IAAPA, the global association for the attractions industry, held IAAPA Expo Asia from 28 to 30 May 2024 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand.
The show last came to the country 17 years ago. Returning to the purpose-built convention centre, the show highlighted technology and innovation, best practices in sessions and enabled connections at events and tours. The show welcomed 4,623 verified attendees.
A warm welcome
The opening ceremony kicked off the week with traditional gold Thai dancers, tuk-tuk driver Jakob Wahl, president and CEO of IAAPA, and passenger Wuthichai Luangamornlert, chairman of the board and managing director of Siam Park Bangkok, and a roundup of the latest openings across the APAC region.
Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary general of the Board of Investment of Thailand, highlighted the importance of tourism to the Thai economy. As the 9th most visited country in the world, tourism makes up 12% of Thailand’s GDP. This year, they aim to welcome 35 million tourists and generate 96 billion USD.
Wahl announced that IAAPA Honors will take place this year at Europa-Park from 28 to 30 April 2025 and also announced the launch of a new IAAPA Hall of Fame Celebratory Affair event on 18 November 2024 during the IAAPA Expo.
Latest innovations on show at IAAPA Expo Asia 2024
The show floor wasn’t as busy as expected, but exhibitors had good quality conversations with their set meetings.
There was a wide variety of products and services on show on the floor. Fulldome.pro had brought its new Balloon Simulator, designed to recreate the sensation of hot air balloon flying. HOLOGATE was showcasing its HOLOGATE X next-gen free-roaming VR platform. There were 352 exhibiting companies at the show.
IAAPA Expo Asia 2024: educational content
Two tracks of educational content covered operations, revenue, attraction design, AI, and more throughout the show.
Communication is key to a successful IP partnership
“Don’t treat the IP as the monster, it’s more about the communication and trust you have to build with the licensor and ip” said Natalie Chan, Hasbro (APAC) director, branded experience and promotion partnerships. “Treat them as partners from the very beginning”.
Chan spoke in a session with Linda Dong, president of China Leisure Development Co. Ltd; Yuling Wang, general manager of Blue Dragon Art; and FaNa Fan, business development director at Sesame Workshop.
The session looked at opportunities for IP, including non-studio IP like board games, sports, literature, arts, etc., and less traditional parks like F&B, play/FECs, exhibitions, and shows. “You are telling a story that is proven. With an IP partner, your fan base is immediate, creative is structured, and they have a very powerful toolkit to pull from,” said Dong.
“The power of IP is that the guests understand it already,” said Chan. She used the example of Hasbro’s Monopoly IP, where every hand in the room knew the rules of Monopoly already, so guests were easily engaged in the gameplay with little explanation needed.
This familiarity, especially over multiple generations of the family, allows IP to connect with people right away. “You have the whole story universe to use,” said Fan. A challenge is bringing familiar old characters to a more modern audience. “We want the audience to have a fresh view on old ip” said Wang. “We need to communicate so we can give the IP a contemporary face”.
Trends in APAC
IP was also a significant trend discussed in the Roundtable session: Unveiling Asia Pacific Attractions Market with Jim Seay, president, Premier Rides; Evi Sari, Wildbrain, VP of location-based entertainment; Nathan Yang, Cumming Group, managing director APAC; Jack Chan, IAAPA Asia Pacific VP and executive director.
“The landscape for how the guest is consuming content is fragmented – social media, local platforms, etc.- so it’s hard to capture. You can only grab moments that really speak to local audiences,” said Sari.
Often, IP can be the secondary character or hyper-localised to that region. “I want the global IP, but I want to consume the content on my own terms. It’s no longer enough that you have the characters and put them in their local costumes. It’s what stories resonate so much with the local audience,” said Sari.
From Yang’s cost management standpoint, an APAC trend is to bring the cost management team in much earlier. “The team can come in and sit with the design team to choose the best experience for the best price.”
The session also examined trends in APAC buying patterns for rides. “Buyers are much more focused on individual attractions, signature rides, and attractions that can bring guests in. Business opportunities are more singular rather than three rides to the same park,” said Seay.
“You have to present leading-edge tech concepts to the APAC market. That’s really exciting from a ride supplier standpoint”.
“This is going to be the area of the world where you will see the highest tech and guest expectations,” said Seay.
Guest expectations and social media
This was echoed in an earlier session on going beyond guest expectations. Speakers were Olivia Kang, Shanghai Disney Resort, projects and integration manager, park and Disneytown operations; Alan Kwok, Shanghai Disney Resort, director, park & Disneytown operations; Anthony Blitch, Hong Kong Disneyland, director of park operations; and Edith Lam (ICAE), Universal Beijing Resort, head of guest services assistant director.
Guests’ expectations are built into the park from their social media experiences. “When other guests see the posts, it’s an incentive to visit the parks. Guests keep sharing it and increasing the visibility,” said Kwok. He emphasised the importance of beautiful decorations, horticulture, and landscaping so the park looks picture-perfect for photos.
Kang emphasised the importance of the Cast members. Smiles and simple gestures go a long way for the guest experience, and they also empower the cast members and team to turn negative situations into positive ones.
