Sohret Pakis, was recently honoured with a 2022 Executive Board Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the water park industry from the World Waterpark Association.

The Executive Board Award was officially presented on Oct. 5, 2022 during the World Waterpark Association (WWA) Show at the Caesars Forum Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA with the participation of senior executives of leading industry experts.

Executive Board Awards are presented annually to individuals or organizations for special accomplishment in the water leisure industry that have contributed to industry knowledge and expertise. Sohret Pakis is the first female director from Turkey to be deemed worthy of this prestigious award. The award has only been to China for one year, apart from the United States. Sohret Pakis was the first person from the European continent to be deemed worthy of this award.

Sohret started her professional career as a Human Resources Generalist for the Pfizer Pharmaceutical Company’s HR Department. After six months with Pfizer, she was promoted to Assistant Human Resources Manager. Sometime later Sohret left Pfizer to join Polin Waterparks. Eventually, the business evolved to require the need for both reorganization and prospective-export targets. In supporting this transition, Sohret was part of the team that took the first initiatives toward structuring the human resources, sales and marketing departments, both in-house and abroad, and she managed three crucial departments.

For 20 years, she has worked in the attractions industry and has developed a passion for it. Over the years, Sohret has helped the company develop a strong network of contacts, and she has met people from all over the world, led the team to grow the brand to a global level and involved in many private and local projects. During this period, Sohret has worked on a team conducting market research all over the world in waterparks industry and had the chance to closely follow attractions and recreation market dynamics

Always one to seek out new knowledge, Sohret recently completed her master’s degree in Neuroscience. She participated in Professor Sinan Canan’s ‘’AcikBeyin NeuroScience Documentaries’’ series. Sohret has been leading research on the connection between waterslides and applied neuroscience, developing the first quantitative study in the field of neurorecreation. This new phenomenon regarding the relationship between recreation and neuro-science, coined as neurorecreation, underlies as a new concept and/or field of research. 

“I am extremely honoured to receive this prestigious award. Thankful to the World Waterpark Association for their recognition. I am truly honoured and grateful to all those who believed in me, opened the way for me, and who have walked alongside me. This is our award. This is our story. I’m incredibly grateful for the many opportunities I’ve had the work on great projects with great people from all over the world. I consider those opportunities to be my treasure" said Sohret Pakis.