This September, IAAPA, the global association for the attractions industry, hosted IAAPA Expo Europe 2024 in Amsterdam. This was its largest-ever European show. It attracted around 17,370 attendees and 680 exhibiting companies to the four-day conference and trade show.
“The attractions market in Amsterdam is one of the things that makes this city an outstanding host. Its rich history of cultural landmarks that blend tradition with cutting-edge experiences makes Amsterdam the ideal setting for this event,” said Peter van der Schans, executive director and vice president for IAAPA Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
“The record-breaking success of IAAPA Expo Europe 2024 is a testament to the unwavering support of our members, partners, and exhibitors, and we deeply appreciate their commitment to our industry.”
Jakob Wahl, president and chief executive officer of IAAPA, added:
“The magnitude of IAAPA Expo Europe continues to demonstrate the positive impact of our industry and how much we can learn from each other. We are thrilled to see our community come together in person time and time again to exchange ideas and showcase the future of the attractions industry.”
Welcome to IAAPA Expo Europe 2024
The opening ceremony got things off to a theatrical start, celebrating all things Dutch and Amsterdam. Rembrandt and Van Gogh made appearances alongside ballet and break dancers. Van der Schans and Håkon Lund, IAAPA committee member and CEO of Lund Gruppen, rode onto the stage on a tandem bicycle.
The pair took a moment to recognise a milestone for the Dutch theme park De Waarbeek, celebrating its 100th year of operation. Then, an elaborate magic trick saw Wahl join the pair on stage to present the annual What’s New Video, highlighting the latest projects across the region.
IAAPA Expo is coming to the Middle East
During the show, Wahl announced that IAAPA is launching IAAPA Expo Middle East. The inaugural show will take place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from 30 March to 2 April 2026. It will then rotate across the Middle East region.
On Monday night, a launch event was attended by Wahl, Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi, CEO of Miral and IAAPA’s chairman Wuthichai Luangamornlert, CEO of Siam Park Bangkok.
Wahl said: “We are thrilled to bring IAAPA Expo to the Middle East. This region is experiencing tremendous growth and innovation, and we are eager to support and elevate the industry here.
“Our expo will provide a platform for networking, learning, and discovering new opportunities. We look forward to creating a valuable experience for all attendees and participants and are enthusiastic about hosting the very first edition of this annual event in Abu Dhabi.”
Educational sessions and trends at IAAPA Expo Europe 2024
The education and conference programme was extensive. More than 60 sessions and over 200 different speakers covered every aspect of the industry.
Attractions trends
The expo started with a session focusing on the latest trends, topics and gossip. The panel consisted of Charles Read, blooloop’s managing director; Paul Moreton, Merlin Entertainments’ chief development officer; Bart Dohmen, partner at TDAC BV; Yael Coifman, senior partner at Leisure Development Partners, and Jakob Wahl.
They asked attendees to imagine we were a fly on the wall in a candid conversation about the attractions industry’s state in 2024 and how it is shaping up for the future.
The consensus was that 2024 hasn’t been easy for the industry. Wahl commented that the main factors for attendance disruption were uncertainty, inflation, elections, and large sporting events such as the European Football Championship and the Olympics.
Despite this, attractions have found success by making significant investments. For instance, Thorpe Park and Europa-Park with their respective new coasters, Hyperia and Voltron. Elsewhere, the industry has seen a rise in the competitive socialising trend. Moreton attributes this success to “taking simple things and turning them into something that feels right for ‘now’” and appealing to an adult demographic with greater spending power.
Coifman raised the question of whether the term ‘immersive experiences‘ is starting to lose meaning with audiences. She cited the viral failure of the Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience as an example of where visitors’ expectations were not met. Read commented that when audiences search for immersive experiences, they often look specifically for immersive art installations created by companies like Frameless and lililillilil.
When discussing accessibility, the panel emphasised the importance of ensuring that attractions effectively communicate their accessibility to the public. “Having accessible attractions has moved from being a moral obligation to a good business decision,” said Read. He commented that a whole new market is opened when accessibility becomes integral to attraction design.
Sustainability on the agenda at IAAPA Expo Europe 2024
Sustainability was a key focus throughout many of the week’s educational sessions. IAAPA hosted a sustainability EDUTour of Efteling. During this, the park and Vekoma revealed a blue-sky concept of what the sustainable roller coaster of the future could look like.
Elsewhere, Susan Nawrath, scientific exhibition director at Klimahaus Bremerhaven, and Ed Cookson, director at Sarner International, led a session on their recent immersive exhibition, Weather Extremes, and the project’s sustainability initiatives. The exhibition focuses on engaging audiences with climate education. Nawrath emphasised that it “isn’t a big scare story; it’s about data and is a really data-driven experience”.
Cookson shared the sustainable design elements that went into the project. He mentioned the considerations around lighting and resources to ensure they only used what was needed.
