Thriller-Issue-100

April - June 2022 / Issue 100 / Mumbai th Issue



th Issue



th Issue

th Issue

th Issue

th Issue

th Issue

IAAPI COMMITTEE MANAGING COMMITTEE 2022-23 Chairman - Rajeev Jalnapurkar Vice Chairman: Shrikant Goenka Members • Ajay Sarin • Ankur Maheshwari • Arunkumar Muchhala • Ashok Goel • Balwant Chawla • Maneesh Verma • Abhijit Du a • Pradeep K Sharma • Rajen S. Shah • Sa sh Raj Deswal • Arun Chi lappilly • Yogesh Dange • N. D. Rana • Vincent Adaikalaraj SUB COMMITTEE 2022-23 Chairman Vice Chairman Chairman Membership Rohit Mathur VGPR Premdas Interna onal VGP Ravidas Thriller Rela ons Sohansinh Jadeja Finance Arijit Sengupta Kamalesh Chandra Award Rajeev Jalnapurkar, Shrikant Goenka, Trade Show Print & Ajay Sarin & Regional Chairman’s Safety Yogesh Dange Electronic Media Rajeev Jalnapurkar, Shrikant Goenka, Training PR & Liasioning Ajay Sarin, Yogesh Dange IAC N. D. Rana Chairman - Rajen Shah, MEP Advisory & N. D. Rana, Balwant Chawla, Social Media & Pradeep Sharma Abhijit Du a Nomina on Yogesh Dange, VGP Ravidas Digital Marke ng Anuj Sarin Razi Halim Ankur Maheshwary Abbas Jabalpurwala Pradeep Sharma Surender Malik VGPR Premdas Ashwin Dange REGIONAL COUNCIL 2022-23 NORTHERN REGION Chairman Vice Chairman EASTERN REGION Rajesh Arora Kamaljit Singh WESTERN REGION Prashant Kanoria Kamlesh Chandra SOUTHERN REGION Shivajee Sharma Abbas Jabalpurwala Ashwin Dange Umesh Prabhu Arun Kumar Muchhala - Muchhala Magicland Pvt Ltd, Mumbai Ashok Goel - Pan India Paryatan Ltd, Mumbai Balwant Chawla - Polo Amusement Park Ltd , New Delhi N D Rana - Saya Amusement Mfg Ltd, Ahmedabad Rajen Shah - Arihant Industrial Corpora on Ltd, Mumbai 9967499933 www.mediacraze.in 10 th Issue

26 INDEX 34 Association Noticeboard 38 Directions on Growth of Amusement Industry 44 & Role of IAAPI in India by Mr Ashok Goel 48 The Endless Possibilities for Experiential Attractions: Lessons for India from around 56 the world by Mr. Sai Aditya 60 Growth opportunities for manufacturers in Amusement Industry in India by Mr Rajen Shah 87 89 Overall Tourism & how Amusement Industry 90 can play a role in it by Mr. Vinod Zutshi, 97 Former Secretary Tourism, GoI 98 Synergy of Amusement Industry & Travel Agents by Ms. Jyoti Mayal, TAAI President History of the amusement industry in India with pictorial photographs of 1980’s ...till date IAAPI Membership IAAPI Amusement Expo 2023 IAAPI Activities Advertisements Index Advertorials Index 11

th Issue Dear IAAPI Family, Thriller Magazine is proud to be celebra ng its 100th issue. As an exclusive magazine for all the amusement sector enthusiasts, THRILLER have successfully completed 99 issues and entering into a significant milestone that only a few can achieve. This achievement not only reflects the consistency and efforts of all the members behind the magazine, but also showcases the growth poten al of the publica on. On behalf of IAAPI, I would like to express my sincere gra tude for all those people who worked relentlessly to achieve this milestone. For last two years, we have experienced the biggest disrup on of Tourism industry. Now we are at the dawn of 2022, where we are seeing return of guests with great enthusiasm. At this junc on, celebra ng 100th issue is a spiritual coincidence, which shall reflect the growth of Tourism Industry and Thriller magazine as well in the future years to come. Ever since the magazine has started, Thriller has constantly pushed the boundaries, added new things, adjusted, adapted and tried to help amusement sector enthusiasts. I wish the team best wishes on this significant achievement. Thriller started with 1, went to 100 issues, now hoping to see the achievement of 1000 issues. - Rajeev Jalnapurkar, Chairman, IAAPI

