Kirmes & Park Revue EAS Extra Issue 2019

Victor Cavaller
Jessica De Jong
Rik Engelen
Francesco Fabris
(www.tuev-sued.de). Although he knows the busi ness
behind the magic, he still likes to visit parks and loves to
get some airtime on a good roller coaster.
Marcus Gaines (Great Britain)
He grew up as a theme park and funfair fan. Family holidays
as a child involved visiting at least one theme park
somewhere in the world. As the father of two young boys,
Marcus now pays as much attention to family rides as thrill -
ing coasters. Graduating from university in 1999 with an
honours degree in Media Production and Technology, his
first job was as a show technician for Disney Cruise Lines .
These days he works for Britain’s largest broad casting
company and is often called upon to use his knowledge
of the amusement industry to work on related documentaries
and news features. Marcus is current ly working with
a number of ride manufacturers to produce their promotional
videos for trade shows and their websites. More
information on www.coastertouring.com
Marshall Hill (Great Britain)
He is the past-chairman of BALPPA (British Association of
Amusement Parks, Piers and Attractions). Prominent at the
association’s meetings and many other industry events
and trade shows, he is known for his down-to-earth and
approachable personality. Marshall is the third generation
of his family to operate the traditional Funland amusement
park on Hayling Island on the south coast of England
(www.funland.info). He also buys and sells rides on behalf
of other parks and also travelling showmen.
Marc Lacombe (Canada)
He has been a theme park fan all his life, and his love for
parks comes from his parents. He realized his dream and
worked as an international worker at Disneyland Paris on
“Space Mountain”. Marc then moved on to La Ronde in
Montreal and then had the privilege to be a guest relations
host at Epcot in Florida. He is currently working for a major
airline and runs the Park Vault blog (www.parkvault.net)
after holding the responsibility of international reporter for
Newsparcs. Park Vault concentrates on the historical aspect
of the industry.
Alex Lemmens (Netherlands)
After his mechanical and electrical studies at the technical
university, Alex joined Efteling in 1975 as Director of technical
services. From 1987 to 1992 he was Park Manager
and until 2005 he was responsible for development of projects
such as “Python”, “Pirana”, “Haunted Castle”, “Villa
Volta”, “Fata Morgana”and “Dream Flight”. In 2004 he was
chairman of the international conference "TilE" (Trends in
Leisure and Entertainment) in Maastricht. After a working
period of more than 30 years at Efteling, he retired in 2005
and started his own consulting company (Alex Lemmens
Consultancy) for the leisure industry and is a permanent
ad viser to the Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam, amusement park
Toverland and Van den Berk Nerseries in St. Oedenrode,
Netherlands. In 2014 a documentary about his working life
was made and can be seen (subtitled in English) on
www.devijfzintuigen.nl and on YouTube.
Mario O. Mamon (Philippines)
He is the Chairman and President of Enchanted Kingdom
for more than twenty years (www.enchantedkingdom.ph).
The park has been at the forefront of the amusement and
attractions industry in the Philippines and is expected to
continue to do so in the coming years as it prepares to
transform itself from a standalone themed amusement
park into an integrated attractions destination resort. The
park is divided into seven meticulously themed zones that
transport the park visitor into a certain place and time in
history, accentuated by the various rides, attractions and
entertainment offerings in each of the different zones.
Mario became the thrid Vice-Chairman of IAAPA in 2011,
rising to become the association’s first Asian Chairman in
2014. In the course of his official duties with IAAPA, he had
been able to travel extensively around the world including
Europe, visiting and familiarizing himself with many European
amusement parks and attractions.
François Mayné (France)
Born in Brussels, François has had a passion for the theme
park industry for years. At the beginning of the 2000s, he
was involved in the management of several websites that
formed the core of an emerging French-speak ing fan
community. After getting a degree in market ing, he decided
to create his own busines and became the editor of
NewsParcs.com, an online magazine dedicated to the
professionals of the park industry. Then he chose to focus
on another website developed for a main stream audience:
www.ooparc.com is an online guide book about theme
parks in Europe. Together with running that business,
François also offers his ser vices as a freelance reporter
for trade publications covering the attractions industry.
Thomas Frank
Dr. Felix Fritz
Marcus Gaines
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