Hong Kongers are spending more time in the gym and less time exercising their credit cards. Traumatised by an ailing economy, rising unemployment and plunging property prices, residents of the wealthy territory are turning to exercise to relieve stress, replacing the traditional spending spree as the preferred method of beating the blues.“The economy is bad so I’ve cut down on shopping and other spending, but fitness is a must for me,” said Leonic Ma, a slim, petite secretary in her early 40s who spends over HK$3,000 (US$385) a month on membership fees and spa treatments.Recession-worn Hong Kongers say gyms are the best places to spend time out of their tiny flats and away from the temptation of the designer shops and expensive restaurants. “It’s the cheapest way for me to kill time. I would rather give up other things,” said Ma, who works out at her health club at least four times a week.Hong Kong has been ravaged by its second recession in four years, forcing people to cut spending to the detriment of retailers.But clients like Ma mean big business for the dozens of health clubs that have opened or expanded in the past year. A recent poll of 1,000 women by market research firm ACNielsen found that Hong Kong women spend on average $96) a month on slimming products and exercise. Not a small sum, but still less than a good dinner at one of the city’s many glitzy restaurants.The health-craze has been egged on by slimming advertisements that seem to be everywhere—newspapers, magazines, billboards, bus stops and train stations.Advertising spending on diet products surged 111 per cent to $18.52 million during the first eight months of 2002 from the same period in 2001, according to AC Nielsen.Billboards invariably show shapely local entertainers in bikinis. But only a few people in Hong Kong can afford the weight loss programmes they pitch, with asking prices of $2,564) or more.AC Nielsen found only two per cent of those polled chose weight loss programmes, compared to 15 per cent of women who joined exercise classes such as aerobics, yoga or tai-chi. Many upscale and popular restaurants are now half-empty at meal times, in stark contrast to fitness centres close by that are packed with people slogging away on treadmills.“Companies need to reduce medical costs and to motivatetheir staff. People are working harder, longer hours so they feel they need a healthy body,” said Shirley Ong, corporate membership consultant at Fitness First Health Clubs, which has four branches in Hong Kong.Fitness First has been adding 600 to 800 clients each month and now has between 8,000 and 10,000 members. California Fitness Centers, which has 13 clubs in Asia including five in Hong Kong, is planning to increase its number of outlets in the region to 52 in the next five years.Fitness buffs say the craze isn’t about to end. As many as 16,000 people are expected to take part in the next Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon to be held in February, up from an estimated 13,500 in 2002. Reuters
