However, the number of exhibitors hit a new high in IAAPA Expo 2019. There were 1,146 exhibitors from more than 36 countries including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Israel, and Italy. 36 countries including South Korea, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the UK, and the USA. Among them, there were over 100 Chinese companies at the show, with a strong lineup including ACE, Nitto Fun, Zhuoyuan, LX-Game, Fwu-Long, Nets Tribe, Golden Horse, UNIS, Wahlap, Star Animation, AIRO, Lefunland, Movie Power, Gooest, Top Vending, Flying, LS- Game, Ocean, Neofuns, Yuehua, HaiChuan Dinosaur Landscape, Epark, Lily Toys, Skyfun, Steki, HL-HUALONG, Mich, Qilong, Yidong, Sindrax, Sunshine, Juma, Zhuzhou CRRC, Fantawild, Asia Amusement, Brogent, I CING, ICT, Paokai, Youal Jifh, Tecway, Zhanhui, Play More, Superwing, Funshare, Paokai, Doremi, VRway, Longcheng, Sungame, Jamma, Huale, Kim Mung Hung, Jingmin, C&Q, Cuihua, Sunflower, Wakee, Game Art, Xiaofeixia, Liben, Longze and among other. Due to the limited number of booths, many domestic enterprises in the Mainland-China also exhibited their equipment through foreign agents, and the number of exhibitors decreased by 20% compared with the last edition. From the perspective of exhibits types, the Chinese manufacturers focus on indoor game entertainment equipment, lighting decoration, dinosaur simulation, VR&AR, inflatables, and stage acousto-optic performance equipment, among others. Among them, the number of inflatables has significantly declined.

IAAPA Expo 2019 has the following features:
1. The number of VR exhibitors is rising strongly. There were nearly 90 VR exhibitors from China, South Korea, Turkey, Italy and other countries. Multi-player interactive VR games with large exhibition space led nearly 40 VR enterprises to participate in the exhibition, showing strong government support for the game industry. Synchronous interaction of large space PVP sport mode and virtual reality will become the future trend of VR games.
2. Flying axes games are popular in target shooting games. No matter it is a real axe, an inflatable axe, or a prop axe based on virtual projection, various forms and types of axes reflect the new interest of European and American players.
3. In terms of arcade games, redemption machines, coin pushers, pinball machines and competition games accounted for the largest proportion. Naughty fort products with sport themes such as zipline, climbing and competition mode are the most in-demand among international buyers. On the contrary, except for the products for young children, some inflatables without any themes are not sold well.
4. Buyers' purchasing power was getting stronger in this show. GTI interviewed a number of Chinese exhibitors at random and found that many had sold their products before or on the first day of the show. Also, some other Chinese exhibitors have harvested a large number of effective customer resources through sponsoring conference forums.
5. The number of theme park exhibitors was on the rise, with 38 companies including Carnival Cruise Line and Maurer, Legoland New York, Holovis and ETF Ride Systems, Orlando SeaWorld and Premier Rides unveiling their latest products during the show, demonstrating the dynamism and developing momentum of the global theme park industry.
As the show was going on, The IAAPA Brass Ring Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the global attractions industry was also announced. This award recognizes the year of FECs, amusement parks, museums, zoos, water parks, aquariums, F&B suppliers from around the world, game retails, live entertainment, marketing, suppliers of new products, as well as human resource management.

The winners of the IAAPA Brass Ring Award 2019 are as follows:

The top FEC of the world: Cinergy Entertainment Amarillo - Dallas, Texas

Food & Beverage Excellence

Best New Menu Item (annual attendance less than a million) : Unicorn Cotton Candy Tacos - Jake's Unlimited, Mesa, Arizona
Best New Menu Item (annual attendance more than a million) : BLT Panzzanella Bowl -  San Diego Zoo, California

Human Resource Excellence

Best Employee Engagement Initiative (annual attendance less than a million) : Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Best Employee Engagement Initiative (annual attendance more than a million) : Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, California
Best Employee Reward and Recognition Program (annual attendance more than a million) : Europa-Park, Germany
Best Innovation in a Training Program (annual attendance less than a million) : Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver, Canada
Best Innovation in a Training Program (annual attendance more than a million) : Whiting’s Foods on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, California

