Park People
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The next IAAPA chairman Q Lines
Gerardo Arteaga is the incoming chair of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), serving throughout 2015. The general manager of Fantasilandia in Santiago, Chile, Gerardo grew up in the attractions industry, his family having built the park in 1978. Now 40, he was appointed operations manager of the
Happyland FEC chain in 1998, moving back to Fantasilandia in 2000 as customer service manager and then general manager. Arteaga has been an active member of the Latin American Association of Attractions and Amusement Parks (ALAP) for many years and served in a number of volunteer capacities within IAAPA, for which he is also a member of its Latin American advisory committee. Arteaga is an active member of the Make-A-Wish foundation in Chile and is a part of the national council of Hogar de Cristo, the country’s largest Cathloic non-profit organisation. Happily married to Catalina since 2003, the couple have four children. In his free time he enjoys skiing, tennis, sailing and flying remote control airplanes. Before taking to the reins of IAAPA this month in Orlando, he took time to talk to Park World.
Gerardo Arteaga
How has your career in the industry prepared you for the coming year? There are two ways to look at it: On one hand, being a chair requires a lot of previous work and experience within the association, serving on various committees and attending many events to get to know the industry at regional and global levels. On the other hand, working in the industry for many years at parks and FECs gives me the hands-on experience required to understand the situations that all members face.
How will you balance your responsibilities at IAAPA with those at your park and FECs? I am lucky that our park is located in the Southern Hemisphere, because most IAAPA events on the calendar take place from March to November, which is more or less our low season. I have a great team, which has always been important to me, because if I am not present the staff must be well trained and well equipped to run the park and handle any situation in my absence. The key to bringing it all together is communication and careful planning.
In what areas is the industry doing a good job?
The industry has done a great job over the years – and we’re talking about a century! – to constantly refresh and reinvent itself to continuously bring customers back. It’s one of the few industries that has consistently grown. Industry trends show companies offering a greater variety of services to cater to their customers’ evolving tastes (hotels, dining experiences, waterparks etc). How many other industries can claim that type of success?
What are the most pressing issues facing our industry?
As the industry has matured in many areas, and considering the constant growth, the government regulatory environment, including tax burdens, has increased over the years and represents a challenge to our continued health. That’s why advocacy is so important so that we can present a real and true picture of our business to government leaders – showing costs and the complexity and what it takes to run an operation and the benefits the industry provides to the economy.
What trends do you see that are noteworthy? Disturbing? People in the industry always talk about trends including “fully immersive experiences”. Every industry wants to link its product to a great experience. That is something the attractions industry has always done. We sell memorable experiences that stand on their own.
What unique challenges do you face as park operators in Latin America, or even just in Chile? We find in Latin America, and certainly Chile, as the disposable income has grown considerably over the past few years so has the number of leisure offerings. As a result, we have to compete more with a greater number of competitors to attract our customers. For the past 40 years, Chile has been politically and economically stable, giving us an opportunity to plan long-term, something that has been more difficult in other countries in the region. Stability helps foster the growth of our industry.
A thumbs up from Gerardo at his own park, Fantasilandia in Santiago
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So far most of the parks in Latin America are amusement parks rather than theme parks. When do you expect this to change? When this market and consumer tastes become more mature, we may see more theming. Right now, the
NOVEMBER 2014
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