Advantages Or Disadvantages To Popular Tourist Areas

Advantages Or Disadvantages To Popular Tourist Areas There is no doubt that modern tourism has become one of the biggest popular industries in the world nowadays. It is an activity in which people can recreate and relax themselves. Furthermore, it seems that tourism not only can improve the transportation and most public facilities of a country, but also it can improve local services such as entertainment, accommodation, catering and hospital for tourists and local people. For another thing, tourism stimulates the growth of local economy. Even more, large numbers of organizations and governments invest much money in this industry at present. However, this essay will elaborate advantages and disadvantages of the way in which modern tourism affects the popular tourist areas in relations to the local services, local economy and environment and the local people. For one thing, one major advantage of tourism is the fact that developing travel industry can stimulate the popular tourist areas consumption ability and economy. According to the OVTA, there are 12 million visitors who travel to Ottawa and consume 128million dollars each year. Moreover, the development of tourism leads to generating 45 million dollars income for the local government per year (Chase, 2011). In addition, China National Tourism Administration showed that there is a 15 percent increase of the price level of products which selling in the Middle East and Europe during the New Year holidays, compared to their daily price. However, these increases give some impacts on ecnomy and it is reported that in 2010, 52 million Chinese people travelled abroad (Lixia, 2011). For another thing, tourism industry either can increase peoples income and the rate of employment. As David Cameron says in Barnett (2010), if the UK tourism industry can attract 0.5% more international tourists, this could generate 50,000 new jobs for local citizens. Thus, it is obvious that tourism directly increase the employment rate because those industries like accommodation, tour, travel operations and factories manufacturing can provide large numbers of employment opportunities for the local people (Nworisara, 2011). These business operations invisibly generate large revenue to the government. Therefore, most countries or investors make huge investments in the tourism industry because of its potential of boosting economic growth. Thus, developing tourism industry is the main contributor of the stimulation of the local economy. Furthermore, tourism plays an important role on improving the living standards of the local people by improving communitys facilities and services. It can be seen that Hong Kong has become a famous and popular attraction, whether for mainland people or international people nowadays. What is more, it is reported that the Tourism Commission invested HK$50 million to improve the tourism infrastructural. For example, it would improve the scenic square, the public facilities at Lantau Ngong Ping 360, the pedestrian bridge at the east of Tsim Sha Tsui, and upgrade some tourism signboards for tourists. Besides that, Hong Kong would improve the services of online ticket-selling, which make more convenient for tourists (Mercier, 2009). There is no doubt that these kinds of infrastructures and facilities will considerably benefit for the local people and improve their living standards. Besides that, the transportation and public services have an impact on the tourism industry, which also influ ence the local peoples living standards and the tourism industry itself. Take Beijing as an example: in order to welcome the Olympics Games, the government of China made regulations to improve environment and repair the tourism resources, public services and facilities. During the period of Olympics Games, ten million tourists visited Beijing and there was no complaint or dissatisfaction with the hotels, public services and attractions (Alcantara, 2010). If facilities or services are not improved and cause tourists lots of inconvenient, this will easily push them to give up or change their travel plans. Finally, it seems that it is a good opportunity to protect the culture and heritage when developing modern tourism. The WTO estimates that there would be an increase of 15% in the areas of cultural tourism each year (Nworisara, 2011). Most tourists are willing to spend money to learn and understand different cultures and customs of different countries. Taking the European tourism industry as an example, a growing number of people prefer to visit Europe, especially Italy, France, Spain and so on. The main reason is that the governments of those countries understand the importance of the heritage and history of a country. It is a character or symbol of that country. Thus, the government is willing to spend money remodeling and restoring the heritage. For instance, the Indian government regarded Jammu and Kashmir as a heritage attraction for visitors. Thus, it foucused on it and started to protect it to attract tourists (Naseem, 2009). It is well know that protecting a countrys culture and heritage is a big challenge, but it is very important because they represent the identity of the