'Sportcation' enthusiasts find place in the sun

Avoiding a wipeout

However, the sportcation business is tougher than it looks, according to those involved in it.

Wang Zhiqiao, who runs the Wet Floor sports park on the beachfront, is called "Principal Wang" by participants in his Hyrox training sessions.

Wang realized the opportunities two years ago when he opened four training gyms in Jinan, Shandong province, betting on Hyrox before it had gained a foothold in China.

"For a city like Jinan, it was too early," he said. Only one gym survived.

An investor with Hainan real estate interests later approached him to open a gym in a hotel basement 100 meters from the sea. Wang took one look at the venue and rejected the plan. "Why not take it outside?" he wondered.

Wet Floor opened in January 2024, with the training equipment placed under coconut trees against an ocean backdrop. The Hyrox program quickly became Wet Floor's hottest offering.

Each Hyrox class regularly draws double-digit sign-ups, while other classes struggle to reach that number.

Wang said the appeal of such classes is that holidaymakers now want a nontraditional travel experience.

"The biggest difference between sports and luxury goods is that with luxury goods, you can buy them with money. But with sports, you can't," he said.

"The old middle-class status markers were about owning more luxury goods, traveling to more places, posting photos from Japan or South Korea. Now the middle class post photos of themselves doing all kinds of sports."

Wang conceded the economics of making the business profitable have been tough. Wet Floor's up-front investment was heavy, and the single location "can't make back its money", he said.

Peak season — Chinese New Year — draws about 200 visitors a day. In late May and June, the number drops to 20 or 30, and in summer it rises to 50 or 60.

To increase its viability, Wet Floor has opened a bar and restaurant next door.

But anecdotal evidence of Hyrox's growing popularity in Wanning and the rest of the country provides encouragement for operators like Wet Floor.

While there is no official data on China's total Hyrox participants, the scale of individual events is already remarkable. On Aug 15 and 16, Hyrox Shenzhen in Guangdong province attracted 12,000 athletes from 55 countries — with a total attendance of nearly 30,000.