Stepping into the Story

The immersive attractions and experiences industry places visitors at the centre of engaging stories, activities and adventures. Spanning theme parks, immersive theatre, escape rooms, museums, virtual reality and location-based entertainment, the sector combines creativity and technology to deliver memorable, participatory experiences that drive audience engagement. Here, RLI highlights some of the most unique examples of this in action.

Unlike traditional forms of entertainment, where audiences are primarily observers, immersive experiences encourage active participation, allowing guests to influence, explore and engage with the environment around them. The industry spans a broad range of sectors, including theme parks, immersive theatre, escape rooms, museums, visitor attractions, cultural experiences, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), interactive exhibitions and location-based entertainment.

At its core, the industry combines creative storytelling, technology, design and experiential production to create memorable and emotionally engaging experiences. Advances in digital technologies, including VR, AR, artificial intelligence, projection mapping, motion tracking and interactive media, have expanded the possibilities for immersive experiences, enabling operators to create increasingly sophisticated and personalised visitor journeys.

Consumer demand for unique and shareable experiences has been a significant driver of industry growth. Audiences increasingly value experiences over material possessions, particularly younger generations seeking entertainment that is memorable, social and participatory. As a result, businesses across entertainment, tourism, culture, retail, hospitality and education are investing in immersive formats to attract visitors, increase dwell time and enhance customer engagement.

The industry is also evolving beyond entertainment alone. Immersive experiences are increasingly being used for learning, training, brand activation, wellbeing and cultural engagement. Museums and heritage organisations use immersive technologies to bring history to life, while brands create experiential marketing campaigns that allow consumers to interact directly with products and stories.

As technology continues to advance and consumer expectations evolve, the immersive attractions and experiences industry is expected to grow further, creating new opportunities for innovation, collaboration and audience engagement. Its ability to blend the physical and the digital worlds, positions it as one of the most dynamic and rapidly developing sectors within the global experience economy.

Examples of Immersive Attractions & Experiences Around the World

Back in November, Netflix revealed the second location of its immersive entertainment/retail concept. Netflix House has opened at the Galleria Dallas, a MetLife Investment Management property. It came hot on the heels of the first-ever Netflix House, which opened in November at King of Prussia shopping centre in the Philadelphia suburb of King of Prussia. A third location is scheduled to open in 2027, at BLVD on the Las Vegas Strip. Spanning more than 100,000sq ft, Netflix House Dallas is designed as an entertainment destination where fans can “explore, taste, play and shop” their favourite shows and movies in real life. Visitors can enter the venue through the mall on the second floor, or from the mall parking lot through the iconic Red Envelope entrance, a nod to the company’s DVD-by-mail origins. Visitors can dine at Netflix Bites, a casual, full-service restaurant serving comfort food and cocktails – but with entertaining twists playing on popular Netflix shows and movies. The space also features a retail shop called Netflix Shop, which features exclusive Netflix-branded local merchandise, along with collectibles, apparel, lifestyle pieces and more inspired by popular shows on Netflix.

Opening in summer 2027, the Candy Hall of Fame is coming to the Magnificent Mile and the 60,000sq ft attraction will bring exhibits, a candy store and a restaurant to three floors of a long-vacant Michigan Avenue space. The Candy Hall of Fame Experience, located on the third-through-fifth floors of 830 N. Michigan Ave., will bring together the history of the candy industry and the experience will be a permanent home for the Candy Hall of Fame, which has never had a physical location until now despite being around since 1971. The Candy Hall of Fame, established by the National Confectionery Sales Association, honours the people behind well-known candy brands. The Candy Hall of Fame will include a 20,000sq ft retail space on the third floor stocked with a wide range of candy, branded merchandise and products tied to Chicago-area candy makers. The upper floors will house the Hall of Fame itself plus hands-on exhibits and other ticketed attractions designed to teach visitors more about how the confectionery industry works.

