The Northeast industry’s popular trade show saw a strong return in its first in-person iteration since the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, The Pool & Spa Show: Powered by the Northeast Spa & Pool Association was held virtually. This year, it moved forward in person, with safeguards in place, such as requiring proof of vaccinations or negative test results, and onsite testing for attendees who needed it.
The effort paid off, organizers said, as participation likely fell in line with the event’s five year averages.
“It looked and felt amazing!” said Dominick Mondi, executive director of the Northeast Spa & Pool Association. “I think some of that was a feeling of being back. The mood was amazingly upbeat. People were excited to be in the aisles. ”
The event included 110 classes, in line with pre-COVID days. Like the before times, session attendance was brisk, with technical courses proving most popular, and some even having to relocate to larger rooms. To help with planning, the organizers required advanced registration in all classes.
Final attendance figures were not yet available at press time.
More than 300 companies exhibited, with some of the larger ones debuting new, beefed-up and teched-up booths.
The social and networking events were well attended, as well, Mondi said. More than 1,000 industry professionals attended the Welcome party. “That was really nice to see everybody together,” he said.” It was an indicator of how excited people were.” Hospitality suites and other gatherings sponsored by the chapters also saw high attendance, he added.
“Probably one of the best things was how easy [the show] went,” Mondi said. “It felt like we were doing the Atlantic City show. There were so many question marks and so many extra layers of things we had to add on, and they all went smoothly. Everybody moved through all the processes to get in, and everybody was happy once they got inside.”
