Journal · Case study · Romania · 2024–2025
1.6 million+ visitors in two years: our Romanian mall tour
How Coco Agency toured 15 Romanian cities with the country’s biggest mall groups — Iulius Group, NEPI Rockcastle, AFI Europe, Prime Kapital and RC Europe — and three city municipalities.
Executive summary
Between 2024 and 2025, Coco Agency ran the largest exhibition tour of Romanian shopping centres to date. Working with the country’s biggest mall groups — Iulius Group, NEPI Rockcastle, AFI Europe, Prime Kapital and RC Europe — and with the municipalities of Constanța, Galați and Botoșani, we brought our touring exhibitions to 15 cities, from București and Cluj-Napoca to Mamaia and Sfântu Gheorghe.
Over two years the tour welcomed more than 1.6 million visitors. It turned mall atriums, gardens and car parks into destinations for families and schools, and gave every partner a reason for people to visit, stay longer and come back.
The partners
The tour brought together the groups that shape Romanian retail. Iulius Group hosted us at Iulius Mall Cluj-Napoca, Iulius Town Timișoara, Palas Iași and Iulius Mall Suceava. NEPI Rockcastle welcomed Ice Age at Sun Plaza in București, and AFI Europe hosted Dino Park at AFI Ploiești. In Bacău, Oradea, Pitești, Piatra Neamț, Miercurea Ciuc and Sfântu Gheorghe, the exhibitions travelled to centres of NEPI Rockcastle, Prime Kapital and RC Europe, the Czech developer behind the NEST retail parks.
Cities also became partners. The Municipality of Constanța brought Dino Park and Giant Bugs to the seaside resort of Mamaia, and the municipalities of Galați and Botoșani hosted Dino Park for their residents. Together, the tour reached both the largest cities and regional towns that rarely host attractions of this scale.
Working with several networks at once meant one production team, one logistics plan and one set of exhibitions, rotated from city to city. Each mall received a ready-made attraction with marketing material, while we handled transport, installation and dismantling.
Five exhibitions on the road
Living Dinosaurs, presented as Dino Park, was the backbone of the tour and travelled to eleven cities, from Cluj-Napoca to the seaside at Mamaia. Giant Bugs brought giant animatronic insects to four Iulius properties, where it alone welcomed more than 420,000 visitors, and to the summer crowds in Mamaia. Transform Robots visited five cities with life-size Transformers figures, including a 6-metre Bumblebee. Glowing Garden lit up three Iulius malls in winter 2024–2025 with 5,000 lights and 300 light sculptures, drawing more than 336,000 visitors. Ice Age completed the line-up in București.
Where the tour went
| City | Venue / partner | Exhibitions |
|---|---|---|
| București | Sun Plaza (NEPI Rockcastle) | Ice Age |
| Cluj-Napoca | Iulius Mall (Iulius Group) | Glowing Garden, Giant Bugs, Transform Robots, Dino Park |
| Timișoara | Iulius Town (Iulius Group) | Glowing Garden, Giant Bugs, Transform Robots |
| Iași | Palas (Iulius Group) | Glowing Garden, Giant Bugs, Transform Robots |
| Suceava | Iulius Mall (Iulius Group) | Giant Bugs, Transform Robots |
| Ploiești | AFI Ploiești (AFI Europe) | Dino Park |
| Bacău | Partner mall | Dino Park, Transform Robots |
| Oradea | Partner mall | Dino Park |
| Pitești | Partner mall | Dino Park |
| Piatra Neamț | Partner mall | Dino Park |
| Miercurea Ciuc | Partner mall | Dino Park |
| Sfântu Gheorghe | Partner mall | Dino Park |
| Botoșani | Municipality of Botoșani | Dino Park |
| Constanța (Mamaia) | Municipality of Constanța | Dino Park, Giant Bugs |
| Galați | Municipality of Galați | Dino Park |
Results
1.6 million+ visitors. Across 15 cities and two years, the exhibitions brought new foot traffic to every partner mall and city.
Repeat booking. After the tour, Iulius Group booked Living Dragons for the next season.
Families and schools. Educational panels, guided tours and school visits made the malls a weekday destination as well as a weekend outing.
Regional reach. The tour brought world-class attractions to cities such as Piatra Neamț, Botoșani, Galați, Miercurea Ciuc and Sfântu Gheorghe, where families would otherwise travel far to see them.
Public partnerships. Working with the municipalities of Constanța, Galați and Botoșani showed that the same exhibitions work just as well in a city square or a seaside resort as in a mall.
Why it worked
A tour across several mall networks works because every venue gets the same quality at a fraction of the effort. Our own collection of more than 400 dinosaurs, 50 dragons, giant insects, robots and light sculptures lets us adapt each stop to the space — an atrium, a garden, an outdoor plaza — and to the season, from summer dinosaur parks to winter light trails.
For mall owners in Romania and abroad, the lesson is simple: a rotating programme of strong exhibitions keeps a centre in the news, fills it during school holidays and gives families a new reason to come back each season.
At a glance
Photos
Why the tour model works for a mall network
Touring one exhibition across several properties of the same network has clear advantages. The content is produced once and refreshed for each location; the marketing message stays consistent across cities; and every mall can promote its own dates to its own catchment area.
For Iulius, it meant that families in Cluj-Napoca, Suceava, Iași and Timișoara each received the same high-quality attraction in a setting adapted to their mall — from the gardens of Iulius Parc and Palas Gardens to the open spaces of Iulius Gardens in Timișoara.
How we adapted Giant Bugs to each property
No two malls are the same. For every stop we adapted the route to the available space — indoor halls, gardens or open plazas — and chose the order of the habitats so that families moved naturally from one scene to the next. Power, access for trucks and the build-up schedule were agreed with each mall’s technical team in advance.
What made it attractive to schools
The scientific content was designed for learning outside the classroom. Panels about insect anatomy, life cycles, ecosystems and biodiversity gave biology teachers a ready-made visit, and parents a reason to choose the mall for a weekend outing that was both fun and educational.
Lessons for venue owners
An exhibition is most effective when it combines spectacle with substance. The giant animatronic insects bring people in; the educational layer brings school groups and repeat visits; and a well-planned layout keeps visitors in the mall for longer, where they also eat, drink and shop.
If you manage several properties, a touring exhibition across your network can deliver the same impact in every city with one partner. Contact us with your locations and preferred dates, and we will propose a tour plan.
Working with Coco Agency
Coco Agency has produced and toured exhibitions and mass events since 2012, for shopping centres, museums, municipalities and global brands across Europe, the Middle East and North America. Our exhibitions and events have welcomed more than 17 million visitors.
Every project follows the same four steps. First you tell us about your venue, your dates and your goals. Then we send a tailored proposal with a layout for your floor plan, the list of figures or works, the timeline and the budget. Our crew delivers, installs and tests everything with your local team. Finally, we support the run with photos, videos and texts for your marketing, and dismantle and pack at the end.
Questions venues often ask
How much space is needed? Most of our exhibitions are adapted to spaces from about 200 to 900 m², indoors or outdoors, and we design the layout for your floor plan.
How long does the installation take? Usually a few days, depending on the exhibition and the venue. We agree the schedule with your technical team so that the venue can stay open.
Can the exhibition travel to my country? Yes. We have delivered exhibitions in Bulgaria, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, the UK, Canada and many other countries, and we organise the transport and customs documents.