Disguise, a global leader in media server technology and extended reality (XR) solutions, in October celebrated the opening of the Fantasy Box, a new multi-purpose cultural venue at MGM Macau, a five-star hotel in China. This 1,400sq m venue has been created to highlight both international and Chinese culture while championing the local Macau arts community. As part of this development, MGM collaborated with Disguise to design and deliver a collection of 10 customisable content styles for Fantasy Box’s 7m high curved LED wall. With this project, MGM extends its long-standing collaboration with Disguise, which provides the technology currently used at Cotai Spectacle and Cotai Theatre in Macau. Since launching, Fantasy Box has already hosted significant events, such as the immersive art experience Brilliant Stars – The Civilisation of Ancient Shy and cAITM Lab 2.0 – Is It Your Gazethat Meets Mine, or Mine that Seeks Yours? as part of the 4th Art Macao festival.

Unveiled at the end of April, the Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue is being hosted at Green Canvas in the Mandai Wildlife Reserve from 24 April to 13 September, marking its debut in Asia. After successful events in Dallas, London and Toronto, the immersive and interactive experience invites visitors of all ages to journey through eight rooms to save a village from a zombie siege. Whether families, seasoned Minecrafters, or first-time players, everyone will explore, craft and work together in this one-hour story-driven adventure filled with action, creativity and teamwork. Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue brings an engaging indoor adventure to the Mandai Wildlife Reserve allowing visitors to enjoy wildlife exploration, immersive play and family entertainment in a single visit. Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue combines immersive large-scale projections, theatrical sets, motion-tracking gameplay and storytelling.

FRAMELESS is an immersive art experience that blends masterpieces from some of the world’s most iconic artists with state-of-the-art projection, audio and spatial technology. The exhibition opens at Logomo in Turku from 8 June to 30 August 2026, offering visitors the chance to step inside the world of art in a way never before seen in Finland. The exhibition features works by artists such as Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Gustav Klimt, Salvador Dalí and Rembrandt. FRAMELESS has rapidly become a cultural phenomenon in London, attracting broad and diverse audiences from around the globe by introducing new and accessible ways to experience art. The residency is suitable for all ages and offers a compelling experience for both first-time visitors and seasoned art enthusiasts. FRAMELESS London has welcomed more than one million visitors from 96 countries since opening in 2022 and its Logomo residency is sure to be incredibly popular with visitors this summer.

At the waterpark Aquascope, which is the newest attraction from Futuroscope and situated in Vienne, France, families can share in the thrills and swim in a world of 1,001 colours. Covering more than 6,000sq m, Aquascope features three unique immersive and experiential areas, as well as an outdoor area that opens when the weather allows. Les Abysses de Lumière offers Aquascope visitors an immersive, sensory experience at the heart of an imaginary, poetic world integrating video mappings, light effects, media projections and choreographed water effects. A feat achieved with the help of Canadian company Moment Factory, recognised worldwide for its artistic expertise. The Sensations world offers a variety of attractions, including eight waterslides (one of which is world-exclusive), a wave pool with a giant net and a dynamic outdoor river. Finally, in the children’s area there are adapted mini-toboggans, a water labyrinth, a musical cavern and a giant water bucket… children can have fun with water in a thousand ways, under the watchful eye of Kraki, the site’s mascot creature.

Located within Germany’s Europa-Park, Eatrenalin, a media-based, multi-sensory restaurant, seats guests on dark ride vehicles for an eight-course fine-dining meal. A world-first in luxury experiential fine dining, Eatrenalin was created by Thomas Mack, managing director of the park, and gastronomy expert Oliver Altherr, CEO of Marché International. Guests begin in a futuristic bar, enjoying canapés before being called into the immersive experience. After a dramatic reveal, they’re seated at individual table-and-chair vehicles, where they’re served their meal while gliding seamlessly from one themed room to another.

Semmel Exhibitions, a creator of award-winning blockbuster exhibitions, has opened its touring exhibition, Bubble Planet, at the COLONEUM in the MMC Studios in Cologne, Germany. The experience follows a successful German premiere in Berlin and demonstrates the country’s appetite for immersive, social and family-oriented exhibition formats. Bubble Planet presents a surreal, sensory world of iridescent bubbles, large-scale installations, optical illusions, an Infinity Room, a giant ball pit and virtual reality. In Germany, the installation includes twelve themed spaces, designed for families, friends and the social-media generation. In Cologne, the launch of Bubble Planet at the COLONEUM in collaboration with EDUTAIN also demonstrates how new kinds of venue partnerships are pushing the boundaries of immersive entertainment.

