Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Structure Of Travel Tourism And Hospitality Tourism Essay

Structure Of Travel Tourism And Hospitality Tourism Essay The purposes for this essay are to present the structure of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. Firstly, we need to know what the definition of tourism is. As the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), tourism is the activities of person travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes (World Tourism Organisation, 1993). Therefore, the tourist is a person who travels to another place outside of their normal place of residence at least 100 miles for more than 24 hours and less than 12 months. Travel and tourism does not necessary involve travelling abroad. It could be in domestic tourism such as peoples home country, on visits to attractions, city breaks, trips to business meetings, sports events or concerts, and visits to friends or relatives. According to Weaver Lawton (2002, p.3), tourism includes the businesses that provide goods and services wholly or mainly for tourist consumption such as restaurants and food/beverage services, and lodging. Hence, it linked to hospitality industry which including accommodations segments, food services segment and other hospitality operations segments. Structure of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry The travel, tourism and hospitality industry is one of the largest industries in the world. It includes many sectors that we need to go through each part of the industry on its own. The key sectors in the travel and tourism industry can be distributed into three different parts. They are public, private and voluntary sectors. Figure 1: Tourism industry Tourism industry The private sector The public sector The voluntary sector Tour operators Travel agents Accommodations Government NTOs NATA UFTAA IATA SHA Private sector The private sector is generated of commercial operators run or owned by individuals or companies such as travel insurance, travel press, travel marketing, private colleges, tour operators or travel agents, whose main purpose is to produce benefits from the facilities and goods, which they deliver to their consumers. In addition, these agencies play a very important role in the development of the travel and tourism industry. They are the components which communicate directly with customers. For instance, they arranged a group which understand the demands of visitors and advertise their packages at different tourist locations through interactive methods of communication such as distribute brochure or advertise in their websites. Accommodations are the basic needs in tourism industry which including hotels, resorts and timeshares or condominiums, conference centres, camp and park lodges, food and beverages. For example, resorts offer good services such as spa, massage, hot tub for customers who come to relax on holiday. They gain high benefits due to customers consumptions when they provide good services. Therefore, the private sectors are commercial businesses with the objective of making a profit for shareholders and owners. They run businesses at all levels of the distribution chain suppliers, wholesalers and retailers. Public sector Public sectors are major groups who decide on the strategy and leadership for the growth of the tourism sector. This is the government body which supporting the tourism industry. The role of this organisation is to work with the industry and provide the required amount of support. The services offered by the public sector are delivered to the public and paid through government. Public sector includes NTOs and RTOs (national regional tourist offices). It may also be suppliers, especially in transportation and visitor attractions. Most of the public services are non-profit-making. Voluntary sector Voluntary sector contains different bodies involved in the lobbying and being the force factors who work for the benefit of the tourism sector and the benefit of the respective associations they represent. They are namely National Parks Association, YHA (Youth Hostels Association), National Trust, ANTOR (Association of National Tourist Office Representatives), FTO (Federation of tour Operators), ATOC (Association of Train Operating Companies), Museums Association, UK Inbound Tourism, Tourism Concern and PSA (Passenger Shipping Association). Organizations of the voluntary sector are controlled and ran mainly by volunteers. These organizations are usually not making profit or contributively. This creates some financial benefits that may include reduced rates and VAT, income tax exemption for investments, covenants and bank deposits. Voluntary sector organisations that register as contributions have to satisfy specific terms. Their purposes must be charitable, non-profit-making, for the educations improvement or for other aims beneficial to the society. Horizontal integration According to Weaver Lawton (2002), horizontal integration takes place when firms reach a higher level of consolidation or control within their own sector. Horizontal integration is where an organisation owns two or more companies, on