More than 120 participants from 15 countries forged new connections during the two-day IAAPA EMEA Spring Summit from April 24-25. Marking IAAPA’s return to Türkiye for the first time in nearly a decade, the association took this opportunity to open the doors to a compelling and colorful hybrid attraction, The Land of Legends. The Rixos Premium Belek resort combines a hotel, Adventure Land theme park, Aqua Land water park, and a shopping area. The property has grown to be one of the largest comprehensive attractions in Antalya, with many ambitious plans ahead.
“IAAPA’s mission is to establish a platform for connections and shared knowledge across the globe. This summit brought industry professionals to the growing Turkish leisure market,” says Executive Director and Vice President of IAAPA EMEA Peter van der Schans. “We are grateful to our member and the host The Land of Legends for their incredible hospitality and unique insights. Our goal is to showcase various parts of our region and different leisure models to support everyone in our industry in learning from each other’s successes.”
The event began with a keynote from the Turkish Amusement Parks Association (TEPEA) about the Turkish leisure market and continued with speakers from Breda University of Applied Science, DOF Robotics, KidZania Istanbul, The Land of Legends, Merlin Entertainments, and PwC Türkiye. Topics included insights about the local market, latest global trends, leadership skills in times of uncertainty, artificial intelligence in attractions, and sustainability case studies.
The robust education conference included numerous EDUTours designed to take attendees behind the scenes at The Land of Legends. Participants learned about operations in a theme park open 265 days per year, visited the biggest aquarium restaurant in the country, took part in a chocolate-making workshop, boarded Venetian-style boats, climbed on top of Chateau, experienced Turkish hospitality, and learned how to redefine a shopping experience based on ideas and insights from the Shopping Avenue section of the resort.
Following the summit, IAAPA EMEA will welcome industry professionals to the Netherlands in May for IAAPA Presents: Insights Day, Drenthe, which will be conducted in Dutch. In June, another event, IAAPA Presents: Paultons Park will take place near Southampton in the United Kingdom. The highly anticipated IAAPA Expo Europe will follow in late September, taking place in Amsterdam. Learn more about IAAPA Connections events here.
