Britain’s Amanda Thompson has become the chairman of the board at IAAPA, the US-based international trade association, as it opened its annual trade show in Orlando yesterday.
Thompson, who is the managing director of the Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England, and was the principal appointment in the list of new officers of IAAPA, officially greeted at its Kickoff Event at the show.
Amanda Thompson has a lifetime of experience in the theme parks business. Her great-grandfather, William Bean, built the Pleasure Beach in 1896 and her grandfather, Leonard Thompson, took it over in 1931 for his son Geoffrey to continue the business from 1976 to 2004.
It is the second time that a member of the same family has chaired the association. Thompson is the first female chair from Europe and only the third female to hold the office.
Other appointments announced this week include Ken Whiting of Whiting’s Foods, Santa Cruz Beach, US, as first vice chairman; Jim Pattison, president of Ripley Entertainment, US as second vice chairman; Curt Caffey, president of water parks division, ProParks Management, US as treasurer; David Rosenberg, vice president, Monterey Bay Aquarium, US, as immediate past chairman and the president and CEO remains Hal McEvoy.
