Mona Keijzer, state of secretary for the Department of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands, was an honourary guest in Amsterdam to officially launch this year’s European Attractions Show (EAS).

Taking place at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre, Keijzer welcomed a record-breaking 15,800 people to the show, saying that EAS and its IAAPA members were “enabling people to have fun”. She called the event “the ultimate show and tell”.

Travelling from locations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and beyond, visitors from more than 100 countries travelled to Amsterdam, with 525 exhibitors showcasing their offerings over the course of three days.

Our members love this city and so do we,” said Jacob Wahl, IAAPA vice president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

“This year marks the first time we hit more than 15,000 attendees in Europe, reflecting the strength of the location and of the attractions industry.”

Celebrating achievement
As part of IAAPA’s centenary celebration, special Hall of Fame inductions have taken place during each of the organisation’s expos this year, with EAS no exception.

Eugenius Birch, a pioneer of seaside pier amusement parks, was the first inductee at EAS. Prior to his innovations in the 1800s, piers would be constantly ripped down and rebuilt, as they were not durable enough to handle adverse weather conditions. But Birch’s work in the 1800s changed the game. He designed 14 piers in the UK, turning them into entertainment destinations.

Roland Callingham, a pioneer of model villages, was the second Hall of Fame inductee. For Callingham, his Bekonscot Model Village, which opened in 1927, is widely recognised as the earliest example of a model village worldwide.

The father of the modern zoo – Carl Hagenbeck – was the third inductee. His humane design approach to zoos shifted the consensus as to how such an attraction should be presented. Creating open geographic enclosures for animals, Hagenback abandoned the tradition of caging and, as a result, attendances increased and animal welfare improved.

The final inductee, Dr Peter Rosner, created magnetic braking and motorised launch systems for launch rollercoasters.

Debuted in the Intamin-designed Hellevator drop tower at Kentucky Kingdom in 1996, his magnetic braking system has made thrill rides more thrilling and fail-safe. Also in 1996, Rosner’s linear motor launch system was used for the first time on Superman: The Escape at Six Flags Magic Mountain, with the electromagnetic propulsion system now an industry standard for launched rollercoasters.

Theme park edutainment
Andreas Theve, park historian at the popular Grona Lund theme park in Stockholm, spoke during an education session, urging theme park operators to include edutainment offerings in their annual calendar, using the Swedish park to demonstrate the success such a scheme can have for an attraction.

Founded in 1883, Grona Lund held its first ever edutainment day in 2009. For the session, a mix of 1,200 junior and senior school students from the Stockholm area came to the park before regular opening hours, going on the rides and performing a number of physics experiments on them based on the school curriculum.

It proved an eye opener for the students, with teachers reporting to Grona Lund improved results in science studies following the visit to the park.

“We started with 1,200 students visiting the park for our first edutainment session, which took place over a single day nearly a decade ago,” said Theve. “It’s proved such as success that in 2018, we held sessions over three days, with 7,500 students taking part and teachers regularly bringing back new classes each year.”

CEO Talks
Hosted by Gateway Ticketing’s Randy Josselyn, one of the key education sessions came from Europa Park CEO Michael Mack, Liseberg CEO and President Andreas Andersen and DXB deputy CEO Ahmad Hussain Bin Essa.

Sharing their knowledge and experiences, the three CEOs discussed a number of topics, including leadership styles, industry impact and future trends.

Mack, who grew up at Europa Park and has worked there his entire life, became company CEO in 2006.

“As CEO I choose to lead and live by example,” he said. “A lot of people see you out there in the park. If you want to be a positive role model, you can never be arrogant or snobbish.

“If you do things like picking up trash in the street or they see you looking for quality and looking for detail, that’s important.

“If you can operate every ride yourself and know about the mechanical aspects and are willing to take part in the jobs that need doing every day, it has an impact.”

Andreas Anderson, who for the last year has acted as IAAPA’s chair, said the role of CEO has changed, with people in leadership roles having to look well ahead in order to be ready for the future.

“We have to be much more in tune with our environment and with what that may be in the future,” he said. “Now, the role of the CEO is about thinking ahead and having a clear vision for the future. It’s also about adapting and reacting to change that is accelerating every day.”

For DXB, which owns and operates Dubai Parks and Resorts, Ahmad Hussain Bin Essa believes that to be a success you must be aware of and adopt new technologies or be left in the dust. He also made some bold predictions for the future, saying: “In five years believe there will be things that people won’t accept any more.

“Queueing for an hour-and-a-half to ride a single rollercoaster is one of them and will be one of our biggest challenges.

“The way we consume food and beverage is another thing that’s changing. Much F&B is now app-led, with the consumer able to order meals on their phone, which will force us to change the way we do this kind of business. It’s a similar story in retail, which is being taken over by e-commerce. How will that affect our parks and how do we adapt to it?

“I can see rides and attractions changing too. Currently they’re built for one size and one speed. They’ll become more interactive, with different setting for different people. Guests have different needs, so we need to be able to accommodate that.

“If you look really far ahead, in 20 years I think we’ll be talking about opening the first theme park on the moon. Everyone is talking about space and it’s somewhere we can realistically head.”