th Issue Dear IAAPI Family, As the apex body represen ng the Amusement parks and Industries, Indian Associa on of Amusement Parks & Industries (IAAPI), set up in 1999 is ac vely involved in encouraging, guiding, suppor ng and building an enabling environment for the rapid expansion of this sector in India. Started with the membership base of only a few amusement parks, today, the numbers of theme/ amusement park / manufacturers are over couple of hundreds. IAAPI today has a membership of over 450 parks to various other stakeholders. Today Theme Park Industry in India offers different types of interac ve and par cipa ve forms of entertainment in various types of parks such as amusement parks, water parks, indoor amusement parks, eco parks, snow parks, aquariums, museums, religious parks as well as film ci es. Primarily offering family entertainment in a clean environment, the sector has seen con nued growth in the past decades, except during the pandemic. The past Presidents and stalwarts of this industry in India have always advocated and stressed the importance of safety in amusement parks following the strict norms and standards in line with the large amusement parks all over the world. During the Covid lockdown period, IAAPI helped all the stakeholders of this industry by preparing safety protocols to be followed through circulars, newsle ers & webinars to maintain their proper es in good condi on and to get ready for the upsurge in business and foo all by going digitally in a big way, during post covid era. IAAPI also organizes its flagship event the “IAAPI Amusement Expo” where manufacturers and consultants from all over the world take part to showcase their latest updated technology, rides and equipment and it becomes a wonderful networking pla orm for all the amusements parks in the country. IAAPI started its main communica on channel “THRILLER Magazine” which has become extremely popular over the years to all its members in India and overseas and concerned State / Central Government Departments. It is published quarterly and its circula on in hard and so copies now exceeds couple of thousands. Other than member news it carries details of policy advocacies being done by IAAPI from me to me. It also carries educa ve and informa ve ar cles on various disciplines for the benefit of all members. It is a pleasure to note that IAAPI is publishing this 100th issue of THRILLER and I would request all of you to join me in congratula ng IAAPI for this milestone achievement... - Shrikant Goenka, Vice Chairman, IAAPI

th Issue

th Issue

th Issue Russian Associa on of Amusement Parks and A rac ons (RAAPA) Dear Colleagues, On behalf of the Russian Associa on of Amusement Parks and A rac ons, I would like to congratulate you on the anniversary issue of the 100th THRILLER® magazine, which is undoubtedly an achievement and the result of frui ul and intensive work. We wish your magazine to keep on informing amusement industry professionals, as well as manufacturers of entertainment equipment about the latest industry innova ons, and support the leisure sector in your country and in the world. We wish you success and good luck! Best regards, RAAPA Vice President Igor Rodionov

th Issue THE WORLD WATERPARK ASSOCIATION (WWA) IAAPI 100th issue of THRILLER On behalf of World Waterpark Associa on’s Board of Directors, I’d like congratulate the IAAPI team on reaching this 100th issue milestone with the latest issue of THRILLER®. It’s so important for our global industry to have a trusted resource like THRILLER to read the latest news and learn about innova ons and new developments happening in the water leisure industry. We are all safer, more effec ve operators when we can connect with and hear from leading owners, operators, developers, suppliers and designers in publica ons like this one. Here’s to the last 100 issues of THRILLER and many more to come! Andrew Chafatelli Board Chair World Waterpark Associa on

th Issue

th Issue

Founder Members Mr. Ashok Goel Mr. Arun Kumar Muchhala Mr. Balwant Chawla Pan India Muchhala Magicland Polo Amusement Pvt. Ltd. Park Ltd. Paryatan Limited Mr. N. D. Rana Mr. MGM Anand Mr. Rajen Shah Saya Amusement MGM Arihant Industrial Mfg. Ltd. Dizzee World Corp. Ltd. Late Mr. Nikhil Vakharia 20 Madhu Fantasyland Pvt. Ltd th Issue

Past President's Message Dear Industry Comrades, Vision to Reality: I congratulate IAAPI and our industry to Serving Fun & Thrills, giving have successfully completed 100 issues of uncompromised services THRILLER magazine. As a Founder Member and First President of IAAPI, it is definitely to last details! My personal compliments to the Founder members, Theme Park a big triumph to see the first to the owners, park & IAC operators and Hundredth issue of this industry journal - each and every one who works THRILLER. The centenary issue is a tribute very hard to put a smile on the face of to the successive IAAPI Officer bearers every guest who enters your Park / IAC. and their perseverance to make the industry succeed. I am sure the journal Many Congratula ons on the shall con nue as an informa on channel 100th Issue of THRILLER. for the benefit of our industry members. - Balwant Singh Chawla My best wishes for con nued success! (2003-2005) - Ashok Goel (1999-2003) I am quite delighted to know that the 100th Dear IAAPI Team, issue of THRILLER is on its way. On this Occasion of the publishing From the 1st THRILLER in December 1999 of “THRILLER” centenary issue, the journey began and today it has emerged my best wishes to the “THRILLER” team. as the premier and the only authen c document for the amusement industry in The magazine has been providing India. It has been very useful to the en re comprehensive informa on about the amusement fraternity, be it water park, amusement park, indoor amusement centre, Amusement Industry in India. Keep up the good work! manufacturer etc. It’s great in terms of content, latest updates, domes c as well as - VGP Ravidas interna onal news, and also the ar cles on (2007-2008) various subjects like safety, opera on, marke ng, etc. I wish the THRILLER commi ee and the Secretariat best wishes for the years ahead. - Rajen Shah (2005-2007) th 21 Issue

