We just got back from two days at SELI (Salon des Espaces de Loisirs Indoor) in Angers, France, and it's the kind of event that reminds you why showing up in person still matters. The Parc Expo was packed with operators, project developers, and partners from across France and Francophone Europe, and the energy across both days was hard to miss.
Organised by the SPACE Association, the French federation of indoor leisure venue operators, SELI pulls together exactly the kind of venues ROLLER works with ( trampoline parks, bowling alleys, climbing centres, karting tracks, laser tag, escape rooms, and family entertainment centres) all in one room.
A few themes came up over and over during the event.
Memberships, add-ons, and getting more from every visit
The membership conversation has clearly evolved. Operators aren't just asking "should we offer memberships?" anymore, they're asking how to combine memberships with add-ons, upsells, and smarter packaging to grow average spend per guest.
There's a real appetite for tools that help operators move beyond the single-ticket transaction into something more strategic, and a lot of the people we spoke to said they're rethinking their entire pricing and packaging approach this year.
Read more: From Regulars to Members: Loyalty Insights from the 2026 Pulse Report
Running more than one venue
Multipark and multi-venue management came up in many conversations. As operators expand into second, third, and fourth locations, they're feeling the pain of duplicated admin, reporting that doesn't line up across sites, and processes stitched together from different tools.
The operators we spoke to wanted to know what "good" looks like when you're running a portfolio rather than a single venue, and what to put in place early so multi-site doesn't turn into multi-headache later.
Read more: Save time managing multiple venues
Streamlining queues
A lot of the operational chat came back to one thing: speed at point of sale and check-in.
With busy seasons getting busier, operators are looking for ways to move guests through the door faster without making the experience feel rushed. Long queues at peak times are still one of the biggest headaches, and a lot of the booth conversations turned into practical problem-solving around how to fix them.
Water parks are having a big year
One of the more interesting threads of the show was around water parks. With the heat across Europe this summer, operators are reporting huge seasons, and they're using the momentum to invest in better guest experience and tighter operations rather than just ride the wave.
It's a segment that's clearly stepping up, and we left a lot of those conversations excited about what's next.
A community that shows up
What you can't really capture in a list of themes is the feel of SELI itself. There's a strong sense that the French and Francophone leisure community looks after its own: operators who've competed for years still catch up at the booth, suppliers are on first-name terms with the people they sell to, and the evening at Terra Botanica turned into the kind of long, winding catch-up that's hard to engineer at bigger events.
Thanks to the SPACE Association for putting on a great event, to everyone who stopped by the booth, and to the operators who took the time to walk us through what they're building. We're already looking forward to next year!
.png)
.webp)
.jpg)
.jpg)
