 A scented scene at Tokyo DisneySEA I have taken a shot at predicting what moves visitor attractions will take this year when it comes to smell! These predictions are based on my observations over previous years, new activity in the industry, and growing trends. Museums: More smell stations!Interest in museum smell stations has skyrocketed this decade, and I expect the trend to grow. Smell stations are interactive features that allow visitors to sniff scents. Last year, we saw many, many smell stations launch successfully around the world! Examples include the scented busts at the V&A's Marie Antoinette Style exhibition, the stinky rotating cubes at Thackray Museum of Medicine's POO! exhibition, and Kunstpalast's The Secret Power of Scents exhibition, which includes different kinds of smell stations in different rooms! Exhibitions like these examples have had incredible media coverage, which I am certain will encourage more museums to harness the potential of scents. On top of this, the smaller museums I speak to are becoming more aware of how simple smell stations can be to make, regardless of budget!  The Victoria and Albert Museum's Marie Antoinette Style exhibition Others contributing to this snowballing popularity include the Odeuropa project (which sparked new discussions around the topic from 2021), scent practitioner Tasha Marks (AVM Curiosities) and scent practitioner Sofia Ehrich (who recently launched her practice The Olfactory Contractor). I recommend reading Sofia's observations on the topic of scents in museums! Museums: Less ambient scenting!Ambient scenting will probably take a back seat at museums this year. This is partly because immersive, theatrical sets are not popping up in museums like they used to. However, a more pertient reason is heightened focus on the conservation impact of diffused scents. I believe this focus stems from the smell station boom and museums thinking more about the effects of scents on their collections. With all eyes, noses and budgets on smell stations, ambient scents for existing theatrical sets will probably not be topped up so much in 2026. It is not unusual for ambient scent top-ups to be neglected at visitor attractions anyway, especially when the sets have already absorbed the odours into their walls! There are discussions about scents and conservation in academia that I believe will lead to new confidence among museums in the coming years, regarding the diffusion of scents beyond the well-controlled confines of smell stations. But this is for another year!  The Museum of London Docklands' ambiently scented Sailor Town Theme parks: Planning earlyI anticipate more theme parks considering scent early in the attraction design process. After several years of parks ordering scents as last-minute additions, more teams are getting into the habit of starting early, allowing them to seamlessly incorporate scents into the overall plans for attractions. There is no doubt that this approach leads to noticebly well-considered results. I expect this to continue during 2026, especially with heightened focus on quality as the new Universal Studios park makes it way to the United Kingdom.  Picture credit: Universal Destinations & Experiences Theme Parks: Scented merchandiseI expect theme parks will expand their ranges of merchandise inspired by the scents of attractions. There has already been a noticeable development in this over recent years. During the 2010s, Efteling sold two 100ml room sprays for €8.00 each. Now, there are more sprays, each at 300ml for €17.50, plus €20.00 reed diffusers. Last year, Efteling added scents inspired by the rides De Vliegende Hollander and Piraña to the collection. On top of that, Efteling launched a scented pin, celebrating the 70th birthday of the Hansel and Gretel house diorama. Evidently, scented merchandise sells well! Other theme parks continue to expand their attraction-inspired candle ranges. Last year, Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights introduced $35.00 pizza-scented and confectionary-scented candles to promote two new scare mazes. These added to the list of available candles inspired by other smelly Universal attractions.  Efteling's scent merchandise Theme Parks: Nostalgic scent retirementWith a ride closure or an unexpected change, a popular scent will likely disappear. Let's be realistic. It happens every year! In 2025, it was the stink bug pong in Animal Kingdom's It's Tough to be a Bug!. The year before that, it was the nostalgic odour of Efteling's Stoomtrein, which generations mourned. Which scent could it be in 2026? Is it time for someone to phone home?  It's Tough to be a Bug!; Photo credit: Disney, ABC Scare Mazes: Refreshed smellscapesI foresee newly revised smellscapes and experimentation for this Halloween's scare mazes. This prediction is based on the up-and-down pattern that Halloween events tend to follow when it comes to trying new ideas vs. using up leftover scent stock and keeping to old smellscapes. 2025 was largely a leftover stock year, which is fine—if it makes a pong, use it! However, barely any scents caused a stir on social media like they have done in the past (save a poo stench in Halloween Horror Nights' Terrifier maze, which left a few people giddy). Here's to 2026 being a stinker!  Picture credit: Universal Orlando, Halloween Horror Nights Christmas Events: New ambient scenting (UK)It would not surprise me if even more UK Christmas events introduce scents this year. Big names like Lapland UK and Hyde Park Winter Wonderland were praised for their diverse uses of scents in 2025, after both events' teams had spent the year investigating the best scent solutions. I expect these examples will inspire other Christmas attractions in the UK, especially if ideas are shared at the timely IAAPA Expo in London.  Hyde Park Winter Wonderland; picture credit: Cory Vazquez Escape Rooms: Scent puzzle boost in late 2026With several potential faults, scent puzzles are not popular among escape rooms, but I can see more appearing around the end of the year. While there has been a steady flow of ambient scenting at escape rooms, I advised on several ambitious scent puzzle ideas in late 2025. If these work out well, which I am confident they will, we could see a period of more scent puzzles appearing in the industry. Hopefully escape room owners will see that despite past failures, these kinds of puzzles can work! You just need to know how to approach it right, which is something I am covering in the handbook I am writing. More on that later!  The ambiently scented Temple of the Forbidden Idol at Chronos One Escape Rooms Will any of these predictions will come true? Let's regroup in 2027 after some sniffing...
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