Press Releases

IAAPA Orlando 2004 Thrills and Educates 27,556* Attendees

 

ORLANDO, Fla., USA (Nov. 20, 2004) – A productive and informative IAAPA Orlando 2004 came to a close on Saturday, completing a great four-year run for the show in Florida’s theme park capital before moving on to Atlanta in November 2005 as the re-branded IAAPA Attractions Expo.

Before the week was over, 27,556* expectant attendees came to the beautiful North/South building of the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) to try out the latest and coolest amusement products and services, many on display for the first time. Attendees also benefited from the educational sessions and facility tours offered, as well as unsurpassed networking opportunities at various social gatherings throughout the November 15-20 event.

“This show marks a successful conclusion to a wonderful year for me at the helm of IAAPA,” said outgoing association chair Gary Story. “The parks and attractions business continues to strengthen worldwide, and you could definitely hear and see evidence of that here this week. I’m excited for the future of this show and the industry as a whole.”

Many of this year’s exhibitors agreed with his assessment.

“The traffic has been of a high quality, and we have done more business than ever before. This trade show generated immediate success for us. When we can sit down and write business during the show, it means the event was a good value for our money,” enthused Dave Crumb of Kreative Karts.

Skee Ball president Joe Sladek was similarly pleased: “We had a very good show, with lots of interest in our new products and more buyers from international markets this year.”

“We saw a very high quality attendance, with more European and Mideast parks, as well as emerging market facilities, than ever before,” stated Vekoma’s Charlotte van Etten, echoing the sense among exhibitors of increased overseas buyer traffic this year.

Dan Taylor with first-time exhibitor Kinoton America Distribution was thrilled with the results as well: “A lot of people told us that our circular holographic display was one of the coolest items in the show. There was so much interest – from designers and museums to advertising representatives and parks. We are walking away from this show with numerous leads, and we are very excited.”

“This was the most successful of any of our visits to IAAPA,” said Bob Rogers, chairman and CEO of BRC Imagination Arts. “We even got several very good walk-in contacts, when just one would have justified coming to the show. This was very successful, and the show paid for itself within the first day and a half.”

Buyers came from 85* countries to view the products and services of 1,185* exhibitors in approximately 500,000* net square feet of exhibit space. Of those buyers, 79%* were U.S. and 21%* were international.

This year’s show also offered more than 100 well-attended educational sessions, including IAAPA’s Attractions Management School and facility tours of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Universal Studios, and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon.

Special ticketed events were popular as well: the General Managers and Owners breakfast, featuring Walt Disney Parks and Resorts president Jay Rasulo, on Thursday, November 18, greeted 252 guests; the International Reception on Wednesday, November 17, hosted 680 attendees; and the Thursday Night Social at SeaWorld Adventure Park welcomed a party of 1,436.

The show’s activities benefiting Give Kids The World (GKTW) were also extremely well received, collectively raising approximately $45,000 for the Village. These activities included 144 players in the GKTW charity golf tournament and a very active silent auction on the trade show floor.

 

# # #

* Figure is the best available at the time of release.

IAAPA is the largest international trade association for permanently situated amusement facilities worldwide. The organization represents over 4,500 facility, supplier, and individual members from more than 90 countries. IAAPA strives to help members improve their efficiency, marketing, safety, and profitability while maintaining the highest possible professional standards in the industry. www.iaapa.org