Zamperla relaunches and pushes on people and innovation: two new top-notch managers to support the new CEO and accelerate growth.

As from January 2021 Antonio Zamperla JR, grandson of founder Antonio Zamperla senior and son of President Alberto Zamperla will be the new CEO and will be joined by Valerio Ferrari, Chief Sales Officer, and Adam Sandy, Sales & Marketing Director of the strategic Roller Coaster division.

The Company based in Altavilla Vicentina, with a turnover of 100 million euros and more than 400 employees as a Group, is a world leader in the production of rides and parks management, including Luna Park Coney Island, NYC, one of the most iconic luna parks ever. After betting on innovation and digitalization to face recent and future challanges, in 2021 Zamperla appoints Antonio Zamperla JR, previously Chief Innovation Officer, as CEO to be ready to manage the changes of the next socio-economic situation.

Antonio Zamperla has been working side by side his father Alberto for the last twenty years, a time marked by considerable economic growth, the introduction of artificial intelligence and robotics in the design and manufacturing processes, the incredible relaunch of Coney Island through the US based company Central Amusement International, important supply contracts for the main players in the amusement industry such as Disney, MCA Universal Studios, and Warner Bros. Jsut to mention a few, the design and construction of amusement parks in China, in the Philippines, Russia and the creation of Luna Farm in Italy. “Today we can proudly say that there is no amusement park in the world without at least a Zamperla ride. However, the near future, even following the global pandemic that has hit us, needs extraordinary interventions to be able to change gear, manage the next challenges and push innovation to the maximum. I think that the appointment of Antonio as CEO, the return of Valerio and the arrival of Adam are exactly the extraordinary interventions that our company needs. My father founded Antonio Zamperla S.p.A. in 1966 and entrusted me with the objective of making our company international. Now it is high time for the third generation to bring the contribution that new technologies and new processes can guarantee to a reality like ours. Antonio will be supported by two out-of-class managers who will make it possible to attain that mixed family and managerial governance model in which we have always believed. In America Antonio’s brother Alessandro Zamperla, CEO of Central Amusement International Inc. which manages Coney Island in NY and the overseas business, remains a firm point of reference. We will be ready to ride the recovery after the ongoing pandemic! For fifty years our company has anticipated changes in society and the economy; this is certainly one of our strengths, one of the factors that has allowed us to dialogue with entertainment giants such as Disney , Universal, Warner Bros., Lego, etc.” comments President Alberto Zamperla who, together with his father Antonio Zamperla senior, was inducted into the IAAPA HALL OF FAME, the honor roll of the great personalities of the entertainment industry together with Walt Disney and George Ferris, the inventor of the Ferris Wheel .

Valerio Ferrari, born in Vicenza, class ‘63, a lover of the human factor ‘despite’ his degree in Mechanical Engineering, is an excellent business coordinator. In recent years he has covered the position of CO-CEO for the Swiss competitor Intamin, which creates attractions for amusement parks and equipment for urban transport, but he is not new to Zamperla. Indeed, Valerio is one of the managers who has contributed to the growth of the Zamperla company from 1991 to through 2018 and scored important successes including the realiztion of the first Zamperla amusement park in Central Park, Victorian Gardens NYC, the reopening of Coney Island and the relaunch of Minitalia Leolandia in Italy. “The assignments carried out in recent years have allowed me to look at the sector from a new point of view, to acquire ideas and skills that have allowed me to improve the vision of future scenarios. It is in Zamperla that I want to bring all this, the company that for many years I have considered as my second family, which has a brand recognized all over the world and a very strong value proposition, trying to apply the most innovative technologies present on the market to the entertainment industry, to continue improving the end-user experience without forgetting safety, efficiency and maintainability ”comments Valerio Ferrari who returns to the company with the role of Chief Sales Officer of the whole Group.

Adam Sandy, from the US, has spent his entire career in the entertainment industry; the twenty years spent in Ride Entertainment and the many interventions, publications and studies on the sector have made him one of the most qualified voices in the Roller Coaster market. “I am thrilled to be joining the Zamperla team, a company that has played a vital role in the entertainment industry around the world. It is on the Zamperla rides that my children had their first incredible experiences. I am delighted to be part of this new chapter in Zamperla’s history that will bring innovation, technology and creativity to the roller coaster industry.

“When the world is no longer afraid and is finally free to have fun again, it will begin to immerse itself in the places where magic, fairy tale and adrenaline come together to create unique and intense experiences. Zamperla will then be ready with its people, its technology, its design, its taste and its skills, in two words, its Italian talent. We will be able to give people again the opportunity to dream and we will contribuite to the economic reconstruction of our region and our country”, comments President Alberto Zamperla.

The position as CEO is a challenge that Antonio Zamperla JR has been preparing for since he was a child because he grew up on the rides designed in the Altavilla Vicentina headquarters and in the simulation rooms of the R&D division, surrounded by engineers and designers. Gentle leadership coupled with a boundless passion for technology will be two of the strengths that will contribute to writing the next new page: “I’ve been trying the rides with my father since I was a child and my grandfather has always been one of my superheroes … I’ve never been afraid of even the most adrenaline-pumping roller coasters, so I’m not afraid of this new challenge that I will face with determination, commitment and the spirit of the Zamperla family”.

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