/ Luciano Pareschi, owner of the Caribe Bay theme water park in Jesolo, is the new president of the Parchi Permanenti Italiani (Italian Amusement Parks) trade association /

The Italian Amusement Parks Association (Associazione Parchi Permanenti Italiani), which represents theme, water, wildlife and adventure parks across the country, has a new president, unanimously elected last month by the assembly of members. It is Luciano Pareschi, who takes over from Giuseppe Ira, owner of Leolandia, at the helm of the association during the complex pandemic period. 

Pareschi, elected for the 3-year term 2022/2024, is a well-known personality in the sector: founder and owner of the Caribe Bay theme waterpark in Jesolo, he is also a director of the JesoloVenice Tourism Business Consortium. He has the task of guiding the association in achieving a dual goal: to immediately support companies in the sector in the difficult return to normality, and to lobby the institutions nationally on the social and economic role of fixed parks, which have a strategic role for tourism and employment in their local territories.

“I was one of the first promoters of the association and I am very proud to be its president today,” Luciano Pareschi declared. “I strongly believe in making shared decisions, with unity of purpose, and I intend to continue the excellent work done until now by my predecessor and friend Giuseppe Ira. My aim is to focus greater attention on the specific features of our industry, including through the promotion of a true amusement park culture, which in Italy, unlike in other countries, has yet to emerge. Our sector, which on average in the 2 years of the pandemic suffered losses of 65% compared to 2019, is now facing new challenges: the increase in costs of raw materials, the difficulties in finding seasonal labour, the unknowns related to the evolution the health emergency and the geopolitical context.”

Pareschi’s first projects include the creation of purchasing groups within the association to obtain discounted prices on some essential supplies, such as electricity and insurance. Actions are also being looked at to promote greater participation by members in the association’s activities, including through digital tools.

“In recent years we have achieved good results,” commented the outgoing president Giuseppe Ira, “for the first time attracting the attention of the institutions on what we do. I am sure that Luciano Pareschi will continue in this direction and will manage this commitment brilliantly.”

Pareschi will be joined on the Board of Directors by 2 vice-presidents, Patrizia Leardini (Costa Edutainment) and Francesco Russello (Etnaland), in addition to Marcello Padroni (Acquavillage) and Luciano De Nardellis (Aqualand del Vasto) who complete the board of directors.

In Italy, the amusement parks sector comprises around 230 companies, including theme, wildlife, water and adventure parks, and in 2019 it generated revenues of 450 million euros in ticket sales, a figure that rises to 1 billion considering the indirect revenues at parks, such as catering and merchandising, and 2 billion with external indirect revenues, for example nearby shopping centres, hotels and other services. In terms of employment, the sector employs 25,000 full-time and seasonal workers, and 60,000 when including the related industries. In 2019 there were 20 million visitors from Italy, plus 1.5 million foreigners, for a total of 1.1 million overnight stays in hotels.  

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