Exhibition Hub's 10-year journey of innovation & global expansion

Exhibition Hub marks a decade of immersive innovation in 2025, having produced over 350 exhibitions worldwide since its founding in 2015 and captivating more than 45 million visitors.

Reflecting on this milestone, we look at how the company has grown into a global reference for immersive edutainment while setting the stage for an ambitious new chapter focused on creative excellence, international partnerships, and sustained growth.

Pioneering immersive entertainment

Founded in 2015 in Brussels, Belgium, by Mario Iacampo and Hamza El Azhar, Exhibition Hub began as a producer and promoter of high‑profile touring exhibitions.

Early successes included The Art of the Brick, a LEGO art exhibition that quickly became a flagship title and still forms part of the company’s active portfolio today.

Brussels remains the symbolic home of Exhibition Hub, the city where everything started and where its teams first experimented with formats that would later evolve into large‑scale immersive experiences.

Building on this foundation, Exhibition Hub soon shifted its focus toward immersive exhibitions, developing original concepts at the forefront of edutainment.

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience emerged as a breakthrough, combining 360‑degree projections, soundscapes, and virtual reality to transform the artist’s life and work into an all‑encompassing journey.

“Van Gogh was our breakthrough into large-scale immersive storytelling,” says El Azhar. “We were early adopters of blending 360° projections, soundscapes, and VR to create emotional, accessible art experiences, proving the global demand for multisensory edutainment and setting the stage for everything that followed.”

Successive projects inspired by Monet and other masters followed, expanding a portfolio that merges cultural content with digital art and interactive storytelling to reach a broader, more diverse audience.

L to R: Hamza El Azhar, John Zaller and Enrique Usandizaga

Chief creative officer John Zaller says: “Audiences connect deeply because we’re not just presenting art or history. We’re inviting them inside the story.

"By merging cultural content with digital interactivity, we are democratising culture, creating emotional, multi-sensory experiences that are both educational and enjoyable, and ultimately, resonant across all ages and backgrounds.”

Early international expansion

From its Brussels base, Exhibition Hub embarked on an international expansion, first consolidating a strong presence in Europe.

Recurrent projects in markets such as Italy, the United Kingdom, and France laid the foundations for a touring network capable of supporting multiple simultaneous productions.

In parallel, the company delivered ad hoc projects in territories including Brazil, China, South Korea, and South Africa, adapting its concepts to different cultures and venue types while testing new audiences and formats.

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience

Enrique Usandizaga, chief revenue officer, says: “Our global expansion reflects a universal appetite for immersive storytelling and for a new generation of experiences overall.

“We’ve successfully scaled our model worldwide, both doubling down on our own resources and through strategic partnerships, meeting the growing demand for engaging, location-based entertainment in markets eager for innovation.”

Post‑pandemic acceleration and key cities

2021, following the disruption of the Covid‑19 pandemic, marked the start of a more aggressive expansion strategy centred on immersive experiences.

A strong focus on the United States led to a rapid rollout of exhibitions across major cities, supported by strategic partnerships and a growing appetite for location‑based entertainment; today, the US accounts for roughly 40% of Exhibition Hub’s business.

This period consolidated the company’s position as a leading global operator in the immersive sector, capable of running multiple large‑scale productions simultaneously.

Within this second wave of growth, several cities emerged as strategic pillars. London became the company’s most successful market in terms of overall attendance, with long‑running editions of Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience and Bubble Planet attracting local residents and international visitors alike.

Bubble Planet: An Immersive ExperienceImage credit Quentin Guyot

Milan became a permanent location and testing ground, hosting the first iterations of several newly developed products and helping fine‑tune concepts before they toured worldwide.

El Azhar says: “Establishing permanent locations like Milan, London, Atlanta, or Toronto marks a strategic evolution. It transforms us from a touring operator to a stable cultural destination.

"This allows for deeper market integration, provides a live testing lab for new concepts, and builds lasting community engagement, significantly enhancing our creative and operational capabilities.”

Across the Atlantic, Atlanta played a pivotal role as Exhibition Hub’s first US city and later became its North American headquarters, with a permanent venue dedicated to immersive experiences that now anchors the company’s operations in the region.

Usandizaga adds: “The US market is exceptionally dynamic, with a strong appetite for innovative location-based entertainment.

“Operating here allows us to scale rapidly, test new formats with diverse audiences, and leverage strategic partnerships, solidifying our position as a global leader in immersive experiences during a period of major industry growth.”

Creative innovation and technology

Creative innovation has been a defining characteristic of Exhibition Hub’s trajectory, with new products launched every year and technology constantly integrated into the visitor experience.

