Touring Entertainment Live (TEL), an event for the travelling show and exhibition industry, was back and bigger than ever this year at ILMC 2025. Moving to a full day of programming, the event took place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Wednesday 26 February.
Producers, promoters, creatives, and venues met for a day of sessions and networking to speak about the unique challenges encountered by touring entertainment: everything from operation expenses and shipping costs to AI and IP.
Love Island: the experience
In an intimate session, Imagine president and CEO Tom Zaller asked the audience for the biggest lessons they had learned from their careers in touring entertainment.
George Wood, managing director at Luna Entertainment Group, spoke about the importance of IP with longevity. Luna got the rights for the hit UK reality series Love Island, which was the hottest TV of the moment. However, he quickly realised the affection for the show was superficial – lasting a few weeks of the summer but insufficient to sell tickets.
On the other hand, a stand out hit for Luna has been The Friends Experience, currently at Immerse LDN. “That brand has 30 years of goodwill,” said Wood. “We launched in 2015, and ten years later it’s still touring strong.”
Mark Zachery, president at Experiential Advisors said “Not every successful IP makes a great attraction. Some may have a strong niche, that may not be known to a lot of people, but make a great attraction.”
“Don’t get carried away”
Christoph Scholz, director of exhibitions and international projects, Semmel Exhibitions advised the audience not to get overconfident. “Don’t get carried away. After King Tut, we were doing big numbers, I thought everything was possible. We assembled a street art show in six months, and I put everything into one concept, which didn’t work out.”
“Every promoter has their instincts on the left. These must balance with metrics on the right,” agreed James Cassidy, president of FKP Scorpio Entertainment. “Sometimes you have to put your ego away from something you really want to do”.
Other tips from the TEL 2025 audience were to be realistic with the numbers. Weekends will perform better and to adjust for these accordingly. Another piece of advice was to reduce operational expenses wherever possible. Keep an eye on these weekly as they can ramp up quickly and make or break a project – do you really need that third actor?
Adult experiences
Heather McGills, director and owner of Unify Experiences, moderated a session focusing on immersive experiences with Marc Zachery and Iñaki Fernández, founder of letsgo.
McGills pointed to the rising trend in adult experiences, citing blooloop’s recent piece on the House of Erika Lust, the immersive erotica exhibition.
Zachery pointed out that immersive theatre experiences like You Me Bum Bum Train and Punchdrunk have always carried an R-rating. Still, for broader experiences, he questioned if there was a large enough market to sustain such experiences.
Exploring the marketing mix at TEL 2025
It’s one thing to design and produce an experience. Yet without a thoughtful and well-planned marketing campaign, the project can fail.
James Cassidy moderated the marketing masterclass session where panelists included Amy Farrant, CMO of Layered Reality; Alex Berti, VP client development at Ticketmaster UK; and Claire Ballard, founder of Activate Marketing.
Farrant discussed the marketing plan surrounding Layered Reality’s upcoming Elvis Evolution exhibition coming to Immerse LDN in May 2025. The new exhibition will celebrate the life of Elvis Presley. It combines digital technology and multimedia with live actors and musicians.
Farrant’s marketing plan for Elvis included various media at different points in the campaign. This includes out-of-home, paid social, TV, and radio. All aim to target different audiences and convert to sales at the right time. As they head into the launch in May, Farrant stressed the importance of the previews:
“We’ve got that feedback loop to allow us to create the best product for the customer.”
The panel agreed that 10-20% of the budget should go to marketing, fluctuating at various stages of the launch.
FKP Scorpio Entertainment is a leading promoter for experiences. Most recently, it launched the Minecraft Experience, coming to London in April 2025. It has had great success with Tutankhamen: The Immersive Exhibition coming to Immerse LDN, and Formula 1: The Exhibition which is moving on to its new home of Amsterdam.
Importance of data
Berti said: “Data informs everything we do.”
Data and metrics are vital in the success of an experience, but more and more so in the creation of new experiences. Data can inform how an experience is performing. It can also show you where it could be successful, which IP would be most impactful and which demographics are underrepresented.
Mariano Otero, SVP of business development at Fever, and Mark Cavell, president of Sony Music Masterworks, spoke in a panel session at TEL 2025 moderated by James Drury, a journalist at IQ Magazine.
Fever is a technology disruptor valued at $2 billion. In the ten years since inception, it has evolved from reselling tickets, to a vast ecosystem.
“Fever is the discovery platform for live entertainment,” said Otero.
The experience platform allows guests to discover experiences and book tickets. The Fever Originals experience division creates experiences using its own IP and with partners. Meanwhile, Secret Media is the marketing machine curating the best things to do in each city (of which there are 120 local sites).
“We are a technology company first and foremost,” said Otero. “We have 1000 engineers working to create the easiest and simplest way to buy a ticket. For us, it’s about filling gaps we have identified in the market with the data”
Fever Originals
He highlights Fever’s Candlelight series – a Fever’s Original production. The company saw a gap in the market for a classical music experience aimed at younger audiences.
By looking at its 300 million monthly interactions and data points across its platforms, Fever realised by shortening the length of the concert, theming the room with candles and engaging the audience with an intro from the conductor on the context of the music, it could create a fresh take for younger audiences on an experience that has been around for hundred of years.
On what’s next, Cavell spoke about the trend of non-Anglican IP, anime, and K-pop driving experiences in western cultures.
Jonathan St Onge, executive director at Moment Factory Originals; Nicolas Renna, CEO of Proactiv Entertainment, Justin Paquin, CEO of Paquin Entertainment; and Liz Koravos, managing director of Arches London Bridge spoke in a panel highlighting the importance of IP and the next big hit.
Latest in touring entertainment at TEL 2025
Manon Delaury, founder of TEO Exhibitions, held the quick fire touring showcase. This session invited exhibitions, ice shows, musicals, and arena shows to showcase their latest touring entertainment in just several minutes.
Patrick Moran, head of commercial strategy and partnerships at Barbican Immersive, showcased Feel the Sound – An Exhibition Experience on a Different Frequency.
The multi-sensory show comprises 11 installations, exploring individuals’ relationship with sound beyond just the audio. The exhibition will launch at the Barbican Centre in May 2025. It will then tour, including at the MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives in late 2026. The museum in Tokyo was a coproducer of the exhibition too.
Annabelle Mauger, co-founder, lililillilil, presented the company’s latest exhibitions, including Imagine Paris. This touring exhibition immerses guests into Paris in its most transformative era, the World’s Fairs and the construction of the Eiffel Tower. The idea is to bring Paris to every city in the world and “share in the magic of the city of light.”
ILMC will take place again next year. Meanwhile, Fever and Semmel Exhibitions will present The Experience Meeting (TEM). This will take place from 29 – 30 September in Madrid, Spain and the waiting list is now open here.
