CWA Blog Archive-2019 Indoor Climbing Industry Report Now Available!

2019 Indoor Climbing Industry Report Now Available!

Pdf Summary

This article announces the release of the CWA's 2019 Indoor Climbing Industry Report, the product of a research program the CWA began building in 2017 to develop information aiding climbing gym owners, industry vendors, and prospective owners in decision-making. The stated goal is providing reliable data and business metrics that dig into the realities of operating a climbing facility. The 74-page report offers an in-depth look at commercial climbing gym businesses in the US and Canada, with detailed analysis of market dynamics, facility characteristics, financial metrics, operations, and trends. The CWA partnered with Dr. Bob Brookover of Clemson University to study commercial climbing gyms, defined specifically as facilities where the primary offering is indoor climbing, deliberately excluding health clubs, recreation centers, and other facility types that offer climbing among many other things, to keep the data focused. The article shares participation figures: 142 locations completed the survey, representing 96 unique operators, comprising 73 single-gym operators and 23 multi-gym operators. It also highlights improvements to the 2019 report, beginning with the creation of a Research Advisory Committee. The throughline is that the CWA invested in rigorous, focused industry research to give stakeholders reliable, decision-useful data about the realities of running a climbing gym, moving the industry beyond anecdote toward empirical understanding of market dynamics, facility characteristics, and financial benchmarks.

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The CWA announced its 2019 Indoor Climbing Industry Report, a 74-page analysis produced with Dr. Bob Brookover of Clemson. Covering market dynamics, facility characteristics, and financial metrics for commercial climbing-primary gyms, it drew 142 locations and 96 operators, and added a Research Advisory Committee, giving owners and vendors reliable, decision-useful industry data.