Amsterdam, Sunday, 19 October 2025.
Last September’s IAAPA Expo Europe opened in Amsterdam as the largest edition yet—more than 680 exhibitors across roughly 18,000 m²—while IAAPA quietly confirmed its first-ever Expo Middle East, slated to debut in 2026. The combination is the most intriguing fact: a major global organiser launching a new regional trade platform in the Gulf just as European floor space peaks. For suppliers and operators, this signals a shift in buyer geography and prioritisation: expect redirected sales pipelines, new partnership models, and the need to rebalance exhibition and business-development spend between Europe and the Middle East. The Amsterdam show underlined demand for mixed-reality guest engagement (new Valo Motion releases), a strong UK pavilion presence, and compact high-capacity coasters like Maurer’s 30 m Giant-8-Loop—product types likely to travel to the Gulf market. Retail and attractions buyers should reassess regional roadmaps, allocate resources for dual-market outreach, and fast-track licensing and localization plans to capture early Middle East opportunities.