Two active guys Alexander Schrøder and Kenn Gudbergsen, who got tired of lousy hotel gyms, endless Google research, rejections at gym front desks and pointless monthly subscriptions when trying to go to the gym while travelling, said to themselves: There has to be an easier way of doing this!
And they did it!
In 2016 Alexander Schrøder and Kenn Gudbergsen made the thing, all active travellers, ex-pats, business tourists and many others really needed – TrainAway project. We’ve talked to one of the founder of this startup, Alexander Schrøder
Alexander, You have a really interesting TrainAway service. It is convenient for travelling fitness lovers. Tell us why you decided to implement it? What is the main feature of your idea/service?
The critical point was trying four gyms in Brazil before successfully finding one we could actually work out in, it was the time we decided to act.
TrainAway enables travellers to buy access to gyms via the TrainAway app or website. There are no contracts, subscriptions or sign up fees – you only pay when you train. With partners in over 800 cities across over 45 countries, TrainAway provides access to fitness facilities all over the world. Our mission is to break down barriers to fitness, so we can all enjoy healthy and active lifestyles, even when we’re away from home.
For gyms, we help your members stay in their active routine even when they’re not training with you. We also provide an easy means for you to welcome travellers into your gym when they’re visiting your city – and earn extra revenue in the process.
About 15 years ago IHRSA had a “guest program” which allowed to visit IHRSA member clubs in different countries. But in my opinion, it did not work well enough. Few of the customers have used this service. Is your project supported by IHRSA? Did you invite them to participate in this project?
It was actually the other way around, through our network we met Jay Ablondi at the IHRSA Congress in London where we were invited to pitch our idea of a digital passport program to IHRSA. Since the beginning of 2019 TrainAway has digitalized IHRSA’s passport program for the participating clubs’ members.
How is the lockdown period affecting you now?
Obviously, we are very affected by Covid-19 as TrainAway finds itself in between the travel industry and Fitness – both industries that have been hurt. However, we have spent the time well. Securing new funding and developing new products.
How much has the demand decreased?
In the initial phase, we decided to close the platform completely as we did not want to jeopardize the well-being of our users and partners. However, we are seeing domestic travel grow significantly as well as international travel, although the reason rise in cases has lowered it again.
How do you expect to survive this crisis?
Through our innovative company culture and willingness to adapt to the need of our partners and the end-user.
What is happening with fitness tourism now and what perspectives are going to be there?
No one believes that the journey back to “normal” will be easy, but fitness tourism is prioritized by an increasing number of people, so by continuously understanding their needs and taking the right repercussions, we trust that in 2 years we will be back at 2019 levels.
Thank you, Alexander, wish you success and hope that your project will be in great demand in the near term.
interviewer: Inga Kouru-Nedaskovskaja
photo: TrainAway
