European Leisure Pool & Spa Industry Summit in Ischgl

(eap) It will be a “summit meeting” of European leisure pools and spas in the truest sense of the word: From April 21 to 23, 190 representatives of popular leisure facilities will meet at the Silvretta Therme in Ischgl for the ninth international congress of the European Waterpark Association (EWA). Under the motto of “Future prospects for the European waterpark landscape”, participants will discuss current trends and developments in the waterpark industry.

As a conference venue, the Silvretta Therme, which opened just two years ago is a perfect example of the growing importance of pools and wellness facilities in tourist destinations. Decades ago, public pools were only seen as bad weather alternatives for vacation guests, but now they are important travel stimuli and destinations for health and wellness tourism and for family vacationers.

The congress participants come from eight European countries. International “lighthouse projects” will be presented in the lecture program. In addition to the Silvretta Therme itself, these include the new Rebstockbad as the flagship of the Frankfurter Bäder (with an investment volume of over 100 million euros), the combined Velodrome and Family Pool in Mondorf-les-Baines in Luxembourg and the gigantic new Meryal Water Park in Qatar with the world’s highest slide tower at 85 meters.

Dr. Harald Köpping © Jerrografie One focus of the congress program is the sustainable design of leisure pools and spas. Futurologist Dr. Harald Köpping from Europe’s largest private “think tank” 2b AHEAD will place the topic of sustainability at the heart of current visions of human development. Prof. Dr. Natalie Eßig from Munich University of Applied Sciences will give a presentation on how public pools can be built and operated more sustainably. Stefan Studer from the Swiss Kannewischer Holding will highlight the economic and regional effects of leisure pools.

The congress, which begins on Sunday evening with a get-together at an altitude of over 2,600 meters in the Pardatschgratd mountain restaurant, ends on Tuesday with a real “high-altitude flight” by keynote speaker Friedi Kühne. The extreme sportsman has set several highline world records, walked between two skyscrapers at a height of 350 meters and even over a slackline at a height of 400 meters along the Hunlen waterfalls in British Columbia. In his presentation, he wants to show how important it is to have a functioning team to make such exceptional performances possible. ■