On the opening day of IAAPA 2014 in Orlando, US, Gerardo Arteaga, general manager of Fantasilandia in Santiago, Chile, was introduced as the organisation's new chair for 2015.

Arteaga has been involved in the attractions industry since his family established Fantasilandia in 1977. Working in through his youth and then after completing university studies, Arteaga was named regional manager of his family's Happyland FEC, which operates facilities in both Central and South America.

Arteaga has been involved in the attractions industry since his early childhood, when his family established the Fantasilandia amusement park in 1977. He worked in the business throughout his youth, and after completing his university studies he was named regional manager for the family's Happyland family entertainment center (FEC), which operates facilities throughout Central and South America. Arteaga returned to Fantasilandia in 2000 as customer service manager appointed general manager in 2002.

For IAAPA, Arteaga has served as a member of the marketing and FEC committees as well as on the advisory committee for Latin America. He also served on the IAAPA Board of Directors from 2007-2009 and joined the IAAPA Executive Committee in 2008. In 2011, Arteaga was named IAAPA's third vice chair and was named second vice chair in 2013 and first vice chair in 2014.

Aside from his managerial and IAAPA duties, Arteaga is leader of the Latin American Association of Attractions and Amusement Parks (ALAP).

Attractions Management and AM2 are both on hand for IAAPA 2014 in Orlando to provide live coverage throughout the week. Check back here for all the latest breaking news, which is sure to excite the attractions sector from some of the industry's biggest and brightest names.