The Theme Park Guy

If – for a moment in time – you feel the deep urge to forget about the pandemic, the war, the news in general, or maybe your ex-spouse, mother-in-law, toxic boss, abusive customer or lazy employee, come to our island in the amazing Azores.

We have a road that steep, it’ll make you (and your car) forget everything else.

I strongly recommend not to be as stupid as me and actually go drive it. But if you do, and once you get back up and unglue your jittery hands from the steering wheel, you’ll have had that coveted moment of truly living in the here and now, I guarantee you that!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_if-for-a-moment-in-time-you-feel-the-activity-7017742442305085440-Il9S?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Cruising around Central Florida with my friends Jakob Wahl and Jessica Franz. The three of us have something in common: we are German-born 80s kids who have moved abroad for many many years, settling into various countries and cultures, be it America, the Middle East, or Asia.

If you haven't tried it yet, and have the freedom or get the opportunity to move abroad, do it. It doesn't matter whether you go as an employee, entrepreneur or explorer, whether to Sri Lanka or Sweden, Korea or Colombia – you will find something priceless there, something that you cannot find at the place where you were born. Something inside yourself.

(And for those hesitant, keep in mind, you can always go back. And after some time, you possibly might not want to.)

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7001479865195466752/?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_feedUpdate%3A%28V2%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7001479865195466752%29

Here's me in the early 90s when I was a boy soloist performing at opera houses around the world, meeting various presidents and celebrities such as the brown-haired prince to my right.

I've learned three things:

1. Nothing is forever. A boy's voice cracks in the early teens, and so does every business model, eventually. Embrace change, or change will embrace you. Never get comfortable with your modus operandi.

2. Do something that you'd want to do for 7 days a week. If you feel like only doing it for 5 days, that means you don't really like it. And if you don't like it, you won't get very far. Of course it's fine to work a normal working week, but it ought to be something you'd want to do all the time anyway. Something you dream about on the weekends. I personally love working 7 days a week, because I do things that I don't consider 'work'.

3. The people in power are all inherently good, no matter what they do. They are trying hard, wholeheartedly sacrificing their personal lives for something bigger. Not many of us do. I have watched a lot of the shakers and movers from the 90s from the sidelines, through a young boy's eyes, from George H. W. Bush to Helmut Kohl to Leonard Bernstein. How they interacted, moved, what they said. And I only saw hard-working, dedicated superhumans who gave their everything. Don't envy them for being powerful. Don't resent them because they may have a different opinion. I have learned to never envy anyone who is more powerful, successful, wealthy, balanced or happy than me. Whenever I meet people who are, I am just genuinely happy for them, and can't wait to hear their stories and learn something. Not ever accepting envy as an emotion is the best thing I took away from that time.

Thank you to Tölzer Knabenchor GmbH for allowing me to learn these lessons early on!!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_heres-me-in-the-early-90s-when-i-was-a-boy-activity-6998120119260340224-sCtc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Our interview with the Middle East's titan of themed entertainment is live.

Mohamed Al Zaabi is not just an inspiring CEO and empowering leader, but also a thoughtful philosopher and simply one of the most amazing human beings I have ever met anywhere — he would make for the perfect spokesperson for the Arab world!

Thank you to my team members and colleagues Michael Giskin for preparing the questions, Waleed Farahat for the top-notch video shoot, and Matylda Wierietielny for the many days and nights of editing. 

Here we go (be sure to not miss the second half):
https://lnkd.in/d-z68nWh

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6999041151991201792/?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_feedUpdate%3A%28V2%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6999041151991201792%29

Hilariously aggressive (and smart) advertising campaign by Yas Island to lure drivers away from the Dubai Parks & Resorts exit and drive on to Yas: https://lnkd.in/dr_ZRNar

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/themeparx_hilariously-aggressive-and-smart-advertising-activity-6958527146696798208-0d3F/

Kayaking with the formidable Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi.

Last September my team and I shot a great, somewhat philosophical video interview with him that we'll finally release this year. Stay tuned.

I've met Mohamed several times now over the years and noticed that I've never heard him complain about anything or anyone.

His boss, the chairman of Aldar? The most energetic man he's ever worked with.
His employees? Phenomenal colleagues with a 'passion engine' inside.
Big family and big business simultaneously? Absolutely.
What's next? We have a thousand ideas in the drawer.
Expand beyond Yas Island? Of course.
Meet for dinner? Yes.
Conquer the world? Why not.

Hopefully the Mohamed Al Zaabi School of Management will pop up on some mangrove-laden island one day. Or better, the MAZ School of Life, as its prospective principal has mastered all three – wisdom, wealth, and the unshakeable inner bliss we call happiness.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_kayaking-with-the-formidable-mohamed-abdalla-activity-6944928653981982720-HQLD/

Visited by my old friend Thomas Hessler. Some 20 years ago we collaborated in the back-then-pioneering world of affiliate marketing (= performance-based online marketing) through his start-up Zanox; the difference is that I made $300k with it, and he made $300m, lol. Today, Thomas is an investor to reckon with. Just two months ago he dragged me to a birthday party attended by no other than Elon Musk.

