IAAPA EMEA Welcomes Peter van der Schans As New Executive Director & Vice President

After Jakob Wahl was officially appointed as new Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) in October 2021 (cf. EAP news of 20 Oct 2021), his leading position at IAAPA EMEA initially remained vacant. Now, Peter van der Schans has been announced as the new man to head the international trade association’s regional office for the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. Van der Schans will start his new position as Executive Director and Vice President of IAAPA EMEA on April 4 and, based in the regional office in Brussels, will be primarily responsible for member services and membership growth, as well as being of course an important part of relevant IAAPA events such as IAAPA Expo Europe – this year the European IAAPA trade show will take place in London from September 13-15.

“We are excited to welcome Peter to the IAAPA EMEA Team. He comes to IAAPA with more than 15 years of leisure industry experience from a number of attractions including theme parks, zoos and theaters. We’re excited for the perspective he can bring to the region and to the IAAPA Europe show floor,” comments Wahl.

Most recently, van der Schans served as general manager of the Dierenrijk zoo in the Netherlands. His career was also defined by other leadership positions as manager of the Pathé Theater and park manager of Toverland. (eap)