Q & A with Jaime FairfootCybex Regional Director for Latin America

by Jose Carlos de Santiago

Cybex International is so far the only company that build gym equipment specially designed for handicapped customers. Taking advantage of his attending the 2006 Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference (CHIC) recently held in Miami, Caribbean News Digital talked exclusively with Cybex´s Regional Director for Latin America about the company´s development in this region and the Caribbean.

Q.- Where was your company founded and differences it makes with other firms in the market?

A.- Cybex International is the merger of three huge and well-known companies related to the sports medicine field, rehabilitation and the making of gym equipment. This background allows us to build workout machines that respect the possibilities of the human body –or what it´s known today as biomechanics. To put it in other words, the equipment that we design and build respect the limitations of the human body, both in joints and muscles.

Q.- How long has the company been in the business?

A.- We´ve been around for 25 years now and we´ve built a whole line of products under the Total Access registered trademark. This line of products is sponsored by a British institution called Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) in a bid to help and assist handicapped people with limitations for one reason or another, including motion problems, sight impairment, so it´s hard for them to make use of ordinary workout equipment in gyms.

Q.- So, do you build machines for blind people?

A.- Yes, we do. We build machines that can be used by totally blind people or others suffering from sight weakness. What we do in this case of this particular kind of apparatus is to highlight the machine´s critical parts with yellow markings. By doing so, these customers can easily spot the parts of the equipment they need to work out properly and be fully aware of what they´re doing. Nonetheless, all instructions on how to use those equipment are written in Braille.

Q.- How many companies in the world are currently building these special gym apparatuses?

A.- Up to now, Cybex International is the only company in the world building this kind of gym equipment. We know this is an initiative that must be picked up by other firms, so we´d welcome other competitors willing to build the same products and reach out to those people that need them. The idea is that we respect this kind of public –which is very important. However, Cybex International is so far the only company certified to build these gym apparatuses.

Q.- What companies have endorsed you?

A.- First of all, IFI, headquartered in the UK. However, our equipment comply with EC certification requirements as far as safety is concerned. That means that we abide by very strict guidelines established by the European Community for this kind of fitness equipment.

Q.- What Latin American nations is your company represented in?

A.- We have representation in Mexico, which is no doubt a very important market to us. Of course, we´re in the U.S., a country where we have built on awareness because the handicapped and impaired market is highly respected there. There are people that for one reason or another now find themselves crippled, so we want to respect them, help them and support them.

Q.- As to the Caribbean hotel industry, how many hotels have already installed your equipment in their gyms and fitness centers?

A.- In the case of the Caribbean, there´s a similar initiative underway and for that purpose we´re relying on the local health ministries. Nevertheless, we don´t have exact figures. What I can say is that this is a very, very important market to our company.