Despite a challenging global market, the negative impact of inflation and interest rate hikes on the retail industry and the  overall market for festive decorative lighting, the Tyrolean lighting artists from MK Illumination were able to achieve some notable highlights this year and were successful in lighting up public spaces and drawing crowds. 

With revenue estimated at 165 million euros, MK Illumination is all the more delighted to be one of the few players in the industry to still achieve growth of 3%, making it the most successful year in the company’s history. While sales in Europe remained stable at a high level, MK recorded significant growth in the Middle East in particular, with some outstanding projects like the Galleria Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi and the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai.

Klaus Mark, founder and CEO of MK Illumination showcases some of their new projects worldwide – from Melbourne to Manhattan, to Munich’s city centre to the new light park in Schönbrunn and believes is company is set up for growth in 2024.

Carousel of Dreams in Manhattan
In addition to the beloved Christmas lights for the Rockefeller Centre, Fox News and Radio Music City Hall, about 70 MK employees in the US worked with other partners to make an additional statement for the world-famous department store Saks Fifth Avenue.

This year, Saks entered into an exclusive cooperation for their Christmas staging with luxury fashion house Dior for the first time.

American Christmas was honoured to be part of the Christian Dior X Saks Fifth Avenue Holiday Façade Takeover.  This epic project was a remarkable partnership and collaboration with 12 different companies across 5 countries which transformed the ten story façade of the luxury department store into a ‘Carousel of Dreams’ highlighting various symbolic codes of the Fashion House.  These custom made works of art featured watercolour effects and three-dimensional metal elements.

Klaus Mark, founder and CEO of MK Illumination, who has just returned from a visit to the US, said: “New York is the global Christmas destination, the place where trends are started. In addition to numerous traditional illuminations, which are an essential part of a festive Christmas for people, there is also a very emotional sound-to-light section. We will continue to invest in this area of interactive lighting technology in the coming years while also implementing it enthusiastically in other regions.”

Visitors to LUMAGICA light parks expected to number more than 1.1 million

Visitors to LUMAGICA light parks expected to reach 1.1 million
MK’s own light parks under the LUMAGICA brand have also established themselves as a successful event platform during the season of long dark nights. Fifteen light parks have their doors open worldwide until the end of February, including numerous new locations such as Isla San Marcos in Mexico, Hamburg’s “Schwarze Berge”, Munich’s Cavalluna Park, and the Schönbrunn Palace Winter Wonderland by LUMAGICA in Vienna.

MK is very happy with the visitor figures for the first few weeks: “Our light parks are so popular because they really draw people into the staging by using interactive entertainment. LUMAGICA is also our own creative playground. Here we can let off steam and experiment with all the latest lighting technology,” said Mark.

2024 outlook
If the forecasts of economic experts are to be believed, the market environment is set to remain challenging. However, one thing is clear: People need encounters – as the long-term Harvard study on happiness research clearly demonstrated yet again.

Demographic changes are occurring in our cities as well. For example, the dramatic increase in the number of single households highlights how important the design of public spaces is and the opportunities this presents for city centres and municipalities.

“We need to pass on a positive mood to people in public spaces. People need places to come together – we’ve all learnt this from past experiences. That’s why, now more than ever, it is important to apply good concepts and design these places as ‘feel-good spaces’.

“If we meet these challenges head-on with innovative, sustainable, and truly fearless approaches, not only can we as MK Illumination remain just as successful as before but so can our partners and customers as well,” said Mark.