The company was an early pioneer in using virtual reality as a core component of large‑scale exhibitions, offering visitors the chance to step into reconstructed worlds that complement the main projection and scenographic spaces.

Lego: The Art of the BrickImage credit Ocke Studio - Nicolas Jacquemin

Projection mapping, interactive installations, atmospheric sound design, and carefully designed photo moments are now hallmarks of its shows, balancing learning, emotion, and shareable fun.

“Technology should serve the story, not overshadow it,” says Zaller.

“Our aim is to make tech feel invisible, seamlessly woven into the narrative so that visitors are emotionally transported, not just technically impressed. When balance is achieved, the heart of the content shines through, creating a more powerful and memorable experience.”

Titanic and Bubble Planet: flagship experiences

Among its most recent and successful developments, Titanic: An Immersive Voyage offers a powerful new way to tell the tragic story of the RMS Titanic.

Combining artefacts, life‑sized recreations, immersive rooms, and multimedia storytelling, the exhibition brings visitors closer to the lives of passengers and crew while respecting the historical gravity of the event.

Zaller says: “The Titanic exhibition resonates because it connects visitors to the profound human stories within the tragedy.

“By blending authentic artefacts with life-sized recreations and immersive environments, we create an emotional journey that is both historically respectful and deeply personal, allowing audiences to step into history rather than just observe it.”

Titanic: An Immersive VoyageImage credit Linus Harwig

Bubble Planet: An Immersive Experience is a family‑focused entertainment concept that plunges visitors into a whimsical universe of bubbles, colour, and light.

Across its different locations, Bubble Planet features themed rooms, an enormous bubble bath–style ball pit, undersea LED environments, VR experiences, and playful optical illusions that offer technology‑driven play, selfie opportunities, and moments of pure escapism.

“Bubble Planet’s success comes from its universal language of joy,” says El Azhar.

“It’s a multi-sensory, interactive playground where technology fuels pure wonder and shareable delight. By creating an environment focused on play, light, and whimsy, we offer an accessible escape that captivates families and appeals to the child in everyone.”

A creative legacy

Both Titanic: An Immersive Voyage and Bubble Planet: An Immersive Experience rapidly became two of Exhibition Hub’s top‑performing products, further strengthening the company’s position at the forefront of immersive entertainment.

These landmark productions were among the last major projects to be shaped by Mario Iacampo, one of Exhibition Hub’s founders and its key creative mind.

Iacampo passed away in late 2023, leaving behind a powerful legacy as a storyteller and innovator who believed that exhibitions should move people as much as they inform them.

Titanic: An Immersive VoyageImage credit Linus Harwig

His vision and character are honoured in every new exhibition installed and every new experience created, guiding the company’s teams as they continue to push the boundaries of immersive storytelling worldwide.

"Mario's legacy is the soul of Exhibition Hub,” says El Azhar.

“He taught us that technology is just a tool—the real magic happens when you move people. His belief in emotional, story-driven experiences lives on in every exhibition we create, guiding our mission to make culture feel alive for everyone, everywhere."

A record‑breaking year: 2025 milestones

In 2025, Exhibition Hub reached a new level of impact, celebrating nearly 85 exhibition openings worldwide in a single year and welcoming 5.6 million visitors.

London stood out once again, as both Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience and Bubble Planet each surpassed the milestone of 1 million visitors in the city, confirming London’s status as the company’s strongest market in terms of overall attendance.

The year 2025 also marked a new stage in Exhibition Hub’s global strategy, moving firmly from exploration to consolidation and targeted expansion. Key growth markets, such as Australia and Canada, saw their operational foundations cemented, leading to greater efficiency and market penetration.

Gustav Klimt: The Immersive Experience

Simultaneously, the year ushered in a new phase of geographical expansion, with strategic efforts initiated in Eastern Europe and the MENA regions, laying the groundwork for establishing a strong, diversified presence in these dynamic, untapped regions.

One great example is the opening of EH’s first permanent location in Africa, in Casablanca, with the Dinos Alive experience—an especially meaningful milestone given the Moroccan origins of CEO Hamza El Azhar, who says:

“Opening our first permanent location in Africa, in my home country of Morocco, is a profoundly personal milestone.

“Not only does the market present a huge opportunity, with a young population hungry for entertainment and little offer, but bringing Dinos Alive here is about more than expansion; it's about contributing to the cultural landscape of the region and inspiring a new generation, fulfilling a dream to connect my heritage with our global mission.”

Together, these achievements have attracted more than 45 million visitors since the company’s inception, underscoring the enduring appeal and global reach of its immersive portfolio.

