EAA appoints new president Peter van der Veer

Peter van der Veer, CEO and co-owner of Dutch arena Rotterdam Ahoy (15,000-cap.), has been named president of the 35-strong European Arenas Association (EAA).

Van der Veer was elected at the association’s most recent AGM, held in Lisbon earlier this month, and succeeds outgoing president Brian Kabatznick of AEG Europe, whose three-year term has come to an end.

Van der Veer has been a member of the EAA since 2006 and an active board member since 2012.

He comments: “Our world changes at rapid speed. It requires a new view from us as venues. I am convinced that a platform such as EAA is essential in sharing ideas, in pulling the strings, in being pro-active on all important and relevant issues in the field of live events.

“I am honoured to have been chosen as president of this valuable platform”

“I am honoured to have been chosen as president of this valuable platform.”

Other EAA board members are Girts Krastins of Arena Riga (14,500-cap.), John Langford of the O2 (21,000-cap.), Jorge Silva of Altice (formerly MEO) Arena (20,000-cap.) in Lisbon and Lotta Nibbell of Scandinavium (14,000-cap.) in Gothenburg.

In 2017, European Arenas Association venues hosted more than 18.7m customers attending 2,899 events, according to the organisation’s most recent research report. According to IQ’s European Arena Yearbook 2017, produced in partnership with the EAA and UK National Arena Association (NAA), the European arenas business generated more than €1.4bn in 2016.

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