Momentum Leisure Appoints Wouter Dekkers as CEO

(eap) Momentum Leisure, a Momentum Capital company, has appointed Wouter Dekkers (52, photo) as CEO with effect from 1 April 2024. Momentum Leisure specialises in the development of leisure, entertainment and retail facilities in Central and Eastern Europe and already counts several locations in Poland to its portfolio, including the Majaland theme parks. Dekkers, who currently serves as Corporate Development Director for Spain’s Parques Reunidos group, will be responsible for the further growth of Momentum Leisure and, in this role, will develop a multi-year strategy to be presented in summer.

Momentum Leisure, based in Amsterdam, has been active in the leisure market since 2008, when it acquired some 200 hectares of land in Poland for the development of theme parks. Majaland Kownaty opened in 2018, another park was added in 2022 with Majaland Warsaw and a third Majaland location is due to open in Gdansk this summer. The fourth Majaland has already been announced for 2026, it will open in Katowice in Southern Poland. The parks themed with characters from popular children’s series by production company Studio 100 (for which Momentum Leisure holds licenses) are operated by the Belgian Plopsa Group. Momentum Leisure and the also Belgian electro-festival brand Tomorrowland recently announced the joint development of a water park in Warsaw (project title: “LIFE”), and a correspondingly themed water world is also to be built near Berlin.

To lead these developments, Wouter Dekkers presents himself as an excellent choice for the position of CEO, as the native Dutchman can already look back on over 25 years of experience in the leisure industry. He began his career at Six Flags Holland (today Walibi Holland, operated by Compagnie des Alpes) and subsequently held various management positions at Parques Reunidos. He served as Managing Director of the associated Movie Park Germany for almost a decade, then moved to the same management position at Attractie- & Vakantiepark Slagharen and finally to Tropical Islands in 2019, where he also led the destination as General Manager through 2021, before he was appointed to the management of the Spanish umbrella organisation. Dekkers is looking forward to his new professional episode: “Momentum Leisure has great plans for the future and a promising long-term vision, which appeals to me very much. I am happy that I can use my experience in the industry to further grow the company.”

“Wouter is one of the most respected, well versed and experienced professionals in the attractions industry. He is the ideal person to further give shape and contribute to the great ambitions of Momentum Leisure,” comments Andreas Andersen, member of the Supervisory Board of Momentum Leisure and President & CEO of the Swedish Liseberg Group.

With the appointment of Dekkers, Martijn van Rheenen, CEO of Momentum Capital and largest participant in Momentum Leisure, strengthens the leadership of the amusement park group. “Momentum Leisure has the ambition to expand its portfolio with theme and water parks in order to take a leading position in the metropolitan areas of Central Europe. With several new parks in development and with acquisition targets in sight, inside and outside Poland, we focus on realizing ten locations with more than five million visitors per year. It is a long-term strategy that Momentum Leisure will further realize step by step through the reinforcement with Wouter Dekkers.” ■