Past President's Message The idea of publishing THRILLER Magazine Dear All, was conceived in order to keep abreast all On this Centenary issue of THRILLER, let the stake holders of Amusement Park me congratulate all Board of Directors, industry about the latest developments in Commi ee Chairman and IAAPI Secretariat who have put in their best the industry in India &abroad, to share efforts to make it useful and popular. member informa on and to keep everyone informed about the policy advocacies being Today, THRILLER is not only a magazine done by IAAPI from me to me. IAAPI also for Indian Amusement Industry but has publishes ar cles by many exponents in the industry on various disciplines and subjects also remarkably established related to the industry. It is indeed a its presence in the Global Market. Let's be milestone achievement that IAAPI is a part of this successful journey by publishing its 100th issue. This quarterly magazine is informa ve, educa ve and has spreading more awareness about the become extremely popular. Its circula on is industry. also very high at present and it reaches each and every stakeholder of the industry. - N. D. Rana (2009 - 2011) I wish all success for the THRILLER Magazine for future. - Arijit Sengupta (2008-2009) Dear All, Dear Members, The THRILLER issue has come a long way It has been a very joyous moment for all of since its first edi on. us to be a part of this centennial issue of Moreover it has come on the right me THRILLER. where the industry is reopened and people are heading to Amusement / Water Parks In the last 2 decades, IAAPI's flagship house magazine THRILLER has shared and Indoor Entertainment Centres. informa on and technological Congratula ons! advancements about the Amusement Industry and has been a source for many of - Santokh Chawla our members to adapt the best prac ces in (2011-2013) their opera ons to achieve excellence. I wish to convey my apprecia on to the devoted and talented contributors, writers, adver sers and the commi ee members of Thriller. Kudos and my hear est congratula ons to this centennial issue. - Yogesh Dange (2013-2015) th 22 Issue

Past President's Message Hearty Congratula ons on achieving what Dear Everyone, is termed as a record. An industry journal plays a pivotal role in The 100th edi on is the epitome of sharing the relevant industry informa on, accomplishment, a long successful journey. educa ng and upgrading the knowledge of THRILLER has come out with its 100th Industry players. issue and this cannot be termed as an ordinary thing. It parallelly honours the Our own industry journal - THRILLER has been doing this over the past many years. work that IAAPI has done over this 2 decades. The journey of THRILLER has been so thrilling that today we take pride in Well done IAAPI. Good going THRILLER. publishing its 100th Issue. My best wishes with the Commi ee & the Congratula ons team and all the best Secretariat. for future. - Ajay Sarin - Shirish Deshpande (2015-2017) & (2020-2021) (2017-2018) Dear All, Dear All, A century is always celebrated. 100 is an It is indeed a pleasure moment and ma er achievement number wherein a person / of pride that our In-house Magazine THRILLER has released its industry has given its cent percent. 100th issue. Here we have our achievement on comple on of 100 issues of our industry I would like to congratulate the THRILLER Commi ee and Team IAAPI for crea ng magazine - THRILLER. valuable awareness in the Amusement Like its name, it has con nued to inform, Industry. entertain, impart knowledge and THRILL the readers. Congratula ons to us and our I am sure it will con nue to achieve many industry. One more milestone has been more milestones in coming years. achieved and we look for many - Sohansinh Jadeja more such feathers in the cap of IAAPI. (2019-2020) Well done THRILLER. - Pradeep Sharma (2018-2019) th 23 Issue

IAAPI Past Presidents / Chairman Mr. Ashok Goel Mr. Balwant Chawla Mr. Rajen Shah Mr. VGP Ravidas 1999 - 2003 2003 - 2005 2005- 2007 2007 - 2008 Mr. Arijit Sengupta Mr. N D Rana Mr. Santokh Chawla Mr. Yogesh Dange 2008 - 2009 2009 - 2011 2011-2013 2013-2015 Mr. Ajay Sarin Mr. Shirish Deshpande Mr. Pradeep Sharma Mr. Sohansinh Jadeja 2015-17 / 2020-21 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 th 24 Issue



Association Noticeboard Mee ng with Shri Arvind Singh, Tourism Secretary - Government of India Mr Rajeev Jalnapurkar - Chairman and Mr Anil Padwal - Secretary General, IAAPI met Shri Arvind Singh, Secretary - Tourism, Government of India on 11th May, 2022 in New Delhi. Chairman submi ed IAAPI’s recommenda ons to Dra Na onal Tourism Policy (DNTP). Mr Jalnapurkar highlighted amusement industries contribu on to Indian tourism sector and also briefed on amusement industry scenario post covid-19. Mee ng with Mr Pranav Mahajan, APS to Minister for Culture, Tourism & DoNER, GOI. Mr Rajeev Jalnapurkar, Chairman - IAAPI and Mr Anil Padwal met Mr Mahajan on 11th May, 2022 in New Delhi and submi ed IAAPI recommenda on to Dra Na onal Tourism Policy (DNTP) and also briefed him on IAAPI forthcoming 100th issue of THRILLER. Mee ng with Mr Sanjay Singh, Dy Director General, Ministry of Tourism, GOI. Mr Anil Padwal - Secretary General, IAAPI met Mr Singh on 29th April, 2022 in New Delhi to update him on amusement industry’s inclusion in Dra Na onal Tourism Policy (DNTP) and also presented IAAPI recommenda ons. Mee ng with Kenya High Commission, New Delhi Mr Anil Padwal meet Mr Nicholas Irungu - Counsellor of Kenya High Commission in New Delhi on 11th May, 2022 to explore business opportunity in amusement and a rac on industry with Kenya. Mee ng with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Mr. Anil Padwal met Mr. Rajneesh Khosla - Scien st - E & Head - MED and Mr. Aman Dhanawat - Scien st - B on 11th May, 2022 in BIS office, New Delhi. During the mee ng progress made on upda ng of IS 15475 and IS 15492 and prin ng of codes was discussed. th 26 Issue

