The company that introduced Majaland to Poland, Momentum Leisure, is appointing Wouter Dekkers as its new chief executive officer.
Dekkers, who like Momentum Leisure is of Dutch origin, will begin the role on April 1. In developing the company’s portfolio of attractions in Central Europe, he is charged with growing annual visitor numbers to over 5 million.
Among other concepts, he will oversee see the creation of a new water park close to Berlin in partnership with the Tomorrowland music festival.
Momentum Leisure was founded in 2008 with the purchase of more than 200 hectares of land in Poland. A decade later, it launched Majaland Kownaty, based around the character Maja the Bee and featuring IP from Studio 100.
The indoor park was soon expanded to include an outdoor area. Four years later, in 2022, Majaland Warsaw opened in the Polish capital. A third park in the country, Majaland Gdańsk, will open this summer.
There are also plans to add a water park to the operation in Warsaw. To date, Momentum has invested approximately €150 million in leisure projects, all of it equity financed.
Wouter Dekkers: from finance to theme parks
Now aged 52, Dekkers started his career in the theme park industry as director of finance at Six Flags Holland (now Walibi) in 2000 after previous positions at KPMG and Ernst & Young.
He them took up a wider role at Star Parks, Six Flags’ successor in Europe, before moving into park management at Movie Park Germany.
He later served as general manager at Slagharen in the Netherlands and Tropical Islands outside Berlin before assuming his most recent role as corporate development director of parent company Parques Reunidos.
“Momentum Leisure has great plans for the future and a promising long-term vision, which appeals to me very much,” says Dekkers, who will lead the organisation from Amsterdam.
The Dutchman’s arrival comes after the appointment of two other high profile industry executives to Momentum Leisure’s supervisory board in 2023.
Andreas Andersen and Pia Adlivankin, CEOs of Liseberg and Linnanmäki respectively, have been offering their expertise since last February.
“Wouter is one of the most respected, well-versed and experienced professionals in the attractions industry,” says Andersen. “He is the ideal person to further shape and contribute to the great ambitions of Momentum Leisure.”
Momentum’s goal: 10 locations in Central Europe
According to Martijn van Rheenen, CEO of Momentum Capital, the organisation’s largest stakeholder: “Momentum Leisure has the ambition to expand its portfolio and take a leading position in the metropolitan areas of Central Europe.”
Acquisition targets are in sight both inside and outside Poland, with a goal of realising 10 locations. As well as Studio 100 and Tomorrowland, the company has licence agreements
with Nickelodeon and The Smurfs.