the same level of the buying chain. For example, EasyJet took over Go! in 2002. It was a case of one budget airline taking over another no-frills airline. Although the two companies became one, they could have retained their different brand names. In fact in this case, EasyJet rapidly re-branded all of Go!s planes with their own distinctive livery. Principal Figure 2: Horizontal integration Principal Tour operator Tour operator Travel agent Travel agent Vertical integration Vertical integration occurs when a company achieve greater control over elements of the product chain outside its own sector (Weaver Lawton, 2002). This integration can be forward in the direction of the chain, or backward against the direction of the chain. Forward vertical integration is more common. Company gains greater control over distribution. It helps them getting closer to the customer. For example, an airline sets up a subsidiary to distribute or market products to consumers such as buying-out a hotel chain or car rental operation. Figure 3: Forward vertical integration Tour operator Principal Travel agent Backward vertical integration is buying upward in the distribution chain. In contrast to forward vertical integration, company gains greater control over supplies using backward vertical integration. For instance, First Choice is a tour operator which also has an airline named First Choice Airways, or Thomas Cook Holidays setting up Thomas Cook Airways. Principal Figure 4: Backward vertical integration Tour operator Travel agent Key historical developments Socio-economic Leisure time: Tourism currently very popular and it is widely acknowledged as a global social phenomenon. In most advanced developed countries, the natural of society has now changed from an economy based on manufacturing and production to focus on the services and consumer industries. Simultaneously, the disposable income and the amount of leisure time and holiday in many countries increased in the post-war period. Therefore, employees have the opportunity to engage in the new forms of consumption such as tourism. Incomes/holiday taking: The income is produced from wages, profits and interest, has increased every year. The UK economy is one of the strongest in Europe, levels of disposable income and consumer credit are rising and expenditure on leisure is growing at around 6 per cent. Depend on that, employees life is improved. They can spend time to enjoy their life such as travel without worry too much about money. Most people today will have travelled abroad and expect to take at least one holiday a year. When tourists are willing to pay for travel, tourism industry will generate more profit. Car ownership: By the early 1900s the car was being used for public transport in most cities. But it wasnt until the 1950 when the car really took off. There were only 8,000 cars in the whole of Britain at the start of the 20th century. By the end of the century the car population had soared to 21 million. Car ownership statistics gives an indication of the level of personal mobility in a population (domestic, continental travel). In 1989 in Britain, each car was used for an average of 30 trips per week, which declined to 24 by 2006. The distance travelled by car per week slightly decreased. Car ownership in the UK has increased considerably in recent decades. It is not uncommon for a household owning two or more cars in nowadays. Technological Transportation is an essential need in the tourism sector. It is divided into different areas such as air, road, rail, sea. Transportation is a tool to assist travellers to get to where they want to go. Sea: Up until the 1920s the only way to travel abroad was by boat. It used to take days/weeks to travel abroad. Nowadays, ships are mainly used for ferries to mainland Europe and for cruises. Road: Road travel is the first method people used to travel. In the past, people used to travel by horses, camels,  or even humans carrying goods over dirt tracks that often followed game trails. The most famous road in the past is Silk Road. The start of the Silk Road was on 2nd century BC when Chinese ambassador Zhang Qian visited the countries of Central Asia with diplomatic mission. Thus, travel by road is the pioneer in tourism. Nowadays, road travel can be buses, private cars, bicycles, motorbike, etc. People using those transportations to travel are much faster than in the past. Rail: After sea and road, rail is the third method people use to travel. By the end of the 2nd world war (1940s) the rail network covered nearly every town and village. Japan is the country famous for mass and high-speed trains. Moreover, Japan has an impressive number of subway systems. Air: Travel by air is the latest and fastest transportation in the world. The first commercial flight from the UK was to Paris in 1919, but it was very expensive. In the 1970 the introduction of the Boeing 747 brought flying cost down dramatically and open doors to mass tourism. In our time, people can travel from one place to another place very convenience. For example, a flight from Singapore to Vietnam only need 4 hours including food and beverage in the