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.
The 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. 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.
