In recent years, Singapore has seen a large influx of expatriates and foreigners joining our workforce.
Within the Singapore Fitness Industry itself, industry observers have noted a marked increase in the number of foreigners and expatriates joining our local Singapore-born instructors, coaches and trainers in providing fitness/wellness-related services here.
In fact, a quick glance at various fitness niches popular here in Singapore show a remarkable mix of expat/foreign instructors within their midst.
Consider the following: it is now common to see Yogis or Yoga Gurus from India providing their yoga services here in Singapore, Aerobics Instructors from Philippines conducting aerobics classes at local clubs and schools, Dance Fitness Instructors from Mainland China offering fitness/exotic dance classes throughout the island, Personal Trainers and Fitness Instructors from Indonesia, Australia, Hong Kong etc working the commercial gyms and providing personal training in private residences across Singapore, and even American and European Fitness Coaches running their private fitness boot camp programs and outdoor group exercise workouts at our local parks, nature reserves, public stadiums, beaches etc …. and the list goes on.
So what do we make of all these?
Should Singapore instructors and coaches start tearing their hair in frustration and rue the potential loss in clients and income from this “foreign” influx? Should they fret, curse and swear, and basically give up all hope of ever “making it BIG” in the fitness profession in the face of such massive competition?
Or should local Fitness Service Providers pull up their socks, accept and embrace the changing reality around them, and take the competition head on? And perhaps even forge an alliance with these “foreign talents” and aim for a synergistic and mutually rewarding relationship ?
We – at Singapore Fitness Professionals Network – are of the opinion that we should all adopt the latter approach and create a win-win situation for all those involved.
Let’s consider this phenomenon from a positive point of view: the influx of foreign and expat trainers into the Singapore Fitness industry actually does have many advantages, such as:
1) Coming from different countries and cultures, these foreign imports do bring along with them certain unique skills, experiences and credentials that can only enrich and benefit our fitness industry as a whole. And local Singapore instructors and trainers could draw upon their foreign counterparts’ experiences and skills to further improve their own standing in the fitness industry too.
2) Foreign coaches also bring along with them valuable overseas contacts and networks that our local Singapore trainers can tap upon, or even forge an alliance with, to expand and widen their own businesses beyond the region.
3) As the Singapore Fitness/Wellness Sector is growing at an unprecedented rate, these foreign trainers can actually help meet the demands of the fitness market, and even afford our local Singapore trainers and coaches some “breathing space” to catch up on their own professional upgrading and personal self-improvement without compromising the needs of the clients.
4) And more importantly, the presence of these Expat/Foreign instructors will definitely help raise the overall standard of coaching, instructing and general professionalism within the Singapore Fitness Industry – which by all accounts has much room to improve – by eliciting competition and comparison.
Thus, as the above has shown, the influx of foreign trainers and coaches can in fact be a very GOOD thing for the Singapore Fitness Industry, and a BLESSING in disguise for our own local trainers and instructors.
So the next time you see a foreign or expat trainer in our midst, do walk up to him/her and extend a warm handshake of welcome to them – for they could very well turn out to be the BEST thing ever happen to our Singapore Fitness Industry.
Fitness Industry Insider 