I remember whenever I've discussed business ideas with him over the years, he always paused for a few seconds, looked somewhere in the distant horizon – summoning some Chinese wealth god or the like – and would then either say 'scaleable' or 'not scaleable'.

Theme parks? Not scaleable.
Franchisable FEC concept? Not scaleable.
Theme park in the metaverse? Scaleable.

But Thomas, I don't want to live in a parallel world that makes humanity adopt the face expression of Mark Zuckerberg. "Stefan, but look, humanity is not stupid, humans may fall for crap for some time, but not forever; we have always found a way forward, to make inventions work for the benefit of all, and the future is always brighter than the past!"

Well, you better listen to a guy who can turn one dollar into a billion.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_visited-by-my-old-friend-thomas-hessler-activity-6942496940282548224-AOw5/

Passed by Riyadh to meet my fellow serial expat friends Noble Coker and his wonderful wife Eleanor. I know Noble from his times at Hong Kong Disneyland and when he was heading Chinese theme park developers Dalian Wanda Group & Kaisa Group. Last year he became CEO of the Diplomatic Quarter, a landscaped district in Saudi Arabia's capital hosting a record 80+ foreign embassies. Noble knows every diplomat in there, and boy, every time we talk I feel he really is the epitome of an ethical, value-driven top executive.

If everyone were to live abroad, there'd be no wars, so from me to all the diplomats out there: with the Cold War having turned Hot with a 30-year delay, we really need you now!! Putting that genie back in the bottle may prove a colossal diplomatic challenge, but there is no alternative, and hopefully the outcome will be a safer world for all. If alternatively we eventually end up with a nuclear World War, the survivors – if any – won't be busy looking back at political convictions or national pride, but forever wonder about the mind-bending collective stupidity of their ancestors. Thank you for your genuine efforts to avoid this!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_passed-by-riyadh-to-meet-my-fellow-serial-activity-6940053899819008000-r3zU

To my friends and partners who haven't visited Dubai Expo 2020 yet, do it! It's fantastic. Doubtlessly the world's best temporary theme park! Congratulations to all the geniuses involved in this magnetic masterpiece.

It took me 8 days to visit all the pavilions, so if you have only a day or two, here are my recommendations. I sorted them not by the size of their budget, but by the size of their spirit:

• Syria
• Israel
• Saudi Arabia
• Terra Pavilion
• USA
• Spain
• Pakistan
• Japan
• El Salvador
• Mexico
• Gabon
• Portugal
• Brazil
• South Sudan
• Yemen
• Holy See
• Muslim World League
• African Union
• Iraq
• Turkmenistan
• Suriname
• Ethiopia
• Cambodia
• Jamaica
• Bahrain (for the food)

You need to book Japan in advance through the expo app, and you only have about 3 minutes between 9am and 9:03am to do so, or else the slots are gone for that day. With Japan's borders closed since March 2020, the adjacent sushi restaurant is the world's only accessible truly authentic outlet — come between 10am-11am and you won't face a queue. Food in the Bahrain and Denmark pavilions is excellent, too. The worst exhibit is Libya's, even the staff wants to get out of that space. Come early, at around 9:30am, and avoid Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at all costs.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_to-my-friends-and-partners-who-havent-visited-activity-6901018226638344192-P1Hm

It’s been 10 years since we launched themeparX.com – the world’s premier portal for theme park construction & development updates today.

Thousands of contributors, millions of visitors and 27 million project views later, our traffic continues to grow exponentially. We've now become a team of a dozen bright folks working across all continents and time zones.

While we meticulously showcase what's happening on the ground, in the here and now, we’ve also turned into a history book of what’s been going on over the past 10 years. Shanghai Disneyland from blueprint to opening? Universal Studios Beijing from greenfield to today? Genting’s Malaysia theme park going into a foxhole and coming out a different animal? Chinese and Middle Eastern mega developments opening to fanfare or falling through altogether? We’ve got it all, documented to the smallest detail. And it's not only the people involved in all these projects who visit us, but also – and we really know it – presidents, sheikhs, billionaires and well-known CEOs.

Are you one of our regular visitors? Has themeparX helped you over the years? Share it with us, right here or through your own post. Tag it with #themeparX and you’ll enter to win our draw (deadline is Dec 10th):

1. If you are an industry supplier, manufacturer or consultant, you’ll get a free Supplier 100 account for one year. If you’re already a client, a free renewal.
2. If you are a developer/park owner, our team will get together with you to share insights that no other platform or tool can provide. It’ll make your life much easier.
3. If you are neither a supplier nor a developer, we’ll book you a flight, hotel and ticket to a theme park of your choice, anywhere in the world.

A big thank you to all our contributors, supplier partners, team members and visitors!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_themeparx-activity-6866491008046170113-l4hh

In March 2020, when all international borders shut down at once, perpetual travelers shared a common fate. It was the Nomad’s Dead End – digital or not, they all got grounded.

My own journey ended in Vladivostok, in Russia’s Far East. Supposedly a side trip from Japan, I was never able to go back for another round of sashimi. So I spent 5 months of my life in Primorye, a remote part of Russia not known by many (including Russians). Not yet.

