Applause Award

Applause Award
Awarded for	The finest in amusement parks
Country	Worldwide
Presented by	Liseberg
First award	1980
Website	Official website

The Applause Award is an international award given out by Liseberg, a theme park in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is given out every two years to the amusement park whose "management, operations and creative accomplishments have inspired the industry with their foresight, originality and sound business development." ^[1] The award is a bronze statue of two clapping hands. It was designed by Astri Taube, a Swedish sculptor. ^[2] The winner is chosen by a board of governors with Liseberg's CEO, Andreas Andersen, being the chairman. ^[3]

It is considered by many to be the Academy Award of the amusement park industry. ^[4] In summer of 2020, it was announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the upcoming award ceremony would be postponed until 2021. However, a year later it was again announced that the award had been postponed again, and would resume normally in 2022.

The Applause Award Board of Governors 2018
Chairman
Andreas Andersen	Liseberg
Members
Chris Herschend	Herschend Family Entertainment
Sascha N. Czibulka	Intamin
Tim O´Brien	Author & Journalist
Jim Pattison Jr	Ripley Entertainment
Amanda Thompson O.B.E.	Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Steven C Rhys	FORREC Ltd.
John Wood	Sally Corp.
Michael Mack	Europa Park
Tina Resch	Liseberg
Jakob Wahl	IAAPA

Recipients

Entertainer and entrepreneur Dolly Parton accepting the Applause Award that she won for Dollywood in 2010.

Year	Park	Award Finalists	Ref(s)
1980	Magic Kingdom		[4]
1982	Opryland USA
1986	Epcot		[4]
1988	Knott's Berry Farm
1990	Europa Park	• Busch Gardens Williamsburg  • De Efteling  • Opryland USA  • SeaWorld San Diego  • Universal Studios Hollywood	[5]
1992	Efteling	• Universal Studios Florida	[6]
1994	Universal Studios Florida		[4]
1996	Cedar Point	• Busch Gardens Williamsburg  • Six Flags Magic Mountain  • Universal Studios Hollywood	[7]
1998	Silver Dollar City	• Kennywood  • Parc Astérix	[8]
2000	Hersheypark	• Pleasure Beach Blackpool  • Parc Astérix	[9]
2002	Busch Gardens Williamsburg	• Gardaland  • Pleasure Beach Blackpool
2004	Holiday World & Splashin' Safari	• Gardaland  • Tivoli
2006	Islands of Adventure	• Dollywood  • Legoland Billund	[4]
2008	Xetutul Theme Park	• SeaWorld San Diego
2010	Dollywood	• Alton Towers  • Phantasialand	[3]
2012	Ocean Park Hong Kong	• Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk  • Puy du Fou	[10]
2014	Puy du Fou	• Chimelong Paradise  • PortAventura Park	[11]
2016	Busch Gardens Tampa	• Legoland Billund  • Siam Park	[12] [13]
2018	Xcaret Park	• PortAventura Park  • Universal Studios Japan	[14] [15]
2022	Tokyo DisneySea		[16]
2025	Universal Studios Japan		[17]

References

1. "Ocean Park Hong Kong wins Applause Award". Liseberg. November 13, 2012. Archived from the original on April 5, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
2. "The Applause Award 2008". Liseberg. November 2008. Archived from the original on April 5, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
3. "Dollywood wins Applause award for theme parks". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Associated Press. November 16, 2010. Archived from the original on August 27, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
4. "Big contract still in reach for Lockheed". Orlando Sentinel . November 16, 2006. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
5. Amusement Business. Nov 26, 1990, Vol. 102 Issue 47, p1, 3 p.
6. "Go Dutch For Flight of Fantasy". The Mirror . July 15, 1998. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
7. Runice, Jacky (May 25, 1997). "Ohio's Cedar Point Lures Amusement Park Fans". Daily Herald. Arlington Heights, Illinois. Archived from the original on December 25, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
8. Rogers, John (August 22, 1999). "Proud to be corny Branson finds gold in families". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
9. "Harrisburg, Pa.-Area Park Named Top Attraction Worldwide". Knight Ridder . November 21, 2000. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
10. "IAAPA Attractions Expo Sees Growth in All Areas Iaapa Attractions Expo 2012 Big Winner Show Sees Growth in All Areas". States News Service . November 17, 2012. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
11. Debaecker, Anne-Laure (19 November 2014). "Un Applause Award pour le Puy du Fou" – via Le Figaro.
12. "BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA BAY WINS PRESTIGIOUS GLOBAL INDUSTRY AWARD". seaworldparks.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
13. "Show Daily". Archived from the original on 2016-11-17. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
14. "XCARET HONORED WITH THE 2018 APPLAUSE AWARD". iaapa.org. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
15. "This year's Liseberg Applause Award for inspiration went to Xcaret, Quintana Roo". The Riviera Maya Times.
16. "Tokyo DisneySea Wins Applause Award". iaapa.org. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
17. "Universal studios Japan receives the 22nd Applause award". mynewsdesk.com. Retrieved 30 May 2025.