EuropeActive CEO, Kai Troll, opened the European Health and Fitness Forum (EHFF) in Cologne this morning, saying it’s one of the best turnouts ever, with 585 attendees from 44 countries.

This year there are more speakers on the agenda from outside the industry. “We want to challenge and inspire and present an agenda where we learn from other industries about what works and what we can do better,” said Troll.

He thanked FIBO for all the collaboration and partnership, as well as premium partners, Technogym and Wellhub; and talked about how EuropeActive is continuing to professionalise the organisation, building the resources and becoming increasingly member-centric.

Interim president, Marcel Boots, said that today’s programme will cover the main challenges and opportunities facing the industry. Longevity – how the industry can help people to live longer and live well.

GLP-1s and how to welcome consumers who are taking medications are also on the agenda, as well as how Gen Z and Gen Alpha are driving the momentum in the industry. 

The first talk was from Deloitte’s Karsten Hollasch and EuropeActive's Herman Rutgers who presented the data from the European Health and Fitness Market Report 2026.

The data shows strong growth. In the last year, overall revenues have grown by 9.1 per cent to €39.1 billion and the number of clubs in the European market grew by 2.8 per cent from 64,000 to 65,792.

Memberships have grown 5.8 per cent, surpassing the 75 million benchmark and on a good path to achieve EuropeActive’s 100 million target by 2030.

Over the last 10 years the top 10 operators have grown memberships by 151 per cent from 6.3 million to almost 16 million. Revenues for the top ten during this time have grown by 115 per cent to €6,052 million (€6.052 billion).

Look out for a full report on the European Health and Fitness Market Report 2026 in the next edition of HCM. Sign up for your personal free copy here.

The HCM team is at EHFF and FIBO and will be reporting throughout the week.

HCM is a global media partner of FIBO.