A gracious, Tsarist-era city outshining Disneyland, with flight times to Japan shorter than many flights within Japan? Real wild tigers mingling with Russian fishermen 100 miles west of Hokkaido? Scandinavian-looking kids playing in a village 200 meters from China and 300 meters from North Korea? Authentic North Korean restaurants run by North Koreans adjacent to a Russian branch of South Korea’s Lotte Hotel? Beaches glittering like the shores of the Seychelles? It’s all here. Next year I'll publish the whole collection.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_in-march-2020-when-all-international-borders-activity-6864936453936295936-VyKT

Keeping track of the places I've been to.

I've come to realize that the more you travel, the more humble you get. (Chances are, if you meet someone really arrogant, that sad chap has never truly traveled or lived abroad.)

You learn that what's fancy in one culture is silly in another. What's cool here is odd there. It's a puzzle, the pieces only connect because they are different. In Middle Eastern GCC countries, you can't kiss your partner in broad daylight, but you can give someone a bag with $100k in cash without a receipt. In Scandinavia, you can kiss anyone as much as you want, but you'll go to jail for the bag of cash. The vibes in Tel Aviv and Beirut beat at the same rhythm, but their residents don't know each other, so they fight for no reason. There are things you'll see on the way from Krasnoyarsk to Vladivostok that you won't find anywhere else, just as on the journey along the coast from Duqm to Salalah.

With international borders reopening and choices aplenty, knock on my door if you need a little travel advice. Whether you're single, in love, with family, seeking action or in need of serenity – I can point you in the right direction!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_keeping-track-of-the-places-ive-been-to-activity-6863823430945402881-IvhB

Hola mi señora, ¿dónde está el camino a américa?

To my American friends who haven't attended a trade show in two years, you gonna love Jakob Wahl's International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Orlando expo. It'll feel like exiting a maze!!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_hola-mi-se%C3%B1ora-d%C3%B3nde-est%C3%A1-el-camino-a-am%C3%A9rica-activity-6863002708853436416-ggrg

Meet the Middle East's king of theme parks — the inspiring & witty Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi. Coming soon.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_meet-the-middle-easts-king-of-theme-parks-activity-6848266891019067392-vA73

Smart suppliers get found when people google what they do.

Smart suppliers also check their web statistics and the source of their qualified leads.

Without exaggeration, our themeparX/resortX Supplier 100 has become the #1 source of referral traffic – both quantitatively and qualitatively – and SEO power for almost all our supplier clients.

https://www.supplier100.com

Ask us about special deals during IAAPA Barcelona.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_smart-suppliers-get-found-when-people-google-activity-6847618936385613824-SgHo

To those of our friends in the theme park industry who still think that themeparX.com is 'just another website'.. ;)

It was about time for us to formally join IAAPA, the folks behind the fabulous attractions industry events my team and I have been attending for so many years.

Particularly happy that expos finally resume starting with a Europe show headed by my passionate, energizing and ultraclever friend Jakob Wahl. See you in Barcelona!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_it-was-about-time-for-us-to-formally-join-activity-6846430323371212801-RXQd

We are hiring here at Walalah LLC (UAE)!

And we do things a little differently. Wherever you are in the world, and whatever your background, if you work in media/web/film/creative/coding and are truly 101% passionate about what you do — passionate as in doing it and thinking about it for 7 days per week, day & night — come join us here in the UAE!

Your CV or degree matter to us as much as the color of your bathroom tiles. Passion over papers.

Send us a note to walalah@themeparkholding.com with what truly drives you, and we'll do our best to create a position for you!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_we-are-hiring-here-at-walalah-llc-uae-activity-6844953901263802368-5bXu

Real Story:

A few years back I stumbled into a beautiful, old-style boutique hotel in the middle of nowhere in a less-visited wealthy Arab Gulf country.

It was run by an elderly Indian gentleman whose goggle-eyed hospitality knew no limits. From rushing to the car to help us unload the luggage, to proactively showing every single room in the hotel, to having a long, deep conversation about life, people and the origins of the various birds who pass by the hotel surrounded by desert – he knew everything about the place he ran and his curiosity and eagerness to learn new things had no boundaries. It was outstanding. No St Regis or Four Seasons gets you that kind of personnel and energy.

Two years later I passed by again and found the hotel closed, sealed and cordoned off with a government notice. I phoned my Indian friend and he told me that they were forced to close since a new regulation came into force, allowing only hospitality degree holders to manage a hotel – he didn't have that, and they couldn't find one that wanted to relocate.

After another year I ended up driving past again, and to my surprise it had reopened. I walked in, hoping to see my Indian friend. What I found was a younger guy slumped into his seat and pulling a booger out of his nose while staring into his smartphone. That must be the hospitality degree holder, I thought. And I was right. I inquired where the Indian gentleman was. "Old man went back to India," he mumbled. I then asked him what made him take his new job and he said "Well, ya know, better than nothing, but I’m made for something better."

As far as I know the hotel is now closed again.

Degrees, shmegrees. Are we moving into the right direction?

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_real-story-a-few-years-back-i-stumbled-activity-6839616643946053633-O-4c

Here is a fun short film we shot almost 20 years ago.

Little budget, but lots of passion.

