Show Reviews
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Jacques Ferrier, architect of the French Pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai. Courtesy of Unlimited Snow, delegates were treated to a fun evening at Boom Chicago with a dinner show called Social Media Circus. With input from the audience, one improvised sketch centred around a team of theme park designers working for a Middle Eastern dictator. Too close for comfort? From London, Dave Pattern of the National Museum of Science and Industry got things underway on the second day’s Technology session, which was chaired by David J Willrich. While smart phones present many opportunities for museum operators it was important to remember, said Dave, that the majority of visitors do not actually own them (yet). Not only is it important co consider how technologically-adept your audience is, developers of attractions should also avoid using technology for technology’s sake, warned Electrosonic’s Chris Conte. “How much ego is tied up with having the latest and greatest?” he asked. “People come to us in their leisure time so we
shouldn’t make them work too hard,” observed Julia Delaney from the Continuum Group in the question and answer session that followed.
Attraction Analysis Lesley Morisetti, ex-AECOM but now working independently as LM Associates, was chair of the conference’s final session, focusing on Experience, and her first speaker was Merlin Entertainments’ new business strategy director Duncan Campbell. Before choosing sites for Merlin’s various attraction brands, Duncan and his team analyse a wide range of factors. With 31 new outlets under its belt since 2000, the group has built up a huge knowledge base, and Duncan warned delegates of potential pitfalls including an over acceptance of data, failure to understand consumer types, misreading guest motivation and cultural differences. There was a beer for everyone in the room during the presentation from Heineken Experience manager Dirk Lubbers, who noted that only was his attraction enjoying good attendance, but it was on course to break even by 2012. While it is unusual for many brand centres to make money, Lesley Morisetti noted later, here it almost didn’t matter as the Heineken Experience has another role to fulfil: “If anyone comes here, then when they go out to a bar in Amsterdam they are likely to drink Heineken,” explained Dirk.
Asian Attractions Expo Success in Singapore Almost five thousand people
attended last month’s Asian Attractions Expo, as IAAPA’s annual Asia-Pacific event returned to Singapore for the first time in seven years
Activity on the show floor Visitors enjoy a Moser ride JULY 2011
he venue this time was the one-year-old Hard Rock Hotel at Resorts World Sentosa, where a sold-out trade show floor, packed education sessions and well supported social events left organisers in buoyant mood. Preliminary estimates indicate that 4,900 people, including 3,500 buyers, participated in the three-day trade show (June 22 to 24). “We’ve had a good show here in Singapore,” confirmed Andrew Lee, executive director of IAAPA’s Hong Kong office. “We were very honoured by the tremendous participation from exhibitors and buyers from throughout the Asia-Pacific region.” “IAAPA Asian Attractions Expo again provided authentic, high-value leads, through a mutually beneficial and well thought out platform for both exhibitors and buyers,” said Luke Riley of the Australian design firm Sanderson, which also has an office in Singapore. Oliver Vincent of the innovative Belgian interactive attractions supplier also had nice things to report: “We have good leads from this show,” he said, adding that Asia is the right market to target the growing industry. “We had better response this year in terms of sales queries,” reported Lee Soo Lan, representing Cosmic Animation Entertainment from Malaysia. “Interested parties have come from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, the Philippines, China, Japan; even Russia and Spain.” Ahead of the main event, on June 21, a total of 205 delegates participated in the IAAPA Safety Institute to learn about best practices, safety standards, and government regulations in Singapore.
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LEFT TO RIGHT: IAAPA chairman Bob Rippy; Tan Hee Teck, CEO of Resorts World Sentosa; Chip Cleary, IAAPA presi- dent/CEO; Melissa Ow, Singapore Tourism Board
More than 400 people attended Leadership Breakfast keynote presentations by Mario O’Mamon from Enchanted Kingdom in the Philippines and Mike Barclay of the Sentosa Leisure Group. Combined attendance at the Expo education sessions reached a record 1,280. The most popular social event was Wednesday’s Opening Night Event at Universal Studios Singapore (part of Resorts World Sentosa), which attracted 400 paying guests. “The growth of IAAPA’s Asian Attractions Expo mirrors the growth of the attractions industry in Asia,” concluded new IAAPA president and CEO, Chip Cleary. “We look forward to continuing the trend as we take the Expo to Hong Kong next year.”
Asian Attractions Expo 2012 will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from June 5 to 8, 2012.
www.iaapa.org/expos
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Tim Baker of Touchstone Research offered some useful insight into how to conduct surveys in order to ensure reliable, representative results. During an interactive workshop session from Tony Sefton of Vision XS we learned, amongst other things, that visitors in the USA and Iran are most likely to seek religious content in their attractions, interactive rides are more in demand in the UK than in Poland, and when it comes to bartering in an attraction’s retail store, guests in India, Pakistan, Iran and Egypt are the most demanding. For those that didn’t have flights to catch, there was more free beer at the end of this, an enjoyable and educational two days, which is likely to be repeated in 2012. Like some of the more recent TiLE events, however SATE Europe suffered from one flaw: there weren’t enough attraction operators in attendance, maybe due to the timing. So, if you’re reading this and can spare the time in your schedule next summer, do visit. It’s a great opportunity to network in relaxed surroundings with industry professionals representing a wide range of disciplines. As an official media partner, Park World will be pleased to bring you the dates and venue as soon as they are decided.
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