Content area
Full Text
CROWDS TOP 30,000
ORLANDO - Regisration at the outdoor amusement industry's main convention and trade show topped 30,000, making it the seeond largest in the 85-year history of the event.
Officials of the International Assn. of Amusement Parks & Attractions said a total of 30,062 signed up to attend the Nov. 17-22 confab at the Orange County Convention Center, which accommodated the massive affair in its new North/South facility.
The convention's record attendance of 33,146 was set in 1997, also at Orlando. If the final tally isn't revised downward due to duplicate registrations, this year would mark only the second time the event drew more than 30,000 attendees, an association spokesman said. The 1999 show in Atlanta drew 29,399.
"I must say, we went into this years show with some optimism," outgoing IAAPA Chairman John Collins said in a prepared statement. "But we couldn't have predicted this would be one of our greatest shows ever."
A host of industry players were pointing to this year's event as a harbinger tor the near-term future of an industry that has been buffeted by financial crises, economic downturns, security concerns and a travel industry slump that began with Sept. 11 and has continued in the...