Can't wait to get back to filmmaking shortly, continuing production on our theme park movie halted by the pandemic.

Watch it here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_here-is-a-fun-short-film-we-shot-almost-20-activity-6838904447226130433-66p0

Keen to try? This way please: https://www.supplier100.com

Thank you to all the American, British, French, German, Russian and Chinese scientists for the many sleepless nights in 2020. Merry Christmas!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_normalcy-is-near-thank-you-to-all-the-american-activity-6747435142182129664-okyZ

To my business partners and friends who urgently need to travel internationally, right now:

I've done this several times over the past few months. You can still fly from almost anywhere to anywhere via Istanbul airport. Turkey currently imposes no restrictions on entry for any nationality. They have a Covid testing facility in the arrivals hall (landside, past immigration) that operates 24/7 and delivers test results within 2-4 hours. Max 4! Cost per person is 250 Lira, equaling EUR 27 or $32. If you have visa-free access to Turkey (e.g. EU citizens, Russians, Chinese) or an e-visa (e.g. Americans) and schedule a 7-hour-layover in Istanbul, you can comfortably pass your Covid test and continue your journey to the MANY countries who'll let you in with that test result. If you test positive, you'll be quarantined for 14 days in a hotel-like facility, with all expenses paid by the Turkish government. Staff told me that queues are zero at night and up to 30 mins during mornings. They catch about 20+ positive cases per day, the remainder is negative.

When I took these pics earlier this month, I saw flights from/to the US, Brazil, EU, Russia, GCC, Africa, ASEAN, HK (not PRC China), Korea.

A big thank you to the Turks for being so organized and keeping the world connected!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_to-my-business-partners-and-friends-here-activity-6739083245872279552-obh3

Here's not a sales pitch, but a PLEA to all the industry suppliers, manufacturers and consultants out there: for the sake of your business and survival, take the internet seriously!!

We deal with a lot of suppliers, all the time. Many run their online presence professionally, show up with an appealing website, ensure they get found, track what's happening and have a process in place to turn visits into leads, and leads into deals.

But there are also way too many who have left their websites abandoned. We've seen crazy things: pages that take 30 seconds to load, 404 errors all over the place, dreadful English, broken contact forms, old contact numbers, no analytics implemented, analytics implemented but no access, clumsy SEO that backfires, self-destructing backlinks, etc.

Nothing can replace the power of physical meetings, expos and conferences, no doubt. But the internet will forever be the place where all of us get found first, including by founders, investors, CEOs, governors, sheikhs and rainmakers of all kinds, now and just as much when this pandemic is long behind us.

If you don't believe in something, you don't invest in it, and consequently won't get anything out of it. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. When it comes to the internet, it can prove fatal.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_heres-not-a-sales-pitch-but-a-plea-to-all-activity-6742415377059344384-M_lJ

Here's something positive: a map showing major theme parks and resorts under construction right now. Yes, right now!

Via our portals themeparX & resortX, visited by millions and run Mon-Sun by a team of six from across all time zones, we know precisely what's happening on the ground. And while both socially-shared fun and international travel are in a state of deep freeze, the entertainment industry has absolute confidence in a better tomorrow.

I totally believe in tomorrow, too. I frankly don't understand the doomsday language of 'post-corona reality' and 'it'll never be the same again'. Of course the world will be the same again. It'll all go back to normal. It'll even be better than normal. Once cross-border travel is restored and social distancing a matter of the past, we'll be so much more grateful about the basics. That once again we'll take off on a plane. That we'll be squeezed into a middle seat. That our seat neighbor coughs at us, without consequences. That an immigration officer asks us an obnoxious question, which we'll reciprocate by leaping over the counter and giving him a heartfelt hug.

Tomorrow will be a better yesterday, and those who don't give in to misery, anxiety and lethargy now, but prepare for the surreally superb times ahead, will seize the day.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_heres-something-positive-a-map-showing-activity-6663488483945967619-2CNz

Met my old friend Vikram Chopra in Al Ain, UAE, earlier this month. I don’t think there’s a multi-billion dollar theme park development anywhere in the Middle East that Vikram hasn't either been involved in or headed up, from Ferrari World to Dubai Parks & Resorts to Saudi Arabia's Qiddiya.

Vikram also gave me some invaluable feedback on themeparX seven years ago. Whatever his next project or venture will be, those who work with him can consider themselves very lucky!

Apart from theme parks, there's something else we have in common. While many of my friends consider me somewhat wack for having been living smartphone-free for the past three years, Vikram – unbelievably – lives entirely sugar-free, with no exceptions. So our commonality is that we both agree that we'd go nuts if we had to switch sides.

Happy New Year ahead! Try starting it both smartphone-free AND sugar-free

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_met-my-old-friend-vikram-chopra-in-al-ain-activity-6617608273866608640-JUgr

Here’s to some of the most hard-working, honorable and resilient among us: Eastern European women!

I’ve been to every country and corner from Warsaw to Minsk to Kiev to Krasnodar to Samara to Almaty to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. And it bugs me that up until today, long after a period of decline and poverty, these phenomenal Slavic women – when traveling – still at times have to face immigration officers, hotel receptionists and bar patrons giving them that condescending 'you may be a cheap, easy gold-digger' look. (They have no clue!)