country. Moreover, visitors can understand deeply the local culture only by visiting it. Thus, in order to attract more tourists to popular tourist areas, both the government and the tourism industry have a responsibility to preserve the local heritage and culture. However, firstly, it must be admitted that tourism brings many disadvantages. Without doubt the most obvious disadvantage is that tourism has negative effects on the local environment and the eco-system. For instance, it is well known that the Hawaiian eco-system is the most diverse in the world. Nevertheless, due to the development of tourism industry, a large number of infrastructures such as hotels and restaurants were built, leading to the local environments deterioration. Besides that, it is reported that 60% of animal and plant species are dying out in Hawaii (Darowski, Strilchuk, Sorochuk Provost, 2006). Bali is another example: it has been found that six tourist beaches, which include Kuta, Legian, Nusa Dua, Jimbaran, Tanjung Benoa and Canggue are contaminated. This is because the waste from hotels, restaurants and other hospitality and tourist-related businesses cannot be dealt with effectively (Kencana A., 2010). It is obvious that a lot of businessmen do not care if the e nvironment becomes bad, they just consider whether they can earn money or not. In addition, a number of tourists have the bad habit of throwing waste everywhere. Thus, the local environment becomes worse and influences the eco-systems. Secondly, tourism has a bad impact on the society and culture of the popular tourist areas. For example, it is well known that Indonesia is a special country which has a special cultural history. However, in order to attract more tourists and meet their needs, some original customs have changed, such as dances performed only in every 60 years while nowadays they are performed weekly. Besides that, original temples used to be quiet places while today they are always overcrowded with tourists. In addition, masks, costumes and jewelry which were used for religious rituals, have a special and unique meaning. In order to earn money, companies produce these productions largely and sell them in antique shops. Even more, most arts forms such as paintings and sculptures have been adjusted according to the taste of the current market. Furthermore, it seems that these cultural and social changes not only influence the local people, but also it may lead people to forget the original culture due to the commercial influences. For instance, in order to earn more money, investors have driven local communities out of their lands and even beaches, which influence the temples and local people of Bali. The resorts also would threaten the temples cosmological primacy (Wijaya, 2008). Thirdly, although the development of tourism has lots of advantages, however, it often do some unethical behaviors from local people and industry. For instance, when they lack employees in the peak season, some hotels and restaurants recruit low skilled people or people who are under 18 years old. Even more, lots of illegal migrants are working in tourism and hospitality industry. It is reported that there are around 12 million illegal immigrant people in the United States, and the American Tourism and Hospitality industry employed them because they would pay them a lower wage. In fact, it is argued that these illegal immigrants are substitutes for low-skilled workers (Fedeli, 2010). It seems that recruiting employees who are low-skilled and unprofessional is only benefit to the companies because they get low salaries. Actually, this is not good for the tourists because it easily causes troubles as these employees cannot deal with at urgent situations. Thus, it gives unsafe feeling t o the tourists and that leads to hinder the development of tourism industry and also gives a bad imagine to this popular tourist areas. In conclusion, it is clear that there could be great benefits to develop the tourist industry if governments and companies take the local environment into consideration. Furthermore, if all tourists obeyed the local rules and culture, the beautiful attractions will not be contaminated. What is more, if each person is aware of the importance of protecting our history and culture, the tourism industry can develop better and more and more people can have the opportunity to explore the history of the popular tourist areas. There is no doubt that developing tourism industry is essential and one of the reasons for this is that people can learn more about this world. Therefore, each person has a responsibility to protect the popular tourist areas. Word count: 1526

Learning-Centered Teaching Essay

