YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
Looking forward with optimism – that was the theme of the opening address at IAAPA Expo Europe 2021, and it carried through the week as the Expo brought attractions industry professionals together in Spain. Preliminary estimates indicate the Expo attracted 8,500 participants, including 5,800 qualified buyers and 439 exhibiting companies. The buyer participants represented 3,200 companies. The first IAAPA hosted Expo since 2019, IAAPA Expo Europe focused on resilience, innovation, and moving forward.
“IAAPA Expo Europe represents a fresh start for our entire industry,” said Jakob Wahl, vice president and executive director, IAAPA Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), during the opening session. “This Expo is about preparing for the future, inspiring each other, and sharing important learnings from the global pandemic.”
The education conference began at theme park destination PortAventura World. The resort hosted the IAAPA Safety Institute, and a behind-the-scenes tour of the park as well as IAAPA EMEA’s first-ever Sustainability Day. The full-day sustainability event featured industry professionals from the EMEA region sharing their parks’ strategies for becoming carbon neutral, incorporating sustainability practices throughout their facilities, and providing guidelines to create a sustainability plan that supports business goals. Participants also took an exclusive tour of PortAventura Dreams, the park’s onsite resort which provides annually complimentary visits to 200 children with critical illnesses and their families.
“The attractions industry truly is like a family,” shared Hal McEvoy, president and CEO, IAAPA, “To finally come back together - in person - means a great deal. We understand our members and the industry are still working through the ongoing impact of COVID-19, but we are confident the industry will emerge from these challenges stronger than ever. Our role is to help members and the global attractions industry push through, and IAAPA Expo Europe was an important step toward full recovery.”
Plans for IAAPA Expo Europe 2022 are already underway. IAAPA Expo Europe 2022 will take place in London, United Kingdom 13-15 Sept. Advance exhibit sales are strong; more than 325 exhibitors have reserved 11,745sqm of contracted booth space.
Statements
David Köhler (Berliner Seilfabrik GmbH & Co.):
“Our company attaches particular importance to IAAPA Expo as a means of reaching out to the attractions industry. Although this year’s IAAPA Expo Europe 2021 in Barcelona had to take place under special circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic, we are very satisfied with our participation in the trade fair, as we were nevertheless able to welcome a gratifyingly large number of trade visitors from all over Europe to our stand. We are proud to say that the balloon we exhibited was without a doubt one of the big highlights at this year's IAAPA Expo, which was also acknowledged by the visit of the Spanish Minister of Tourism, Ms. Reyes Maroto, during her tour of the fair. We are also considering exhibiting in London and hope that trade fair participations will then be somewhat less affected by coronavirus-related restrictions.”
Lena Ostermeyr (KristallTurm® GmbH & Co. KG):
“After not having attended a trade fair for almost two years, participating in IAAPA Expo Europe in Barcelona was a highlight for us and our team. Trade fairs in general are an important sales channel for KristallTurm® GmbH & Co KG to generate leads. Our focus is on presenting our high ropes courses and the associated latest product innovations. Compared to previous years, the number of visitors seemed generally lower.
The trade fair did, however, provide a platform to meet long-standing partners, companies we do business with, and customers. Visitors deliberately came to our stand, allowing us to generate higher quality leads. So, our participation met our expectations fully and completely.
For the London event in 2022, our team hopes to be able to participate without having to wear masks.”
Jürgen Bergmann (Künstlerische Holzgestaltung Bergmann GmbH):
“The IAAPA trade fair in Barcelona was a complete success for our company. We have been in the market for 31 years now, exclusively developing one-of-a-kind products, and the attractions industry is by far our biggest customer base. Consequently, we have gradually withdrawn from all other markets. At the same time, the leisure industry’s premier event in Europe, which is held at a different location every year, has become increasingly important for us.
After a year's break due to the coronavirus pandemic, we were eager to see whether the rather large effort of travelling all the way to Spain would be worth it. What impact does the pandemic have on this marketplace in general?
Fortunately for us, however, it seems that little has changed. If it weren't for the ominous thermometer guns pointed at your forehead by uniformed staff at the entrance to the fair and the face masks worn by fairgoers, it would have been a trade fair just like every year.
While it is difficult to estimate how many more exhibitors would have attended had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic, there were enough to fill two large halls. In any case, there were plenty of visitors - at least on the first two days of the trade fair. The trend that the 3rd day sees a sharp drop in attendance had already become apparent in recent years and was to be expected.
All in all, IAAPA Expo Europe 2021 was definitely worth attending for us. We have generated plenty of interesting leads at the trade fair and are in the process of making the first site visits to our new customers. As you would expect, they range from Spain to Norway and from Ireland to the Czech Republic.
The question for us, however, is where this fair will go from here next year, because it will then take place in London. Our business relations there, which have existed for many years, have cooled down considerably as trading with the UK has become much more complicated since Brexit.
If there is no major change by then, we will not be attending the trade fair for the first time in many years. To compensate for this, we are considering participating in the comparable trade fair in Dubai. Current trade fair enquiries from Saudi Arabia indicate that at least the type of our products could also be of interest to this part of the world.”
Miro Gronau (Josef Wiegand GmbH & Co. KG):
“After a very enjoyable Belgium IAAPA Park Tour in June, we were confident that the Barcelona show would also turn out better than many suspected. And that was exactly the case! It is true that there was a lack of visitors to the fair who simply want to inform themselves. This could also be clearly seen in the fact that hardly any brochures were actually taken from the display. However, we were surprised at the number, length, and quality of the talks we had. They started right away in the morning - even on the last day!
Many of our existing customers have used the crisis to make plans - for additions and expansions. There is a demand for activities that can be implemented quickly and marketed well, such as virtual reality (VR) snorkelling.
Outdoor activities in the mountain regions have been particularly popular over the past two summers. For example, our concept of a Slide and Hike trail is currently very much in demand. The Wiegand AlpineCoaster is still our main attraction and is now available in the 2.0 version with more space for two people and new, advanced safety technology.
We went all out for Barcelona and presented several exhibits at our stand – including, for the first time, one of our latest developments, the electromagnetically driven Wiegand CoasterKart. The exhibited cart received a lot of attention and visitors often wanted to try it out and sit in it.
Our expectations of the fair were definitely met. We notice a clear willingness to invest, especially among markets that are important for us, such as mountain regions, cruise ships, and shopping centres.
It was simply wonderful to meet many customers and all industry colleagues in person again and to feel everyone working on interesting projects again.”
Katrin Arzberger (KaGo & Hammerschmidt GmbH):
„Our first impression: the number of visitors was lower than in previous years due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, in the end we were pleasantly surprised by the attendance figures.
IAAPA is one of the most important trade fairs for our company as it allows us to establish contacts with clients, freelancers / subcontractors and artists across Europe. In other words, good opportunities to maintain contacts – throughout Europe – and to acquire new customers. Our expectations were not quite met, as there were fewer visitors than usual. We consider London to be a difficult trade fair location and will only have a small stand there due to Brexit (customs clearance, outside the EU).”
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