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Leading trade union for French attractions industry
SNELAC held its 13th annual meeting with success
Update : 22/07/13 - 13h55Published by François Mayné the 18 June 2013, Event.
Friendly. That's the word that sums up the 13th annual meeting of members of SNELAC, the leading trade union for the attractions industry in France.
The event was held on June 5th and 6th at Espace Marineland, one of the largest attraction complexes of the country, located in Antibes on the French Riviera. It was attended by over 300 people, including representatives of a hundred amusement parks, tourist and cultural attractions. The place was not chosen by SNELAC at random: Espace Marineland (a property of Parque Reunidos) indeed represents the diversity of the industry by offering visitors Europe's largest marine park, an outdoor water park, an amusement park and a dinosaurs themed mini-golf course.
At the General Meeting, SNELAC's administrative team presented a review of the past year, as well as objectives for the years to come, to the members of the union. The latter have also given their opinions to renew the mandates of the 12 members of the Board. "We expressed the wish to continue our mission for both our members and our industry," explains Arnaud Bennet, re-appointed Chairman of SNELAC and also CEO of Le Pal, an amusement and wildlife park located in center France. "They considered that our assessment was positive and that the objectives set met their expectations, needs and challenges of tomorrow. The entire board has been renewed and a thirteenth administrator was also appointed to strengthen our action."
While SNELAC celebrates this year its 30th anniversary, Arnaud Bennet reminds the top priorities of the organization: "The vocation of SNELAC comes down to three main objectives: promote our industry, contribute to the professionalization of its players and defend the interests of the sector with the public authorities."
In line of sight: political decisions are sometimes deemed unfavorable to the sector, especially in these difficult times for the French economy. The entire profession has kept in mind the sudden and incomprehensible announcement of the VAT increase in 2011, a measure finally adjusted under pressure from some politicians, mobilized themsleves by SNELAC members. The European Safety Standard of amusement rides is also a matter of debate, the various European member states having to reach agreement and adopt a common procedure to follow.
SNELAC thus seeks to strengthen its influence and representation within government bodies at both national and European level. "We want to be more effective in our actions and to anticipate changing events to influence the decisions rather than undergo them," says Arnaud Bennet. "Therefore, we will expand the structure of our trade union to act more quickly and to focus our actions on the points on which we have not been impactful enough in the past, particularly in terms of lobbying the Europe, because many decisions are made in Brussels today."
The stakes? "Continue to develop our industry in line with the expectations of our visitors on very important topics such as security, labor law and employee training, because they constitute the fundamental pillars of SNELAC," adds Arnaud Bennet. "There are substantive issues on which we may need to mobilize regularly. We will assert our rights and our vision of things."
Faced with the challenges of the future, the French government seems to have responded to the concerns of some members of SNELAC by sending them a video message from Ms. Sylvia Pinel, Minister of Craft, Trade and Tourism, who was not able to make the trip to Espace Marineland. "Your industry has demonstrated its ability to withstand the crisis. The development prospects for attendance of recreation sites remain very positive. You are one of the pillars of the tourist industry in France, the importance of your industry is well established. I measure the magnitude of the efforts made by your profession to develop and promote tourism infrastructure of quality in the current economic context, preserving as much as possible investment capacity," she stated.
The association Petits Princes, that fulfills the dreams of seriously ill children, also sent to members of SNELAC a small video message to wish to the union a happy birthday and thank the parks and attractions that welcome children throughout the year.
Workshop, SNELAC's own trade show
About fifty companies participed in the workshop, one of the key moments of the annual meeting of SNELAC. Designed to gather members and suppliers, this small trade show has once again attracted many people. The booths offered a wide range of products and services in many areas: rides, theming design, F&B solutions, consulting, PR, insurance, equipments, etc.
Most of the exhibitors were French companies that are rarely seen in other trade shows, but some well-known names were also attending such as Coca-Cola Entreprise, Jora Vision and SunKid.
Some exhibitors took the opportunity to present their latest innovations. This was notably the case the young company Net-4G, specializing in home automation and GPS guidance technology, which has embarked on the creation of applications for smartphones and tablets intended for professionals of amusement parks and attractions. "Our new brand G-apps offers applications that use technologies such as augmented reality and geolocalisation in 3D, concepts that are not always well-known by the industry players," explained Anne de Saint Jacob, Communication, Marketing and Business Development Manager at Net-4G. "We are here to reach out to our potential customers and show them specifically what kind of benefits our applications can bring to their business. We are here to understand their current needs but also to proactively answer to their future needs."
In a totally different field, ZigZag Production – one of the few French companies specializing in the design of animatronics – brought JUNIX, a small robot moving autonomously and interacting with the public through the voice of a hidden actor. "It is important for our company to show up first in its domestic market," said Michel Ploix, Artistic Director.
NewsParcs collected additional feedback from exhibitors at the bend in booths during the afternoon of the workshop.
"We are here to meet fellow members and players of our industry. It is also the opportunity to see some of our customers and discuss current and future projects," said Christophe Costes, director of ABC Décors, a company that designs concrete based themed environments.
"The advantage of SNELAC's workshop is that we can bump into the majority of attraction operators in France without having to travel across the country, which takes a lot of time and money. It is important to be here, because over the years the members recognize our work and establish links for future projects," added Yannick Violin, director of Nayade, a company specializing in audiovisual content.
"We are exhibiting here to make ourselves better known in France, because even if we are a French company, so far we have mainly worked abroad, including the Middle East and Asia. We would like to start more projects in France," explained Patrica Negro, production manager at 3Dynamic, a company that creates motion simulator platforms and dynamic seats.
IAAPA had also made the trip to promote the Euro Attractions Show 2013 to be held in Paris from 18 to 20 of September. "It was important for IAAPA to meet the members of the French association SNELAC and to inform them about the Euro Attractions Show and the planned events and seminars for this event. As SNELAC regroups a very large group of French operators and suppliers, the annual meeting was a perfect occasion to meet with these and discuss the planned programme,” stated Jakob Wahl, Program Manager at IAAPA Europe. (Read more about Euro Attractions Show 2013)
A packed program of events
After the workshop, members of SNELAC enjoyed an evening full of events with a group photo, a cocktail reception, a killer-whale performance at night and a cabaret dinner.
The next day, the morning was placed under the sign of training with the organization of four thematic conferences, two of which dealt with essential topics for the profession: safety and social law. Members were then given a presentation about audiovisual attractions before than representatives of Coca Cola Enterprise concluded the session with a presentation of their new marketing program ''PRO avec vous''.
In the afternoon, the teams of Espace Marineland have organized two professional visits, one being a tour of the water park facilities in pre-opening situation during which the group got lot of details about obligations and difficulties relating to the daily management and maintenance. Members also took a look at the construction site of a Splash Battle (supplied by Preston & Barbieri) whose opening is now imminent.
When it was time to taking stock of the event, Arnaud Bennet was very satisfied: "Our members have come in large numbers, very motivated by this place of exchange, contact, training and information that is the annual meeting of SNELAC."
"It was a joy for us to welcome SNELAC here in the sunshine, while the gray and rainy weather of the beginning of this season has undermined the morale of many of its members. It's always a pleasure to share with those who are mostly friends!" concluded Bernard Giampaolo, CEO of Espace Marineland.
See more: Check out our photos of the highlights of the 13th annual meeting of SNELAC on our Facebook page.
For more information about SNELAC, please visit www.snelac.com
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