plane, while traveling by sea needs days. As we can see, tourism cannot develop without technological. It is a part has a great contribution to the tourism industry. Business developments Airlines/air travel: Airlines or air travel play a very important role in the travel and tourism industry. Early forms of technology in the travel and tourism industry were systems which linked tour operators to travel agencies via terminals and allowed travel agents to make bookings through the system. Meanwhile, airlines developed computer reservation systems (CRS). Airlines started to use computers in the 1950s to store and change the huge amount of information they needed to access. The CRS was used internally by airlines, and agents would use the OAG publication to look up flight times etc., and then telephone the airline to make a booking. Tour operators: The role of tour operators is to put together all the different components that make up a holiday and sell them as packages to the consumer. They make contracts with hoteliers, airlines and other transport companies to put the package together. All the holiday details are incorporated into a brochure which is distributed either to travel agents or directly to customers. In simple terms, they organise and package different elements of the tourism experience, then offer the product for sale to the public through different mediums like leaflets, brochures, advertisements, etc. Travel agents: The role of travel agents is to give advice and information and sell and administer bookings for a number of tour operators. They also sell flights, ferry bookings, car hire, insurance and accommodation as separate products. Thus, they are distributors of products. Increasingly, travel agents also do a little tour operating, for example putting together a holiday for a group. Some industry professionals believe that the role of the travel agent is in decline as many people are booking their own holidays and travel on the Internet or by telephone directly to tour operators. Conclusion In conclusion, this assignment helps me know more about the structure of travel, tourism and hospitality and key historical developments of its industry. Hence, I will know how tourism and hospitality work. Briefly, tourism and hospitality industry is one of the largest industries in the world. It plays a very important role in the industry. There are many sectors which contribute and help to generate the tourism and hospitality industry. They are indispensable parts of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

The Chlorine Debate: How White Do You Want It? Essay -- essays researc

The Chlorine Debate: How White Do You Want It? Chlorine is one of the world's most widely used chemicals, the building element vital to almost every United States industry. We use chlorine and chlorine-based products whenever we drink a glass of water, buy food wrapped in plastic, purchase produce in the supermarket, pour bleach into a washing machine, have a prescription filled, print out a computer document like this one, or even drive a car. (Abelson 94) Chlorine, a member of the halogen (salt-forming) group of metallic elements, was first made by Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1774, who treated hydrochloric acid with manganese dioxide. In 1810, the English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy determined that chlorine was a chemical element and named it from the Greek word meaning greenish-yellow. One hundred and eighty-five years later, chlorine compounds are ubiquitous components in the manufacturing of paper, plastics, insecticides, cleaning fluids, antifreeze, paints, medicines, and petroleum products. The unfortunate and unavoidable by-product of these manufacturing processes is dioxin, one of the most toxic substances on the planet earth. Dioxins are also produced whenever chlorine containing substances, such as PVC, are burned. Life as we know it will change, if a Greenpeace campaign is successful. The powerful environmental group has mounted a well-organized campaign that has as its objective nothing less than a total, worldwide ban on chlorine. With the public health and billions of dollars at stake, the debate over chlorine has become one of the world's most contentious and controversial issues. "Is a chlorine-free future possible?" asked Bonnie Rice, a spokesperson for Greenpeace's Chlorine Free Campaign. "Yes, it can be done without massive disruption of the economy and of society, if it is done in the right matter." (Gossen 94) The chlorine industry and its allies say a total ban on chlorine would be neither wise, possible, nor economically feasible. "We find the chlorine campaign outrageous in its scope and purpose," explained Leo Anziano, the Chairman of the Washington-based Chlorine Chemistry Council, and organization that lobbies on behalf of the chlorine industry. "We believe it's bas... ...ingly undecidable debate, the basis of the debate seems to be the solution. Banning or getting rid of chlorine, organochlorines, or most any other chemical can only cause more problems than they will solve unless a proven and effective alternative is