Another session on sustainability was led by Andreas Andersen, CEO and president of Liseberg, and João Fiães, a graduate of Breda University of Applied Sciences. This asked, “How future-proof is the attractions industry?”. The session covered Fiães’ graduate research paper focusing on the current sustainability situation across the industry.
Verónica Celis-Vergara, chief sustainability officer at Maurer Rides, presented the company’s sustainability report. This gave a glimpse into how ride manufacturers are tackling sustainability head-on. The report examines Maurer’s strategic initiatives to reduce environmental impact and drive sustainable growth.
CEO Talks
On Tuesday at IAAPA Expo Europe 2024’s first CEO Talk, we heard from Scott O’Neil, CEO of Merlin Entertainments, Zeina Dagher, senior vice president of Dubai Holding Entertainment, Michael Mack, CEO of Europa-Park, and Reinoud van Assendelft de Coningh, managing director of Van Assendelft en Partners and Consultant Leisure & Culture who led the talks.
Their discussion focused on geographic trends in the attractions industry, particularly in the growing Middle Eastern market. O’Neil commented that the “region is robust with innovation, ideas and resources”. Dagher highlighted the tourism increases in key cities: “Dubai last year had 17 million visitors, expected to grow to 23 million this year.”
The second CEO talk brought together Carl Lenaerts, CEO of Plopsa Group, Anne-Mart Agerbeek, CEO of Vekoma Rides and Wouter Dekkers, CEO of Momentum Leisure.
Expansion, investment and longevity were on the agenda. Agerbeek shared Vekoma’s plans to build a new facility to increase its projects worldwide. Wouter discussed the challenges of introducing new IPs to different regions but shared how successfully doing so can have tremendous economic benefits.
Exploring location-based experiences at IAAPA Expo Europe 2024
One of the last sessions of the week saw sector leaders come together to share their advice when embarking on new LBE projects.
The panel consisted of Lennard Otto, managing director of Global Leisure & Entertainment; Mathias Upton-Hansen, CEO and co-founder at Blacklist Experiences; Annabel Rochfort, general manager at Blacklist Experiences; Terry Monkton, CEO at Simworx; James Barlow, sales & marketing director at Rainbow Productions; and Ashley Fletcher, commercial director at Rollover Ltd.
The interactive session started with Otto highlighting the importance of good planning before starting a new project. He emphasised the need for feasibility studies and letting KPIs influence all decision-making:
“Absolutely any project you want to start begins with good planning…If you under scale, you will never be successful; if you overscale, no one will visit.”
On storytelling and design elements of LBE, Upton-Hansen spoke on how a powerful story can capture imaginations and create lasting memories for guests and that through implementing narrative elements, guests’ emotional connections to your attractions can turn them into long-term fans and customers.
The panel also advised on whether to include IP when creating a new experience. Rochfort weighed up the pros and cons of IP integration. She highlighted success stories like Thomas and Friends at Drayton Manor and Peppa Pig at Paultons Park. Outlining the risks, she cautioned attractions against implementing channel brands, stating that “One minute the brand is performing well, two years later they aren’t making anymore content, and the brand is dead,” which can have a costly impact on operators.
Show floor
Across the three days, the IAAPA Expo floor felt busier than ever; with attendees keen to catch up on the latest innovations, many exhibitors made announcements during the show.
Press conference: P&P Projects
P&P Projects launched its new brand, ThemedMotion at IAAPA Expo Europe 2024. This will specialise in the turnkey development of animatronics and animated figures. The team revealed Mormel, the first show model, named after a Dutch word which roughly translates to ‘monstrous but cute’.
Mormel used twenty-one electrical actuators, allowing 30 movements. The team has developed its own in-house show control software, with pre-programmed spare parts and automatic alternative show programming if there is an error. This reduces downtime and increases the guest experience.
This year, the team is celebrating 35 years in the industry and expanding with a new production facility in Asten, the Netherlands.
Press conference: Intamin
Intamin was joined by the Dreamworld Australia team to announce King Claw, the park’s newest ride for 2025.
As a replacement for one of the park’s most famous rides, The Claw, which will close in January 2025, King Claw promises to be a worthy successor. Standing 27 metres tall, it will be the southern hemisphere’s largest gyro swing ride. It will take guests to heights and speeds 50% greater than The Claw’s. The new addition is set to open in late 2025.
Press conference: Jora Vision/Six Flags
JoraVision was joined by Alterface, ETF Ride Systems, and Six Flags Qiddiya City to reveal more details about the park’s flagship dark ride, The Enchanted Greenhouse. Guests will have the opportunity to explore a magical world, filled with 6,200 lifelike plants and over 100 handmade flowers.
The ride system is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the involved companies. ETF Ride Systems will manufacture the trackless vehicles embedded with interactivity. The ride will feature 12 vehicles capable of holding up to 6 riders.
Alterface has created a new onboard device that allows guests to interact with the scenes around them. Instead of a typical gun commonly found in many dark rides, The Enchanted Greenhouse will feature an interactive dew sprayer device. This is based on a hide-and-seek experience where guests can explore the world around them by awakening plants and creatures.
