Piscina & Wellness Barcelona closes its best edition of the last decade

Piscina & Wellness Barcelona has more than lived up to expectations in its best edition of the last decade. The Fira de Barcelona trade show closes its doors today, confirming its position as an effective international business centre for an innovative industry that is committed to sustainability and digitalisation in order to achieve more experiential and efficient aquatic facilities in terms of water and energy consumption. The event, with 367 exhibitors from 30 countries, was visited by more than 14,000 professionals, 56% of them international, from up to 100 countries.

After four days of intense activity, Piscina & Wellness leaves a good feeling among the participating companies, speakers, invited buyers and the professional public. The international connection with Europe, the Mediterranean and Latin America, together with the attractiveness of the Spanish market, one of the most important in the world in terms of the size of the pool stock to be maintained and equipped (more than 1.3 million units), have been even more evident in this edition marked by growth.

Specifically, the event has increased its commercial surface area by 54% compared to 2021, has reached an all-time record of international participation with 68% of foreign companies, and has increased the number of visitors by 40% compared to the last edition held two years ago at the height of the pandemic, also exceeding the attendance figures for the 2019 show by 16%. On this occasion, moreover, the presence of international buyers from Mexico, France, Portugal, Italy, China, Belgium, Germany and the Middle East region has also increased.

The president of Piscina & Wellness Barcelona, Eloi Planes, is satisfied with the development of the fair and the representativeness of the offer achieved this year: “we have attracted a quality visitor and clients with specific projects that need to apply solutions very focused on sustainability to adapt all types of aquatic facilities for both residential and public use to the demands of the context of climate change in which we find ourselves”. Planes also highlights “the contribution of the fair to give visibility to innovation in the sector and to highlight the social impact of swimming pools as infrastructures necessary to improve people’s health and wellbeing, creating spaces for community relations”.

Activities 

As a complement to the commercial offer, it is worth highlighting the interest aroused by the show’s activity areas. In this regard, the Innovation Zone, with around twenty new products for a smart, connected, sustainable and healthy pool, was one of the must-see places at the show. On display in this area were, for example, intelligent skimmers to eliminate waste that work with solar energy, salt chlorinators capable of controlling pool disinfection and the operation of peripheral equipment with a mobile phone, water purifiers that reduce the use of chemical products by up to 85% and the quietest and most energy-efficient pool pumps on the market.

Another focus of the show was the Wellness Experience, a large wellness centre with an active pool, saunas, whirlpool baths, showers, fitness area and treatment cabins. Demonstrations of aquatic therapies and various treatments in the cabins took place there. As a novelty, visitors to this space have had the opportunity to live an immersive experience within a virtual environment, through a Roman baths, a spa on ice and a tropical beach. Also noteworthy was the ‘Outdoor Living Experience’ showroom, which showcased new products and services related to swimming pools, outdoor decoration and outdoor wellness experiences.

Piscina & Wellness Barcelona also hosted various conferences that promoted debate and networking, such as the first edition of the Pool Horizons Summit, an event promoted by the world’s leading companies and organisations in the sector, which reflected on the role of swimming pools and their contribution to social and environmental challenges. Also well received was the fourth Europe – Latin America Business Meeting which, for the first time, included buyers and specifiers from the Middle East and associated business meetings. Other widely attended sessions were the INDESCAT (the Catalan sports industry cluster) workshops on the sustainability and digitisation of swimming pools, which brought together professionals from these markets linked to architecture, the hotel and tourism industry; and the conferences organised by the Spanish Association of Landscape Architects (AEP) on a new paradigm in landscaping and the impact of climate change on project design.

Awards

Once again this year, Piscina & Wellness Barcelona awarded prizes to the best products presented at the trade show, the best wellness establishments on the Iberian peninsula and in Europe, and the aquatic projects presented by architecture students from all over the world in three competitions that received around one hundred entries.

The companies Ercros, for its sustainable corrugated cardboard packaging, and Fluidra, for its new range of AstralPool Verdon VS variable speed connected pumps, were recognised with the awards for innovative product in sustainability and connectivity, respectively, at the Piscina & Wellness Barcelona 2023 Awards. The Vidago Palace Hotel Golf & Spa wellness centres in the Portuguese town of Vidago (Vila Real), The Retreat at Blue Lagoon in Grindavik, Iceland, and the Parador Costa da Morte in Muxía, in the province of A Coruña, are some of the winners of the Wellness Experience Awards, which recognised the best spas, spas and thalassotherapy centres of the year. Finally, the student Catalina Petra Lizasoain from the Madrid School of Architecture, ETSAM, won first prize in the International Competition for Architecture Students with her project “Aquatic Stitching”.

Water reuse

Finally, as part of the measures to reduce the event’s environmental footprint, this year all the pools and spas on display at the fair have been filled with vitalised seawater, a sustainable alternative from the company “Másque iniciativas”. This afternoon, after the show closes, the water will be collected again in tanker trucks to be reused in other aquatic facilities or fire-fighting ponds.

Barcelona, November, 30th 2023

Images available here

Mª Gloria Dilluvio / Maria Dolors Herranz
Tel. 93 233 21 72 – 25 41
gdilluvio@firabarcelona.com / mdherranz@firabarcelona.com