In a year of ups, downs, loops and scoops, Attractions Management looks back at some of the biggest stories to hit the headlines, giving possible indicators at what’s still to come in the year ahead.

In July, winter came earlier expected as a Game of Thrones touring exhibition was announced. Meanwhile, Dutch celebrities tried their hand at museum curation, while a pub became the first in the UK to be officially recognised as a zoo.

Heading north of The Wall

HBO revealed plans during the month to take Game of Thrones on the road as an interactive exhibition tour, kicking off in Europe.

Created in association with events provider Global Experience Specialists (GES), Game of Thrones: The Touring Exhibition debuted on 28 October in Barcelona, Spain, offering a close-up look at authentic props, costumes and set decorations over a 10,000sq ft (929sq m) interactive experience.

The exhibition includes artefacts from every season of the show, including season seven, which aired its first episode in the US on 16 July.

The celebrity touch

Waiting rooms at railway stations across the Netherlands this year were converted into temporary mini museums in an effort to promote the National Museum of World Culture’s vast unseen collections.

The National Museum of World Cultures – made up of the Tropenmuseum, Africa Museum and Museum of Ethnology – commissioned the project. The three institutions, which since 2014 have acted as one museum on three sites, jointly manage a collection of more than 375,000 objects, with the bulk stored in an underground facility off-limits to the general public.

Showcasing some of the collection, they asked five Dutch celebrities to choose their favourite artefacts, which will go on display at the temporary installations.

Television presenter Floortje Dessing was the first celebrity to debut a collection, opening her exhibition on platform 8/9b of Leiden central station. Floortje’s museum was open until 23 July and contained a collection of treasures of the sea, selected by the presenter after the island life in the South Pacific made a big impression during her travels.

Pint and a Parrot

A pub in Kent became the first in the UK to be granted a licence to operate as a zoo, after Medway Council granted the licence following a two-and-a-half year process.

The Fenn Bell Inn in Rochester, owned by Andy and Kelly Cowell, has been home to the family’s collection of exotic animals since it opened in 2014. The pub has over the last few years had issues with the council regarding the licensing agreement, having been asked to screen off some animal enclosures from the public. The licence approval gave the zoo-pub hybrid full zoo status.

The five-acre (20,000sq m) zoo currently has a collection of 88 animals under its care, including monkeys, meerkats, racoons, parrots, birds of prey, lemurs, pigs, ducks, genets and more. Now the license has been granted, plans include expanding the property by several acres, building a big cat centre for larger felines and conservation and rescue work with hedgehogs and red squirrels.

The pub and free-to-visit zoo work in harmony, with each drawing visitors to the other.

“In about 2011 we took on two pigs – Ginger and Spice,” said Andy Cowell, speaking to Attractions Management.

“Out of that it really developed, with us taking in more and more animals. My wife turned to me one day and said, ‘We can’t live like this, you have turned the house into a zoo’, and I thought, ‘What a good idea, let’s do it!’”

Check back with Attractions Management tomorrow for the biggest news from August