Piscina & Wellness Barcelona builds a more digitalised and experiential wellness centre

At the same time, the Wellness Experience, which will be fully operational from 15th to 18th October at the Gran Via venue, will also be the setting for demonstrations and workshops of different water activities linked to sport, wellness and health, as well as a forum for knowledge through its technical seminars, focusing on the operation, equipment and focus of the business of spa resorts, wellness centres, spas and thalassotherapy centres.

Occupying an area of 612 sq. m in Hall 1 of the Gran Via venue, “Wellness Experience” will reproduce the different rooms of a wellness centre such as the reception, waiting room, fitness room, spa area, sauna, treatment cabins, changing rooms, bathrooms, swimming pool and jacuzzi. All of them equipped with the latest developments and market technologies provided by several exhibiting companies.

The central area will be the active swimming pool, the work of Construcciones Deportivas Condal, which will host various activities related to wellness and health, such as aquatic physiotherapy workshops or demonstrations of relaxation techniques such as thermal yoga, Tibetan singing bowls, Ayurveda or H2O Mindfulness.

The design of these rooms, taking care of the dimension, the ambience, the materials and flooring used and the technological solutions installed, has been entrusted to the Aia Arquitectura studio, which won the Piscina 2017 Prize for the best “Swimming pool in a wellness centre” for its work in the Metropolitan Sports Centre in Badalona (Spain). For his part, the architect Josep Ferrando, an expert in the use of recyclable materials and in sustainable structure projects, will be responsible for the common areas and the rest of the Piscina & Wellness Barcelona activity spaces.

One of the attractions included, for the first time, in the Wellness Experience, will be a spacious cabin with an ‘experiential’ spa regulated by Moodify, a virtual assistant that proposes sensory circuits in the pool, sauna, shower or spa, adapted to the mood of the user. This system, which will be presented for the first time by Fluidra Accelera, is capable of creating various combinations of lighting, music and aromas to create a relaxing, fun or energetic atmosphere, depending on the customer’s wishes.

Thus, to immerse themselves in a revitalising or soothing bath, the user simply has to indicate which session they wish to experience according to their needs via the application screen or by voice. In addition, through Amazon’s intelligent speaker, Alexa, the device will be able to guide the user, pointing out activities and circuits exactly as a professional would do.

At the same time, different treatments will be carried out in the cabins, as well as cryotherapy sessions that will be carried out with the Cryo Arctic equipment, a world first provided by the company Sonnen Land. It is a cryotherapy chamber for the whole body that reaches a temperature of -140ºC. Its main applications are related to weight loss, preventive medicine, energy increase, functional recovery, improvement of physical performance and as an antidepressant. Other equipment used in the cabins will be the Cryo Penguin, for treating localised areas of the body. It is applied in advanced aesthetics to improve the texture and firmness of the skin or to eliminate cellulite, and in the field of sport in the recovery of injuries, pain relief or inflammation.

As a complement, this space will host in an annexed room the Wellness Experience Professional Seminars in which more than 20 experts linked to technical, medical, physiotherapy, commercial or management specialities of this business will participate as speakers. Speakers include names such as the medical director of the Talaso Atlántico and Loida spa, Salvador Ramos Rey; the architect, founder and creative director of Studio Gronda, Diego Gronda; the marketing director of the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona, Jaume Marín; the co-founder of Mindful Travel Destinations Jimmy Pons; the director of the anti-ageing cosmetics centre INNAT Barcelona, Marisa Juárez; the Ayurveda therapist, Elena Álvarez Domínguez; the director of Torrens & Pacheco, a company that organises Wellness Experience activities and seminars, Teresa Pacheco; and the consultant and expert in spa resorts and spas, Gerard André, among others.

Gerard André, a consultant, will offer a free advice service to visitors who come to the Wellness Experience to answer questions about products and equipment as well as questions related to the business approach and the management of wellness projects. André is a senior wellness consultant specialising in feasibility analysis, design, programming and operational management of wellness and tourism establishments.

With this space, Piscina & Wellness Barcelona seeks to promote greater knowledge and commercial development of the wellness sector, which is continuing its ascending trajectory. According to the Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2018 report, the spa industry generated $119 billion in revenues worldwide in 2017, including the spas themselves and other related services. With 3,304 spas, Spain is eighth in the ranking, headed by the United States, of the 20 countries with the highest spa industry revenues. This is also due to the progressive integration of wellness centres in establishments dedicated to tourism, such as hotels and resorts, camp-sites and other tourist accommodation.

Organised by Fira de Barcelona in collaboration with the Spanish Association of Swimming Pool Professionals (ASOFAP), Piscina & Wellness Barcelona is the leading trade fair in Spain and the most international in the European trade fair calendar for the sector. It will bring together the entire swimming pool product value chain for residential and public use, as well as facilities, equipment and accessories related to wellness, spa and fitness, focusing on innovation, digitalisation and sustainability. It plans to bring together more than 400 exhibitors in October, 60% of them from abroad, in 35,000 sq. m of exhibition space, 15% more than in 2017.