- A climbing gym is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet for climbing. Climbing is getting popular and becoming more of a mainstream activity rather than a niche sport. Unlike regular gyms, climbing gyms help in burning calories (anywhere between 500 to 900 calories per hour). It also helps in building strength, power, and brings aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels to new heights.
Key Drivers of the Global Climbing Gym Market
- Rising popularity of outdoor sports and outdoor recreational activities worldwide is anticipated to proliferate the demand for climbing gyms. The concept of gym climbing is experiencing exponential growth in the last couple of years, especially in North America and Europe. According to Physical Activity Council and PHIT America, on an average, approximately 4.6 million Americans participate in either sport climbing, bouldering, or indoor climbing. As per data from the Climbing Business Journal, since 2015, the U.S. indoor climbing industry has grown at roughly 10% on a y-o-y basis. A similar scenario is seen in European countries. According to Association of British Climbing Walls, over 100,000 individuals participated in climbing walls in 2017 and the number is growing at an average of 15%-20% annually.
- Additionally, rising awareness about fitness and leading a healthy lifestyle owing to higher prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and various other health issues is attracting various demographics toward regular workouts. This is anticipated to boost the climbing gym market.
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Inclusion toward gym climbing in international sports to provide growth opportunities
- Inclusion of sports climbing (bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing) in the Tokyo Olympics, 2020 is anticipated to create attractive opportunities for the growth of gym climbing in many Asian countries. Currently, Japan and China have considerable number of participants in one or more climbing activities. Inclusion of this sport is expected to help in popularizing the sport in many other Asian countries.
Lack of awareness coupled with high initial investment to hamper the growth of the gym climbing market
- Despite exponential growth in many North American and European countries, climbing gyms still lack a presence in many countries in Asia and Middle East & Africa. The main reason for slow growth in developing regions is high initial investment associated with climbing gym set ups. Climbing walls along with the equipment used such as high tensile ropes and lanyards are expensive. This leads to premium pricing. Developing regions being mostly price sensitive thus have low market attraction for climbing gyms, hampering the growth of the gym climbing market. Additionally, lack of awareness about proper usage of such expensive equipment and risk of accidents and injuries associated with climbing activities also hampers the growth of the climbing gym market.
North America and Europe still offer growth potential for the global climbing gym market
- Geographically, the global climbing gym market can be divided into five regions: North America (NA), Europe (EU), Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East & Africa (MEA), and South America (SA).
- The U.S. commands a major chunk of the North American gym climbing market. Some of the prominent manufacturers of gym climbing are from the U.S. The U.K., Germany, and France are some of the prominent countries that have a substantial market for gym climbing in Europe.
- Developing regions such as Asia Pacific are anticipated to show promising growth in the gym climbing market in the upcoming years. China and other Southeast Asian countries are anticipated to drive the demand for gym climbing.
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Key Players Operating in the Global Market
The global climbing gym market is moderately consolidated with presence of few players competing at the global level. Most of the players are concentrated in North America and Europe owing to huge popularity of the sport.