How has your career in the amusement industry prepared you for the coming year?

IAAPA has generated one of the biggest training/networking and educational experiences of them all, it’s annual trade show. I have, like most people that come into the business and are not born into it, been very impressed by the people, the way that we can meet, cooperate and create market places out of these trade show. It is a strong tradition, and I hope I benefit from that. I have been fortunate to be with both IAAPA and Europarks for a good many years. Based on what is now my 18 years within the industry, I have hopefully learned something too, both at Liseberg and from fellow colleagues in Europe.

What state is the industry in right now?

Luke warm: One hand is in cold water and the other is in hot water! It’s of course a varied mix, depending on where in the world you are.The growth is in very small pockets of the world. Conditions in rapidly developing entertainment markets in China and Dubai are radically different from the US, England or Southern Europe. That’s really one of the challenges for us as an industry and part of my job is to change the way we operate in changing markets, affected by globalisation over all and globalisation within the industry. We need to channel ideas and make it easy for all our members, whether they be manufacturers or suppliers who we can assist in finding new opportunities in other parts of the world, or for operators to learn from concepts that have been developed elsewhere. We must find new entertainment models that will suit changing lifestyles.

Is the traditional ride-based amusement park under threat?

One of the strong points of our industry is that we survive to supply very basic demands and that’s a good base to stand on. Amusements have been around for over 800 years, whether as hand-powered carousels, as part of travelling show or whatever. We’ve always been around, it’s just that we’ve changed; the world is changing. I think there will always be attraction parks, amusement parks, theme parks – whatever you want to call them – with a strong ride component. How much you can reach your target audience with that really depends on your market conditions. If you look at Liseberg, yes, we are a ride park, but we are also a restaurant park, we are a place to stroll, to look at the gardens. But I have to say, looking at the enormous amount of entertainment offerings that there are for the teenagers, there’s a lot to choose from. If you are only trying to satisfy them as a group, you are in a volatile situation. So I think we will continue to see many different kinds of parks. Segmentation of product is good for everybody.

Does IAAPA do enough for its smaller members?

Do we do enough for everybody? Be definition in any organisation, the smaller members make up most of the membership. I think we can do more, and we should strive to do more, but as always we can only do so much. One of the things we have talked about is to make sure we can develop our trade shows, which are probably the best in the industry, so that they hold real value to the members. Whether that’s in the Far East, in Europe, or in America, we have to examine what we offer so that the different communities within our large association consider the shows to be the natural way of networking and getting together.

Will ongoing security restrictions affect attendance at the upcoming IAAPA Expo in Atlanta?

I haven’t travelled to the US for about a month, so I’m not sure what the situation is like there at the moment, but I know it’s quite bad in the UK right now – yesterday I had to travel through Manchester and there was a wait of about an hour-and-a-half while they checked everyone for liquids etc. Whenever there are any obstacles to travel, people have to make decisions and over the past five years now we have and this on and off situation. I think it will affect some people. Will it be significant? I don’t know. I would like to think that the draw of the show and the opportunity to meet means it won’t be an obstacle to too many. I guess if it is, then that’s one of the benefits of having shows now in three locations.

Is it unhealthy to have one organisation running the three key shows (IAAPA Attractions Expo, Euro Attractions Expo and IAAPA Asian Expo)?

I don’t see a problem with it really, so long as you are doing a good job. IAAPA has proved to do it very cost effectively, but with the resources to do training and seminars and training too. Whether you are a visitor or an exhibitor, the cost of operating within the IAAPA umbrella is usually far lower than being outside. And we are a member-driven association, so if you don’t think we should be doing something, then as members you have a say.

Will there ever be harmony in Europe, and a return to just one trade show?

I think we will probably for another couple of years have the situation where we still have competition between different shows. Eventually I think it will have to sort itself out for economical reasons.There are subsidies involved from all sides, but those that are subsidised will find out sooner or later whether it pays or it doesn’t. I think we have the strength to be in there for the long haul and that’s our intention. What we are trying to do, and I think you will find it this time in Seville, is involve the different national operators and strive to create bonds. We want to maintain a moving show, but we want to make sure that we don’t alienate ourselves from local content.

Is IAAPA too commercial?

I don’t think so, because all our members are commercial. We are not commercial in the sense that we are making money, but we should use the money that we get to better the business opportunities for our members.

What are the challenges facing the industry?

Again, it’s about globalisation, and it’s about change. What will happen when all 1.3 billion Chinese people want to drive a car, how that will affect those offering entertainment in Asia? It’s also about the challenges for manufacturers in the Western World making things that can be done and will be done ever more so in China.

What do you hope to achieve as chairman of IAAPA?

My job as chairman is to keep organisation’s Strategic Plan on course. The Plan is about many of those things I talked about: About making sure that we have good trade shows, that we continue to look for new members, and give the best opportunity to operators and suppliers from different parts of the world to meet and make business. What I would like to see is in our association is even further co-operation between manufacturers and operators. We’re two sides of the same coin, and I have never seen the relationship as problematic, but it’s important that we get together to generate new ideas that the market wants if we are to continue to develop.

Finally, how will your balance your role as chairman with your job back at the park?

I have a day job and I intend to keep it, this year and afterwards. We have talked about this inside IAAPA and will find a way that works. You won’t see me at all the handshaking events, but there probably will be some other representative, whether it be the president or someone else. I cannot be everywhere!

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