Pamela Kufahl, Editor-in-Chief

Once banished to basements, hotel fitness centers are now getting more attention from hotel operators who realize fitness has become more important to travelers. The shift could provide new sales opportunities for manufacturers and partnership possibilities for club operators.

Leisure Sports, Pleasanton, CA, has created a unique hybrid business: a hotel and a health club that operate as one business.

Days Inn will introduce healthier menu options and improved fitness experience at its more than 1,800 hotels later this year.

Art Hicks, president and COO of Cybex International, anticipates having more time and resources to move Cybex forward now that the company is private.

Newtown Athletic Club, Newtown, PA, held the grand opening celebration of its $2.6 million NAC Sports Training Center on Jan. 12.

With the growing popularity of small group training, some club operators are taking small group training out of the personal training department and are moving it into the group exercise department as a fee-based program, a move that is breathing new life into group exercise.