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Over 20 experts from the national scene are expected to take part as speakers to discuss topics of interest to the different stakeholders in the swimming pool value chain (manufacturers, distributors, installers and retailers), as well as architects, engineers, designers, builders, managers of public pool and sports facilities, hotels and campsites, tour operators, designers of water parks, professionals from wellness and spa centres and gym owners, amongst other profiles.

According to the president of ASOFAP, Pedro Arrebola, ‘this Forum comes in response to a manifest need for training in the swimming pool and wellness sector, facilitating the exchange of information and increased knowledge of the different technical, management and sales areas for every actor in the market, including professionals from the sectors that demand our products and solutions.’

The programme for this first Piscina & Wellness Forum will put an emphasis on consumer information and on adapting the swimming pool sector to respond to new needs and expectations based on the quest for new experiences, in which wellness is playing an increasingly important role. Discussions will also focus on trends in the design and decoration of swimming pools and outdoor spaces, and the automation and control of installations. In the public swimming pool segment, the focus will be on the efficient management and maintenance of facilities, as well as the issue of safety and applicable law. Aquatic leisure facilities will be the focus of the sessions on tourist establishments and the theming of swimming pools. Finally, the segment devoted to wellness will deal with concepts such as sustainability and ‘connected health’, amongst others.

The Piscina & Wellness Forum will be held every two years as a travelling event, alternating with Piscina & Wellness Barcelona, the benchmark event for the swimming pool and wellness industry in Spain and one of the biggest events in Europe in its specialist area, which is organised by Fira de Barcelona and is planned to take place again on 17-20 October 2017.

With this initiative, in the even-numbered years in which Piscina & Wellness Barcelona is not held, the sector will have an excellent training platform at which to raise and discuss the latest trends and topical issues. According to the president of Piscina & Wellness Barcelona and executive president of Fluidra, Eloi Planes: ‘by organising this joint forum in collaboration with ASOFAP we want to continue promoting knowledge and training outside the trade show itself as key factors for the companies in our sector to increase their business opportunities.’

The Piscina & Wellness Forum will be held in the Hotel NH Ventas in Madrid. As well as the different training sessions and involvement in related spaces with speakers and other trade professionals, the event includes business lunches and a gala dinner for delegates.

The Spanish Association of Pool Sector Professionals (ASOFAP) is the body responsible for integrating and representing the whole value chain of the sector (manufacturers, distributors, pool industrialists and professionals and maintenance personnel). Its objectives include improving the sector’s professionalization and internationalisation through training and trans-border collaboration agreements; approving the regulations that govern the sector; fighting against professional encroachment and representing the sector before the different public administrations and society.

Fira de Barcelona is one of the biggest trade fair organisations in Europe and the leader in the Spanish market, especially for industrial and trade events. The organisation has a portfolio of more than 80 trade shows and congresses of varying frequencies, involving some 30,000 direct and represented companies, and welcomes more than two million visitors every year from over 200 countries.

Every two years, Fira de Barcelona organises Piscina & Wellness Barcelona, an event which at its last edition in 2015 brought together 287 direct exhibitors (13% more than in 2013) from 26 countries, and represented 450 companies. The show was visited by a total of 12,225 trade professionals, 12.6% more than the previous event. This is one of the most important international shows in the sector, given that Spain is second in Europe and fourth worldwide in terms of the number of private swimming pools. Piscina & Wellness Barcelona also facilitates contacts with representatives of hotels and other professional profiles, taking advantage of the link between the swimming pool and wellness world with sectors such as tourism, health, leisure, wellbeing and sport. In 2017, Piscina & Wellness Barcelona expects to grow by 10% in terms of both exhibitor and visitor numbers as a reflection of the market’s reactivation, the improved economic outlook and increased consumption.

The Spanish swimming pool industry consists of 2,500 companies that give work either directly or indirectly to 64,000 people. The industry’s turnover in 2015 in the domestic market reached 950 million euros, according to ASOFAP.