On December 9-10, 2020, the 5th online conference "Amusement industry in Coronacrisis conditions: challenges and new opportunities" was organized by the Russian Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (RAAPA). More than 300 specialists from more than 100 cities and 11 countries of the world (Russia, the USA, Germany, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Italy, the Netherlands, Armenia, Finland) registered for the event.

The conference program was divided into two days, each of them was devoted to a specific topic. On December 9, a session was held on the work of open amusement parks. The second day - December 10 - was devoted to the problems of family entertainment centers. During the event, experts discussed the new operating conditions for enterprises in amusement industry during and after the pandemic, and also outlined what key changes and trends are taking place in amusement industry today.

Presentations were made by 10 speakers - leading experts in the amusement industry and representatives of entertainment enterprises. Among them there were: Margarita Navolokina, Head of the Sochi-Park sales department, Sochi; Olga Prosyanaya, Key Account Manager, Linnanmaki Park, Helsinki (Finland); Sergey Kalmykov, expert in the leisure and amusement industry, Moscow; Georgy Boguslavsky, director of MAUK "Cheboksary city kiddie park named after A.G. Nikolaev "; Konstantin Popov, Quality Director of “Skazka Park”, Moscow; Vladimir Zhiganov, Director General of the “Claustrophobia” quest network, Moscow; Pavel Timets, the founder of several indoor parks and the author of the book “Entertainment period park. Entertainment center from its project to a happy Guest”, St. Petersburg; Lyudmila Kiseleva, business consultant, expert in the management of entertainment centers and restaurants, Moscow; Bulat Shakirov, President of the Shopping Centers Union, founder of “Generation Z: Z'TOWN, ZKIDZ" kiddie centers network, Krasnodar; and Yaroslav Sobko, director of the "Amusement planet" company (the USA).

During the reports, the experts considered the following issues: how to organize the work of an amusement park after quarantine; how to create a comfortable atmosphere for guests; what happened to the VDNH amusement park; online directions in the activities of parks of culture and leisure; how the coronavirus is setting the trend for universal employees; what spaces for entertainment and recreation will be relevant in the near future; and what entertainment projects will emerge from the crisis as winners, among others.

RAAPA conference has become the largest online event for amusement industry experts taking place in 2020. We invite specialists in the field of leisure and entertainment to the following RAAPA events. The main event of the coming ones is the 23rd International Exhibition "Amusement rides and entertainment equipment RAAPA EXPO-2021", which will be held from March 30 to April 1, 2021 in Moscow in pavilion 57 at VDNH.  Full video recording of the conference is available on the RAAPA channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqNFJP5Svm5MG1VTkGWzrbg