A 2017 study found that across Danish municipalities, sports facilities had an average utilisation rate of just 61%, although they were booked 83% of the time. Facilities often appear fully booked on paper, yet they’re underused in reality, resulting in wasted resources and missed opportunities for local communities.
HallMonitor’s technology offers a way to close this gap by providing local management with precise, actionable data on facility usage combined with booking data. This joint insight allows administrators to detect discrepancies—such as sports halls that appear fully booked but remain empty—making it possible to refine scheduling, optimise utilisation, and avoid unnecessary new facility investments.
Addressing underutilisation in Lyngby-Taarbæk
One municipality facing this issue was Lyngby-Taarbæk, home to nearly 60,000 residents. Like many other Danish municipalities, Lyngby-Taarbæk found that its sports facilities weren’t being used as well as possible. In 2020, the municipality adopted HallMonitor’s monitoring system to gain a clearer picture of actual facility usage. The results revealed significant gaps in booking schedules, enabling local administrators to identify where facilities were booked but left unused.
With HallMonitor’s insights, Lyngby-Taarbæk was able to increase the usage rate of its sports facilities by 10 percentage points between 2021 and the end of 2022. This improvement wasn’t merely about filling empty hours; it was also about ensuring fairness in how hours were allocated. HallMonitor’s system helped the municipality identify instances where sports clubs received more hours than they used, enabling a fairer and more effective redistribution of facility time.
Tackling high demand in Odense
In Odense, Denmark’s third-largest city, the demand for sports facilities was particularly high. At peak times, Odense’s sports facilities had a booking rate of 91% and an actual utilisation rate of 82%. The strain on existing facilities was compounded by limited options for new construction, meaning that optimising the use of current spaces was essential. By adopting HallMonitor, Odense municipality was able to pinpoint patterns in facility usage and build a more accurate case for resource allocation.
Rasmus Vestergaard Tander, a leisure consultant in Odense, underscored the importance of HallMonitor’s data: “It is a game-changer that we have raw data to present to our politicians. We are actually able to verify how much usage there is on our facilities, and the requests for more reservations do not rely on guesswork.” This reliable data helped Odense substantiate its need for more resources, ultimately leading to a more efficient and justified allocation of public funds as well as ensuring that future projects consider both geographical needs and specific activity requirements.
Fostering accountability and sustainable usage
HallMonitor is transforming the way municipalities across Denmark approach sports facility management. By incorporating HallMonitor’s reliable data into their planning processes, these communities are not only enhancing public access to sports facilities but are also promoting accountability among local sports clubs and organisations. Clubs are now more aware of the importance of booking only the hours they can use, creating a culture of fairness and cooperation.
“Facilities often appear fully booked on paper, yet they’re underused in reality”
As of now, HallMonitor is used in more than 45 municipalities throughout Denmark. Susanne Ingemann, CEO of HallMonitor, notes the broader impact: “Our analyses show that there is available capacity in all municipalities. This speaks to a sustainability agenda about better utilising the halls we have before we invest resources in new ones.” HallMonitor’s approach aligns with sustainability goals by prioritising efficient use of existing facilities over costly new developments.
In addition to improving facility usage, HallMonitor has also reduced administrative burdens for municipalities. The system’s automated data collection significantly cuts down on manual reporting tasks, leading to both time and cost savings. Furthermore, with precise information on energy usage tied to facility occupancy, municipalities can achieve energy savings, reducing operational costs and supporting environmental sustainability. The data provided by HallMonitor enables decisionmakers to make targeted improvements in facility usage, while supporting long-term sustainability goals.
Most importantly, HallMonitor ensures full GDPR compliance by anonymising data, protecting user privacy. The already blurred images are processed in-camera and deleted immediately after detection, so municipalities can trust the system to provide valuable insights without compromising individual identities, making it an ethical and effective tool for resource management.
HallMonitor in practice
The benefits of HallMonitor go beyond numbers. With a more efficient booking and usage system in place, community members have reported higher satisfaction with local sports facilities. Users experience less congestion and more availability, and clubs have greater flexibility in booking times that genuinely suit their needs. The system encourages fairer allocation of resources, ensuring that both high-demand sports and emerging community groups have a fair chance to access facilities. In this way, HallMonitor strengthens not only resource management but also community relationships, fostering a shared commitment to sustainable facility use.
Susanne Ingemann CEO HallMonitor >>