John J. Sparkes presents a clear discussion or argument about the learning-centered approach to teaching as a means to address the need to draw distinctions between different styles, approaches, techniques, etc. of learning. This thought is motivated by the diversity of learners and the varying influences of the learning environment and experiences to learners. Sparkes learning-centered approach to teaching looks into considering the nature or characteristics of learners and the dimensions of learning in terms of determining what learning strategies, approaches, techniques, methods, materials, and such to incorporate to pedagogical processes in order to result to the definitive meaning of learning. Sparkes also suggests that learning-centered teaching is all about the process of adopting or assuming various types of teaching methods and implementing them within learning situations and environments that suit the structure of each method. (Sparkes, 1999) Aside from the established teaching methods, learning-centered teaching, which looks into the accomplishment of the purpose of learning, should also considered various learning needs that facilitate the obtainment of knowledge, skills, and competencies constituting the learning goals and objectives. The different structures of learning subjects and materials bring about the need to consider various learning needs as the ability of a learner to obtain knowledge and skills depends upon the content of the learning material. Sparkes argued that the learning goal or objective of understanding concepts requires varied processes depending on the course or subject of learning. For instance, understanding concepts in English and literature requires comprehension of reading materials while concepts in Science and Mathematics requires the discernment of problem-solving strategies and processes through the application of the theories and models learned. (Sparkes, 1999) In addition, Sparkes discussed individual differences, in terms of how learners are able to grasp the learning content and materials according to their own pace and expectations of how the learning process and environment should be. Moreover, the capability of individuals to learn are relative to their desired learning situations – that is, the kind of learning environments, situations, and materials that they would feel comfortable with resulting to their internal and external motivation to learn and engage in the teaching-learning process. (Sparkes, 1999) Sparkes view of the learning in this particular discussion shows how he considers the dimensions of learning realistically, looking into the emotional, psychological, social, physical, and moral features of the learners are distinct and unique individuals and requiring the need to design the teaching-learning process to adapt to these human distinctiveness in order to facilitate successful learning processes. Sparkes presented a comprehensive, reliable, and valid discussion of how the landscape of pedagogy should be structured. The teaching-learning process is fueled by the mission, goal, objective, or purpose not only to transmit knowledge but also to motivate the comprehension of knowledge and information for practical application in real-life situations or experiences. The product of learning should result to desirable changes to one’s thoughts and ideas and contributions to the community for nation-building and the enrichment of the global society as a whole. Due to this highly significant purpose of the teaching-learning process, the practice of teaching and the learning experiences should ensure that it fulfills what is tasked to do in terms of transferring knowledge and skills and motivating the drive to utilize knowledge purposefully and meaningfully. Sparkes recommendations address these needs and requirements for successful teaching and learning. Sparkes covered various considerations that academic and teaching professionals should consider. I believe that the presentation of the different considerations to the teaching-learning process will contribute to the development of pedagogy. Sparkes article is a valuable resource material for understanding the complex nature of learning and the learners and the arrival to various teaching methods, strategies, approaches, techniques, and such that will fit every learning situation or environment appropriately. Learning to adjust pedagogy to the learning and situation, particularly the uniqueness of the learners, instead of vice versa, ensures that the teaching-learning process will result to what it intends to produce as outcomes for the benefit of the learners and society. Sparkes overall purpose for presenting his text was to directly structure how the teaching-learning process should be designed, eliminating the â€Å"trial-and-error† process of applying various teaching methods, observing it, determining flaws, and redesigning it to diminish the errors or mistake in the method, and such. For Sparkes, doing so will leave behind many errors that will be difficult to reverse once it leaves its mark especially to learners. Sparkes is vitally concerned about redirecting the path of the teaching-learning process so as not to maintain the learning landscape as a ground for experiment since it would be detrimental to implement imperfect teaching procedures or methods as it will affect how learners are going to grasp concepts and learning materials. Therefore, Sparke’s discussions are not only intended for the purpose of guiding the teaching-learning process, but also how educational goals and objectives and the curricula should be designed. Overall, Sparke’s discussions presents an the need to overhaul the dimensions and structure of education and pedagogy to eliminate detrimental errors and flaws.