Last September, Mattel deepened its global footprint in the location-based entertainment market through a new collaboration with Wondr Experience Amsterdam entitled Barbie: The Dream Experience. Visitors can take an immersive journey through six decades of Barbie at Barbie: The Dream Experience! There, you can discover the most iconic Barbie moments in history and experience life-sized replicas of unforgettable Barbie toys across 12 interactive zones. The layout includes life-sized replicas of iconic playsets and vehicles, including Barbie’s snowmobile, Dream Camper, boat and car. At its centrepiece is a fully walkable Barbie DreamHouse installation, accompanied by a themed café and a branded retail space. With no shortage of nostalgia, this 2,000sq m experience brings together fans of all ages to celebrate over sixty five years of style, inspiration and play!

As F1® Arcade continues its rapid international expansion, Madrid has joined the ranks of London, Las Vegas and Boston as a flagship city. The concept launched in the Spanish capital on 14 April and it represents more than just a new pin on the map. Madrid is a natural fit for this concept. The city’s deep-rooted F1® fandom, fuelled by legends like Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, combined with its status as a global tourism destination, makes it the ideal location for the brand’s European debut. Strategically located near the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the venue sits in the epicentre of Madrid’s sporting culture, offering fans a one-stop destination for world-class entertainment. The venue features 68 state-of-the-art, full-motion racing simulators that utilise professional-grade motion technology. Guests can compete on iconic circuits in a high-energy atmosphere that mirrors the glamour and grit of the Paddock Club. Beyond the track, the experience is elevated by its quality food and cocktail menu, featuring globally inspired dishes and signature drinks crafted to keep the adrenaline pumping after the chequered flag is waved.

Now in its fourth year and firmly at home in London, ABBA Voyage continues to delight fans of all ages with a setlist of the band’s biggest hits. ABBA Voyage is a virtual concert residency by the Swedish pop group ABBA. The concerts feature virtual avatars (dubbed “ABBAtars”), depicting the group as they appeared in 1979 and use the original vocals recorded by the group, accompanied by a 10 piece live instrumental band on stage. The concerts are held in the ABBA Arena, a purpose-built venue in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. Through cutting-edge technology, immersive lighting and ABBA’s iconic songs, the band performs on stage in a whole new way.

Freight Island’s arrival at Eldon Square exemplifies an industry shift towards immersive, experience-led destinations in retail environments. At 60,000sq ft, the venue is not just a roof top bar, but a space built with multi-dimensional purpose for experiences that blend food, drink, music and culture, positioning it as a blueprint for future mixed-use developments. From large scale events, corporate hospitality and day-to-night experiential use, the new venue offers a diverse mix of amenities, with features such as the UK’s largest retractable-roof, a purpose-built music venue and a curated mix of Newcastle born and bred food & drink operators, framing Freight Island as a standout experiential destination across the UK and Europe. As retail environments continue to shift towards experience-led models, developments like this demonstrate how landlords can ensure the continued success of assets by creating culture-led destinations that attract repeat visits and new audiences by adding to the entertainment ecosystem of a city.

The flagship Arcade Arena by Little Lion Entertainment is scheduled to open in London in summer 2026. The immersive gaming venue, which follows successful launches in Manchester and Dubai, allows players to physically step into classic retro and next-gen video games. Set to be the most ambitious Arcade Arena to date, the London site will feature three major multiplayer worlds, including the PAC-MAN LIVE EXPERIENCE (a walk-in, full-scale Pac-Man maze), Chaos Karts (a real-life racing game) and an exclusive new game titled Alien Invasion.

Meanwhile, Lane7 Group has secured its 30th site, with a new boutique bowling venue set to open in Exeter in early 2027. The new location in the city’s Guildhall Shopping Centre will comprise 27,000sq ft across two floors and marks another significant milestone in the continued growth of the Lane7 brand, which has sites across most major cities in the UK. Lane7 has become synonymous with reshaping tenpin bowling experiences in city centre locations, delivering a premium combination of daytime family-friendly and night time grown-up experiences.