R THEME PARK DESIGNING TADOBA WATERFRONT WARDHA FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT GAMING ZONES WATERPARKS • Retail & Mall Exteriors • 7D Animated Shows • Theme Rides • Fountain & Water Curtains • Walking Characters & • Thema c Water Splash • Art & Sculpture Installa on • Indoor water rides • Thema c approach to Fantasy Bou que • Jungle Safari • Interac ve Roleplay Shows • Wave pool Retail & Residences • Dino World • Game Zone in Society (Educa onal) • Water Slides • Gaming Arcade D’Fine Art www.dfineart.in sales@dfineart.in / info@dfineart.in 022 4603 0252 207, Eco Star 095946 40607 / 09022421616 Vishveshwar Nagar Rd, Goregaon (East), Mumbai 400063





Association Noticeboard Mee ng with Dr Ajay Sahai, Director General & CEO of Federa on of Indian Export Organisa on (FIEO) Mr Anil Padwal - Secretary General, IAAPI meet Dr Ajay Sahai, Director General & CEO of FIEO on 12th May, 2022 in Mumbai and recommended FIEO’s support in promo ng Indian Amusement Rides and Equipment manufacturers in various show organized or supported by FIEO in developing countries as it will encourage IAAPI members to par cipate and help in ge ng be er visibility for Indian manufacturers of Amusement rides. During the mee ng reducing import du es on spares and components to achieve price compe veness, increasing manufacturing capabili es under Atmanirbhar Bharat and issues faced by IAAPI exporters can be be er understood through a webinar session between IAAPI and FIEO. Mee ng with Consulate General of the Republic of South Africa, Mumbai Mr Anil Padwal met Mr Dean Hoff, Consul: Economic at Consulate General of the Republic of South Africa on 12 May, 2022 to understand poten al of amusement and a rac on industry in South Africa and explore future business opportuni es. IAAPI at DEAL Expo, Dubai IAAPI has started its promo on for the next year 2023 Amusement Expo. The event is scheduled from 1 - 3 March 2023 at Mumbai, India. IAAPI aims to promote its membership, Expo and ac vi es not only on na onal but also on interna onal pla orms. With this aim, IAAPI was present at the DEAL Expo in Dubai from 28 - 30 March 2022 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai - UAE. Several na onal and interna onal IAAPI members were present at the Expo. Member Visit Mr Vinod Zutshi, IAS (Retd.) - Former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India & Advisor, IAAPI accompanied by Mr Anil Padwal, Secretary General - IAAPI visited Water Kingdom on 27th July, 2022. IAAPI would like to extend gra tude to Mr Anand Lamdhade - Senior Vice President - Opera on & New Projects for the hospitality extended during the visit. IAAPI organised its First Board Mee ng for the Year 2022-23 IAAPI organised its first Board Mee ng for the Financial Quarter 2022-23. With the office bearers Mr. Rajeev Jalnapurkar (Chairman) and Mr. Shrikant Goenka (Vice Chairman), the Board planned for a frui ul year ahead with planned ac vi es to encourage Membership Drives, Annual Meet & Training Program for members and various member centric ac vi es. The mee ng was held on 22nd June 2022 at The Orchid Hotel, Mumbai. th Issue 30





JW Marriott Walnut Groove, Mussoorie 91-22-8302166/49739659 [email protected] www.csmlindia.com

