There could not have been a better setting for the 24th European Waterpark Association (EWA) Awards ceremony: the prizes, often referred to in the media as the \u2018European Waterpark Oscars\u2019, are presented as the EWA Professional Award, EWA Marketing Award and EWA Sustainability Award for particularly innovative concepts in the respective categories. The fact that the ceremony took place as part of the 10th International EWA Congress, \u2018Future Prospects for the European Waterpark Landscape\u2019, at the MEWA Arena in Mainz, underlined the European Waterpark Association\u2019s ambition to be a driver of innovation for the waterpark industry, in line with the association\u2019s motto \u2018Connecting Excellence. Inspiring Innovation\u2019.<\/p>\n
This year, projects from leisure pools and thermal spas in Germany and Austria were honoured. On 27 April, EWA President Jutta Kleiber, Director of Les Thermes in Strassen (Luxembourg), together with Vice-President Harald Gabriel (GMF Munich) and the members of the jury, presented the awards to the finalists and winners.<\/p>\n
The EWA Professional Award 2026<\/b> for innovative service design went to OLantis in Oldenburg<\/b>. OLantis was honoured with the award for the redesign of its SaunaWorld under the theme \u201cCity, Country, River\u201d. Also recognised as finalists in the innovative service design category were the Spa Resort Geinberg in Austria for the redesign of the SPAplus area, and the Therme Laa an der Thaya, also in Austria, for the new Silent Villas as an exclusive addition to its \u201cSilent Spa\u201d.<\/p>\n
The AGGUA in Troisdorf<\/b> was delighted to receive the EWA Marketing Award 2026<\/b>. The jury deemed the AGGUA BEATS Festival, which took place for the first time in September 2025, worthy of an award. Two finalists were also honoured in the Marketing category: the Rulantica Water World at Europapark Rust for the \u201cNordic Festival of Lights\u201d and Therme Wien for a campaign for \u201cWorld Gift Day\u201d 2025.<\/p>\n
Leisure pools and thermal spas are important venues for social interaction and health-oriented leisure activities, and hold significant social relevance. To reflect this at the EWA Awards, the EWA Sustainability Award<\/b> was launched in 2024 to recognise sustainable pool management. This category recognises leisure pools and thermal spas that have made a special contribution to social interaction and improving their energy and carbon footprint. This year, the EWA Sustainability Award went to two member establishments of the European Waterpark Association. The Austrian Spa Resort Geinberg<\/b> was honoured for its achievements in the \u201cGreen Geinberg\u201d project, whilst the aquaferrum in Friesoythe<\/b> was delighted to receive the second EWA Sustainability Award. The leisure pool initiated the Germany-wide campaign #initiativeAugenblick, in which over 200 swimming pool operators are now participating. The aim of the awareness campaign is to make parents and carers of children aware of their responsibility for the children\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n
The winners were selected by a jury of experts from the swimming pool and leisure industry. It comprised Petra Probst (Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of the trade journal Euro Amusement Professional), Sonja Redies (Profund Consult and deputy spokesperson for the advisory board of supporting members at the EWA), Dr Michael Quell (Honorary President of the EWA) and Prof. Dr Torsten Widmann (Head of the Leisure Management programme at Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg Cooperative State University).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":47515,"template":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ewa.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ewa_news\/47527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ewa.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ewa_news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ewa.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ewa_news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ewa.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ewa.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}