KidZania
Polin slides at Crystal Aura and (below) Rixos Tekirova resorts
KidZania
The IAAPA party visits the Polin factory
BrIdge prohibitive at weekends. At around twice the size of KidzMondo, KidZania is already attracting around three times as many guests. Imitation is indeed the sincerest form or flattery. The vibrancy of the Turkish market has not been lost on Merlin Entertainments either. Europe’s number one attractions operator entered Istanbul in 2013 by taking over the former Turkuazoo aquarium (also located in a shopping mall), which it has recently rebranded as Sea Life. Facility general manager Gülnur Inkaya told us more about this, Merlin’s plans to open a Legoland Discovery Centre in the same building, and also a lot about the company’s worldwide portfolio. As for Turkey or any other markets in the region, she would only reveal that Merlin plans on doing more projects in the country.
Polin hosts post-tour
As many delegates jetted home after Spring Forum, a bus load stayed around and took a trip to the large new premises of Polin Waterparks, opened last year about an hour outside of central Istanbul. There they got to see how the waterslides are produced during a tour of the manufacturing plant conducted by technical director Ozkan Sur, after a presentation from director of marketing and communications, Söhret Pakis. After all that foreplay, some of the group (others returned to Istanbul) then got to try the slides for real during a whistle-stop tour the following day of three hotel resorts/waterparks in the Antalya region. The party included IAAPA chairman Gerardo Arteaga and his wife Catalina from Fantasilandia in Chile,
IAAPA Europe VP Karen Staley and new general mamanger Slyvie Stepanovic (ex-Aqualibi, Belgium) plus a handful of park operators and company friends/associates from Greece, Turkey, Germany, Finland and Italy. First onto the slides – including Polin’s signature King Cobra – at Crystal Waterworld in Belek was a very
keen Miikka Seppälä, CEO of Särkänniemi in Tampere, Finland. Unfortunately there wasn’t any time to enjoy the waterpark facilities at sister hotel/resort Crystal Aura in Kemar, but it provided a very pleasant setting for lunch. The day was rounded off at Rixos Premium Tekirova, another well-appointed beach resort property. Here the guests could enjoy a full-sized waterpark including the world’s first Polin Surf Safari, Looping Rocket and a combination ride featuring miniature Sphere sections, plus a kids’ water play structure. Interestingly there were no wave pools at any of the venues visited, this apparently being a relatively rare waterpark feature in Turkey. “We owe a huge thanks to Suleyman Kilit, owner of the Kilit Group (parent company of Crystal Resorts), and also Tolga Kilit, for allowing us time to enjoy their facilities,” concludes Polin’s Kubilay Alpdogan, who lead the tour. “We also thank Ahmet Colakoglu for the wonderful hospitality he bestowed on us at Rixos Premium Tekirova. Our slides have helped launch these all-inclusive properties into leading positions within the resort industry, and we hope others will allow us to build and bring that same experience their venues too!” Park World knows of at least two operators on the trip who are planning new waterparks, so clearly the manufacturer will be having a word!
26
Emerging markets An entertaining presentation on the emerging market of Poland was delivered by Daniel Heinst from Holiday Park Kownaty, which next year will welcome a Maya the Bee- themed indoor park in partnership with the Belgian group Plopsa. Daniel traced the development of various Polish attraction formats, from old-fashioned amusement parks to dinosaur parks (“static dinosaur figures with a cash register”) and miniature worlds, through to science centres with 6-month-long school waiting lists. Whilst most of these are relatively cheap and cheerful offerings, with multiple “me too” competitors, they nevertheless demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit in the country, and the thirst for family attractions on the part of the general public. Holiday Park, which follows hot on the heels of Energylandia (opened in 2014), should do well. Turning the spotlight back on Turkey, Vialand boss Tolga Alisoglu said he was pleased to witness the arrival of Sea Life and KidZania, because it meant there were more places to take his own young children. Maybe he’ll face tougher competition in a few years from Tema World, a 1.5 million square metre real estate/park development taking shape with the help of JRA and Jora Vision. General manager Mehmet Emeç is no stranger to the theme park business thanks to his experience at Disney and also in the early stages of Vialand. In a city as vast as Istanbul (14 million+ inhabitants) there should be room for both parks, however Mehmet warned that the average local income is still relatively low, as indeed are current attraction dwell times (2.4 hours on average). Funnily enough that’s about how long everyone waited
for lunch after the morning’s education programme (just joking, Karen!). A lack of internal communication at the restaurant can’t really be levelled at IAAPA’s door though, and although it meant a rushed tour of KidZania afterwards, most people left the Spring Forum upbeat after an enriching two/three days in one of Europe’s (and Asia’s!) most exciting cities. A handful of participants even got the chance to extend the proceedings by joining the post-tour to Antalya courtesy of Polin Waterparks (see panel, leftl).
iaapa.org/europe JUNE 2015
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78