Direc ons on Growth of Amusement Industry & role of IAAPI in India Mr. Ashok Goel As with any industry, amusement park industry was among the most adversely impacted sector which can be clubbed with A shok Goel is a serial hospitality industry, therefore has had huge nega ve impact! entrepreneur with various Now “hopefully” the new variants are not going to cause the businesses. Currently he is same disrup ons as those during the ini al waves of Covid-19. inves ng in different Assuming that be the case, amusement industry is breathing a businesses of finance, sigh of relief! manufacturing and start-ups focused more on ventures Due to the pent-up demand post Covid-19, more and more which have posi ve social people are looking to enjoy outdoor. This now is the opportunity and environmental impact. for the industry to gear up and meet the increased foo all. As Chairman of Pan India Moreover, with increased propensity to travel domes c as well as Paryatan Pvt. Ltd., he interna onal be it for leisure or pilgrimage, people are exposed to oversees the management the world around, offering variety of amusement op ons. Having of EsselWorld and Water said that, for this industry to grow further we shall have to look at Kingdom, one of the largest much broader offerings more than just theme parks/water parks Theme Water Parks in Asia. or indoor parks. We need to look at broader aspects of amusement such as aquarium, adventure sports, wildlife conserva on, He was Chairman and nature trails (Forest trails), rope way, white water ra ing, Managing Director of Essel mountain climbing, etc. Promo ng such kind of offerings will cater Propack Limited (now called to thrill seekers, nature lovers. Addi onally, snow parks, EPL Ltd) un l 2019 when he museums, augmented reality, virtual reality, can also be part of divested his majority stake. future direc on one should look at. He is ac vely associated As the newer and smarter ci es planned in the country are being with several educa onal, built, these could be even extended suburbs of metro ci es. The medical & social ins tu ons models for such facility may probably require a fresh look. For & contributes to charitable example, as the buildings are going ver cal, can the theme parks & philanthropic causes. (or related offerings) go ver cal rather than using more horizontal footprint area on land? One must keep in mind what is the catchment area one is likely to cater, based on that poten al one should place the type of offering and therefore the size of investment. General thumb rule is that only 18% of the popula on will visit such facility once a year. th Issue 34



To develop any such facility in India it is typically looked at from the lens of a real estate development as opposed to social infrastructure like stadium, swimming pool, or sports complex. This unfortunately con nues to be the reality. All kinds of licenses and permissions needed, makes the development of such facility very frustra ng for the promoter. This falls within the state or city regula ons where obviously no single standard exists. Hence it is unlikely to receive any favourable FDI trend in the country for this sector. Considering the changing habits and the expecta ons of the visitors, the exis ng facili es or the newer ones need to be redesigned or reorganised. The weather changes due to global warming is being felt on the ground where summers are becoming ho er, and winters are becoming colder. This should be considered as one of the major factors while designing or redesigning such facili es. It’s worth men oning the tle of the book authored by Marshall Goldsmith “What got you here, will not get you there” sums it up very well. This means that if you are s ll doing the same things that got you here, is probably no longer valid to get to the next des na on. It is becoming more and more pronounced in real, therefore an urgent need to innovate the business model itself. IAAPI’s role in growth journey in this sector has never been more important than now because of changing demographics. This calls for the need to expand the horizon of the sector as discussed above. IAAPI is thankful to Mr. Ashok Goel for sharing his ar cle “Direc ons on Growth of Amusement Industry & role of IAAPI in India”.



Mr. Sai Aditya The Endless Possibili es for S ai Aditya is a Founding Experien al A rac ons: Member of the World Experience Organiza on - Lessons for India from a global ins tu on dedicated to improving around the world experiences and the experience economy. In the March of 2021, when all hell was breaking loose owing to the Idea ng and developing pandemic, the President of Walt Disney Imagineering si ng in his office new typologies and at Glendale, California decided that it was me for a tle change. Quite philosophies of experiences, unassumingly, Robert Weis or ‘Bob’ as he is fondly called, added new he was an Independent words into his job tle. From President of Walt Disney Imagineering, he Researcher with the decided to call himself President of Crea ve and New Experience University of Central Florida Development at Walt Disney Imagineering. researching the experience economy in India. If looked at casually by anyone in the a rac ons business, the newly added words Crea ve and New Experience Development might seem to Currently, he is in the be fancy inclusions. But when filtered through an understanding of the Ministry of Tourism Desk at increasing ways in which me can be spent, the convergence of media, Invest India, Government of and the innate needs that drive us as human beings, these inclusions India’s Na onal Investment begin to make perfect sense. Promo on & Facilita on Agency. Experience Typologies and Philosophies Modern-day consumers have infinitely many op ons to fill their free me with. Right from watching a series on an OTT pla orm to playing a sport to walking to the nearest shopping mall to indulging in a weekend getaway, the concept of free me has become passé. Being in the a rac ons business, players are compe ng with each other to garner a greater share of the guest’s me, a en on, and money. Topping that, content and media today are consumed by us from a variety of physical, digital, and phygital sources. As a consequent reac on, we have meshed modern technologies with human crea vity allowing ourselves to come up with new forms of storytelling and story distribu on far removed from our humble beginnings as storytellers around fires in caves. Although our world and methods of crea ve expression have been morphing into new versions day upon day, something has always remained constant and s ll remains so - our core need as human beings to find happiness, that is. In many ways, the goal of delivering and crea ng happiness has been the sole mission of every new experience philosophy and typology that has come into fore - right from Walt Disney’s first Disneyland in 1955 to modern day experien al a rac ons, typologies, and their guiding philosophies. th 38 Issue



