Industry veteran Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services (ITPS), has said that unless more theme parks implement tougher measures in security, chances are high that there could be an incident at a theme park.

Spiegel – who has worked in the theme park and leisure industry for than 50 years, and currently sits on IAAPA’s board of directors – said that parks around the world need to follow suit with the likes of Disney, Universal and SeaWorld by beefing up security to prevent a potential tragedy occurring.

“We are going to have an incident in a park if we don’t continue to improve and then maintain our security standards,” said Speigel speaking to AM2.

“Going back to 9/11 with our security we’ve improved, then fallen back, then improved, then fallen back. Now, we are starting to see major changes at Disney, Universal and SeaWorld among other operators.”

For 2015 up to the start of December, there had been over 350 mass shootings in the US – more than one a day – with 62 shootings at schools, more than 12,000 killed in gun incidents and close to 25,000 injured because of gunfire. With the recent terrorist attacks in Paris also putting the world on alert, security has been a hot topic in recent weeks.

“I’ve seen parks have metal detectors, then take them out. I've seen parks heighten security, and then drop it down. With the measures you usually see in place I could strap a bazooka on my back and walk into most theme parks,” said Speigel. “They take a wooden stick, look in your bag and say ‘you’re ok’ while I say ‘here hold my rocket launcher’.

“Last year at Disney a grandmother and her grandson got into a ride. In the seat was a 9mm glock, loaded, that fell out of someone’s pocket. He had a permit to carry, it was turned in, he came and said ‘I lost my gun’. Luckily that’s a guy who is totally honest.

“But what about the guy who isn’t and who has an ulterior motive? As of 17 December new measures – particularly metal detectors – are starting to be reinstated.

“Hopefully, these security measures being implemented will send a strong message that we are checking and we are watching.”