British Interbad exhibitors pooling resources
Andy Slater- 10 years ago
Wet leisure suppliers from the UK will be pooling their resources with fellow exhibitors from the Czech Republic and Finland on joint stands this week during Interbad 2014.
A small band of British companies have targeted the four day event in Germany, running from October 21 to 24 at the Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre, to promote their specialist wet leisure and wellness products and services. These include Cheshire Wellness, GMT Spas International, Suntrap Systems, Sportclox Ltd, SCS Exhibitions Ltd, Aquagym Ltd, and HQ Pool LED Lighting Ltd; while UK representatives from the Swimming Teachers Association will also be travelling to the exhibition on a shared multi-company Stand 56 location with many of the British brands in Hall 8.
Although they will be up against fierce competition from a very strong German contingent, including iconic hot tub brand Villeroy & Boch, and SCP Germany; there should be plenty of interest to be gained for the British exhibitors. They will be hoping to attract a good percentage of footfall from around 16,000 visitors from over 50 countries attending the bi-annual international exhibition that specialises in showcasing spas technology, swimming pools, sauna, physiotherapy and wellness.
Caldera Spas
Caldera Spas Belgium will be among a host of other European exhibitors travelling to Germany to promote the WhatSpa? Award-winning brand of hot tubs from Watkins Manufacturing. Netherlands-based Sunspa, run by CEO Andreas Vlemmix, which exhibited at SPATEX and the UK Pool and Spa Expo this year, is another exhibitor heading for Interbad; along with Dutch counterpart Allseas Spas & Wellness.
Dreammaker Spas, owned by Canadian company Sunrise Spas and supplied to UK dealers by distributor Stephen Crabb at Catalina Spas, is set to be among a small band of USA and Canadian companies making the long journey to exhibit at Interbad. The revamped stable of models from one of the world’s largest manufacturers of rotomolded spas based at a factory at the Innovation Centre in Lake Mary in Florida includes the WhatSpa? Best Buy award winner the EZ Spa that was promoted by Stephen’s Catalina Spas team at SPATEX and the UK Pool and Spa Expo this year.
“Our rebuilding phase with this brand has been going really well and we’ve been excited to launch the new Dream Maker designs in Europe,” said Sunrise Spas and DreamMaker Export Manager Andrea Layfield.
A selection of the hundreds of hot tub and wet leisure exhibitors (with Hall and Stand number details) include: Allseas Spas & Wellness, Hall 8 A15; Alps Spas Germany, Hall 8 A74; Dreammaker Spas, Hall 8 C72; Caldera Spas Belgium, Hall 8 E38; Cheshire Wellness, Hall 8 A36; Compass Pools Germany, Hall 6, B12; GMT Spas International, Hall 8 D78; HQ Pool LED Lighting Ltd, Hall 8C56.6; Physiotherm, Hall 8, B12; Saunasell Oy, Hall 8 E124; Sauna System, Hall 8 C32; SCP Germany, Hall 6, D09; SCS Exhibitions Ltd, Hall 8, C56.9; Sportclox Ltd, Hall 8 C56.7; Suntrap Systems, Hall 8 C56.4; Villeroy & Boch, Hall 8 Stand 8C18; and Vortex Aquatic Structures International, Hall 6 B76.
Despite the event being heavily focussed on the pool industry, Divisional Director at Messe Stuttgart Andreas Wiesinger believes there will be a great interest for a wide range of wet leisure target groups, including those aiming to become a hot tub dealer and also get involved in specialising in supplying to spas in their home countries and retailing saunas.
“Due to its comprehensive exhibition programme, Interbad is aimed at many different target groups,” said Andreas.
“The original and most important focal point of Interbad is the public and private swimming pool sector, which we have been able to very successfully combine over the years with the closely related aspects of saunas and spas.
“The worldwide unrivalled range of saunas, to name but one example, is not only aimed at operators of baths and saunas, but also hoteliers. They in turn find additional areas in the swimming pool and spa sections in order to let their guests escape from everyday life in the most attractive way possible.”
Spa business Verlag will hold podium discussions and informative talks during the fifth edition of the Spa Market Conference during the first two days of Interbad. Topic groups will include ‘Spa Tools, Tools and Methods for the Spa Industry’; and ‘Marketing in 2014’. The third Spa Business Awards are also being presented by Verlag to recognise outstanding achievements in a host of categories.
This year the 65th Congress for Pool and Bath Technology running during Interbad will be divided into the specialised conferences entitled ‘Public Baths’, ‘Saunas’, ‘Physiotherapy’, Swimming Pool Personnel’, ‘Private Swimming Pools’ and ‘Special Events’.