in PthuPeneacaohubpddoleriveuwennckiimte’hsmaSwgleehemeiatpbereeNmroasacMstkuosarlely: Star Wars: GacloanccecpSttiamrcargueiser GEuveesrtms oinrechPaarrakc, tUetraaht For a long part of their existence, industry leaders like Disney and film stories beyond the movie screen into real world physical Universal used rides, shows, and parades in their parks as spaces. Guests get to interact with characters from the story and experien al philosophies to entertain guests. But with me, many even get to aid or stall them in their pursuits as the story of the in the industry began to wonder, ‘Are there other experien al movie turns real with an en re themed space, actors, props, philosophies beyond the ones Disney and Universal use to make effects, and film references. Their work un l now has seen them guests happy.’ Fortunately, this curiosity was well complemented engage with films and franchises like the Guardians of the by the rise of new storytelling media and the increasing need for Galaxy, James Bond, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Shawshank guests to be co-creators and ac ve par cipants in the story Redemp on, and many others. rather than just passive consumers. All in all, it forced us to come up with experience philosophies beyond rides, shows, and Extending the concept of immersive theatre to a greater level of parades. Becoming aware of some of these new experience par cipa on is what something called Live Ac on Role Playing typologies and philosophies will not only throw light on our (LARPing) aims to achieve. LARPing involves individuals le ng evolu on from 1955 to now, but will also prove to be crea ve go of their real-world iden es and assuming characters from inspira on for what we can accomplish in the future. fic onal worlds by wearing costumes, par cipa ng in story quests and tasks, owning unique iden fiers like names, cults, Immersive Theatre, LARPing and Storyliving symbols, ranks, and interac ng with fellow characters in the context of the story narra ve, in a physical space or a land New experience typologies are being developed con nuously en rely themed to the said story. Evermore Park in Utah, United complemen ng all forms of human expression, although, the States would be the experience typology to look at, so as to get performing and the visual arts mainly. If one were to focus on the dazzled and excited by the same. performing arts, immersive theatre would be the most popular and well received experience typology. Punchdrunk’s Sleep No LARPing, immersive theatre, and site-specific spa al storytelling More has forever been quoted as a representa ve example of haven’t been isolated trends taken up by a brave and crea ve what immersive theatre is. Instead of si ng in an audience and few. Instead, even the big and great in this industry have begun watching the show, you’re free to independently wander and to up their game on the same. With opening day being as recent follow actors as you wish as they perform their roles in a real-life as 1st March 2022, Star Wars: Galac c Starcruiser is Disney’s set complemen ng the storyline, rather than on a plain stage. endorsement to the fact that we as human beings have moved Guests are even free to interact with and touch set pieces in from storytelling to storyliving. In this experience, guests spend order to uncover addi onal layers of the story, thereby two nights in a themed outer-space cruise while being becoming ac ve par cipants and co-creators. characters in a Star Wars story donning all the costumes and themed paraphernalia. Combining the ideas of choose-your- Taking immersive theatre and clubbing it with film stories is what own-adventure and LARPing, these kinds of experiences allow a company called Secret Cinema does best. They create us to be heroes in our story, while escaping into a fantasy story immersive theatre and immersive film experiences by extending land in real life. th Issue 40



aTthUenSiuvperesraNl iSnttuednidoos, World Japan MtehoewefnrWomorelfo:MnTeehoeowfatbWhoeoveplfaiesrxtapsneorifimenacgee The Endless possibili es for New Experience Development Immersive Art, Transmedia Storytelling, and the Phygital Convergence With much le to show and tell in terms of experience typologies and philosophies (Alternate Reality Games (ARGs), Massive When we move to the visual arts, we become witness to the rise Interac ve Live Events (MILEs), Deep Story, Loca on-based and prevalence of immersive art. While tradi onal art galleries games, escape rooms, story rooms, Two Bit Circus, Puy Du Fou, have an eli st and esoteric appeal, immersive art aims to Area 15 at Las Vegas, IDEO Play Lab, Black Tomato, Storyliving by democra ze art by allowing a guest to interact with art on Disney, Adventures by Disney, experien al marke ng, mul dimensional levels in a physical space filled with art and experien al stay, experien al kits, simula on experiences, crea ve expression all around. Put simply, think of yourself Alternate Reality Spaces, experien al makerspaces, etc.), this walking into a pain ng rather than just looking at one. It will help ar cle will not be enough to highlight completely on what is to look at Meow Wolf - an immersive art experiences company being done around the world through experiences and the many that has three permanent loca ons and three unique story end goals they cater to, right from entertainment and narra ves in the United States, each of them communicated and edutainment to enrichment and social impact. put together through diverse works of art. For us members of the Indian fraternity, the immediate call to And then there is transmedia storytelling - a direct result of our ac on will be to priori ze all our crea ve efforts to develop new ever-increasing crea on and adop on of new technologies. New experience typologies and philosophies that will best suit the technologies and new media mean new outlets to distribute many different audiences that make up India - a huge parts of the same story from, giving value to the word responsibility and an exci ng opportunity at the same me. transmedia. In that regard, video games have been one crea ve expression that fully happen to tap into the power of transmedia A er all, Robert Weis at Walt Disney Imagineering wasn’t wrong storytelling. Using modern day technologies like augmented and when he decided to change his job tle. Crea vity and New virtual reali es, digital collec bles and blockchain, dynamic Experience Development are the only two ways in which this game engines and genera ve art, video games have become that industry will achieve the mission only it is uniquely capable of. one medium through which we can mesh the digital world and The mission of making people happy. The mission of making this the physical world, while at the same me constantly engaging world a happy place. the individual through seamless storytelling and gamifica on. Apart from theme parks built on video games like the Super “To all who come to this happy place - Welcome.” Nintendo World at Japan, a real-life example of this phygital - Words by Walt Disney on July 17th, 1955, opening day convergence seeing ac on is the Ubiso theme park to come up in the next few years. of the world’s first Disneyland. IAAPI is thankful to Mr. Sai Aditya for sharing his ar cle “The Endless Possibili es for Experien al A rac ons: Lessons for India from around the world”. 42



