(From left to right: CFO Tom van der Sommen, CEO Wouter Dekkers en CMO Roland Gerets)
Amsterdam, November 1, 2024 - Momentum Leisure - a leading developer and operator of theme parks in Central and Eastern Europe - today announces the appointment of two new executives. Roland Gerets takes up the role of Chief Marketing Officer and Tom van der Sommen the role of Chief Financial Officer.
In April of this year, CEO Wouter Dekkers took over the helm at Momentum Leisure from Martijn van Rheenen, CEO and founder of impact investor Momentum Capital. With the appointment of a CMO and CFO at Momentum Leisure, the transition to a new board has been completed. At the end of June, the company opened its third theme park in Poland: Majaland Gdansk. After Majaland Kownaty (2018), just across the border from Berlin, and Majaland Warsaw (2022), the company thus strengthened its position in the growth market of Central and Eastern Europe. The parks welcome almost three hundred thousand visitors per park annually. Plans for a fourth park in Gliwice, in the south of Poland, are now in an advanced phase.
Roland Gerets (58) has over 30 years of experience in sales and marketing and has held various senior leadership positions, including in the leisure and entertainment sector. Roland has also been a lecturer in Digital Marketing at KU Leuven since 2014. Tom van der Sommen (32) has a broad financial background, with ultimate responsibility in various sectors, including the leisure sector. He has also held various financial positions within the private equity sector.
Wouter Dekkers, CEO Momentum Leisure: “With Roland and Tom, we have a rock-solid leadership team, with which we can further shape the growth ambitions of this organization. They both have a great passion for the world of leisure and entertainment and bring a lot of experience with them. In recent times, we have already worked together to prepare the organization for the next phase. We see great opportunities for further development of our positioning, now that in addition to the well-known characters Maja the Bee and Wickie the Viking, we also work with the Smurfs, PAW Patrol and SpongeBob SquarePants.”
Martijn van Rheenen, CEO van Momentum Capital: “In April, I was very pleased and proud to hand over the baton to Wouter Dekkers, who is considered one of the most experienced business leaders in the world of leisure and theme parks. The company is in good hands with him; Momentum Leisure is successfully ending this year. As Momentum Capital, we are very proud that we have been able to bring this special participation to maturity in just a few years as an investor with social impact. The choice for the development of leisure in Central and Eastern Europe has proven itself. We welcome Roland and Tom on board and look forward to a successful future.”
About Momentum Leisure
Since 2008, Momentum Leisure has been developing and operating leading theme parks in Central and Eastern Europe, with the aim of offering young and old festive experiences and lasting shared memories. After the successful opening of theme parks Majaland Kownaty in 2018 and Majaland Warsaw in 2022, Majaland Gdansk was added to the portfolio in 2024. Within its growth strategy, Momentum Leisure strongly focuses on safety, family and sustainability, values that are central to every new park.
News
