Eric O’Rourke is a senior director and regional director for Southeast Asia at FORREC, a leading entertainment design specialist. O’Rourke focuses on theme parks. He has a proven ability to effectively assess a client’s goals and expectations and create memorable visitor experiences. After graduating as a landscape architect, he worked for various companies before co-founding a boutique resort and hospitality design firm. There, he managed and designed international resort and hospitality projects.
He joined FORREC in 2010 as its director of resorts and has worked on many high-profile projects across the globe. FORREC has created some of the world’s most successful leisure and entertainment destinations. O’Rourke also leads FORREC’s sustainability projects and contributed to a panel called ‘Sustainable Attraction Development – How to Plan to Build Better’ at greenloop 2022.
Alongside Andreas Andersen, CEO of Liseberg, Franceen Gonzales, chief experience officer at WhiteWater and Una de Boer, chief marketing officer at WhiteWater, he discussed how to build more sustainably. One key message was that suppliers and operators should incorporate sustainability into everything they do. Guests vote with their wallets and will start selecting sustainable companies.
O’Rourke also said developers and operators should think about sustainability from the beginning. It should be in the feasibility studies, designs, ride package selection, and RFPs. He and Andersen said attractions should quantify their emissions, have a target and measure themselves against their aspirations. “It’s important to quantify… it’s ok if you fall short but you have to have a target and strive to hit a number and reduce your carbon,” O’Rourke explained.