Mr. Rajen Shah Growth opportuni es for Manufacturers in Amusement R ajen Shah is the MD of Industry in India M/s. Arihant Inds. Corp. Ltd, - Water Park Equipment IAAPI Secretariat interviewed Mr. Rajen Shah to get Company Mumbai, India. insights about the Growth opportuni es for manufacturers in Amusement Industry in India. Mr. Shah is a recipient of the IAAPA Outstanding Service How and when did you first think of manufacturing Award 2021 (USA). amusement rides, par cularly water slides? He is one of the founding In 1991, I went abroad and visited a water park in Dallas. It was a members and has also been very exci ng moment for me. There was not a single water on the board of IAAPI, since park in India at that me. During that me Arihant was 1999. manufacturing, FRP slides for children in their playground equipment division. So the technology of how to make good Arihant is the 1st company to fiberglass was known, however, design competency had to be manufacture twist and turn developed. We were making slides of 3 meters in height and waterslides in India, we had to master the art of designing 5 to 15 meters in height. in 1993. And in 1993 for the first me in India a Twist and Turn water slide - 6 meters tall was developed and installed in Span Hill The 1st company to Resort, Lonavala, Mumbai by Arihant. manufacture Children’s Playground Equipment in When did you start exports? India, in 1982. From 1993 ll 1999 we were confined to India. We got our first Arihant is 2nd company break in exports in 1998. Today, Arihant is in 62 countries, to start a waterpark - having done 25 projects in the USA,125 in Europe. The Great Escape, in India. What are the challenges you faced, as well as your experience and learnings in both your expansions inindigenous & export markets? On the domes c market front, the biggest challenge was to sell the concept and convince business houses on pu ng up a waterpark. Such projects need a larger piece of land which is very expensive in India. Secondly, the project cost is very high in terms of slides, filtra on etc. It was a high-risk and high return kind of situa on and very difficult to convince to do something for the first me in India. On the interna onal front, the developed countries were aware of water parks so we didn’t have to sell the concept. But the challenge was convincing them that an Indian company can do it. Pa ence and perseverance eventually paid off and the rest is history. th 44 Issue



What are your future plans? India is strong in IT. Are the manufacturers using AI & IOT in their products to have technical plus points over Our focus is going to be on new product development, any world-class manufacturers? technology up-grada on, and market penetra on. IT and IOT in the amusement sector were almost non- Where does the Indian manufacturer of amusement existent ll a few years back. Today it is catching up for park / waterpark & IAC rides start from? What steps all the good and penetra ng faster than one can imagine. Indian manufacturers should take to become export- ready? How can IAAPI help Indian manufacturers? From my point of view, one can start with Design. When Academically IAAPI is doing almost everything that it I say design, it includes new product development can do like Trade shows, annual Training programs, adhering to safety standards like ASTM and En etc. Thriller magazines, Weekly newsle ers, Safety Secondly Quality is of paramount importance. What newsle ers, etc. Psychologically speaking, if IAAPI can worked here wouldn’t work there. Developed countries create an awareness and orient Indian manufacturer’s like the USA, Europe, Japan, and Australia are very belief that we need to work on ourselves, our people, different and have stringent quality parameters for our processes, our design, our quality, etc., that acceptance. Thirdly, on the customer front, we need to would help. walk the talk and honor all of our commitments, even if it means a loss in terms of money. This is very important IAAPI can organize training programs to work on the to repose faith in the customer. This is an industry that belief system, giving confidence to the Indian thrives on word of mouth. manufacturers that we can, we should, & we will do it. If we take care of these 3 things, we as Indian IAAPI can organize, a mentor-mentee rela onship manufacturers are good to go. channel, roping in stalwarts from the amusement industries. This would help Indian manufacturers get What is the poten al for the Indian manufacturing the best advice from the experts in the industry. sector? What would you like to suggest for Indian manufacturers? How can Govt. help Indian manufacturers? The poten al for Indian manufacturers is immense Off late, the Government has been very proac ve, from 2 accounts. Globally in the last ten years, there has pro-business, and pro manufacturers. The “Make In been a paradigm shi in the image of India. Thanks to India”movement has been a great ini a ve in the right our PM Mr. Narendra Modi. Today, India is looked upon direc on. To keep the spirit of “Make In India”alive posi vely as a quality product supplier. Currently, Govt. should relook at reducing the du es on the core companies like Apple, Jaguar Land Rover, and raw material required to produce amusement rides Mercedes-Benz are all made in India. This will definitely while discouraging the imports of the finished good. help the Indian amusement manufacturers. Secondly, This will give a level playing field to the Indian there is a huge gap between the demand and supply amusement manufacturers. that is affordable and of good quality. And this is where India fits in perfectly. Since China is on the back foot at Secondly, the MSME dept. of Government Of India can the moment it’s the best opportunity for Indian roll out training on designing, and manufacturing manufacturers to penetrate the global market. processes, like welding pain ng, fiberglass, Corrosion, safety, electrical and electronic, etc. Amusement Industry is an industry that manufactures Happiness, brings smiles to people’s faces, and keeps families bonded for 8 hours when they visit the parks. Amusement Industry contributes to the happiness index of India. India today ranks 136th in the World Happiness Report 2022. India has a long way to go. Recognizing this government should consider the amusement industry as a social infrastructure industry and take it under priority sector. IAAPI is thankful to Mr. Rajen Shah for his inputs on “Growth Opportuni es for manufacturers in Amusement Industry in India”. th Issue 46