The team at Jora Vision has created all the theming for the ride. It showed one of the standout scenes at IAAPA Expo Europe 2024. The forest of the night will come alive with bioluminescent foliage and larger-than-life alien plants.
Press conference: Jora Vision/Holiday Park
Jora Vision also announced more details about the new Smurfs dark ride coming to Holiday Park in Germany. Opening in 2025, this will be a re-theme of the popular Burg Falkenstein dark ride. It will utilise the original ride system but be completely transformed with a new story inspired by the Smurfs.
The attraction is being brought to life in partnership with LF Studios, which is creating more than 40 Smurf, Gargamels, and Azreal figures throughout the ride. The ride will also feature a variety of themed foliage. This includes the large Flora Monstera, which the ride’s story will focus on.
Jora Vision gave a sneak peek into several of the ride scenes. The team also revealed one of the Papa Smurf animatronic figures that can be found in the new attraction.
Press conference: Vekoma
Vekoma Rides unveiled the train design for Mandoria’s new roller coaster. The ride will feature a 70kmph launch and include many near misses and elaborate scenery. The centrepiece of the ride is a 25-meter-tall tower.
“From the very beginning Vekoma have been a fantastic company to work with.. they are open-minded and don’t know the meaning of the word ‘impossible’” said Joanna Jedrzejczyk, chief business development officer at Mandoria. Opening in the first quarter of 2025, it will be Poland’s first family launch coaster.
Show floor: Embed
Embed, a leading worldwide supplier of point-of-sale and revenue management systems, has seen growth across the EMEA region this year, particularly in parts of Europe and Saudi Arabia.
After launching the company’s Success Squad team and GoTrain training programmes last year, Embed’s current focus is expanding its support services to its global family of clients and partners.
Renee Welsh, CEO of Embed, said: “It’s not just providing software and technology solutions to increase the client’s revenues. We also look at where we can add value in terms of supporting these operations, maximising the client’s efficiencies and minimising their costs.
“Whether that’s reducing manpower through better data or speaking with our payments guru to consult about saving money with your payment vendors. We put the customer and the guest at the centre of everything we do”.
Show floor: ETF Ride Systems
One of the stand-out booths on the show floor at IAAPA Expo Europe 2024 was ETF Ride Systems. The company debuted its latest product, The Dynamic Mover, representing the next generation of trackless ride vehicles. The booth featured an area where ETF demonstrated the vehicle’s speed and omnidirectional movement.
The team also highlight the ride system’s sustainability, giving parks 14 hours of built-in battery life after an overnight charge. This means attractions can operate efficiently during opening hours.
Show floor: Shuffly x Game Volt
The teams at Shuffly, a leading manufacturer of Shuffleboards, and Game Volt, creators of next-generation competitive socialising, demonstrated their Supercharged Shuffleboard at the show. Attendees could try various game modes, where the traditional shuffleboard experience is elevated through tracking and screen-based technologies.
Show floor: Convious
Convious launched its new AI API at IAAPA Expo Europe 2024, bringing ‘conversational commerce’ to the attractions industry. The new tech integrates through WhatsApp, attractions websites, and other platforms to answer any guest queries, use data from the park and operations for upsell opportunities, and enhance the guest experience.
The technology aims to unburden attractions teams and create a better guest experience.
“There truly are not enough people to pick up the phone on busy days in a theme park; they are not suited as a customer support centre,” said Camiel Kraan, founder and CEO of Convious. “With our tech, up to 70% of the standard questions support teams typically get will be handled by our system by AI”.
In addition to guest support, the system can help increase revenue by using park data such as weather and operations to upsell products. For example, on a rainy day, it could suggest pre-purchasing an umbrella or, on busy days, booking a fast pass. It can also add to the guest experience by using the system as an AI audio guide for exhibits at zoos and museums. There is vast potential for the tech, which can overlay on top of Convious tech or any other ticketing/booking system.
Events and parties at IAAPA Expo Europe 2024
The packed opening reception was hosted adjacent to the RAI at Strandzuid, a waterside restaurant overlooking the canals. Entertainment was provided by Shuffly, which brought two of its shuffleboards to the venue. These proved popular among partygoers.
Brogent hosted an evening reception at This is Holland. Guests could experience the company’s immersive i-ride flying theatre with its new 10k film, It’s Africa. The team travelled over 17,000km, filming via helicopter through 4 wide-angle lens cameras to showcase over 17 countries across the continent. It is the first film in the Soaring Earth series, a collection of aerial films capturing the natural wonders across the world. Brogent worked with Mack Animation for the film.
Zero Latency hosted the press for the launch of its new game, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine VR—Defenders of Avarax. The game allows players to explore Hive City in free-roam VR as a super soldier. The company recently celebrated more than 100 venues around the world and more than 4 million VR adventures.
Ahead to Barcelona 2025
IAAPA Expo Europe will take place in Barcelona, Spain, in 2025, at Fira Barcelona Gran Via from 22 – 25 September.
