For everyone in the European attractions world, late September is a fixed date in the diary: IAAPA Expo Europe. After Barcelona in 2025, this year it was London’s turn.
We were there again, and we came back with a notebook full of insights, figures and ideas. Below are the 10 trends from IAAPA Expo Europe 2026 that stuck with us most, and what they mean for the way visitors find and choose your attraction.
Table of contents
First, a look back: how was 2026?
The expo opened with the question of how the year since Barcelona had gone. The answer: better than many people expected.
According to LDP Experience Economist Europe 2026, European theme and water parks attracted 180 million visits this year, 6 million more than in 2025. Total economic impact rose from €17 billion to €18 billion, and the number of jobs the industry supports grew from 157,000 to 162,000.
| Europe | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Visits to theme and water parks | 174 million | 180 million |
| Visits per 1,000 inhabitants | 325 | 327 |
| Total economic impact | €17 billion | €18 billion |
| Total employment | 157,000 jobs | 162,000 jobs |
Source: LDP Experience Economist Europe 2026
That doesn’t mean the industry is carefree. In IAAPA’s quarterly survey, attractions rated their outlook for the global economy in the second quarter at an average of 4.8 out of 10, the lowest point since early 2025. In the third quarter that climbed back to 5.3, and to 5.6 for their own national economy.
Notably, most parks give it a 4 or a 5. Not gloomy, then, but cautious. Geopolitical tensions and inflation remain the biggest concerns. Earlier this year we also listed the 6 trends for day attractions in 2026.
1. From day attraction to resort and destination
The first trend is that more and more day attractions are turning into resorts. Parks are building hotels and holiday homes in or right next to the park, so guests stay longer and spend more.
Anyone paying to sleep in the middle of the action expects something extra in return, such as early entry or an evening programme. An empty park after closing time quickly feels like a ghost town.
At the same time, parks are looking beyond their own gates. An attraction can only grow if guests can reach it easily and stay nearby, and the region in turn benefits from the visitors the park draws. Underneath this lies a broader shift, from footfall to yield: not as many visitors as possible, but as much value per visitor as possible. Kantar calls it the move from ticket to relationship.
For your online marketing, this means you’re not just selling a day out, but also the stay and the surrounding area. The more often your park and your region are mentioned together, the greater the chance that AI search engines will also mention you in the same answer.
2. Food and drink become an attraction in their own right
Food and drink have long stopped being an afterthought. According to IAAPA, at some parks around a third of revenue comes from food and beverage.
The next step is eatertainment, where dining and experience merge. Think of the newly announced Strawberry Dining Attraction from Mack Rides and Karls: you sit at a table while riding through a dark ride.
This trend calls for more online visibility for your food and beverage offer. A restaurant or dining concept is now a real reason to visit.
3. Heat and the weather forecast drive visitor numbers
Extreme weather has become our reality. Hotter and more erratic summers affect guest comfort, staff safety and opening hours. Parks are investing in water play, places to cool down, routes out of the sun, air conditioning and shade.
For older parks, this sometimes amounts to a major refurbishment. It pays off, too: parks that keep guests cool see it reflected in their NPS.
What’s more, the weather matters before anyone even sets off. Chester Zoo presented research by The Harris Poll in the United Kingdom: 96% of people check the weather forecast before deciding to visit an outdoor attraction, and 53% check again on the day itself. When they see a rain symbol, 42% change their plans and a further 45% have doubts.
According to the attractions present, this can lead to up to 30% fewer visitors, even on a day that stays dry. Chester Zoo, together with other attractions, therefore called on the Met Office to present forecasts more clearly, for example by showing “60% chance of dry weather” alongside “40% chance of rain”.
One of the recommendations was also to work with AI search engines so that the weather information in their answers is accurate. So make sure your website answers the questions that come with bad and hot weather: what’s indoors, where is there shade and where can you cool off?
4. Infill attractions and the total experience
Not every park has the space or budget for a new roller coaster. Infill attractions offer a way out: they fit between what’s already there, are quicker to build and let visitors do more in the same footprint.
On the show floor we saw dark rides with a small footprint and refreshed classics, such as Vekoma’s new mill for Efteling. An attraction like this only really works when it’s part of a total experience, in which story, theming, food and drink and retail together form one world.
5. Olaf and the rise of emotional robots
For us, Olaf was the talk of the show. Disney has turned the character from Frozen into a robot that walks among guests and interacts with them.
It’s not an animatronic playing a script in a fixed spot, but a character that responds to whoever is standing in front of him. That’s exactly what Disney means by a living land: a themed area where characters are truly present.
The challenge for the rest of the industry is emotional intelligence. Most animatronics only hold attention for a few seconds. Once a robot can respond with facial expressions and body language, it goes from set piece to leading role.
The rest of the technology is shifting too: VR is becoming less popular, while AR is growing. We’re also seeing holograms emerge. That’s why we visited ABBA Voyage during IAAPA Expo Europe to learn more about this.
6. Calm, movement and fewer screens
Visitors want to feel better after a day out than before, also known as the transformation economy. Comfort and relaxation are becoming important reasons to visit, and Kantar even sees restoration, sensory comfort and design in which everyone feels welcome as the industry’s biggest unmet need.
Think of low-stimulus moments, plenty of water and shady places to sit, especially now that families more often travel with three generations. At the same time, more and more attractions and play equipment get visitors running, climbing and jumping themselves, often with a competitive element.
