The activities of the Middle East Trade Summit kicked off today in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in partnership between the General Entertainment Authority (GEA)
and the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), in the presence of hundreds of local and international investors in the entertainment sector.
The launch of the two-day summit witnessed a wide turnout of attendees who came from 40 countries around the world to benefit from the summit programs and the experiences of entertainment industry leaders, experts and workers.
During the summit, IAAPA Board Chairman Jim Bateson delivered a speech in which he thanked GEA and said: “”I just want to take a minute and thank the General Entertainment Authority and the team here. I have never seen in my history a government agency that says we’re here to help you and means it, and your ability to move quickly and to encourage people to grow and do things fast and make that happen is very commendable. I just want to congratulate you on all the wonderful things you’ve done here in Saudi Arabia”. The Executive Director and Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa at IAAPA, Peter Van der Schans, thanked GEA for its support of the international summit, which is being held for the first time, stressing that he is happy with the results of the partnership between GEA and IAAPA.
The first-day activities of the summit included a presentation on the entertainment destinations in the Kingdom, which introduced the attendees to the Kingdom’s capabilities in the field of entertainment and showed them the latest and most attractive projects. The presentation also dealt with the future of entertainment cities, and the interest that the sector enjoys in various regions and cities of the Kingdom.
During the sessions of the summit, entertainment experts discussed the mechanisms of designing and managing big ride operations and creating the necessary plans to offer a successful entertainment activity that achieves its goals by involving the community and providing its requirements and standards.
The speakers discussed the most important ways to develop work plans and set budgets that contribute to realizing the ideas of entertainment makers and ensure the provision of basic operating costs for projects. The experts also focused on the importance of innovation and creativity and the reliance on work teams that believe in the importance of projects and seek to implement them in the best and most appropriate way for future entertainment facilities.
The sessions also discussed many topics, such as the art of relations with visitors, areas of safety, and the pivotal market for major entertainment projects in the Kingdom. The activities of the summit were accompanied by an exhibition that included prominent entertainment developments, with the participation of specialized parties in the sector from around the world.
During its activities, today and tomorrow, Wednesday, the summit includes 8 dialogue sessions, in which 45 international experts from 9 countries participate. They talk about their experiences and the latest developments in the entertainment industry in the Kingdom in terms of products and services that support the entertainment industry and meet its needs.
The summit aims to identify the latest international innovations in the entertainment industry and its latest developments, with an interest in entertainment events by seeking to know ways and tools to measure their success, confront the challenges facing the sector and develop appropriate plans to address them, while providing workers in the entertainment sector with the latest expertise necessary to succeed in their tasks.
The GEA’s organization of IAAPA Middle East Trade Summit comes within the framework of its endeavors to develop the entertainment sector and support it with the latest international standards to meet the increasing demand for entertainment events throughout the Kingdom.
