Park People
parkworld-online.com
we have Indonesia, where there is a lot of new park developments right now. One of our members, Rachmat Sutiono of the PT Funworld Group, is really one of the pillars of the attractions industry in that part of the world.
Is there still room for growth in the USA and Europe?
They are very mature markets. We may not see the magnitude of developments that we are seeing in the other geographical regions like Asia-Pacific, but there will still be certain levels of growth because in order to stay in the business, amusement and attractions establishments should remain relevant in addressing the needs and wants of their customers. Future growth may be more in the form of new kinds and/or redeveloped attractions rather than full-scale development of parks, however.
IAAPA currently has offices in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Might there be scope for further representation anywhere else in the world? One more coming online would be a dedicated North American office [instead of the head office in Virginia] because still that is where the majority of the
membership is based. In Europe we have the most developed constituency outside of the US. Then there is the Middle East and Africa. There is some thought about that being represented by the European office, and others about it being part of Asia. If I were to make a recommendation, I would go with geographical boundaries. As we know, anything east of the Bosphorus river in Turkey is Asia, so that means the Middle East is part of Asia.
Is there sufficient critical mass of attractions yet in the Middle East?
It could have happened if the Dubai bubble hadn’t burst in 2008. Will Morey [outgoing IAAPA chairman] and I were there in April. We were impressed with what is existing already with Wild Wadi and Ski Dubai and also Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi where they are building a big mall beside it. The waterpark [Yas Waterworld] there is already very popular and they have a Warner Bros park coming up too. Then in Dubai you have new parks coming up with Legoland, Marvel [IMG Worlds of Adventure] and the Bollywood theme park from the Meraas Group, plus so many others. They are learning from the Dubailand debacle. The big question now is how they can really attract an audience, because the market is coming
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After
China, India and the USA, the most populous country in the world is Indonesia, where there is a lot of new park development right now
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NOVEMBER 2013
39
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