Swimming pools and aquatic recreational facilities are increasingly present in hotels, campsites and holiday resorts. They are an enticement and a differential value when it comes to attracting clients and, therefore, they influence the profitability of tourist accommodations.

In order to address how to update, design and implement these leisure structures, learn about experiences carried out by various entrepreneurs, and debate issues related to the safety and management of these spaces, Piscina & Wellness Barcelona 2019 will host the fourth edition of the Aquatic Leisure Symposium with the participation of around 15 speakers, experts in the sector.  

Hall piscina & Wellness Barcelona

The 4th edition of the Aquatic Leisure Symposium at Piscina & Wellness 2019

The conference, which will take place on 15th October at the Gran Via venue of the Fira de Barcelona, will have two thematic blocks: one dedicated to the main challenges of managing aquatic leisure in tourist accommodation and the other to technical aspects of the installations that affect sustainability, energy efficiency and automation. The talks are aimed at owners and managers of hotels, campsites and other tourist accommodation, as well as water park managers. They are also designed for safety and first aid professionals as well as technical and maintenance directors of these type of aquatic facilities.

Two thematic blocks

The symposium will begin with a round-table discussion that will identify the major challenges facing tourist accommodations that incorporate swimming pools and aquatic leisure facilities. William Le Metayer, General Director of the camping resort division of the Magic Costa Blanca group; and José Maria Claver, General Director of Aquopolis Costa Daurada of the Parques Reunidos Group, will all share their point of view based on their own experience.

It will be followed by a debate on technological innovation with the aim of improving the profitability of these types of accommodation, focusing on new online marketing tools to meet the needs of the target audience and turn them into customers. This section will feature the participation of Leire González, TripAdvisor's Sales Manager in Spain and Portugal; Iris Córdoba, General Director of the Global Sports Innovation Center (GSIC) promoted by Microsoft; and Juan Daniel Núñez from SmartTravel.

Piscina & Wellness room seminars

Piscina & Wellness room seminars

A specific section for safety in aquatic leisure facilities

Safety in aquatic leisure facilities will have a specific section given its importance in terms of ensuring the protection of users and preventing any risks. Cristian Bono Borello, president of the Consejo Superior de Normalización y Seguridad Integral en Piscinas (High Council for Standardisation and Integral Safety in Swimming Pools), will explain the factors to be taken into account in order to achieve increasingly safer swimming pools based on the poolsafer standard, a standardised model for assessing the safety of aquatic spaces.

 Technical aspects, energy management and regulations 

The technical aspects influencing the design, construction and maintenance of aquatic facilities will occupy the afternoon of 15th October. The use of renewable energies will be discussed as a competitiveness factor for swimming pools and aquatic centres, as well as the improvement of energy management. Luis Maria Sánchez García, Project Manager of the National Federation of Energy Managers (FENAGE in its Spanish initials); and engineers Andreu Corominas and Helena Berlanga Sesé, from the Sports Equipment Office of the Barcelona Municipal Council, will participate in these talks.

The regulations that oblige the owners of swimming pools for collective use to carry out the self-control protocol to guarantee the quality of water and air in order to protect the health of users from physical, chemical or microbiological risks will also be covered. The conference will also be used to present the Technical Guide for Public Swimming Pools and Aquatic Parks prepared by the Spanish Association of Swimming Pool Professionals (ASOFAP in its Spanish initials).

show room piscina & wellness

In Spain there are around 14,000 swimming pools in hotels, 1,400 in campsites and nearly 8,000 in rural accommodation, as well as 350 pools located in water parks, according to a study on public and collective use swimming pools conducted by ASOFAP and Piscina & Wellness Barcelona. In recent years, companies in the swimming pool sector have seen a progressive increase in the demand for recreational aquatic facilities by campsites and hotels who, in this way, seek to increase the value of their infrastructures and provide differential experiences to their customers in order to improve occupancy and profitability.