Overall Tourism & how Amusement Industry can play a role in it Mr. Vinod Zutshi, IAS (Retd.) Over the years, tourism has not only impacted lives of millions of Former Secretary, individuals on the globe but has also transformed communi es and na ons. The travel and tourism industry has proven its importance as an Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India economic growth engine for the world economy. Accoun ng for more than one-third of the global services trade, its growth rate facilitates V inod Zutshi served as crea on of more and be er jobs requiring a diverse por olio of skills Secretary, Ministry of and capabili es. During the year 2019, the travel and tourism industry Tourism, Govt. of India from created approximately 330 million jobs, accoun ng for nearly one- 2015 to 2017. He joined tenth of the total jobs created worldwide and contributed USD 8.9 Indian Administra ve Service trillion to the global GDP, accoun ng for nearly 10.3%. Tourism has not (IAS) in 1982 and belonged only driven the global economy, it has also acted as a catalyst of social to Rajasthan Cadre. He has development and promoter of world peace. 35 Years of experience in Central Government and India’s travel and tourism sector too has been growing consistently Government of Rajasthan .Growing at a rate higher than the global travel and tourism industry with long experience and (3.5%), India’s travel and tourism industry contributed USD 194 billion exposure in the fields of to the Indian economy in 2019 which helped it gain 10th spot globally, in Tourism, Public Policy & terms of contribu on to the global industry GDP. Diverse landscape Administra on, coupled with mul ple tourism offerings, ranging from wellness to Management and Elec on amusement, and a spike in the adop on of niche experiences has & Democra c Governance. augmented domes c as well as foreign inbound tourism. In 2019, India recorded 10.8 million foreign tourist arrivals earning USD 29.9 billion in Mr Zutshi is presently a foreign exchange earnings. Consultant & Advisor and a Resource Person in Travel & India has ranked 54th in the Travel and Tourism Compe veness Report Tourism, Public Policy, HRD 2021, published by World Economic Forum, becoming the topmost and Elec on Administra on ranked country in South Asia. The travel and tourism industry provided for more than five years and 87.5 million jobs and accounted for 12.75% of the total jobs created in is based in New Delhi. the country in 2019.India, with its geographically and culturally vast landscape, and home to 40 UNESCO World Heritage sites, a racts Mr. Zutshi is an Alumni of travellers for a mul tude of reasons-from business to amusement and Harvard Kennedy School and from leisure to entertainment. MBA from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi The Indian travel and tourism industry expects to a ain approximately University and is also an 9.9% of India’s GDP in 2028. With a popula on of more than1.3 billion Advocate, enrolled at Bar people and an unemployment rate of 7.8%, this industry holds the Council of Delhi and is poten al to provide livelihood to countless people, who in turn can help prac sing in Courts in Delhi. the industry scale new heights. The Indian travel and tourism industry is expected to be valued at USD 460 billion by 2028 (from USD 194 billion in 2019), and to a ract mul ple stakeholders, both domes c and interna onal to invest in its growth. The contribu on of domes c travel to Indian travel and tourism sector has also been unparalleled for the last two decades, growing almost nine-fold. Increased domes c travel and spends by Domes c travellers drove the travel and tourism sector in India in2019. The domes c spends in the sector stood at 83%. This share is expected to reach 89% by 2028, driven by an increase in disposable incomes and more leisure me at hand. Capital investments into the Indian travel and tourism sector are expected to reach USD 95.3 billion by 2028. India’s FDI policy allows for 100% investments through the automa c route for all travel and tourism sectors whether it be hotel construc on, road infrastructure or tourist ac vi es. th Issue 48