Chairman Collins Attends Inauguration of Russian Trade Show The Russian Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (RAAPA) held it’s fifth international trade show April 10 to 14 in the All-Russia Exhibition Center in Moscow. The show and seminar were staged by RAAPA in conjunction with the Moscow Committee of Interregional Relations and National Policy as part of the fifth Moscow International Festival of Economical and Cultural Cooperation. The show hosted 122 exhibitors, a marked increase from the first RAAPA show in 1999, which hosted 47. The show was held concurrently with “Stage of Russia,” which showcased more than 30 theaters and supporting companies and was put together by Siberian Fair and Landscape, Design, Architecture, and comprised nearly 50 specialized companies, which were organized by Expodesign. The total area for all three exhibitions was 80,730 square feet and held more than 200 companies. Attendance was about 5,000. The show consisted of Russian companies from many regions and 34 overseas companies from 15 countries, including the U.K., the U.S., Canada, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Poland, China, the Ukraine, and Belarus. The next International RAAPA Trade Show is scheduled for April 15 to 17, 2004. Bringing It Together in Holland More than 100 IAAPA members were present in Emmen, the Netherlands at the social event held May 15 and 16 by IAAPA Europe. Two world-renowned attractions, Slagharen Amusement Park and Zoo Emmen, hosted attendees active in the leisure industry who were eager to gain insight into the recent developments in their region. Under the chairmanship of vice president Jeff Bertus, IAAPA Europe organized the event to offer members, proprietors, amusement parks managers, manufacturers, and suppliers an opportunity to discuss relevant topics within the leisure industry. On May 15, Slagharen Amusement Park, which celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year, proudly demonstrated its newest attractions, Main Street, Free Fall, and Sunny Beach. Next, visitors experienced the “Wonders of Nature” in Zoo Emmen, with a walk through the new Playa Pinguïnos, Wallanganda, and tours through the Biochron, the Butterfly Garden, and the Africa House. A special thanks to this year’s sponsor, Van Oers Grootverbruik of Boxtel. Established more than 30 years ago, the Van Oers Group has become the largest independent snack producer among the Benelux countries. Founder of Wonderland Passes The 84-year-old founder of Wonderland in Amarillo, Texas, Paul Roads, died on May 7. Roads was born October 10, 1918, in Kansas. He graduated from Cessna Welding School and then worked as a welder doing experimental work for Cessna. Paul was convinced by Mark Miles, then the City of Amarillo’s Parks and Recreation director, to develop an amusement park in his city. In 1958, Roads quit his full-time job as a welder at the Amarillo Air Force Base to work at Kiddie Land. The park was later named Wonderland, based on the Lewis Carroll novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. For the past 30 years, Wonderland Park has been operated by Roads’s daughter Paula and her husband Paul Borchardt. The facility has an annual attendance of more than 200,000. The Start of a Polish Association Polish tourist attractions want to become more competitive with European Union attractions. To achieve this, the Polish Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (PAAPA) was created as a strong independent organization composed of all the major Polish companies and organizations from the leisure and entertainment industry. PAAPA objectives are to: 1. Promote Polish tourist attractions, such as historical sites, amusement parks, entertainment centers, themed parks, natural resorts, and museums. 2. Exchange expertise between owners of tourist attractions and organize meetings, conferences, and training for members. 3. Cooperate with other organizations to strengthen local and national economic and social development, particularly with the Polish Tourist Organization and local associations and tourist agencies. 4. Cooperate with foreign organizations from the leisure and amusement industry, like IAAPA and Europarks. 5. Organize study tours in Poland and abroad. 6. Initiate professional representation and advice to PAAPA members. 7. Introduce modern information technology and marketing tools to promote polish tourist attractions and help PAAPA members in economic development. For more information, contact: info@rajnet.pl. IAMP Members Start First Full Season The International Association of Miniature Parks (IAMP), which was founded in September 2002, has many new members that are beginning their first full season as members. IAMP membership includes 16 miniature parks from 11 countries. These member parks have a cumulative attendance of 2.8 million guests annually. IAMP established annual goals that will benefit the miniature parks from a marketing standpoint and also help them maintain a uniform set of operating standards to ensure quality. Current members are: • France Miniature, France • Parc des Mini Châteaux, France • Mini-Europe, Belgium • Rügen Park, Germany • Klein-Erzgebirge, Germany • Swiss Miniatur, Switzerland • Minimundus, Austria • Sardegna in Miniatura, Italy • Italia in Miniatura, Italy • Bekonscot, United Kingdom • Pueblo Chico, Spain • Miniature Appelscha, the Netherlands • Miniature Walcheren, the Netherlands • Madurodam, the Netherlands • Miniatur, Turkey • Miniature World, Canada For more information about IAMP and individual member parks, visit the IAMP web site at: www.miniatureparks.org or contact Sylvia van Huut at the marketing and communication department of Madurodam, svanhuut@madurodam.nl, telephone +0031/70 416 24 25. IAAPA Trade Show Honored as a Top U.S. Show IAAPA Orlando 2002 was recently honored as the twenty-eighth largest convention and trade show in the United States and Canada in Tradeshow Week Magazine’s top 200 shows. Rankings are based on total net square footage of trade show exhibit space. More than 4,700 conventions and trade shows were reviewed in this year’s rankings. IAAPA received its number 28 ranking by having 567,800 net square feet of exhibit space, 1,309 exhibiting firms, and more than 29,000 attendees. The average Tradeshow Week 200 show spanned 308,206 net square feet, had 999 exhibiting firms, and drew 20,753 attendees. IAAPA has been ranked in the Tradeshow Week 200 for more than 15 years; its 2001 ranking was 27.
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