Press release -
THE APPLAUSE AWARD BECOMES PART OF IAAPA HONORS
Biannually, since 1980, the prestigious Applause Award honours a park whose management, operations and creative accomplishments have inspired the industry with foresight, originality, and sound business development.
In 2022, the award was handed out for the 20th time, this time to Tokyo DisneySea, Japan, joining the list of some of the best parks in the world. In 2024, however two major changes will be made to the Award-schedule:
First, the award will from 2024 transition to becoming an annual award. Further, the scope of the award will be broadened to include other types of attractions – for example water parks, zoos, and resorts – that meet the award criteria.
“The Applause Award was one of the first awards celebrating the amusement- and theme park industry”, says Andreas Veilstrup Andersen, President and CEO, Liseberg Group and Chairman of The Applause Award Board of Governors. “With the transition into an annual award, and with a somewhat broader definition of what an amusement or theme park can look like in the 21st century, the award will continue to stay relevant and even better reflect the ever-evolving attractions industry.”
“We are very excited that the Applause Award will join IAAPA Honors. The idea with this new event is to celebrate excellence in the global attractions industry but also put an emphasis on what each one of the attendees can learn from the award winners to improve their own business,” says Jakob Wahl, CEO & President of IAAPA.
Second, the Applause Award will move from an IAAPA Expo timeslot to the new IAAPA Honors celebration, taking place for the first time in Las Vegas on March 3, 2024. IAAPA Honors will celebrate the 2024 IAAPA Hall of Fame Inductees, the 2024 IAAPA Service and Young Professional honourees, and winners of the IAAPA Brass Ring Awards.
The winner of the 2024 Applause Award will be announced at the IAAPA Honors ceremony. Tickets for the IAAPA Honors are now available online.
Previous winners of The Applause Award:
| 1980 Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, USA | 2002 Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, USA |
| 1982 Opryland, USA | 2004 Holiday World & Splashing Safari, USA |
| 1986 Epcot Center, USA | 2006 Universal´s Islands of Adventure, USA |
| 1988 Knott´s Berry Farm, USA | 2008 Xetulul, Guatemala |
| 1990 EuropaPark, Germany | 2010 Dollywood, USA |
| 1992 Efteling, the Netherlands | 2012 Ocean Park, Hong Kong |
| 1994 Universal Studios, Florida, USA | 2014 Puy du Fou, France |
| 1996 Cedar Point, USA | 2016 Busch Gardens Tampa, USA |
| 1998 Silver Dollar City, USA | 2018 Xcaret, Mexico |
| 2000 Hershey Park, USA | 2022 Tokyo DisneySea, Japan |
For more information:
Andreas Veilstrup Andersen, phone +46 761 00 8000
Patrick Haller, phone: +1 321/319-7600
