International Standards Update

The IAAPA International Standards Harmonisation Group – which is working to establish worldwide consistency in major areas of ride safety standards – held a meeting in July in conjunction with the IAAPA Asian Expo in Shanghai.

Greg O'Neill, on behalf of AALARA, joined representatives from Italy, France, Germany, the UK, Russia, The Netherlands, Asia and the US to review the Chinese standards and make comparisons to other international ride standards.

The process of review and contributions from each standard organisation will be a long one, but it will be a significant achievement to the worldwide industry.

The next meeting will take place at the IAAPA Attractions Expo in Atlanta in November this year. Please contact AALARA if you would like further information.

Date Change for 2007 Sydney Royal Easter Show The RAS has announced new show dates for the 2007 Sydney Royal Easter Show with the opening now scheduled for Easter Thursday, 5 April.

In recent years we have seen the leisure time available for families and working parents dramatically reduce. Changing the start date of the show to run in line with the school Easter break will give attendees the opportunity to enjoy all the fun and excitement that it brings to Sydney each year.

We are working on revamping the event’s agricultural program of competitions and finals, introducing special theme days, scheduling 14 days of entertainment attractions and events, and, above all, providing even more reasons for people to come to the show, over the NSW public school holidays when they are able to come and plan their family’s activities.

The major benefits resulting from this change include:

• Families will have more choice of days to visit the Show • More school holidays allow for new theme days and promotions to attract more showgoers on weekdays in addition to weekends

• More opportunity for agricultural exhibitors to educate city slickers about what country life has to offer • More space for customers as show crowds are spread over the full 14 days of the event

• More opportunity for showgoers to make a return trip to the show

We look forward to seeing all of our friends, visitors and exhibitors back at Sydney Showground next year from Thursday 5 April for another 14 great days of this iconic annual event!

Michael Collins AALARA President