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Aquaparks are today an indispensable segment in the development of tourist infrastructure, especially in destinations that target family tourism.
Such facilities not only increase the competitiveness and added value of the beach, but also contribute to increased revenue, longer guest retention and their better overall satisfaction. However, behind aquaparks stands one of the most important challenges, which is often overlooked – and that is the issue of safety.
Safety in water parks does not only mean quality infrastructure and proper maintenance of the facilities, but also compliance with strict European safety standards. Parents increasingly value destinations that offer a safe environment for their children, which imposes a responsibility on water parks to be not only fun, but also completely reliable.
In terms of safety, the European Safety Certificate is becoming mandatory for all aquaparks in the EU. The focus is on safety as the most important segment, which unfortunately has had a large legal loophole in practice so far regarding certification.
In conversation with Ernest Kiseljak, the owner of the company AB original doo which is the official regional distributor for the American AQUAGLIDE water parks inflatables since 2009, we discussed the new strict controls that the EU is introducing from next year. Given the changes and new rules of the European Union in 2025, the new regulations should bring increased safety to the aquapark market, which is the focus of everyone who buys or plans to invest in an inflatable aquapark - from destinations, campsites to hotel resorts.
"Practice in Europe has shown how certain Chinese manufacturers manipulate the safety certificates they can obtain in China. Namely, some brands have certified one simple element from their range and then copied that certificate to the rest of the offer, i.e. to all elements of the aquapark. This practice has been noticed by inspections and in recent years, customs have been dealing with it at the EU level. Now, all aquaparks sold and installed in the EU will have to have valid European quality certificates such as TUV. Namely, only the possession of European quality certificates will be valid proof that these are products made of materials that are not harmful to children's health and that they have been constructed in a safe manner," emphasizes Ernest Kiseljak.
When asked what the control will look like in practice, i.e. who will control the validity of the new TUV certificateKiseljak notes that this is a question for the Customs Administration, because they are the ones who implement such things.
"According to information from EU member states where the new rules have already been implemented, there are several levels of control. The first level is at import itself, where customs demand complete documentation, including TUV certificates, for every element that enters the EU. The second level of control is after the aquaparks are placed on the water surface. In Greece, this part of the control was already carried out this summer by the Port Authority in cooperation with customs. The Port Authority usually regularly visited all locations under concession and took pictures of all elements and the numbers of the printed certificates, then they set a deadline of 48 hours for the owners to present the TUV certificate for each individual element. If the aquapark owner did not comply, he would receive a fine, an immediate ban on operation and a deadline for the urgent removal of such a structure from the sea. In the Netherlands, aquapark owners state that this summer they all checked their possession of TUV certificates. This is extremely important because without control, our children could end up, not only in a structurally unsafe park, but also on elements that have been finished with chemically toxic or even carcinogenic materials or paints., he points out and adds that AQUAGLIDE is an American aquapark brand, which in the world of inflatable aquaparks is synonymous with quality, attractiveness, ease of use, safety and profitability.
Safety is the main priority, so in addition to the certificates required in America or Australia, they also have a European TUV certificate for each of the 115 elements. Attractiveness is another great advantage of AQUAGLIDE aquaparks.
"If your aquapark has real attractions like a 5 or 6 meter high slide, even if that slide has irrigation, put an 8 meter high swing equipped with a circus trapeze next to that slide, what child will resist that. Attractive aquaparks attract more users and allow for higher value for the same unit of time. Forget boring parks where you just run through and where the biggest attraction is a trampoline, that's a thing of the past. An attractive aquapark will attract attention and gain visitors more quickly than an ordinary aquapark. For the same reason, children and parents will return to AQUAGLIDE. Our experiences show that our attractiveness ensures an average of 50% more revenue compared to classic ones," emphasizes Kiseljak. Ease of use is perhaps the most important advantage of AQUAGLIDE aquaparks. Our interlocutor answers that ease of use is directly related to how much time children will spend in the aquapark, but also to the safety of the aquapark itself.
