| Applause Award | |
| Awarded For: | The finest in amusement parks |
| Presenter: | Liseberg |
| Country: | Worldwide |
| Year: | 1980 |
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 | |
| Year | Park | Award Finalists | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Magic Kingdom | ||||
| Opryland USA | ||||
| Epcot | ||||
| Knott's Berry Farm | ||||
 Europa Park | Busch Gardens Williamsburg De Efteling Opryland USA SeaWorld San Diego Universal Studios Hollywood | |||
 Efteling | Universal Studios Florida | |||
| Universal Studios Florida | ||||
| Cedar Point | Busch Gardens Williamsburg Six Flags Magic Mountain Universal Studios Hollywood | |||
| Silver Dollar City | Kennywood Parc Astérix | |||
| Hersheypark | Pleasure Beach Blackpool Parc Astérix | |||
| Busch Gardens Williamsburg | Gardaland Pleasure Beach Blackpool | |||
| Holiday World & Splashin' Safari | Gardaland Tivoli | |||
| Islands of Adventure | Dollywood Legoland Billund | |||
 Xetutul Theme Park | SeaWorld San Diego | |||
| Dollywood | Alton Towers Phantasialand | |||
 Ocean Park Hong Kong | Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Puy du Fou | |||
 Puy du Fou | Chimelong Paradise PortAventura Park | |||
| Busch Gardens Tampa | Legoland Billund Siam Park | |||
 Xcaret Park | PortAventura Park Universal Studios Japan | |||
 Tokyo DisneySea |