a bid to attract tourists and younger consumers from the commercial district over the road.

The store lies outside the typical pedestrian circuit of Ximen’s commercial district. Its current clientele are mostly public servants aged 45 to 55. But after its makeover, it will have a new look and more new restaurants and brands aimed at younger demographics.

Hsu Chia-hsin
Real estate project research studio
With the position of Far Eastern Baoqing Store itself plus its subsidiaries, it really does seem that the crowds at Ximending might not be able to deliver a very clear upswing. If in the future it is remodeled into a new, large-scale department store, then certainly it could link up with the crowds which already exist in the Ximending commercial district.

Chang Hsu-lan
Real estate trends expert
The majority of department stores now are concentrated in Xinyi District and the East District. Their external design is more up-to-date, more fashionable. Older stores find it harder to attract younger customers or clientele with more consumer power, so they are being forced to face this transition.

Taiwan’s longest-running department store is facing drastic changes. The reconstruction of the site is slated to take five years to complete. Plenty of time to place your bets on the prospects of the new Far Eastern.

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Let’s meet Camila Saenz, a Guatemalan ed tech entrepreneur

Today we meet Guatemalan entrepreneur, Camila Saenz. She is the CEO and co-founder of a platform that connects foreign language tutors with Taiwanese students.Most recently, she has also launched a new platform that connects people all over the world with experts in a variety of fields so that they can learn new skills. FTV reporter Stephany Yang met Saenz for a chat.

Camila Saenz introduces herself in fluent Spanish, English, and Mandarin Chinese. She is the co- founder of a platform that connects foreign bilingual language tutors with people in Taiwan.

This can take place either virtually or in person so that they can learn a variety of languages. The tutors either teach in the students’ bricks-and-mortar homes or virtually via social media. The teachers are all bilingual and can teach several languages like French, English, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish.

Camila Saenz
Founder
Tuteemi is a platform that aims to connect foreigners and Taiwanese. All of our tutors are mostly foreigners that are bilingual. We are teaching different foreign languages like French, English, Spanish. The thing is they go to different people’s houses or offices because in Taiwan I realize there are already so many online learning platforms, that I wanted to do something different so that we could connect better with Taiwanese.

Saenz has traveled to over 40 countries around the world. Through her experiences examining different education systems, she noticed that many Taiwanese were good at memorizing vocabulary and grammar, but lacked opportunities for conversation. Therefore, she decided to launch the platform to allow Taiwanese students to speak without being afraid of being judged by others. Her platform now has around 100 tutors across Taiwan.

Camila Saenz
Founder
When I first came to Taiwan, I realized that the education when it comes to languages was a bit different from my experience back home. I have traveled alot. I have been to more than 40 countries and I realized that language are mainly to have a conversation, but in Taiwan everyone is about the cram schools kind of environment to memorize and pass exams. Taiwanese have been learning English for so long but when it comes to having a conversation, they will get a bit nervous. I wanted a way to solve that.

Saenz moved to Taiwan in 2014 after receiving a scholarship to study for her bachelor’s and doctorate degrees. She is currently studying for a Ph.D. in business management and expects to graduate next year. She’s also an adjunct instructor at Ming Chuan University. Due to her love and gratitude for Taiwan, she hopes to give back to Taiwan with her education business.

Camila Saenz
Founder
My goal has always been to give back to Taiwan because Taiwan has given me two fully-funded scholarships to study my bachelor and Ph.D. degree. So I wanted to find a way to have an impact in education as well. When I found out about the initiative for Taiwan to be a bilingual country by 2030, I was like, okay, how can I actually have a little impact in this? The thing that I am most proud of is that slowly we are changing the mentality and stereotypes of only native English speakers can teach English. I think in the very beginning, it was a huge challenge for us because most of our tutors are not native speakers, like myself. My first language is Spanish. But changing the mentality and telling Taiwanese that other people from other nationalities can also teach English.

Now, Saenz is launching a new platform connecting people with experts in different fields to learn new skills. Whether it’s design classes, photography, boxing or something else, the platform helps people easily find professionals that teach needed skills in their area. Saenz hopes to create more jobs for foreigners and locals in Taiwan -- and by doing this help bring different cultures together.

Camila Saenz
Founder
I really hope that more foreigners can share their skills and their knowledge with Taiwan so we can have this little impact on helping Taiwan become more international. The idea is for foreigners or even Taiwanese to be able to share their skills. When it comes to yoga, painting class, or even DJ class. Whatever they can share with Taiwan, they can do it either offline or online. I believe that with this, people that are even abroad, not specifically only in Taiwan can they can also share their skills with Taiwanese.

Saenz has been living and working in Taiwan for eight years and she calls Taiwan her second home. She hopes to continue to give back to Taiwan and make Taiwan more well-known in the international community.

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This is Gaoshu Township in Pingtung – one of Taiwan’s major pineapple producing regions. Nguyen Thi Chinh, a Vietnamese resident of Taiwan, moved here after marrying a Taiwanese man. She’s been growing pineapples here for more than 20 years. Cutting a path through these thick rows of leaves facilitates work in the fields, but it has another benefit too.

Nguyen Thị Chính
Vietnamese resident of Taiwan
If you don’t cut down the leaves, the birds of prey can’t see the mice – the mice hide in there.

The mice in these fields live off pineapple, and like to take a single bite out of each fruit. That can be devastating for farmers. Most take the route of using rat poison. But Nguyen does not, for a special reason. The story goes that her husband was involved in a major traffic accident some years ago. She had to drop her work to care for him in the hospital, and had no time to spare to think about mice.

Her neglect of rat poison was perfectly in line with the hopes of National Pingtung University of Science and Technology. Its Bird Ecology Lab has a project to protect birds of prey. They asked Nguyen to go even further, setting up nesting boxes and perches for the birds in her fields, and helping them research the farm’s ecosystem.

Lin Hui-shan
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Birds of prey are poisoned by the rat poison, so this is actually quite a large ecological crisis and problem.

They use an automated camera to record the comings and goings of many species of birds, including owls.

The small step of avoiding rat poison has brought enormous ecological rewards.

Nguyen Thị Chính
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When we’re working here, we feel very happy to hear the birds calling. The calls are a joyful sound.

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When a customer spotted the scene they immediately snapped these photos. A macaque sits up on the top shelf of the store with a bag of bananas.

The monkey found its way into the grocery store in search of food. Onlookers were amused, but the store owners are more blasé.

Voice of Ms. Hung
Member of public
The store owner said the monkey has been in there three times. My mom said the monkey grabbed a bag of bananas and jumped on the shelf. She went and told the store attendant – if she hadn’t, nobody would have noticed.

Fruit sellers at nearby Neiwei內惟 Market say that monkey thieves are a common sight.

Fruit seller
I see them all the time. They’re very cheeky, they eat a bit and then chuckle at you. They always steal good fruit, they don’t pick it off the ground – they don’t eat fruit as bad as that.

Fruit seller
They’re all on the roof. When one wants to eat, it jumps down from the roof. We cover it with cloth in the morning, obviously, but they open it up and choose the things they want.

These fruit sellers have resigned themselves to visits from their furry friends. But this macaque expert says that it’s wrong to imagine they’re coming into town to look for a free lunch.

Lin Mei-yin
Taiwanese Macaque Coexistence Association
There isn’t really a great shortage of food for macaques. These are mostly male macaques, and when male macaques reach maturity, they want to disperse outward, migrate, to look for new communities to join, so that they can interchange their genes.

But whatever the monkeys are after, the public is reminded never to chase them away, nor to deliberately feed them. Approaching them is a quick route to getting injured.

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