Hundreds filled the theatre at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, US, to officially open the 2023 edition of the IAAPA Expo.
The event was full of glitz and glamour, as is to be expected from the industry’s largest event, with the show opened by a musical performance entitled “Welcome To The Show.”
2023’s IAAPA Expo features more than 1,100 exhibitors and nine miles of aisles, with the president and CEO of IAAPA, Jakob Wahl, giving credit to the team of more than 100 people that have worked all year to create the event.
Attendees were shown a presentation of exciting new attractions that have opened across the world this year, while there were also a number of performances.
Florida singing group Element performed Here Comes The Sun in a variety of languages, including American Sign Language, while Norwegian Cruise Lines put on a high-energy dance party with a DJ and dancers, before Sea World shared its version of Jack The Ripper from its Hallow-scream event. The Voices of Liberty from Disney World’s EPCOT brought the event a Christmas theme with a performance of a number of Christmas favourites.
IAAPA’s 2023 chairman of the board, Jim Pattison Jr presented a summation of his travels across the world, where he visited a number of attractions as part of his role, telling the audience: “We need to have fun too.” His time in the role ended with the introduction of his successor Wuthichai Luangamornlert who will serve in the role for 2024.
The IAAPA Expo runs until Friday, November 17 with thousands of attendees expected to visit the show floor.
