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This chapter looks at similarities between the experience economy and Disneyization, with specific focus placed on theming as a means of enhancing the visitor’s experience. Sophisticated tourists have brought with them the need for research to explain their behavior and place more emphasis on experiences. The Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa, is presented as a case study that uses interpretation as a tool for theming.

This chapter is approached from a marketing perspective on visitor attractions. Several issues and guidelines related to theming are presented to highlight several aspects which visitor attraction managers need to consider when seeking to use theming to enhance or create a visitor experience.

What was evident from the literature is that the theme is the most important aspect in all models (i.e., the experience economy, Disneyization, and interpretation). The theme should be planned meticulously as the theme refers to several aspects not only in the experience itself, but also in the experience cycle. It is therefore a quite complex tool to use that should not be taken lightly in order to benefit fully from the advantages it offers.

The value of this chapter lies in the fact that several models and their similarities were presented with an underpinning tool called theming. As not much research have been done on theming, the guidelines presented by all the models have been considered in a systematic manner that would assist visitor attraction managers in forming a better understanding of the use of the tool and issues related to it. With this said, there are several aspects highlighted in the chapter which necessitate more research in order to assist managers effectively in designing effective themes.

Explores the use of strategies adopted by authors and publishers to enhance the success potential of their books.

Drawing on the literature on the production of best selling business books, strategies and techniques increasingly being deployed in the production of social science texts are considered. These strategies are collectively referred to as the “Ritzerization of knowledge”. The Disneyization of Society, by Alan Bryman, is explored as an example of this Ritzerization strategy.

It is argued that while such techniques aid in the production of easy reading, or “knowledge‐lite”, the dictates of the market may threaten the survival of more demanding texts and, worryingly, the capacity for a scholarly depth of understanding or the development of a substantial knowledge base.

Examines the “Ritzerization of knowledge” in both a social and a marketing context.

Explores developments in tourism education to date, drawing on wider theoretical perspectives including the “McDonaldization” and the “Disneyization” of society. The article raises critical questions that tourism stakeholders need to acknowledge if tourism, both as an industry and as a field of study, is to sustain itself in the long term. To meet the evolving needs of stakeholders, this article proposes that tourism education should become more specialist in nature. The authors forward a three‐domain model of tourism education based on generic, functional, and product/market‐based themed degree routes. The article outlines a cost/benefit analysis of theming tourism education for the key stakeholders and puts forward an action plan for its implementation.

Just prior to the recent millennial transition, The Observer polled a cross‐section of British celebrities about their perceptions of paradise. Most of these were suitably vague – perpetual joy, renewed relationships, blissful state of mind etc. – but the anarchic comedian Mark Thomas archly described Heaven as “smelling of bananas”. Off‐hand possibly, flippant undoubtedly, yet Thomas’s remark is strikingly apt, since bananas are the original “forbidden fruit” of the Garden of Eden. Apples are mere interlopers, latter‐day arrivistes that have prospered thanks to the spin‐doctoring tactics of the wily Serpent. This paper, therefore, aims to set the record straight by telling a tall banana tale and explaining how bananamarketing is the future of our field.

Trainers need to consider changes in working practices, which, it is argued, influence managers' perceptions of their careers. A total of 540 managers were interviewed, and a questionnaire was used to measure the relative importance of individual career anchors. It was found that younger managers were more orientated towards their own skills and what they could contribute, whereas older managers were more inclined to be aware of the limitations of their role in the organisation. It was stressed that the difference between the perception of their careers of the younger and older managers is something which the trainer needs to consider. Also significant to the trainer was how similar male and female managers were in their perceptions of their career anchors.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the perceived brand equity of professional football clubs on foreign markets as these clubs firmly want to expand and reach a global brand status.

Fitting with an inductive approach, 12 semi‐structured interviews are conducted in order to analyse the perceptions of Chinese fans of four English Premier League clubs.

The results of this research highlight the fact that the strength of professional football brand equity on the Chinese market is strongly determined by the level of brand awareness and perceived quality but, due to the increasing competition on foreign markets, professional football clubs need to clearly define their strategic marketing in order to improve the two other dimensions of brand equity, which are brand image and loyalty, which represents crucial stake to distinguish themselves.

The results provide useful information for professional clubs in general which want to become global but also provide relevant ways to improve brand equity for the four clubs investigated. This paper is one of the first to analyse perceived brand equity of professional clubs in direct competition among foreign potential or current customers.