The results of RAAPA EXPO – 2018 — RAAPA
Russian association of amusement
parks and attractions

Russian association of amusement
parks and attractions

The results of RAAPA EXPO – 2018

2 march 2018
The 20th Anniversary International Exhibition «Amusement Rides and Entertainment Equipment RAAPA EXPO – 2018»

The 20th Anniversary International exhibition «Amusement Rides and Entertainment Equipment RAAPA EXPO – 2018» that took place on March 1-3 in pavilion 75 at VDNH was a great success.

The exhibition was organized by the Russian Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (RAAPA) with the support of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA). General Sponsor: PAX, Group of companies.

General Media Partner: Amusement Industry Catalogue, magazine; 

Web-based partners: vtorio.com, rides.zone, and others.

Over 200 companies from more than 20 countries all over the world (Italy, Canada, Belarus, Mexico, Turkey, Spain, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, China, Estonia, Taipei, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, and others) took part in the exhibition and presented all the main trends in the modern amusement industry: park rides, redemption machines and simulators, 5D cinemas, VR attractions, kiddie playgrounds and sports equipment, shooting galleries, trampolines and bounces, ropes courses, theme design, access control systems, automation systems, billiard and bowling, equipment for waterparks, vending and prize machines, park and FECs design services, staff training, event management, landscape design, food services, and many others.

36 exhibitors joined the RAAPA EXPO for the first time which is a peculiar record. This yet again indicates that the entertainment market in Russia keeps developing.

Let us outline some major trends and novelties of 2017:

Dinosaurs’ comeback. Prehistoric reptiles have once again proved to be the most in demand product in the amusement industry. Animatronics and robotic dinosaurs of all sizes could be met this year at RAAPA EXPO left and right. Almost all of them were sold out.

Wonder weel. Like everything else, amusement industry is changing but classics remains forever. The most classic park ride – Ferris wheel was presented at the expo by nearly ten companies. Moreover, majority of them went beyond promotional brochures by bringing large modules of Ferris wheels and ready-made passenger cabins.

VR-technologies. Year by year, virtual reality takes more and more space at RAAPA EXPO. This is evidenced by a significant number of companies offering this product.  This season highlight is the interactive video mapping that enlivens the space turning it into the entertainment and playing area.

Distinctively designed kiddie playgrounds and entertainment complexes for infants stood out at the show. Many companies were offering turnkey solutions for children entertainment complexes and even franchising projects like did the first-time exhibitor Zamania, renowned chain of family activity parks.

Creative solutions. Wide range of presented products could be related to this category: mobile karaoke systems from Spain, innovative inflatable waterslide from Germany, street music instruments from Vladivostok (Russia), large arcade game Angry Birds, really scaring scare house, and other outstanding novelties.      

Considerable number of exhibitors has offered their services on project design and equipment of waterparks and entertainment centers, displaying at the show the modules.

Traditionally, there was a wide array of family and children attractions, inflatable bounces and trampolines, ropes courses, and soft play rooms.

All the major F&B vendors have taken part in the exhibition, and not only by presenting their equipment and products but also by conducting culinary work-shops.

Best expositions have been awarded with RAAPA Gold Medals. Among those were the expositions of Brunswick/KidsPlay, Polin Waterparks (Turkey), Italpark, PlaySpace, RIF, Aqua Fun Park Products (Germany), SprintMix, Altay Kompozit, New Horizons, and RAZAP.   

In total, almost 4000 specialists have visited the exhibition over a three day period: owners and top-managers of parks, family entertainment centers, water parks, representatives of cities’ and regions’ administrations, developers and investors, owners and directors of resorts, hotels, leisure complexes, manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of entertainment equipment, private entrepreneurs, representatives of mass-media, and other parties concerned.

The exhibition was accompanied by a highly topical business forum. Over 400 professionals from Russia and abroad participated in a variety of events. Trainings and workshops were delivered by leading Russian and foreign experts in the entertainment industry.

For indoor entertainment centers, the seminars on “World trends of catering for amusement parks and FECs” and “Reboot of the family entertainment center” (moderator Lyudmila Kiseleva) were offered.

Two business workshops on “Marketing calendar of the family entertainment center once and for the whole year” and “Financial security: increasing revenues by preventing abuse” were delivered by the“Indoor amusement parks” experts Pavel Timets and Ksenia Biushkina.

For the first time at RAAPA EXPO, the workshop was presented by “My team” group from Surgut (Russia) covering the topic of “The family entertainment center that is doomed to success: actual tools to increase revenue and improve work efficiency”.

Safety aspects of entertainment equipment were discussed at the seminars on “New requirements for ensuring safety of rides and inflatable play equipment” and “The practice of safe operation of kiddie play and sports grounds”.

The operators of outdoor parks took part in the conference on “Modern amusement park as a multifunctional cultural and entertainment complex” and workshop on “An independent assessment of culture and leisure park operation. 100 parameters of successful work”

One of the most-in-demand proved to be the conference on “Actual technologies for increasing the efficiency of water parks operation” that gathered significant number of Russian and foreign experts.

The largest audience was attracted by the roundtable on “New technologies and franchises of amusement industry” where the current trends of FECs, mobile apps’ solutions for parks, new VR-technologies, etc. were discussed.

Let alone the exposition and business forum, the exhibition will also be remembered for the Golden Pony Moscow-2018 international awards (established by the publishing house Facto Edizioni, Italy) granted at the Gala Dinner dedicated to the opening of RAAPA EXPO-2018 on March 1. In 2018, the Golden Pony was awarded to ChaiLand FEC (Syktyvkar), city park Lukomorie (Saratov), Funky Town FEC (Kostanay, Kazakhstan), Happylon Adventure FEC (Astana, Kazakhstan), city park Lakreevsky Les (Cheboksary), whaterpark Ulyot (Ulianovsk), Funny Jungle FEC (Krasnogorsk), Panda Park – Mescherskiy (Moscow), Play Ventura FEC (Kursk), ZaZa Land park (Yerevan, Armenia).

The 20th Anniversary of RAAPA EXPO wasn’t left out either. At the gala reception on March 2, the organizing committee has awarded the most long-term partners and exhibitors with commemorative awards.

The RAAPA EXPO-2018 results show that the amusement industry in Russia keeps developing. The exhibition has displayed current trends of the world entertainment market, modern technologies and leisure formats that will bring joy to the visitors of parks, waterparks, and FECs in the nearest future.

In the course of the years, RAAPA EXPO has not only become the event where local and foreign manufacturers present their products and services twice a year, but turned into the unique business platform for amusement industry professionals’ networking and inception of new ideas and projects enhancing the development and improvement of leisure industry in our country.