The 2026 event filled more than 22,800 square metres at ExCeL London with over 870 exhibitors, while its education programme featured 190 speakers.
IAAPA Expo Europe 2026 brought attractions industry professionals from around the world to a record-sized trade show floor at ExCeL London. — Credit: IAAPA
- IAAPA Expo Europe 2026 recorded 16,530 verified attendees from 18,719 registrations at ExCeL London.
- The show floor covered more than 22,800 square metres and hosted more than 870 exhibitors, making it the largest in the event’s history.
- IAAPA reported 11,710 qualified buyers representing 8,956 buying companies across 118 countries.
- IAAPA Expo Europe will move to Vienna for its 2027 edition, scheduled for September 20-24.
(NEWS) LONDON, United Kingdom, 2026-Sep-25 — /Travel PR News/ — IAAPA Expo Europe 2026 has closed in London with its largest European show floor to date, as the attractions industry gathering recorded 16,530 verified attendees and more than 870 exhibitors during a week of trade, education and networking at ExCeL London.
Final figures released by IAAPA show that the event attracted 18,719 total registrations, including 11,710 qualified buyers representing 8,956 buying companies from 118 countries. The exhibition occupied more than 22,800 square metres, a 50% increase in show-floor scale compared with the last London edition in 2022.
The numbers underline the breadth of a trade event serving operators and suppliers across theme and amusement parks, water parks, family entertainment centres, zoos, aquariums, museums, resorts and cultural attractions.
Education programme expands alongside the show floor
Beyond the exhibition stands, the 2026 programme offered more than 70 educational opportunities involving 190 speakers. Topics ranged from guest experience and emerging artificial intelligence technologies to safety, sustainability, leadership and operations.
Learning also moved beyond the convention centre through EDUTours at Chessington World of Adventures Resort and LEGOLAND Windsor Resort, while a Merlin Entertainments Halloween programme was hosted at Thorpe Park.
Peter van der Schans, Executive Director and Vice President of IAAPA ESA, linked the event’s expansion since 2022 to wider momentum in the attractions sector, while describing the Expo as a place for the industry to exchange innovations, information and ideas about what comes next.
London hands the European Expo to Vienna
The event also drew more than 160 journalists and media professionals to IAAPA’s onsite Press Office, with representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands and other markets.
The London edition followed several days of product showcases and industry announcements. IAAPA had already confirmed at the opening of the trade show that the 2026 floor featured more than 870 exhibitors and more than 70 educational events, while the final attendance and buyer figures provide a fuller measure of the event once the show concluded.
Attention now turns to Austria. IAAPA Expo Europe 2027 is scheduled to take place in Vienna from September 20 to 24, 2027, continuing the association’s rotating European event programme.
IAAPA, founded in 1918, represents attractions and supplier companies, consultants and industry professionals in more than 100 countries. Its membership spans amusement and theme parks, water parks, resorts, family entertainment centres, zoos, aquariums, science centres, museums, cruise lines, manufacturers and suppliers.