New creations shaping the next growth stage

As part of its 10th anniversary year, Exhibition Hub has launched a new generation of products designed to surprise and engage audiences across different demographics and interests.

The Mind of a Serial Killer Experience offers a carefully curated exploration of dark human psychology, combining narrative, scenography, and multimedia elements to examine crime, investigation, and society’s fascination with the macabre in a responsible way.

Mind of a Serial Killer Experience

Seven Wonders of the World: An Immersive Experience uses large‑scale projections, interactive content, and immersive soundscapes to transport visitors to some of humanity’s greatest landmarks in a single visit.

Meanwhile, DinoVRse, a VR‑led dinosaur experience, leverages cutting‑edge virtual reality to place guests face‑to‑face with prehistoric creatures in their natural habitats, merging scientific content with cinematic thrills.

“This new generation of experiences marks a bold leap in thematic range and technical ambition,” says Zaller.

“We’re pushing into uncharted narrative territory, from deep psychological exploration to epic global wonders, while leveraging VR not just as a feature, but as the core of an experience. It’s about deepening emotional impact and expanding what immersive storytelling can be.”

Investing in people and capabilities

Looking ahead, Exhibition Hub is investing heavily in people to secure its growth over the next decade.

Over recent months and years, the company has been scaling up its core team across all functions to ensure consistent delivery of high‑quality, innovative products in every market.

Seven Wonders of the World: An Immersive Experience

This reinforcement of internal capabilities is designed to support a growing portfolio of permanent venues and touring shows, while maintaining the agility required to develop and launch new concepts each year.

This structure allows the company to move from idea to opening more efficiently, while preserving the level of detail, storytelling, and visitor care that has become a signature of Exhibition Hub’s exhibitions.

Strategic focus: innovation and partnerships

In its second decade, the company’s goal is to remain firmly at the forefront of the touring entertainment industry.

That means continuously bringing new products to market that are more emotionally resonant, more technologically sophisticated, and more relevant to all audiences.

Innovation will remain anchored in a balance among education, entertainment, and artistic expression, with a strong emphasis on responsible storytelling across topics ranging from art and history to science and psychology.

To unlock this next phase of growth, Exhibition Hub is placing partnerships at the centre of its strategy. The company aims to deepen collaboration with local and regional promoters, museums, cultural institutions, and destination venues that can host its existing exhibitions or co‑develop new ones.

“Collaboration is the catalyst for our next chapter,” says Usandizaga.

“By partnering with local promoters and cultural institutions, we gain invaluable insight, scale efficiently, and ensure our experiences resonate authentically in every market. It’s the key to expanding our global reach while staying innovative and culturally relevant.”

In addition to touring its own IP, Exhibition Hub plans to put its know‑how at the service of partners who wish to develop bespoke products, offering concept development, creative direction, production management, and technical integration as a turnkey service.

Leadership voices: a bold vision for the future

“Ten years ago, we started in Brussels with a simple idea: make culture feel alive for everyone,” says El Azhar.

“Today, as we look at the millions of people who have visited Van Gogh, Bubble Planet, Titanic and many more experiences, our ambition is bigger than ever.

"The next decade for Exhibition Hub is about going further: deeper stories, smarter use of technology, and a network of partners that helps us bring world‑class immersive experiences to every corner of the world.”

“Our goal as a creative team is very clear: every new exhibition must be more engaging, more meaningful, and more surprising than the last,” adds Zaller.

“We are blending artistry, research, and cutting‑edge tools, from VR to interactive scenography, to build experiences that audiences will remember for the rest of their lives. What excites me most is that we are just at the beginning of what this medium can do.”

Mind of a Serial Killer Experience

“Our double-digit growth in recent years, especially with the strategic acceleration in the US and record-breaking performance in key core European markets, confirms the immense global appetite for our immersive edutainment”, says Usandizaga.

“We are leveraging this success to deepen our presence in existing core markets while simultaneously laying the groundwork for exciting new regions like Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

“This next phase of expansion will be fundamentally driven by strategic partnerships. Collaborating with local promoters, venues, and cultural institutions is key to delivering our world-class experiences efficiently and expanding our reach to new audiences across the world.”

As Exhibition Hub marks its second decade, it combines confidence as a global leader with curiosity as an innovator. Its journey underscores the growth of immersive entertainment and its commitment to making culture more accessible, impactful, and shareable worldwide.

With new ideas in progress, expanding strategic partnerships, new executive appointments, and a reinforced international infrastructure, Exhibition Hub is ready to lead the next phase of experiential storytelling.