Professionals from the science engagement community will come together in June in the “biggest international village in the world”, nestled between the Alps and Jura mountains, when Geneva hosts the Ecsite Annual Conference. Around 1,100 professionals from Europe and beyond are expected to participate and “collide creatively”, as the theme of the conference suggests.
Both the sessions and the social programme are designed to create time and space for meaningful encounters in a friendly atmosphere. The local host is the Natural History Museum, in partnership with CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research), University of Geneva Scienscope and Campus Biotech.
Keynote speaker James Beecham, a particle physicist at CERN, will be looking at infinity and discussing topical research such as dark matter. The other keynote will invite us to look inside ourselves. Giulia and Jill Enders, the authors of Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ (2014) will share the story, idea and method behind the phenomenally successful book that sold 2.1 million copies in Germany alone, and spent 74 weeks in the top 10 list of best-selling non-fiction literature.
Attendees can enjoy a two-day pre-conference workshop (5-6 June), three days of conference with more than 80 parallel sessions (7-9 June), and, as always, the Business Bistro trade fair. Thematic trends include escape rooms, narrative approaches and VR/AR applications.
My gut feeling tells me there’s a giant fondue cooking for everybody… and not only at the Gala Dinner. See ecsite.eu/annual-conference.
Mikko Myllykoski, experience director, Heureka, and Ecsite’s ACPC chair
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2018 issue 1
Industry Opinion: Waterparks
More water leisure operators are investing in becoming more accessible, writes WWA's Aleatha Ezra
Industry Opinion: Zoos & Aquariums
Species survival expert Bill Robichaud shares the trials of the saola and what zoos are doing to save this near-extinct creature
Interview: Bob White
Bob White, COO of Village Roadshow, on
weathering a dip in attendance and keeping
his eyes on investment and expansion
Inclusivity: Open to All
Kath Hudson reports on some inspiring
initiatives to help include people who
face physical, social or economic
obstacles to visiting attractions
Heritage: Lofty Ideals
Westminster Abbey is getting an attic
conversion of sorts. We found out more
Waterparks: Under the Weather
Meet the team who helped bring
Epic Waters to fruition – an undercover
Texas waterpark on an epic scale
Profile: Andreas Andersen
IAAPA’s new chair Andreas Andersen sat
down with Tom Anstey to talk about industry
growth, sustainability – and queueing
Theme Parks: Think Big
Liseberg CEO Andreas Andersen reveals
details of the park’s €200m expansion
Themed design: The Story Builders
Disney’s Joe Rohde and Scott Trowbridge
and Universal’s Thierry Coup reveal the
secrets of their trade – well, some of them!
Professionals from the science engagement community will come together in June in the “biggest international village in the world”, nestled between the Alps and Jura mountains, when Geneva hosts the Ecsite Annual Conference. Around 1,100 professionals from Europe and beyond are expected to participate and “collide creatively”, as the theme of the conference suggests.
Both the sessions and the social programme are designed to create time and space for meaningful encounters in a friendly atmosphere. The local host is the Natural History Museum, in partnership with CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research), University of Geneva Scienscope and Campus Biotech.
Keynote speaker James Beecham, a particle physicist at CERN, will be looking at infinity and discussing topical research such as dark matter. The other keynote will invite us to look inside ourselves. Giulia and Jill Enders, the authors of Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ (2014) will share the story, idea and method behind the phenomenally successful book that sold 2.1 million copies in Germany alone, and spent 74 weeks in the top 10 list of best-selling non-fiction literature.
Attendees can enjoy a two-day pre-conference workshop (5-6 June), three days of conference with more than 80 parallel sessions (7-9 June), and, as always, the Business Bistro trade fair. Thematic trends include escape rooms, narrative approaches and VR/AR applications.
My gut feeling tells me there’s a giant fondue cooking for everybody… and not only at the Gala Dinner. See ecsite.eu/annual-conference.
Mikko Myllykoski, experience director, Heureka, and Ecsite’s ACPC chair
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2018 issue 1
Industry Opinion: Waterparks
More water leisure operators are investing in becoming more accessible, writes WWA's Aleatha Ezra
Industry Opinion: Zoos & Aquariums
Species survival expert Bill Robichaud shares the trials of the saola and what zoos are doing to save this near-extinct creature
Interview: Bob White
Bob White, COO of Village Roadshow, on
weathering a dip in attendance and keeping
his eyes on investment and expansion
Inclusivity: Open to All
Kath Hudson reports on some inspiring
initiatives to help include people who
face physical, social or economic
obstacles to visiting attractions
Heritage: Lofty Ideals
Westminster Abbey is getting an attic
conversion of sorts. We found out more
Waterparks: Under the Weather
Meet the team who helped bring
Epic Waters to fruition – an undercover
Texas waterpark on an epic scale
Profile: Andreas Andersen
IAAPA’s new chair Andreas Andersen sat
down with Tom Anstey to talk about industry
growth, sustainability – and queueing
Theme Parks: Think Big
Liseberg CEO Andreas Andersen reveals
details of the park’s €200m expansion
Themed design: The Story Builders
Disney’s Joe Rohde and Scott Trowbridge
and Universal’s Thierry Coup reveal the
secrets of their trade – well, some of them!
OMA has completed a major transformation of New York's New Museum, creating a larger
cultural campus that combines expanded exhibition spaces with learning, performance,
hospitality and public programming.
A US$50 million (£44.2 million, €51.2 million) transformation of Chicago's historic McCormick
Mansion has created a new destination that combines live magic, immersive theatre, dining and
private membership under one roof.
The Montana Historical Society has officially celebrated the opening of its new Montana
Heritage
Center, a US$107 million (£79 million, €92 million) destination that combines immersive
storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual technology to bring the sta
San Antonio Zoo has reported a US$283 million economic impact for 2025, following a decade-
long transformation programme that has seen almost US$200 million invested into the Texas
attraction.
Plans for the AU$180 million redevelopment of Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia, are
progressing, with the project set to transform the attraction into a global centre for reef
education and conservation.
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Disney has reaffirmed its commitment to investing US$30 billion in its US parks and cruise
business by 2033, using new America250 celebrations to underline the role its attractions play
in supporting jobs, tourism and economic growth.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
