Travelling is expensive: not only are cheap, reliable flights a struggle to find, the costs of staying in the beautiful luxury resorts that we dream of can be exorbitant. However, that can all change now if you’re in the fitness industry.
Local startup COACH2PLAY is offering a new platform for fitness professionals to barter their services in exchange for the dream vacation they’ve always wanted. In exchange for one week of work, where you teach 2-3 exercise classes a day to resort guests with a few scheduled rest days, the resort will extend complimentary luxury villa accommodation to you and a partner, daily breakfast, use of all facilities and amenities, and airport transfer.
That means, essentially, that you will get a chance to work in a place like this:
Before you get carried away with vacation dreams: the programme does require you to do a good job, so you will need to provide a CV, professional profile, YouTube video of class/workshop, and take part in an online interview to screen for suitability. On top of that, you’ll need to pay a programme fee of around $600-$1000. They are offering attractive promotional prices of about 50% off for the time being.
This concept is a unique one, and will understandably raise quite a few eyebrows. The process of signing up for the programme does sound tedious, even at a steal, though there will be a large group of people willing to do anything for a deal like this. The Four Seasons resort in Bali, for example, is one of the top 25 Indonesian hotels listed on TripAdvisor in 2015, and has won 12th Best Resort in Asia in Travel + Leisure Magazine’s 2014 World’s Best Awards. A villa there can cost upwards of USD600 a night, which means that the usual programme fee will only be able to pay for one night.
Julian, a fitness trainer who signed on to COACH2PLAY, shared that he’s been hooked on the service since he signed up for the Fitness Teaching Vacation in Bali.
“The whole COACH2PLAY concept of combining work and play, stem from enabling the fitness professional to barter-trade their expertise in exchange for a luxurious vacation. We as fitness professionals, live to empower others with exercise and training knowledge, so why not use this as an opportunity to share it with overseas resort guests and staff.”
Since launching in 2014, COACH2PLAY has worked with more than 100 fitness professionals specialising in several different forms of exercise, from yoga to Zumba.
Verdict: 4.5/5
I’m not a fitness professional myself, and I feel immensely jealous of this opportunity that those in the fitness industry get to experience. Bartering isn’t a common trade used by many companies, but by its nature, it benefits all who participate in it, resorts and fitness professionals alike.
While it may seem to tap into a very niche market here in Singapore, it is catering to a rapidly growing fitness industry in the country. According to Statista, the health club industry revenue in Asia Pacific has been growing exponentially from 13.2 billion just two years ago to 14.42 billion in 2014.
COACH2PLAY currently only has two resorts — Four Seasons Bali and Four Seasons Maldives — on board the service, and they’ll need to bring in more resorts to truly expand this business. Until then, their packages are a real steal, and I can’t imagine a fitness professional passing up on an opportunity like this. Surely no one can say no to working in a dream resort.