Wherever I looked – whether in Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan or elsewhere – what I’ve found were driven women equipped with an extraordinary survival instinct and strength of character, working relentlessly hard in their jobs, and on themselves. Stereotyping them is not just demeaning and offensive, it’s outright ignorant nonsense!

Maybe it's time to send those stereotype-perpetuating immigration officers, hotel receptionists and bar patrons to the moon, so they can see that our Planet Earth is not flat, but round, and at the end of all East there is West again.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_heres-to-some-of-the-most-hard-working-activity-6552514147270082560-pKVy

The two best habits I acquired in the past two years:

1. I don’t have a smartphone anymore; which means I’m not online 24/7, and when I leave the building I’m really out there, fully present, connected to the real world. Internet a la WiFi plus laptop is enough. Smartphones are like cigarettes. You only feel like you need them as long as you smoke them.

2. I write all my emails offline; so I download all the incoming ones, then switch off the WiFi and answer them one by one. That way I’m not distracted and infinitely more productive. Writing emails like this, offline and focused, is like writing letters in the past – you reflect before you put your words together. Plus, you don't get incoming emails while you’re writing your own, creating an infinite data loop (that drives you nuts). There was a reason that 20 years ago, the postman rung the bell only once a day, not 80 times an hour.

If I hadn’t switched to these two habits – try at least one of them for a few days! – I think by now I'd probably look like the challenged goat in the picture.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_the-two-best-habits-i-acquired-in-the-past-activity-6543830284012449792-WDYC

I froze when I found this disillusioned plastic bear in a theme park in Turkmenistan.

My travels have taught me that that’s the exact facial expression people develop over time when they live under governments which don’t owe them any explanations.

But that bear? That one, too? Either the sculptor had a deep sense of humor, matched by the buyer, or the sculptor lacked talent and the buyer self-reflection. I’ll never know.

Thank you to whoever put that shattered, disenchanted bear face inside Turkmenbashi's Land of Fairy Tales Park in Ashgabat, a theme park in a country run by a white marble-obsessed dentist-turned-forever-ruler, where people cannot gather publicly for anything but an amusement ride. You made my day.

http://www.thethemeparkguy.com/park/turkmenbashis-land-of-fairy-tales/

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_i-froze-when-i-found-this-disillusioned-plastic-activity-6541299574252855296-mo_K

themeparX just passed the 3 million visitor mark according to Google Analytics! Traffic has been growing consistently every year since we launched in 2011 and shows zero signs of slowing down.

And it’s not just any traffic:

We did some thorough analysis of who visits us a few years ago (visitors back then had to register to access the site), and even we were surprised to learn that more than 50% of our traffic is made up of business visitors: from owners to developers, suppliers to consultants, government representatives, even CEOs and royalty. 20% visit us repeatedly.

It’s really gratifying to see so many getting so much value out of our moderated daily on-the-ground updates from all the major entertainment development sites in the world. We are a team of 7 now and will keep it up the best way we can.

Thank you, and enjoy: http://www.themeparX.com

Here is a map showing all the hotels and places I've stayed at. It took me some time to compile this, but it actually inspired a sense of beautiful nostalgia. Try doing this yourself!

I've added a short comment for each stay, so this map may help you a bit with your own vacation planning! Totally empty beach resorts with crystal-clear blue water and jumping dolphins, just you and them? Places without smartphone junkies where people make eye contact and smile at each other? Palace hotels from heaven? Transit hotels from hell? Here we go: http://www.offhotels.com/map

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_here-is-a-map-showing-all-the-hotels-and-activity-6514581127783608320-QLz8

These were my wonderful North Korean tour guides back in 2010, while I was exploring the many roller coasters of Pyongyang: http://www.thethemeparkguy.com/park/pyongyang-fun-fairs/

What I took away from that trip was that North Koreans are totally normal people, grappling with poverty, but much less brainwashed than you may think.

I have no idea where my two friends in that pic are today, and what they’re doing. But it heartens me that ongoing political developments will probably ensure that they, too, one day will travel abroad and get to explore Seoul and Tokyo for themselves. I really wish this for them.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_these-were-my-wonderful-north-korean-tour-activity-6510946085115088896-El5C

Here are some thoughts on how to keep my beloved European Union competitive and future-proof:

1. Introduce English as a second official language union-wide! Every resident should be allowed to file their taxes in English in any member state today, and future generations must be able to hold decent conversations with each other.

2. Harmonize acquisition of EU citizenship! In Spain, Filipinos can acquire it in 2 years, while a Belarusian in Austria has to wait for 10 years. Some nationals can bestow EU citizenship on their spouses while living abroad, others can't. Successful foreign managers on 3-year contracts across several member states stay a foreigner in the Union forever. That's nonsense. Granting citizenship after 5 years of residence union-wide would make the EU tremendously attractive, particularly if those years don’t have to be spent in the same member state.

3. Min tax 10%, max 35% (both personal & corporate). The moment you demand 50%, people either emigrate or keep the tax consultants busy. We have some of the highest AND lowest tax rates in the world. From 0% to 60%. Too extreme.

