Steve Birket, director of Birket Engineering and the new president of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) as of today (19 November), has described the areas where he hopes to drive the organisation further forward from ‘the strongest position it’s ever been in.’

Having been unanimously voted in by TEA board members at a 13 May meeting, Birket replaces outgoing president Christine Kerr, who has successfully carried out a full term at the helm and will remain on the board as the past president.

Speaking to Attractions Management ahead of his inaugural address, Birket said the work Kerr has achieved in the last two years has set him up with the best possible position he could be in to succeed.

“Christine has done a fabulous job over the last two years - bringing in a new COO, helping to revamp the TEA website and develop the organisation’s Asia-Pacific division - and has placed the organisation in great shape,” he said.

“In my term I hope to boost the TEA’s work in the growing regions of Asia-Pacific and the Middle East by creating opportunities for the industry to meet and inspire each other at conferences and backstage tours. There’s also Latin America which we’ll be talking about to explore the potential for more work in that area.”

Birket, who has been in the attractions industry for 35 years, said he’s also eager to continue building the profile of the TEA’s Storytelling, Architecture, Technology and Experience (SATE) Academy Days over what he hopes will be a two-year term.

For her part, Kerr said she was extremely pleased with the progress that’s been achieved at the TEA over the past two years.

"We've seen a fantastic surge in membership, which is amazing,” she said. “All of our divisions - now we have four all over the world - are really strong and really committed to providing members in their areas with the highest quality events that are right for the regions. It’s really important for an international association to acknowledge that there's distinction between the different parts of the world that we operate in."