IAAPA APAC Trade Summit 2024

Alan Mahony has been a specialist in the design management, launching and operations of numerous world class Theme Parks & Water Parks in Australia, Asia & the Middle East since the mid 1980’s. Thanks to his unique talents, experience, hands-on approach and attention to detail, the businesses Alan has been involved with still trade profitably in today’s demanding tourism and leisure industry.

Alan has developed and operated leading projects in various roles including, Executive Director Attractions, Saudi Entertainment Ventures, Saudi Arabia; VP Marine & Waterpark Atlantas Sanya Resort, Hainan; General Consultant, Chimelong Water Park, Guangzhou; GM, Beijing Watercube Waterpark, Beijing; COO, Ramayana Waterpark, Thailand; GM, Sunway Lagoon, Malaysia; Director of Operations, Warner Bros Movie World, SeaWorld & Wet ‘n’ Wild Water World, Australia.

Many of Alans projects have been recognized globally winning numerous distinguished awards for excellence including 2002 Sunway Lagoon, Malaysia, FIABCI Prix d’ excellence – Category Winner – Leisure; 2007 Chimelong Waterpark, China, IAAPA Must See Waterpark; 2008 Chimelong Waterpark, China, WWA Industry Innovation Award; 2010 Beijing Watercube Waterpark, China, WWA Industry Innovation Award; 2018 Aquaventure Waterpark, Atlantis Resort Sanya, China, WWA Leading Edge Award.

Alan was recognized by industry leaders and selected on the Blooloop Top 50 Theme Park Influencer List in 2021 & 2022 for his work in Asia & the Middle East, plus honored with other individual awards including the WWA Executive Board Award 2011 for industry excellence in waterpark development in Asia, plus the 2020 Asian Attractions Magazine, Gold Crown Award, Outstanding Leader for China Amusement & Attractions Industry.
 

Andrew Chan has over 15 years of experience in the theme park, resort, and tourism industries. Most recently, he serves as the Deputy General Manager of L+ Snow Resort, where he led the development of the world's largest indoor ski resort, including a 90,000 square meter cold zone, water park, ice rink, and hotels.

Prior to that, Andrew held senior leadership roles at prominent companies in the industry, including Foliday Town with Fosun Travel Group, Enjoy International Tourist Resort, and Chimelong Group. In these positions, he was responsible for developing various attractions, managing water park and resort operations, and overseeing large-scale projects.

In addition, Andrew gained valuable experience in operations and training at international theme parks such as Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland earlier in his career.

Throughout his career, Chan has demonstrated strong leadership, operations management, and project planning skills in the theme park and tourism industry. He holds a Master of Science in New Media from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and a Bachelor of Social Work from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Candice Fu, the founder of RCD. She is currently the person in China who has the most coaster credit - a total of 1,035 large and small roller coasters around the world, visiting 374 different theme parks. These experiences have allowed her to draw insights and accumulate a wealth of thoughts from the perspective of visitor experiences.

Candice Fu works in an industry unrelated to attraction, yet she has a passion for the theme park industry. Over the more than 10 years of leading the development of RCD, Candice Fu has planned high-quality multimedia content about roller coasters and theme parks on major domestic and international social media platforms, organized on-site theme park cooperation activities, built bridges for communication among coaster enthusiasts at home and abroad, and made a tremendous contribution to the popularization of roller coaster culture in China. She was the direct driving force behind the launch of the Chinese version of the roller coaster database RCDB.com, providing convenience for enthusiasts and industry professionals to query roller coaster information.

She continues to contribute her knowledge and abilities to the industry without sparing any effort - she actively participates in various industry forums, closely and deeply exchanges views with industry practitioners, and introduces outstanding young people to the door of the attraction industry. At the same time, she also provides suggestions and advice for her theme park friends.

Graduated from Beijing Language and Culture University, Cecilia has served Trip.com Group over 6 years and she is now head of domestic Public Relations, Local Government Relations and part of Trip.com’s marketing work.

Christina is the Co-Founder & Advisor of Pantheon Lab, driving business development, branding, and communications. She empowers companies to adopt Generative AI technologies, revolutionizing their marketing campaigns.

Previously, Christina served as VP of Branding & Communications at PUC Berhad in Kuala Lumpur, supporting the company’s various business, including integrated media services, e-commerce, technology, and renewable energy.

With over 30 years of expertise in broadcast, telecommunications, tourism, and hospitality, Christina excels in PR and marketing communications. She began her career in the leisure and tourism sector at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, and later oversaw corporate communications and crisis management as Head of Public Affairs at Ngong Ping 360, top tourist attractions in Hong Kong.

Christina also led the opening of the world's largest Sheraton and Macau's biggest hotel, earning prestigious industry awards. She continued as Director of Marketing Communications for JW Marriott Hotel and The Ritz-Carlton in Macau, contributing to Marriott International's first twin hotel portfolios in Macau.

Certified as an IAAPA Certified Attractions Executive, Christina demonstrates expertise in the attractions industry.

Mr. Howard Chuk is Head of Zoological Operations and Conservation of Ocean Park Corporation, he also assumes the role of Foundation Director, Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong.

Howard has over 25 years of experience working with marine and terrestrial animals, and possesses good knowledge in animal husbandry, animal rescue, animal training, aquarium, life support, education and veterinary operations.  Howard has a BSc degree from the University of Hong Kong, and is the Aquarium Committee Member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Executive Director of the Chinese Association of Natural Science Museum, Vice President of the China Wildlife Conservation Association Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Association and Appointed Member of the Veterinary Surgeons Board of Hong Kong.