4. Dramatic and proactive improvement in our relations with Russia and Turkey. These countries are our land bridge to Asia. Losing them as friends would turn the EU into an island.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_here-are-some-thoughts-on-how-to-keep-my-activity-6510221890710237184-p6_I

Here is a picture I took from the mountain behind Hong Kong Disneyland back in 2011. Looks serene. But that mountain is truly treacherous.

There are no visible hiking trails, so my professional hiker pal Michael and I more or less crawled through the bush for a mile or two. Shortly after taking that pic we were caught in a thunderstorm, and through neverending rain and in complete darkness we somehow scrambled, skipped and slid back to civilization; a ‘trek’ that took many hours, was genuinely dangerous (cliffs!) and NO FUN.

Nevertheless, it was worth the risk. Hong Kong’s is my favorite Disney resort, not for the park itself, but for its location and its potential. While the other five grace various suburbs and swamplands, this one sits in its very own and very special lost valley.

Pictures: http://www.thethemeparkguy.com/park/hong-kong-disneyland

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_here-is-a-picture-i-took-from-the-mountain-activity-6507139221592031232-h_UO

Here is to the remnants of what would likely have become the UAE’s most successful and beloved theme park: Universal Studios Dubailand!

Impeccably well-designed by my friends from FORREC, it went as far as the start of construction, but wasn’t meant to be and faltered in the second half of 2008.

It’s such a shame. Watch how far it got: http://www.thethemeparkguy.com/park/universal-studios-dubailand/

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stefanzwanzger_here-is-to-the-remnants-of-what-would-likely-activity-6506770267149266944-mGgp

Theme & Water Park Suppliers – here’s a welcome side effect of our themeparX supplier package: 80% of our clients experience a search engine ranking improvement, catapulting their own websites above their direct competitors’. That’s one of the reasons why we have a 9-out-of-10 renewal rate. The screenshot below shows our clients’ unedited, real 1st page rankings for a keyword of their choice as of today. (If you have trouble believing this, google some generic supplier keywords and ask yourself why the suppliers in our directory are habitually ranked better than our non-clients.)

We have publicly committed to working with no more than 100 suppliers in total, so grab this opportunity while it still exists: http://www.themeparksuppliers.com

To my fellow entrepreneurs who don't know how to spell 'weekend', my perpetually stressed big city dweller friends, and the theme park folks out there consumed in construction chaos: There is a place in the world that will RESET it all. And it took me 150 countries to find it.

Here are some photos of what I feel is as close as it gets to the Garden of Eden. The one place in the world that’s mind-blowingly beautiful, totally safe, permanently 24 degrees Celsius, and largely ignored by tourists and travelers from October to May. I can’t believe this combination still exists in 2019. You’ll have it all to yourself: Oman’s Dhofar region.
http://www.thethemeparkguy.com/park/gods-own-theme-park-dhofar

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6499035800494235648

In the wake of the current Fox/Genting meltdown in the unforgiving Malaysian jungles, here is a snippet of interesting data:

Fox World Malaysia is only the 2nd park after Shanghai Disney to ever reach the 1 million views threshold on themeparX prior to opening (see it here: http://www.themeparx.com). So if proactive interest in the construction of a park is an indication of its likely success, then it's safe to say this will get busy.

Congratulations to my friends Claus Frimand, Kevin Barbee, Kirk Axtell, Sanjay N. and Steve Beyer! Whatever you have designed, built or prepared there, and in whichever shape and form it will eventually open, the demand is HUGE!

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6475098743422152704

Posting this pic again. This is not about theme parks, or China. It's about an entire world we are about to lose. The advent of the smartphone coupled with unlimited mobile data and 'social' media really was the invention of the nuclear bomb for social and mental health. Look at the pics very closely. Same location, same occasion, 7 years before and after.

We are losing interest in watching each other, our innate ability to savor the present moment, to reflect and get a little bored sometimes... the most important traits that shape us.

We can't go back in time. We have to live with these gadgets now. But we can't just 'let it happen' and passively watch a catastrophe unfold on the next generation, thinking to ourselves 'it's kinda creepy'. Those of us who remember how it was before have a duty. Colossal efforts will be required to limit mobile internet usage if we are to save our kids from the effects of an undiagnosed drug addiction of pandemic proportions.

Outlawing the provision of unlimited data by forcing ISPs to charge per minute could be a start. And it doesn't even matter how low the charge per minute would be: a metered connection would simply caution users to think twice before switching (or keeping) it on. Something has to happen, and fast.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6473875988777365504

If every email or snippet of chat were to cost the sender $1, as letters did in the past, countless issues would be fixed at once:

1. Spam would vanish altogether, once and for all.
2. Job applicants would read job descriptions before applying.
3. Employers would read CVs before judging.
4. Leads received online would get the recipient's full attention.
5. Emails would be phrased and spelled properly, containing well thought-out content.
6. We’d all spend less time staring at screens and more time talking under the sun.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6469642280792846336

To my theme & water park supplier friends – you probably have come across our themeparX supplier package at some point: http://www.themeparksuppliers.com

Let me emphasize here: this is NOT another 'marketing package'. It's a tool designed to give you a lasting edge at the expense of your competitors. And we'll stand by these words: we will never work with more than 100 suppliers.

