Lobby of LEGOLAND Hotel Dubai Photo courtesy Merlin Entertainments
Focus on EMEA
The evolving regional attractions industry in Europe, the Middle East and Africa by Edmond Chih, Director, and Edward Shaw, Principal, of Entertainment + Culture Advisors (ECA)
T
he attraction industry is rapidly evolving to move beyond COVID-19. New developments and operational approaches in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) provide a case study of the industry’s evolution. Having worked extensively throughout the region over the past decade Entertainment + Culture Advisors (ECA) has outlined the changes occurring in the regional industry and the path ahead as highlighted by major attraction trends and new projects. The EMEA region highlights the three fundamental phases of attraction development – inception, growth and stabilization. • Inception: Early-stage markets are characterized by family entertainment centers (FECs) in retail malls, lowerinvestment outdoor amusement parks and waterparks. Most projects are unbranded. • Growth: The quality and pricing levels of indoor attractions and waterparks increase, and higher-investment theme parks are introduced. Branding and licensed intellectual property (IP) are used to heighten the profile, pricing power and drawing power of the projects. 36
Edmond Chih
Edward Shaw
• Stabilization: As markets stabilize, the growth of new largescale projects decreases and most investment is focused on reinvestment in existing projects. Smaller indoor attraction projects continue to evolve as older projects are replaced by newer concepts. Branding and IP are key points of competitive differentiation.
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