Piscina & Wellness Barcelona will feature an expanded “spa showroom” at this year’s event, thanks to unprecedented increase in the number of exhibitors at the trade fair.

Organised jointly by Fira de Barcelona and the Spanish Association of Pool Sector Professionals (ASOFAP) – taking place from 17 to 20 October – the event has already attracted 18 per cent more exhibitors than last year.

This year’s Wellness Spa Experience – a fully-functional wellness centre giving visitors an idea of the equipment and services required to build and establish a high-end facility – will cover 740sq m (8,000sq ft).

The Spa Experience is double the size of the previous, 2015 edition, and will include various areas – including a reception, waiting area, changing rooms, bathrooms, treatment cubicles, fitness room and a water zone – all fitted out with the latest products on the market provided by exhibitors at the event.

Held at the Gran Via exhibition centre in Barcelona, Piscina & Wellness will also host a dedicated programme of seminars featuring more than 30 speakers, discussing the spa and thalassotherapy business and its associations with tourism and health.

Speakers include Antonio Freire Magariños, specialist hydrology physician and director of the Gala Termal destination spa in Pontevedra, Spain; Antoni Borrell Azlor, science and innovation director of the Dr. Oliver Rodés Laboratory in Spain; and Salvador Ramos Rey, medical director of Talaso Atlántico and the Loida Spa, near Vigo, Spain.

Held biannually, Piscina & Wellness Barcelona brings together leading manufacturers and distributors, as well as buyers, suppliers and thought leaders.

It is expected that this year’s event will attract more than 12,000 trade visitors from 70 different countries.