developed to take the place of that chemical. Most everyday things would have to drastically be altered to make suit for a complete chlorine ban, and that would take a great deal of time, effort, and money to do. If a ban on chlorine was implemented, who would be responsible for the cost and maintenance of switching the equipment: the consumer, the producer, Greenpeace and other environmental watch organizations, or the government? The brunt of the cost would most likely fall into the hands of the consumers, which would kill most middle and lower-class families. Chlorine is a building block of most of our everyday conveniences and a major player in most chemical compounds. Until a sturdy and cost-effective alternative is made, most of the everyday consumers will still have to go on using the same chlorine and organochlorine-based products that they have used for years before.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Weighted Average Cost of Capital and Discount Rate

Sampa Video, Inc You have to prepare a presentation to the management of the firm. The presentation should have; analysis of the project, your valuation of the investment and your investment recommendation. You have to be clear and brief and explain the main assumptions and methodologies used in the analysis. The quality of the presentation will be considered in the grading. You have to hand in a handout of the presentation and an executive summary of no more than 2 pages. Guideline Questions for you Report 1. What is the value of the project assuming the firm was entirely equity financed? What are the annual projected free cash flows?What discount rate is appropriate? NPV = $1,228,485 Discount rate = cost of equity (from CAPM) = 15. 8% (see model for projected free cash flows) 2. Value the project using the Adjusted Present Value (APV) approach assuming the firm raises $750 thousand of debt to fund the project and keeps the level of debt constant in perpetuity. NPV of Levered Firm = $1,528,485 3. Value the project using the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) approach assuming the firm maintains a constant 25% debt-to-market value ratio in perpetuity. NPV of Levered Firm = $1,469,972 4. How do the values from the APV and WACC approaches compare?How do the assumptions about financial policy differ across the two approaches? †¢ The level of debt with the fixed debt policy is fixed and thus the interest tax shields have the same risk as the debt. The discount rate for interest tax shields with the fixed debt policy therefore is the debt rate of 6. 8%. †¢ With the 25% debt-to-value policy, the amount of debt varies with the value of the firm so the expected interest tax shields also vary with the value of the firm. These tax shields therefore should be discounted at the expected asset return 15. 8%, which is higher than the debt rate.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Innocence Of The Lamb By William Blake - 1705 Words

Innocence of the Lamb â€Å"The Lamb† is one of William Blake’s famous poems from his book Songs of Innocence published in 1789. â€Å"The Lamb† is also known as â€Å"Little Lamb† but better known by the former name. This poem is a didactic poem reflecting spirituality from a Christian point of view. â€Å"The Lamb† is a question and an answer type of poem and has a sense of innocence as the speaker is a child questioning a lamb’s existence. In â€Å"The Lamb† William Blake uses metaphor, symbolism and imagery to express Jesus Christ and His relationship with the world. The Begin, William Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757 to a middle-class family. He was taken out of school at a young age by his mother and started taking drawing classes and reading poetry. His parents were involved with the Anglican Church at a portion of Blake’s life and this religious background stayed with him. He found his inspiration from the B ible as is shown throughout his work. At the age of fifteen Blake became an apprentice to James Basire and for seven years he worked in London engraving images from churches and architecture, this formed his specific artistic style later in life. In 1782 Blake married Catherine Boucher and he taught her how to read and write. In 1783 Blake published his first work Poetical Sketches. Five years later, in 1788, Blake made â€Å"an important artistic discovery with the invention of relief etching,† this process became the primary format for the majority of Blake’s work. ThisShow MoreRelatedThe Innocence of Lamb in Songs of Innocence by William Blake615 Words   |  3 PagesSongs of Innocence by William Blake collocates the naà ¯ve lives of children and loss of innocence of adults, with moral Christian values and how religion has the capacity to promote cruelty and prejudice. Blake was born in 1757, up to and after the French Revolution he wrote many works criticizing en lightened rationalism and instead focused on intellectual ideas that avoided institutionalization and propelled ethical and moral order. Blake’s collection of poem exposes and explores the values and limitationsRead MoreThe Lamb and the Tyger Essay1437 Words   |  6 PagesThe Tyger and The Lamb by