The city of Agadir is preparing to host the 2nd edition of the International SPA and Wellness Fair from 23 to 25 April, with the participation of several exhibitors and experts from Morocco and abroad, according to the organisers.

"The objective of the Fair is to contribute to making Morocco an international destination for medical and wellness tourism, by making Agadir a meeting platform for experts and professionals in the sector," specifies Khalil Daffar, commissioner of the Fair, in a statement to MAP.

The programme for this Fair includes practical workshops, demonstrations, conferences, and meetings with exhibitors to discover the latest trends and innovations in the Spa and wellness sector, but also in medical tourism.

Among the novelties of this 2nd edition is the presentation by the Moroccan Institute for Standardisation (IMANOR) of the new standard concerning the SPA field "in order to limit the abusive use of the term by certain establishments and provide requirements on design and operation, the care and products offered, as well as on staff skills".

The technique of Moroccan SPA practitioners will be honoured by the "Best Hands of Morocco Competition", a competition organised in partnership with the "Label SPA du Maroc" and open to all wellness and aesthetic professionals.

The winner of the 1st prize will be invited to take part in the final phases of the 2016 "Best Hands of France" competition to defend the colours of Morocco.

A conference on "Medical Tourism" will expand the programme of this 2nd edition with a view to highlighting a tourism product that allows for further increasing tourism revenue and penetration of high-end markets.

Conceived as a showcase for the region internationally, this Fair aims, according to its initiators, to be a meeting space for actors in the wellness sector dedicated to developing and structuring the segments linked to it, the objective being eventually to set up a Morocco Tourism and Wellness Cluster, especially since the beauty sector has been experiencing regular double-digit growth for a decade.

This event promises to bring together, for three days, managers, hoteliers, and professionals in the sector with various exhibitors and operators in the context of round tables and seminars intended to shed light on new trends in SPA and wellness tourism and the technologies developed to meet new challenges.

"The importance of this niche is explained by the fact that wellness tourism already represents a market of nearly 500 billion dollars, or 14% of the global tourism market," explained Khalil Daffar, noting that this market will reach 678.5 billion dollars in 2017 with growth of about 10% per year, a rate nearly 60% higher than that of global tourism.

A niche at the confluence of health tourism and medical tourism, this sector is of particular importance for Agadir and its region given the evolution of the global organic cosmetics market, which will reach 13.2 billion dollars in 2018, he noted, pointing out that skin care products represented more than 32% in terms of turnover across all segments combined in 2011.