Watch for a significant leisure trend towards blocks of discretionary time. Our traditional assumption that free time is an evening or weekend phenomenon is being challenged by:
- the larger number of vacation days logged by an aging workforce and the trend toward multiple ‘mini vacations’ for those with the financial ability
- the restraint-driven trend toward a 4-day work week
- underemployment and the shift to part time work
- the increasing prevalence of shift work as employers strive to fully capitalize on plant and overhead investment – leaving many workers with leisure during the ‘normal’ work day
- self-employment and the shift to working out of the home – a new population generally overworked when a contract is available with significant chunks of non-work/leisure time between contracts
- the shift to year round schooling resulting in several shorter vacations or breaks in different seasons (not just summer holidays)
- early retirement encouraged by restraint, by restructuring to eliminate middle management, and by corporate demands for the skills of younger workers
- the fact that many baby boomers will not be able to retire as they had planned - opting instead for a reduced work load that will provide just enough income to keep away from their savings for 5-10 years.
The leisure provider who remains focused on week-night and weekend services will lose market share to those who shift towards:
- flexible, drop-in scheduling
- quality service in time slots that were previously viewed as 'non-prime'
- multi-day, intensive clinics and workshops - providing the foundation for self-directed and self-scheduled activity to follow
- holidays near home (week long painting courses, a paddling adventure on the local river, etc.)
- expansion of the 'personal trainer' concept to other, non-fitness activity areas.
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