You're welcome to brush this aside now, but when it dawns on you in two years what this was all about, don't shout at us over the phone. Ignore at your own peril. Contact Nancy Patterson or myself for more info.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6448146427527917568

Here's a picture with two fantasmic Swedes from my pre-Theme Park Guy days back in 2003. I used to run affiliate.de, the German market's best-known affiliate marketing news platform at that time. Ulrika Ytterholm and Martin Lorentzon ran TradeDoubler, a Swedish affiliate network that was expanding into the German market.

I remember Martin having tremendous, insatiable, positive energy. He walked into the room like James Bond having just jumped off a chopper, equipped with impeccable communication skills and merciless curiosity. I recall wondering back then: what's this exceptionally energized guy's endgame?

And not to my surprise, he ventured on to create something we all know and use today… Spotify. Which made him a billionaire.

The entrepreneurs' world out there is fair. Yes, there are some folks who don't understand give-and-take, who enrich themselves at the expense of their clients or screw over business partners with rotten contracts and insolvencies. But I strongly believe their success is short-lived.

Martin is a shining example of someone who from day one deserved to move mountains and succeed. I wish him happiness and neversubsiding entrepreneurial drive with his everlasting wealth.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6446866786192289792

Anyone remember ‘Dubailand’? 10 years ago we shot a little movie there, back in summer 2008, just before the economy tanked and visions vanished. The best part is that we captured Universal Studios Dubailand (which would likely have turned into one of the world's finest theme parks) from our helicopter while the park was still under construction. Watch it here

And since that film is a little chaotic and silly, we'll soon make a much better Theme Park Guy movie marking its 10th anniversary (not about Dubailand). Just finished the script. Brace yourself for something real fun and unique in 2019. Get in touch if you want to be part of it.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6443150171474923520

If you're looking for someone truly competitive to manage your business, don’t hire a business degree graduate – hire a former Emirates, Etihad or Qatar flight attendant!

They've seen and done EVERYTHING… they know what it means to be expats out of their comfort zone; they've been exposed to every culture imaginable; they speak perfect, neutral English; they can handle stress and extreme fatigue; they know how to be alert and stay representable simultaneously; they've learned to interact with both top executives and construction workers; they understand loneliness; they know how people act when they want (and don't want) something from them; how they talk; how they sleep; the state they leave the toilet in; how drowsy faces glued to screens turn fearful during turbulence – all priceless insights into people's true character.

Former Gulf carrier cabin crew members are NOT tea or coffee servers. They've wisened up beyond the imagination of most of us grounded creatures. Consider them for top positions!

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6438082402333102080

Whenever I want to feel old, I look at this picture. It’s a shot I took of Dubai Marina from my balcony back in the summer of 2006, when I lived there. Unrecognizable!

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6432898421442613248

Here's a group of theme park folks who are not only very successful at what they do, but who also all have in common that they are very authentic and have their hearts in the right place..

Thank you for coming to my little boat party earlier this year!

This is Alan Zeman, a self-made billionaire and one of Hong Kong's best known and most admired men, in his office.

Alan founded nightlife district Lan Kwai Fong in the 80s and owns most real estate there. He headed Ocean Park for 14 years, chairs Wynn Macau and various other businesses, and habitually dines with prime ministers and presidents such as Xi Jinping.

What can we learn from Alan? First: keep your desk clean. Second: stay humble – Alan is very humble. Third: don’t get disconnected from the real world – Alan doesn't have a door or separation wall between himself, his secretaries or literally anyone who walks into his office; everyone shares one big room. Fourth: if you aim to become an entrepreneurial game changer in life, don't get distracted by university: like Spielberg, Gates, Jobs, Branson and Edison, Alan didn’t graduate. And last but not least, and I think this is the secret of his success, predict the future and forecast what people want... 20 years in advance!

Thank you Alan! Meeting instinct-driven entrepreneurs like you who haven’t lost touch is always an inspiration.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6421747532250079232

Here’s a pic with my Philippines team members, some of whom I’ve been working with for over a decade.

It’s not easy being born a Filipino. You've got decades-long economic misery, a deeply dysfunctional society and multiple governments who didn’t give a damn.

As a result, wherever you go in the world – a remote petrol station in the Middle East, a fish restaurant in Palau, a cruise ship that never docks, or even the UN-controlled Israeli-Syrian border – you’ll always find an expat Pinoy, singing a song, doing their best, and supporting a family far away.

On the picture you can see that my body height commands that I look down, but from the inside I really look up to you my friends!

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6408049951674298368

Picture with Yas Island's CEO Mohamed Al Zaabi and Aspen Creations' founder Hashem Al Marzouqi. They are both powerful Emiratis, but first and foremost they are down to earth, extremely smart and a lot of fun!

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6389009642705514496

To my friends and partners who spent their last holiday at a terrible beach – we’ve invested a couple of months putting together our SNORKOTEL map, showing you only those hotels and resorts facing dream beaches with crystal clear turquoise snorkeling water.