Live Entertainment Excellence

Best Atmosphere/Street Show Performance Act: Green Army Drum Corps, Walt Disney World - Disney's Hollywood Studios, Orlando
Best Performer: Annie Huckaba - Dollywood Theme Park, Tennessee
Best Live Edutainment Show: Hershey's Unwrapped - Hershey's Chocolate World, Pennsylvania
Best Theatrical Production (annual attendance more than a million) : Legend of Camel Bells - Huaxia Cultural Tourism Resort - Xi’an, Shanxi Province, China
Most Creative Christmas Show: Up on the Rooftop - Hersheypark, Pennsylvania
Most Creative Halloween Haunt, Show, or Experience: Below - Walibi, Netherlands
Most Creative Multimedia Spectacular: Dancing Islands - Fantawild Asian Legend, Nanning, China
Most Creative Property-Wide Event (annual attendance less than a million) : Winterfest, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, UAE
Most Creative Property-Wide Event (annual attendance more than a million) : SeaWorld Christmas Celebration  - SeaWorld, Orlando, Florida
Most Creative Show Featuring Animals: Sea Lions Tonite - SeaWorld, Orlando, Florida
Most Creative Sports/Stunt Show: Paddington on Ice - the Grande Voyage, Europa-park, Germany

Marketing Excellence

Best Digital Marketing Campaign: Snake - Gröna Lund, Sweden
Best Integrated Marketing Campaign: Skin Exhibit Integrate Campaign, California Academy of Sciences, California
Best Outdoor Advertisement: 2018 San Diego Zoo Jungle Bells Campaign - San Diego Zoo Global, California
Best Public Relations Campaign: Coffin Challenge - Six Flags St. Louis, Missouri
Best Radio or Streaming Audio Commercial: Dino Roar Valley - Dino Roar Valley, New York
Best Social Media Campaign: You Can't Do This At Home Campaign - Silver Dollar City, Missouri
Best Television or Digital Video Commercial (annual attendance less than 250,000) : Stupet - where heroes are born - Rogaland Fritidspark AS - Kongeparken, Norway
Best Television or Digital Video Commercial (annual attendance of 250,000 - 1 Million) : Be A Kid With Your Kid - Silverwood Theme Park, Idaho
Best Television or Digital Video Commercial (annual attendance more than a Million) : Skin Exhibit Advertising Campaign - California Academy of Sciences, California

Best New Product Exhibitor Awards

Major Ride/Attraction (product cost of US$5 million or more) :
First Place: Dueling LSM Triple Launch Coaster - Dueling Dragons, Intamin Ltd., Liechtenstein
Second Place: Batman: Knight Flight - Robotic Arm Ride with updated Track Switches, Dynamic Attractions, Florida
Major Ride/Attraction (Product cost of US$2 to US$5 million) :
First Place: Spinning Rapids Ride, WhiteWater Attractions, Canada
Second Place: Super Air Racem, Zamperla, Italy
Major Ride/Attraction (Product cost less than US$2 million) :
First Place: Nebulaz, Zamperla, Italy
Second Place: Rollerball Mm Ride Engineers Switzerland, Switzerland
Kiddie Ride/Attraction
First Place: TreeWalk Village, Treetop Trekking,
Second Place: Big Car Outlander, Eurogames SRL, Italy
Water Park Ride/Attraction (product cost of less than US$1 million)
First Place: Tailspin, WhiteWater, Canada
Water Park Ride/Attraction (product cost of US $1 million or more)
First Place: Dueling PIPElineBLAST/FlyingSAUCER, ProSlide Technology, Inc., Canada
Second Place: Over/Under, WhiteWater, Canada
Technology Applied to Amusements (product or service used by consumers)
First Place: PoolSafe, Pool Safe Inc., Canada
Second Place: Automatic Itinerary Planner for Handling Timed-ticket Packages in Web/POS/Kiosk, Convergence, LLC, Connecticut
Technology Applied to Amusements (product or service used by facilities)
First Place: Loading / Unloading system, Dynamic Attractions, Florida
Second Place: Super Stomp, Valo Motion, Netherlands

Best New Product Concept Award

Major Ride Attraction          
First Place: SlideCoaster, Wiegand Josef GMBH & Co. KG, Germany
Second Place: Genesis Laser Tag Equipment, Delta Strike International Ltd
Major Ride/Attraction
First Place: Li-Fly, Holovis, the UK
Second Place: Time Rider, Polin Waterparks, Turkey
Other Product/Service
First Place: ParkTrainer, Gatemaster Technology Corporation, Colorado
Second Place: HoloTrac, Holovis, the UK
Impact Award: ProSlide Technology, Inc., Canada

※The article is published in the GTI Magazine Issue No. 184 in March 2020