After five years in Maastricht, Holland, the Technology in Leisure Exhibition (TILE) moved to Strasbourg , France, for the 1997 event. Organisers Andrich International believed that the change in location would result in more attendees from Germany and, although these did not materialize, the visitor and exhibitor levels increased by 20 percent on last year. Numerous delegates attended from southern Europe.

The core function of TiLE is in the conference which included a prestigious line-up of speakers such as Tony Baxter, WDI; Roland Mack, Europa Park; Nick Winslow, Warner Bros. and Peter Alexander of Totally Fun Company. But, while those speakers delivered informative, professional presentations, there were others who were less inspiring. This issue needs some attention next year.

Despite some technical hiccups, TiLE was deemed a worthy function to attend. The technical facilities in Strasbourg were not as good as in Maastricht but, as ever, TiLE revealed a whole swelter of innovative, thought provoking data which is rarely seen elsewhere.