The team at Simworx recently returned from a busy week at IAAPA Expo Europe at which they showcased their latest product range and recent projects.
Kicking off the week, Simworx attended the Kirmes & Park Revue European Star Awards on the Monday night. This year, hosted at Parc Asterix’s ‘The Suspended City’ Hotel, the event celebrated it’s 8th edition in a row, honouring the best theme parks, most noteworthy attractions and spectacular coasters. Simworx was awarded, for another year running, a Star Award in the Best Dark Ride category for their Derren Brown’s ghost train attraction. Featured at Thorpe Park, the Ghost Train opened in 2016 and is a high throughput, Virtual Reality Advanced Dark Ride themed around the London underground.
Tuesday morning began with confetti and dancing as the IAAPA Opening Ceremony, held in the IAAPA Theatre, welcomed everybody to the show. Following the celebrations, exhibitors scrambled to their booths awaiting doors opening. Simworx exhibited at booth 2424 along accompanied by Frontgrid who’s Paradrop VR provided entertainment all day to interested attendees. Showcasing their extensive range of Media Based Attractions, Simworx also held a press conference on the Tuesday afternoon to officially launch two more.
At the press launch, the AGV Dark Ride and Mini Flying Theatre were given the limelight as Simworx CEO, Terry Monkton, shared the impressive specs and their unique designs. Accompanied by demonstrative concept videos he stated that the AGV is “the most technically advanced dark ride on the market today”, with speeds unrivalled in the industry. Their Mini Flying Theatre will see it’s first installation at the Bao Son Wildlife Park in Hanoi, Vietnam later this year.
Concluding the first day of the show, the Opening Reception was hosted by Jardin d’Acclimatation an amusement park located in the heart of Paris. The evening provided an array of refreshments, spectacular entertainment and of course some theme park rides as the IAAPA attendees had the opportunity to network and meet industry friends.
Along with their newest product developments, Simworx were also promoting their newest attraction ‘The Metro of Time’. This time-travelling attraction takes visitors on a state-of-the-art motion simulator ride that puts a twist on the typical 4D cinema. Aided by 3DOF motion seats, surround sound audio and onboard special effects, passengers will really feel like they’ve ripped through the space-time continuum as they’re thrust back to visit four distinct time periods. The uniquely themed carriages are being offered individually or in multiples, each with a capacity of 40 persons, for 2020 install.
On the Wednesday evening, after the show day had ended, Simworx attended the 2nd annual Park World Excellence Awards. Held at Le Méridien Etoile, the event honours the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) attraction industry’s premier talent and recognises exceptional operators, suppliers, manufacturers and entertainment specialists from across the continent. Closing the award ceremony, the Simworx crew could be heard congratulating their CEO, Terry Monkton, as he was honoured with the coveted Industry Icon Award for Manufacturer/Supplier.
The Simworx posse headed home on Thursday after the show, with sore feet and a bunch of great enquiries, incredibly pleased with how it went. This year’s IAAPA Expo Europe was attended by over 15,00 leisure, tourism and entertainment professionals from all over the world, with over 600 exhibiting companies taking over the 17,500+ square meters of show floor. The team are already looking forward to next year’s European Expo, back on home turf, in London.