William Blake, written in 1794 included both of these poems in his collection Songs of Innocence and Song of Experience, takes readers on a journey of faith. Through a cycle of unanswered questions, William Blake motivates the readers to question God. These two poems are meant to be interpreted in a comparison and contrast. They share two different perspectives, those being innocence and experience. To Blake, innocence is not better than experience. Both states haveRead MoreWilliam Blake s The Lamb And The Tyger873 Words   |  4 Pagesdescribed as pure, tender, and innocent. Even in the Holy Bible, lambs are talked about in such high honor that they were even used to be holy s acrifices during biblical times. William Blake describes the young sheep in similar characteristics in the poem â€Å"The Lamb† and â€Å"The Tyger†. A tiger as we know its characteristics to be is fierce and mysterious. Always lurking around, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. In William Blake’s two separate poems he ties each of the poems together withRead MoreAnalysis Of William Blakes Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience1005 Words   |  5 PagesSongs of Innocence and of Experience, which is written by William Blake, was published in 1794. Author wants to describe the contrary of two states of human soul: innocence and experience. While Songs of Innocence include is collection of poems about happy, or joyful world, Songs of Experience are a collection of poems about sorrows, or sufferings. The above selection text is from The Lamb which is a poem in Songs of Innocence. The first impressive about this poem is that it is as a song for childrenRe ad MoreWilliam Blake s The Tyger1132 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Blake’s â€Å"The Tyger† and Tragedies William Blake wrote a set of poems in his collection Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Some of the poems in each collection were meant to be read together to show the difference between innocence and experience. Many people question why Blake wrote a two part series to his poems and what they could actually mean. Two specific poems, â€Å"The Lamb† and â€Å"The Tyger,† were meant to be read together. â€Å"The Lamb† is a part of Blake’s Songs of Innocence andRead MoreSongs of Good and Evil1545 Words   |  7 Pagesall describe William Blake’s life (Greenblatt, Abrams, Lynch, Stillinger). Blake was born November 28, 1757 in London, England and his artistic ability became evident in his early years. Blake had a very simple upbringing and had little education. His formal education was in art and at the age of fourteen he entered an apprenticeship with a well-known engraver who taught Blake his skills in engraving. In Blake’s free t ime, he began reading writing poetry. At the age of twenty-one, Blake completed hisRead MoreEssay on The Lamb626 Words   |  3 Pagesseeks refuge in the knowledge and innocence of the past. William Blake used direct dictation through his poem, â€Å"THE LAMB†, in disseminating his theorem, which we, humans, seek to find peace within our selves only after reestablishing our identity with something pure. In the poem William Blake uses the Lamb, as a vessel, to interpret the innocence, we would seek to use. The speaker is seeking answers to his questions, about how the lamb gained such natural innocence. Blake’s biblical reference is alsoRead MoreRationalism And William Blakes The Lamb And The Tiger868 Words   |  4 Pagesinto their writing. However, William Blake did not take the approach of a rationalist writer when he wrote the two poems The Lamb and The Tiger. These poems both are tied to God and make biblical references. Blake shows the contrast between these two poems by having The Lamb based off i nnocence and The Tiger based off of fear and losing one’s innocence. In The Lamb and The Tiger, William Blake uses the lamb to represent innocence and the tiger to show the loss of innocence by using imagery and biblicalRead MoreOpposition in William Blakes The Lamb and the Tyger689 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿Opposition in William Blakes The Lamb and The Tyger William Blakes Songs of Innocence and Experience contain some of his most known poems including The Lamb from Songs of Innocence and The Tyger from Songs of Experience. These two poems are intended to reflect contrasting views of religion, innocence, and creation, with The Tyger examining the intrinsic relationship between good and evil. Blake utilizes contrasting images and symbols to examine opposing perspectives of good and evilRead MoreEssay The Writings of William Blake1106 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Blake was one of England’s greatest writers (Tejvan) in the nineteenth century, but his brilliancy was not noticed until after he was deceased. Blake was very much a free spirit who often spoke his mind and was very sensitive to cruelty. At the age of twenty five he married a woman named Catherine Boucher. They created a book of all Blake’s poems called Songs on Innocence, which was not very popular while he was alive. On the other hand Blake’s other book of poems, Songs of Experience, were