Diversification Strategies Essay

Diversification is a form of corporate strategy to increase profitability of a company through greater sales volume obtained from new products and new markets. It occurs either at the business unit level or at the corporate level. It is a risk management technique that mixes a wide variety of investments within a portfolio. It attempts to smooth out unmethodical risk events in a group so that the positive performance of some investments will neutralize the negative performance of others. Companies may diversify for strategic objectives, expected outcomes, valuable comparison between strategy and expansion. Some companies diversify by conquering new positions through mergers and acquisitions whiles others diversify when there are not much growth opportunities for the market they are in. There are many reasons for pursuing a diversification strategy, but most pertain to management’s desire for the organization to grow. Companies must decide whether they want to diversify by going into related or unrelated businesses. They must then decide whether they want to expand by developing the new business or by buying an ongoing business. There are advantages to diversification, beyond simply expanding one’s product line. For example, a diversified company is potentially better insulated against a loss of revenue in one business tranche. Diversification strategies are used to expand firms’ operations by adding markets, products, services, or stages of production to the existing business. The purpose of diversification is to allow the company to enter new lines of business that are different from current operations. When the new venture is strategically related to the existing lines of business, it is called concentric diversification. On the other hand, when the new and the old businesses are unrelated it is classified as Conglomerate diversification which occurs when there is no common thread of strategic fit or relationship between the new and old lines of business, meaning the new and old businesses are unrelated. Compare and contrast the two businesses—core business, their size, financials, global presence, use of e-business (marketing, sales, etc. ). Johnson & Johnson Inc. – Successful  Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical company founded in 1886, manufacturing sterile surgical supplies. Its core business is the manufacturing of medical devices and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is listed among the Fortune 500. The corporation has grown to have more than 250 operating companies in 60 countries employing approximately 116,000 people, producing medicines and medical devices, as well as consumer products like sanitary goods, baby shampoo and dental floss. National Semiconductor Corporation – Unsuccessful National Semiconductor Company has an international reputation for semiconductors. The pioneering chip maker offers a variety of integrated circuits (ICs), especially analog and mixed-signal (blending analog and digital functions) chips. Its products focus on analog chips, which transform physical information – light, sound, pressure, even radio waves – into data that a computer can use. National Semi’s chips are used in wireless, networking, medical, solar, automotive, and industrial applications. It gets more than 75% of sales from customers outside the US, largely to contract manufacturers that serve its OEM customers. In the 1970s, the company tried to make electronic consumer products in addition to the semi-conductors that went inside them. Compare and contrast their outcomes (one successful, one unsuccessful) Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson is a diversified healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets products in three primary lines of business: Pharmaceuticals (41% of sales), Medical Devices and Diagnostics (35%) and Consumer Products. Since the 1900s, the company has pursued steady diversification. It added consumer products in the 1920s and created a separate division for surgical products in 1941 which became Ethicon Inc. It expanded into pharmaceuticals with the purchase of McNeil Laboratories Inc. , Cilag, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and into women’s sanitary products and toiletries in the 1970s and 1980s. In recent years, Johnson & Johnson has expanded into such diverse areas as biopharmaceuticals, orthopedic devices, and Internet publishing. Recently, Johnson & Johnson has purchased Pfizer’s Consumer Healthcare department. The transition from Pfizer to Johnson and Johnson was completed December 18, 2006. National Semiconductor Corporation The company wasn’t suited for retail manufacturing, and was crushed by companies that were. By the time digital watches became popular in America; National had been driven from the marketplace, suffering losses that overshadowed its success in semiconductors. Analyze the three primary reasons for the different outcomes. First, Johnson & Johnson diversified into items that are strategically related to the company’s existing lines of business. Johnson & Johnson is a diversified healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets products in three primary lines of business: pharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics and Consumer Products. On the other hand, National Semiconductor Corporation entered into the production of unrelated products which is not common thread of strategic fit or relationship between the new and old lines of business, meaning the new and old businesses are unrelated. Second, Johnson & Johnson diversified through mergers and