Alternative revenue streams
We learnt how to diversify income streams at IAAPA Expo Asia 2024 in a session with Steve Wood, HB Leisure, vice president, west APAC operations and APAC projects; Darren Mclean, Pico Play, executive director; Anna Mamon-Aban, Enchanted Kingdom, head of business development & digital transformation; Andy Kindfuller, PhD, Venu+, chief executive officer; and Kikira Pirika, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium, general manager
Mclean spoke about after dark light experiences, such as Pico’s Rainforest Lumina at Singapore Zoo. “This separately ticketed experience can leverage the asset you’ve already invested in throughout the evening,” said Mclean.
Mamon-Aban shared the success Enchanted Kingdom has had with corporate days and events. Pirika spoke about Ripley’s recent partnership with GoPhoto for their photography services and combo pricing. “This allows guests to get on with their day and have fun on their own terms,” said Pirika.
Kindfuller spoke about the value of outsourcing certain operations, such as retail, F&B, lockers, and mobility scooters. “To make the most revenue, you need to provide the best overall guest experience. Focus on your core, and then focus the rest by outsourcing.”
Efficient operations and maintenance planning is another way of improving the bottom line. Rhys Wachter, chief operating officer of DRA Safety; Suresh V. Kumaran, senior manager of operations at Gamuda Land Leisure; and moderator Anna Danau, director of strategic engagement, International Ride Training, spoke about how maintenance is not only a priority for safety but also can help reduce costs.
“We have a responsibility to our guests to make them feel safe on a ride. And second, a responsibility for long-term care of our rides,” said Danau.
“Significant costs, unplanned downtime things that aren’t ideal for a customers perspective or an operator’s revenue stream” said Wachter.
Data-driven experiences
In a session on immersive experiences and storytelling, we heard from Rachid Elameri, head of licensing at Fever, and Jerome De Baecque, regional manager for Middle East and Asia at Moment Factory, APAC director.
Fever has created an ecosystem, including its Fever ticketing platform, the secret media network, and its platform for experiences, which has 300 million monthly interactions. Fever Originals creates its own unique experiences. By using its enormous wealth of data points (30-40 billion data points), Fever can work with creatives like Moment Factory to make events that predict not only what type of experiences the next generation wants but also make them safer bets for investors.
“It’s a data-driven approach to creativity,” said Elameri. The team has 650 engineers across Central Europe working on the data set.
AI was a hot topic across the show, including the marketing AI in the theme park industry session with speakers Yi Fang, Century 3 (Shanghai) Inc, vice president of engineering; Winder Chen, Kuaizi Technology, founder and CEO; and Joe Wang, Miaozhen System, general manager.
The panel discussed the role of generative AI in text, video, images, and speech and how parks could use it to generate their own content.
Animal experiences
Peta Wittig, principal/director at Peta Witting Consulting, moderated a panel on animal interaction trends at IAAPA Expo Asia 2024 with Chris Davis, managing director of ZoOceanarium Group, and Mark Eady, creative director of experiences and entertainment.
“Science doesn’t stand still – what was acceptable 20 years ago isn’t acceptable for the future,” said Wittig. “Not just from an ethical standpoint but from guest expectations too.”
Social media can be both a blessing and a curse. “On one side, it’s a great tool to increase our appeal locally and internationally and really help our conservation message,” said Davis. On the other hand, it’s easy to get out the wrong message, not the interactions we’ve recommended. We have to make sure we set up the correct situation to get the right type of photos.”
Some third-party booking providers, like Klook, are stopping selling tickets for animal attractions. Many zoos are moving to hands-off interactions, so how can we create wow empathy and wow moments?
“Audiences want to be educated, entertained and informed on what they are looking at. They want to see animals in their natural behaviour and see animals they can’t see normally. Humour is often a great way of engaging audiences,” said Eady.
Breakdancing and rooftop bars at IAAPA Expo Asia 2024
IAAPA held its opening reception at BEAT Active, an FEC in the city that hosted Thailand’s national sport: Muay Thai boxing. TEA also hosted a mixer for its APAC members on the last day of the event. The association is expanding its events in the region with the announcement of TEA SATE Asia at Hong Kong Disneyland from 8 -11 September 2024.
Throughout the week, we went to several events and parties at various rooftop bars, seeing stunning city views. JNELC, with sponsors HB Leisure, Triotech, Zierer and accesso, hosted a party at the Marriott Marquis, which didn’t stop even with Bankok’s unpredictable downpours.
Scenario and Park Associates held a party for partners and friends at the Novotel, and Pico Play hosted AFTERGLOW 2.0, complete with surprise breakdancers and a thriving dance floor.
Sanderson Global celebrated 35 years in the business with its global team, partners, and friends. It is currently working on 27 projects in 9 countries. It is doing particularly well in the Chinese market, recently opening a landscaping division, and will be doing more interior design work.
Brass Rings and Shanghai 2025
The winners of the IAAPA Expo Asia 2024 Brass Ring awards were Brogent Technologies Inc., LightUpToys.com, Smartec Hotel Suppliers, ShowTex Hong Kong Limited, HB Leisure, DOF Robotics, and Jinma Rides.
IAAPA Expo Asia 2025 will return to mainland China, taking place in Shanghai from 1- 3 July 2025. The next expo will be IAAPA Expo Europe in Amsterdam from 23 – 27 September 2024.