Johnny So is a highly experienced professional in operations and theme park management. He currently holds the position of Senior Head of Operations and Engineering at Ocean Park Corporation, where he oversees guest experiences, operations, and engineering for both Ocean Park and Ocean Park Water World.

Johnny's career began at Ocean Park Hong Kong, where he worked in zoological operations. Over the years, he gained a diverse range of experience in operations and contingency management at Ocean Park and the mass transportation corporations in Hong Kong. In 2005, he joined Hong Kong Disneyland as part of the opening team. During his 13 years there, he held various operations leadership roles, including arrival experiences, resort duty manager operations, attractions operations and attractions expansion. He was also instrumental in successfully opening Toy Story Land, Grizzly Gulch, Mystic Manor, Fantasy Garden, and Iron Man Experiences for Hong Kong Disneyland.

In 2019, Johnny returned to Ocean Park as Operations Director and led the park through various challenges, including the unprecedented impact of COVID. He then joined Evergrande Fairyland Group as a Group leader, where he was responsible for the theme park operations segment, including zoological management and operations at Ocean Park, Water Park, Zero Gravity Park, Yacht Club, retail and dining zones, Museum and Exhibition Centers, and Water Sport Centre in Hainan, China. Before rejoining Ocean Park Hong Kong in 2023, Johnny served as General Manager at Chinachem Group in Hong Kong, where he oversaw the establishment and P&L of a wood fossil museum park and a movie art center.

Joseph Corbo is a seasoned executive producer in the live entertainment industry, with over 25 years of experience working in cross-cultural environments. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer & Executive Producer for Puy du Fou Asia, the world’s leading historical and cultural deduction creator, originally from France with 45 years history, and is known as ‘the most story-telling theme park in the world’.

Joseph has a proven track record of delivering world-class shows around the world while prioritizing quality, staying within budget, and meeting tight deadlines. He has collaborated with a range of renowned organizations, including Cirque du Soleil, United Nations, Wanda, Kasia etc.

Lance Xun, the co-founder of RCD. He has ridden over 524 roller coasters around the world, visited 162 different theme parks, and is one of the few "seasoned roller coaster enthusiasts" in China with extensive on-site experience. Similar to Candice Fu, he also works in an industry unrelated to attraction. He has played an indispensable role in the growth of the RCD group, staying true to the original vision and continuously contributing.

Within the RCD group, his unique personal charm has created a harmonious atmosphere, leading members to participate in theme park cooperation activities and earning him the support and affection of the team. His background in science and engineering has laid a solid foundation for better communicating roller coaster knowledge to the public.

Lance Xun is known for his witty and humorous writing style. On RCD's social media and in industry journals, he has vividly described the roller coaster and other amusement equipment experiences, while also providing easy-to-understand popular science knowledge about roller coasters.

Lance Xun also has deep connections with the attraction industry. He has represented the RCD group on multiple occasions to participate in industry sharing activities and has received widespread acclaim.

Mike Lv joined Universal Beijing Resort in 2021 as an opening team member. He is responsible for direct channel sales and the creation of digital products.

Since the opening, Universal Beijing Resort has continued to launch industry-leading digital experiences and services through official apps and Wechat mini programs, including facial recognition entry, reservation system during the epidemic, membership services, digital badges, offline check-in and online ordering services. These have greatly enhanced the guest experience, enabled diverse product sales within the park, and strengthened user satisfaction and enjoyment.

Mike Lv has more than 20 years of experience in digital products and e-commerce. He previously worked at Yahoo, Alibaba and Apple.

Murray King is Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications at Shanghai Disney Resort. In his role, he is responsible for all aspects of public affairs and communications for the resort, including external and internal communications, public relations, government relations, corporate citizenship/community relations and language support services. Murray also serves as the Chairman of the resort’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council, leading the resort’s overall gender equality, accessibility and PRIDE employee and community engagement strategies.

Shanghai Disney Resort is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and a state-owned enterprise under the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. Phase I of the resort officially opened to the public on June 16, 2016. The USD $5.5 billion resort project is one of the largest foreign invested projects in the history of China.

Prior to joining Disney in 2011, Murray worked for the Washington, DC-based public affairs consulting firm APCO Worldwide as the firm’s regional managing director for Greater China. During Murray’s seven years with APCO, he worked with a wide range of corporate clients on China public affairs and investment issues, serving as a key advisor on public affairs issues to some of the largest foreign investors in China, with specific expertise in assisting companies to build and execute strategic government engagement and corporate responsibility programs. He has also been a frequent commentator in both Chinese and international media on China current affairs issues.

Murray is an attorney and diplomat by profession, having practiced law in private practice in Canada for several years before serving in Canada's diplomatic service as a Trade Commissioner focused on trade with China. Murray’s diplomatic postings included assignments in both Beijing and Shanghai, with a focus on market access in highly-regulated sectors including rail, automotive and aerospace.

Since leaving government in 2004, Murray has become an active member of the international business community in China and served for three successive terms as an elected member of the board of governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (2008-2010) and prior to that for three years as the chairman of the chamber's Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. He has also served as a member of the national board of directors for the Canada-China Business Council (2007-2011).

Xavier has 21 years of service industry experience and have worked with several renown brands in two Asia markets and am part of the pioneer opening team for three international theme park and resort in his career. He is currently serving as the Director, Emergency Management and Safety in Universal Beijing Resort.