acquisitions of new companies. For instance, it expanded into pharmaceuticals with the purchase of McNeil Laboratories Inc. , Cilag, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and into women’s sanitary products and toiletries in the 1970s and 1980s. In recent years, Johnson & Johnson has expanded into such diverse areas as biopharmaceuticals, orthopedic devices, and Internet publishing. Recently, Johnson & Johnson has purchased Pfizer’s Consumer Healthcare department. The transition from Pfizer to Johnson and Johnson was completed December 18, 2006. On the other hand, National Semiconductor Corporation entered into diversification to make electronic consumer products in addition to the semi-conductors that went inside them. They did not embark on growth strategy through acquisition and mergers. They had stiff opposition and were crushed by companies suited for retail manufacturing. Lastly, Johnson & Johnson diversification strategy is well matched to the strengths of its top management team members which are factored into the success of that strategy. On the other hand, National Semiconductor Company top executives did not manage diversification effectively. Recommend two actions the unsuccessful one could have made to make their diversification venture successful First is that National Semiconductor should ensure a diversification strategy which is well matched to the strengths of its top management team members and factored into the success of that strategy. Different diversification strategies require different skills on the part of a company’s top managers, and that factors should be taken into consideration before firms are joined. For instance, the success of a merger may not depend only on how integrated the joining firms become, but also on how well suited top executives are to manage that effort. Secondly National Semiconductor should diversify into related products where they can control the market. To conclude, I must say that if diversification strategy is done strategically to relate to the company’s existing line of business or diversified through mergers and acquisitions of new companies with the support of its top management team members, then its objective of growth and risk taking can be achieved.

10 Copper Facts

Copper is a beautiful and useful metallic element found throughout your home in both pure form and in chemical compounds. Copper is element No. 29 on the periodic table, with the element symbol Cu, from the Latin word cuprum. The name means  from the isle of Cyprus, which was known for its copper mines.   10 Copper Facts Copper has a reddish-metallic coloring unique among all the elements. The only other non-silvery metal on the periodic table is gold, which has a yellowish color. The addition of copper to gold is how red gold or rose gold is made.Copper was the first metal to be worked by man, along with gold and meteoritic iron. This is because these metals were among the few that exist in their native state, meaning the relatively pure metal could be found in nature. The use of copper dates back more than 10,000 years. Otzi the Iceman (3300 BCE) was found with an axe that had a head consisting of nearly pure copper. The icemans hair contained high levels of the toxin arsenic, which may indicate the man was exposed to the element during copper smelting.  Copper is an essential element for human nutrition. The mineral is critical for blood cell formation and is found in many foods and most water supplies. Foods high in copper include leafy greens, grains, potatoes, and beans. Although it takes a l ot of copper, its possible to get too much. Excess copper can cause jaundice, anemia, and diarrhea (which may be blue!).Copper readily forms alloys with other metals. Two of the best-known alloys are brass (copper and zinc) and bronze (copper and tin), although hundreds of alloys exist.Copper is a natural antibacterial agent. It is common to use brass door handles in public buildings (brass being a copper alloy) because they help prevent disease transmission. The metal is also toxic to invertebrates, so it is used on ship hulls to prevent the attachment of mussels and barnacles. It is also used to control algae.Copper has many desirable properties, characteristic of transition metals. It is soft, malleable, ductile, and an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, and it resists corrosion. Copper does eventually oxidize to form copper oxide, or verdigris, which is a green color. This oxidation is the reason the Statue of Liberty is green rather than reddish-orange. Its also the r eason inexpensive jewelry, which contains copper, frequently discolors skin.In terms of industrial use, copper ranks third, behind iron and aluminum. Copper is used in wiring (60 percent of all copper used), plumbing, electronics, building construction, cookware, coins, and a host of other products. Copper in water, not chlorine, is the cause of hair turning green in swimming pools.There are two common oxidation states of copper, each with its own set of properties. One way to tell them apart is by the color of the emission spectrum when the ion is heated in a flame. Copper(I) turns a flame blue, while copper(II) produces a green flame.Nearly 80 percent of the copper that has been mined to date is still in use. Copper is a 100 percent recyclable metal. Its an abundant metal in Earths crust, present at concentrations of 50 parts per million.Copper readily forms simple binary compounds, which are chemical compounds consisting of only two elements. Examples of such compounds include co pper oxide, copper sulfide, and copper chloride.