Screen fatigue plays a part as well. The paper park map is making a comeback and some parks are experimenting with phone-free zones. This trend is creating new search queries.
7. The more technology, the more people matter
With its assistant Ecki, Europa-Park showed that AI can be more than just a chatbot. At the same time, speakers warned against too much enthusiasm: hallucinations remain a risk and a pilot is not yet a strategy. The advice was to start with the pain points of guests and staff, build trust and think beyond the first experiment.
Yet the more is automated, the more a real member of staff stands out. Kantar’s research confirms this: technology makes a visit easier, but genuine human contact is what tips the balance when choosing an attraction.
So let technology handle the queue, the payment and the searching, so your team has time for the moments guests remember. With one condition: guests expect care with their data, fair prices and responsible use of AI.
8. Every click less counts
People drop out as soon as something is awkward. A speaker from Fever showed what it achieves to cut the ticketing process from seven clicks to three.
Other examples were a single portal for tickets, food and audio tours, and collecting data without asking guests tedious questions. Each stage of the customer journey calls for its own approach, and feedback is only valuable if you actually act on it.
For your website, this means a fast, clear booking flow is just as much part of the guest experience as a short queue.
9. Leisure moves into town centres and shopping centres
Shopping centres are turning into places where you experience something. For a long time, shopping was the reason to come and entertainment was a sideline. Now it’s the other way round: experiences draw the visitors, food and drink keep them there, and retail is just one part of the whole.
Brands are opening brand homes in city centres, and concepts where you do something together are growing. With one caveat: a concept like this only survives if people want to come back and the food is good. Or, as was said in one presentation: leisure is a place maker, not a space taker.
This trend already came to light at IAAPA last year. Read our blog about retail as a leisure destination.
10. On social media, you show the experience
On social media, many attractions look alike. Everyone jumps on the same trends, so your feed looks just like your neighbours’. Dare to do things differently, or build on what has already been proven to work with your audience.
The key lesson: don’t share announcements, share experiences. A post about a new attraction only works when you can see what it feels like to ride it. That’s why user-generated content is one of the pillars of social advertising: viewers see real guests instead of an advert from a company. For day attractions, TikTok is now one of the most important channels.
Usage is changing too. People scroll aimlessly less and more often actively search for their next day out. So don’t build your funnel on audiences alone, but also on the stage someone is in: inspiration, consideration or booking. Each stage calls for its own creative.
Finally, social media, both paid and organic, has a growing influence on what AI search engines say about your brand. A recognisable, authentic presence on social is therefore also a way to tell AI who you are.
And the future?
Besides the trends on the show floor, many sessions looked further ahead. On behalf of IAAPA, Kantar spoke to industry executives and surveyed consumers and professionals about the next ten years.
Twelve themes kept recurring in the interviews, from AI and staff shortages to climate, IP, competitive socialising and the lack of data analysis. The resulting SWOT neatly shows where the industry’s strengths lie and where it’s under pressure.
| What Kantar sees | |
|---|---|
| Strengths | An experience that can’t be replicated online, appeal across all generations, shared experiences, strong IP |
| Weaknesses | Shortage of specialist staff, high investment costs, price-sensitive visitors, digital lag |
| Opportunities | Personalisation with AI, partly automated operations, mixed reality, climate resilience, new revenue models |
| Threats | Structural staff shortages, stricter regulation, risks around digital trust and reputation, technology that dates quickly, competition for leisure time and attention |
Source: Kantar for IAAPA, session Future of the Attractions Industry (2026)
Kantar closed with nine recommendations. Loosely translated, they boil down to this: strengthen human contact, build a relationship with your guests rather than just selling tickets, and organise your staff flexibly.
Grow sustainably, remove friction and combine international appeal with local culture. Earn trust at every touchpoint, make your organisation resilient to shocks in demand, capital, climate and geopolitics, and design for restoration, comfort and inclusion.
See you next year
London showed that the industry is growing, but also that the bar is higher. Visitors expect more comfort, more authenticity and less hassle, from the first search to the last ride of the day. Will we see you next year at IAAPA Expo Europe 2027 in Vienna?
At Red Online Marketing, we specialise in online marketing for day attractions and the wider travel and leisure industry. Get in touch for a no-obligation chat.
Frequently asked questions
What is IAAPA Expo Europe?
IAAPA Expo Europe is the largest annual trade show for the European attractions and leisure industry. The 2026 edition took place in London in late September.
How did 2026 go for the European attractions industry?
The industry grew. European theme and water parks attracted 180 million visits in 2026, compared with 174 million in 2025, and economic impact rose to €18 billion (LDP Experience Economist Europe 2026). Parks’ confidence in the economy recovered in the third quarter, but is still below early-2025 levels.
What were the main trends at IAAPA Expo Europe 2026?
The main trends were the shift from day attraction to resort, food and drink as an attraction, climate adaptation, infill attractions within a total experience, robots with emotional intelligence, a bigger role for personal contact alongside AI, and social media that revolves around real experiences.
How much does the weather forecast affect visitor numbers?
According to research by The Harris Poll, presented by Chester Zoo, 96% of Britons check the weather forecast before deciding to visit an outdoor attraction. When they see a rain symbol, more than eight in ten people have doubts about whether to go. As a result, attractions see up to 30% fewer visitors.