The global pioneer in interactive group gaming, Immersive Gamebox, has signed a multi-million pound franchise agreement with Beyond Box Operations to open 30 sites across the UK in the next five years. The partnership combines Immersive Gamebox’s proprietary interactive gaming technology with a leadership team experienced in scaling consumer brands in high-footfall retail environments, a model designed to capitalise on the growing demand for experiential retail. Working with major studios including Netflix, Warner Bros. and Sony, it allows players to step inside interactive digital games inspired by global entertainment franchises such as Squid Game, Batman and Floor Is Lava, using projection mapping, touch-sensitive walls and motion tracking technology. The concept already has a global network of more than 35 locations across the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

GRID Braehead in Scotland continues to strengthen its position as one of the UK’s leading immersive entertainment destinations, bringing together a dynamic mix of attractions, family experiences, dining and leisure. Home to operators including ODEON Luxe, Tenpin, Paradise Island Adventure Golf and Adventure Land Soft Play – a new soft play concept – the destination continues to evolve with further family-friendly leisure operators and hospitality concepts set to be announced. Momentum is building with the upcoming launch of e-karting and a purpose-built, high-quality outdoor padel facility in 2026, introducing a game-changing indoor track and state-of-the-art facilities as part of a multi-million-pound investment programme. This is all in addition to the new Laser IMAX installation at ODEON and forthcoming upgrades from Funstation and Paradise Island Adventure Golf. With over two million visitors welcomed in 2025, GRID Braehead’s broad leisure and F&B offer continues to drive strong footfall, repeat visitation and long-term destination growth.

The Flying Over Saudi experience was launched at the end of last year at Boulevard City as part of Riyadh Season, introducing visitors to the first experience of its kind in the Kingdom. Developed by the Taiwanese simulator manufacturer Brogent Technologies, in collaboration with the Saudi engineering firm Takwenat, the attraction provides a cinematic aerial journey using immersive technologies and multisensory effects that display Saudi Arabia’s most significant natural and urban landscapes from a new perspective. The experience takes guests on a visual journey over the Kingdom’s diverse terrain, taking in Saudi Arabia’s vast deserts, towering mountains, lush valleys, modern cities and expansive coastlines, in addition to special views of the Two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madinah. Each ride lasts about eight minutes, enhanced by sensory effects such as wind, water mist and natural scent elements, along with innovative seat motion that intensifies the sense of realism and creates an experience close to actual flight.

At the inaugural TOURISE Summit in Riyadh last November, URWLD (‘Your World’) announced that its first destination sports, leisure and lifestyle entertainment venue in the Middle East will be in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital city. With discovery, personal development and community at its heart, URWLD will offer an immersive experience like no other. An inspiring, energised and highly active environment boasting more than a dozen adventure sports and experiences from around the world in one indoor facility, URWLD combines elevated hospitality with lifestyle-inspired food and drink experiences, appealing to both adventure-seeking participants and non-participants alike. Set to open ahead of 2030, the announcement marks the first step in URWLD’s anticipated multi-site, multi-format platform across the Kingdom.

Abu Dhabi’s culture and tourism department has awarded a $1.7bn construction contract for Sphere Abu Dhabi on Yas Island to Alec Engineering and Contracting. Construction on the first Sphere venue outside of the US is expected to be completed by the end of 2029. It will be built on a plot of land between Yas Mall and SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, in close proximity to Yas Island’s other theme parks and experiences. With a capacity of up to 20,000, the new entertainment destination will offer immersive experiences, concert residencies, sporting events and brand activations. The project encompasses the complete design, procurement and construction of the new Sphere venue, featuring state-of-the-art immersive technology systems, advanced structural and mechanical engineering, bespoke manufacturing and installation and integrated sustainable building systems. The original Sphere, launched in 2023 in Las Vegas, is the largest spherical structure in the world with an exterior featuring 580,000sq ft of LED lighting.