AusLeisure

The upcoming Australian Amusement, Leisure and Recreation Association (AALARA) bi-annual Trade Show is set to welcome Walltopia, the world’s largest manufacturer of artificial climbing walls.

With increasing global interest in rock climbing, and the sport to be added to the Olympic program at Tokyo 2020, Walltopia has become the world’s leading manufacturer and assembler of prefabricated climbing walls for gyms, malls and adventure parks, with more than 1,300 completed projects in over 50 countries.

The Bulgarian-based company was founded in the rubble of communism’s fall in the 1990s by two friends, Ivaylo Penchev and Metin Musov.

Penchev, a theoretical physicist turned entrepreneur, learned rock-climbing on the vertiginous cliffs of his home town, Veliko Tarnovo in central Bulgaria, while Musov oversees the company’s 250-worker factory in Letnitsa, a rural village of 2,547 people.

Commenting on the company’s success, Penchev claims to have revolutionised a fragmented business that catered to a niche sport for diehard enthusiasts but now holds a much broader appeal, as specialist climbing gyms and ‘fun walls’ for beginners across the world.

Last year he told London’s Financial Times “we’re seeing explosive growth in climbing gyms and most of the momentum  ... climbing has become a mainstream sport in the last five years.”

At AALARA 2017, Walltopia’s Australian representative, Rob Parer of Indoor Climbing Productions will be displaying the business’ active entertainment concepts, which combine sport with fun and adventure on booths 57 and 58.

The exhibit will feature products including the Rollglider, Ropetopia, Fun Walls and Ninja Course.

AALARA 2017 is being staged at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre from 15th to 18th May.

Click here to view AALARA 2017 details in the Australasian Leisure Management industry Calendar. 

For more information on Walltopia, click here to view their entry and contact details in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory. 

Images: A Walltopia climbing structure (top) and Ropetopia (below).

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