Hello dolphins & turtles: http://www.snorkotel.com

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6382558689886334976

I think the job posts of the near future will undergo a dramatic simplification.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6396651198946086912

I couldn’t find this anywhere online, so we did it ourselves. Here is a world map showing how long it takes to obtain citizenship in any given country. 5 years or less: GREEN. Between 5 and 10 years: RED. More than 10 years, or never, or based on unknown criteria, or depending on the mood of the case officer: BLACK.

Please comment here if we’ve got any of our colors wrong. This wasn’t merely online research, we also talked to friends & partners who reside in some of these countries. There are quite a few places out there with naturalization laws stating ‘citizenship can be applied for after XY years’, but in practice it’s just impossible.

I leave it to you to judge what this map reveals. To me, it serves as an interesting compass indicating whether foreigners are perceived solely as a necessary evil, or as a welcome addition in their respective host countries.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6387133006775181312

Meet the guy who spread KidZania (and now The Void) around the world at the speed of McDonald’s – the humble and ingenious Andrew Darrow: http://www.thethemeparkguy.com/interview-with-andrew-darrow-kidzania.html

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6384046997183270912

It took me 10 years of travel & over 150 countries to find my favorite holiday refuge on earth. Blessed with otherworldly nature, sunshine and safety, this is a place rarely found in guidebooks; the place none of your neighbors can spell. You’ll only find one tourist every 50 miles, if any. I feel like I've found the Garden of Eden.

I'll share more at a later date.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6380408774812897280

Watch ProSlide’s founder Rick Hunter share with us how he created his water slide empire from scratch – in fact, from a garage – without any financing: http://www.thethemeparkguy.com/interview-with-rick-hunter-proslide.html

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6382974896477171712

Europa-Park is a shining example of how independent, family-owned theme parks can excel. Watch Michael Mack reflect on his family's business secrets: http://www.thethemeparkguy.com/interview-with-michael-mack-europa-park.html

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6382937229332975616

To those of my [hopefully few] theme park industry friends & contacts who haven't come across our themeparX construction platform yet: we have been around since 2011, receive millions of visitors, and work really hard every day to ensure that themeparX stays as organized and useful as possible. Enjoy: http://www.themeparx.com

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6346287207229255680

Have you ever been treated badly (or very well) by any immigration officer anywhere? We just launched this: http://www.borderator.com

Please share your experiences, and if you like it, share the Borderator with your globetrotting friends!

In response to numerous requests, we have now added a Jobs & Careers section to our themeparX theme park construction platform. You can also post your CV here: http://www.lbejobs.com

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6258321256144297984

10 years ago I committed to visiting all theme parks in the world, today the map looks like this. Very humbled to have gotten this far: http://www.thethemeparkguy.com

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6263415479474450432

I don't have a smartphone anymore.

It’s been over a year now. And I miss nothing. I can tell you now for sure that they are a total waste of time, and even more so, a waste of your life.

Just recently I was struck by a photo I took in a theme park in southern China a mere 7 years ago. The other day I looked at it again and thought to myself ’hey that is so nice, people look so relaxed and happy here; they savor the moment; I wanna go!’

Well… that was before the smartphone pandemic hit. The world and society have turned upside down since then, and that retro-romantic energy on the photo might have long faded away, in fact, that place might be unrecognizable. So I decided to fly back to that very same Chinese theme park, just to take a picture again, of the exact same spot, 7 years later.

The picture below tells its own tale.

Claiming that smartphones facilitate human interaction is like saying slot machines facilitate wealth creation or cigarettes promote relaxation. I don’t dwell on nostalgia, I am pro-progress, love the internet and look forward to space travel – bring it on! But gadget addiction is not progress, and this can't be the future. This pandemic of smartphone overuse is a menace of epic proportions that turns otherwise happy, healthy people into drowsy, distracted shadows of their true selves. I would even go as far as to say that our collective mental health is at stake here.

I really hope that in 15 years from now jokes will be made about how smartphones made us more 'social and connected' in the 2nd decade of the 21st century.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6311145934579433472

Thank you to my friends, colleagues & partners who have attended my events in Asia and Europe in the past 12 months!

Thanks to all my friends and colleagues for coming. Must do more of those!

I am frequently asked if that wacky eternal theme park journey is for real, or if it is a Photoshop-powered fantasy. Here is the proof.

I have still seen only a fraction of this marvellous world. And I have met people on my journeys who have traveled so much further and wiser than I did, it dwarfs the sight of these passport pages. If I have learned something from all this, then it is that traveling humbles you. Whenever you meet a really arrogant person, ask for his or her passport. Chances are the pages are empty. This does not imply the reverse, of course.

Reposted on Linkedin in 2017:

I drew this some three years ago, and it doesn't let me go.

I think we are losing ourselves in these devices. Tech is a means to facilitate life, not to replace it. Cameras, just as our eyes, are supposed to point outwards, not inwards. The current Virtual Reality hype in the theme park industry will fade, because so many of us already live in VR. We are losing our ability to savor the here and now, constantly 'connecting' to worlds beyond our present. We need much more R, and get rid of the V again. I strongly believe that smartphones will go down in history similarly to cigarettes, as a 'social' tool that had its time, but whose effect on people, their health and their spirits was nothing but devastating.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6267622796776574976