Burbank, CA, USA — John Robinett and Linda Cheu of AECOM will discuss global economic trends in the attractions industry March 19 on Day One of the TEA Summit, the annual business conference of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA). TEA and AECOM collaborate every year to produce the TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index, reporting on the world’s top-attended visitor attractions, and AECOM’s economics presentation at the TEA Summit is a highlight of the meeting.
The annual TEA Summit (March 19-20) is followed by the annual Thea Awards Gala (March 21) at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Calif. Summit Day One is chaired by TEA immediate past president Christine Kerr of BaAM Productions, andAnn Hathaway of Mousetrappe and Arc Thematic LLC.
“The curriculum for Day One of the TEA Summit will be focused on numbers, insights and trends that will give experience creators and owner operators the tools and understanding they need to make the right decisions for the future,” says Kerr. “Topics will include a look at global trends presented by AECOM, a panel discussion of what the emerging trends mean to the future of the industry, a survey by members of the media on projects to watch around the world, and a report on how owner operators are employing visitor data to improve guest experiences.”
The second day of the TEA Summit (March 20) is Thea Case Studies Day, showcasing some 15 projects and people set to be officially honored with Thea Awards at the Gala the following evening.
Tickets for each day of the TEA Summit (March 19 & 20) and for the Thea Awards Gala (March 21) can be purchased at www.teaconnect.org.
John Robinett
John Robinett, AECOM Senior Vice President – Economics, has had a 25-year career in the leisure, entertainment, and real estate industries. His responsibilities include oversight of the firm’s museum and cultural attractions practice, and management of a variety of assignments in the attractions, resorts, cultural, and entertainment retail areas.
Over his decades of history in the business, John has consulted to many of the leisure and entertainment industry’s leading companies, U.S. and foreign governments, major cultural and financial institutions, and golf, hotel, and real estate developers.He has directed assignments for The Walt Disney Company, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Whitney Museum, the University of Texas, Warner Bros., Bear Stearns, LEGO, The Tussaud’s Group, NASA, Universal Studios, and numerous others.
Linda Cheu
Linda Cheu joined AECOM Economics (formerly Economics Research Associates) over 15 years ago and is a leader in the company’s cultural facilities practice group, advising both non-profit organizations and government clients on the development, expansion, and operations of wide variety of museums, art centers, multi-tenant cultural facilities, and performing arts centers. Ms. Cheu’s services for cultural facilities include business planning, development of operational and governance plans, earned income strategies, market-based concept development, attendance and audience analysis; facility usage projections and estimates of physical planning parameters, revenue projections and gap analysis.
Ms. Cheu works frequently on teams with sub-consultants such as cost estimators, exhibit designers, and/or architects to conduct this work, and also is experienced in conducting community workshops, focused groups interviews, and one-on-one meetings in order to develop preliminary concepts and needs assessments. She has extensive experience brokering multiple interests where the official client is the public agency, but there is a secondary stakeholder group such as an art commission, steering group,or coalition of non-profit cultural facilities.
