The IAAPI trade show closed at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai, India, on Saturday after a three-day run.
Said Abbas Jabalpurwala, a senior manager at Timezone India, the operating company, “the show gets better each year.”
He said that the online registration process was an improvement this year and the layout was also better presented. Jabalpurwala noted the increase in the number of international exhibitors, particularly with rides, although most of their presentations were with brochures rather than actual rides.
Bowling was a notable inclusion this time with Switch Bowling from Turkey, Imply from Brazil and Eternity from China all exhibiting. “Last year there were several 5D theatres and there was evidence of a greater concentration of VR this time around. Several Indian companies had made substantial improvements in this category and were presenting VR attractions at reasonable prices.”
He added: “Some of the prominent distributors in India had also put up booths for arcade games with some good quality and reasonably-priced games from China. I spoke with a couple of them who said that they had positive leads – more so than last year.”
Jabalpurwala noted that Saudi operator Al Hokair had exhibited with some used rides for sale in the Indian market and games suppliers present included Bandai Namco, UNIS, Ocean, Andamiro and Wahlap. The popularity of cricket was shown by the number of cricket simulators on display.
“Overall the show was definitely better than last year and keeps improving. The focus was originally only on theme parks, but now it has moved towards experienced-based entertainment and there were many new Indian and foreign suppliers participating.”
