TEA SATE conference

The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) organises annual conferences in China, Europa and the USA for representatives of the amusement park industry. This year's European meeting took place from 3rd to 6th May at the Europa-Park Resort. The 140 international participants at the TEA conference included CEOs of leisure and water parks, as well as designers, architects and engineers from 17 countries. What sort of rides will visitors experience in the future? How does a modern theme park face the current challenges? And which trends are driving the leisure industry today? At Germany's largest theme park, experts dealt with these and other questions. Over the course of four days, the particular topics discussed were the SATE topics: storytelling, architecture, technology and experiences.

Host and Europa-Park owner Roland Mack was recently honoured by TEA with the ‘Buzz Price Award’ for his life's work and his outstanding entrepreneurial achievements, as well as his great commitment to the industry. Roland Mack spoke about past and future tasks as an entrepreneur, based on his own family history: “The risks involved when founding the park were high. We didn't have any experience and had to use all our equity to get everything going. We were driven by a mix of courage, enthusiasm, passion, joy and optimism. For me, TEA stands for a high degree of creativity and perfect design. Without the ideas from its members, there would be no emotion, and without emotion, there would be no successful amusement parks. For me, TEA is part of the key to the success of the amusement park industry. We only win people over through emotion as well as innovations and quality of course. That's exactly what TEA stands for."

During the conference, the participants gained exciting insights into the Rulantica water world, Europa-Park, YULLBE and the rollercoaster manufacturer MACK Rides, and were also able to experience the world-first restaurant innovation Eatrenalin.