Monday, January 27, 2020

Sustainable Tourism: Development Challenges

Sustainable Tourism: Development Challenges Introduction Tourism is an ancient phenomenon and already the people during the times of the Mesopotamian society travelled. However, tourism only started to expand significantly post-Cook are of 1880 and mass tourism appeared post-war 1950’s (Weaver and Oppermann, 2000). Following were rapid, uncontrolled and unsustainable tourism destination development as can be observed on the Spanish Coast, where large hotels make the once regional, physical and social structures indistinguishable from many other mass tourism coastal areas (Richards and Hall, 2000). This chaotic mass tourism has led not only to irreversible environmental, socio-cultural and economical damages, but also has it made those destinations undesirable to tourists. And in fact; â€Å"There are examples from almost every country in the world, where tourism development has been identified as being the main cause of environmental degradation† (Lickorish and Jenkins, 1999:85). Therefore, sustainable tourism development seems to be one of the fad words of modern tourism management, and is thus on all the tourist companies’ agendas. The following assignment will investigate the issue of sustainable tourism, how â€Å"serious† and complex the subject really is? It will by no means be an extensive assignment, due to the time and word limitations at hand. Therefore further research would need to be undertaken to gain a full picture of the issue. Discussion Sustainable development and ethical tourism? Sustainability is a contemporary issue in tourism development that came in fashion during the past 20 years (Winpenny, 1991). Considering the Brundtland Commission in 1987, development is sustainable when â€Å"it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs† (1987, cited in Winpenny, 1991:3). A different definition of sustainability is offered at the Globe ’90 Conference in Vancouver: â€Å"Sustainable tourism development is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that we can fulfil economic, social and aesthetic needs while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems† (Tourism Stream Action Committee 1990, Ledbury cited in Hein, 1997:30). These definitions show how complex the subject of sustainability is in its very nature of having to encompass so many things. And also â€Å"In the USA GNP per capita is $24,240 whilst in Kenya it is $964. Are the needs of either countries population met? And who is to decide what these ‘needs’ are? The UN? Or perhaps the World Bank, who service the ‘needs’ of developed economies by removing greater wealth from Africa through dept repayments than is injected through meagre aid budgets? This reality – that some people meet their needs by preventing others from meeting theirs is overlooked† (Butcher, 2003:131). Therefore leaving the choices those countries (third world) are faced with is to accept aid or investment on the terms offered, or not accept them at all (Butcher, 2003: 123). Now the question is, is this really sustainable, and most of all ethical? The impacts of tourism are divided into three elements; economical, environmental and socio-cultural (Coltman, 1989). Therefore, it could be argued that the sustainable discussion should be looked at in those three headings. According to this concept of sustainable tourism there are three points that are to be achieved through tourism development: Increasing economic value of tourism An improvement in the life quality of people Protection and responsible use of natural resources (Keyser, 2002) McKercher (1993:131) states that â€Å"the inherent vagueness of â€Å"sustainability† is its greatest weakness† and he notes on how the term is used to legitimize and justify activities and policies by the industry and the conservation movement for mutually exclusive activities. McKercher is not the only one supporting views along this notion. Smith and Duffy (2003) argue that business ethics is about reacting to customers’ values and expectations and is merely an attempt to improve an industries image and thus increase its sales. Along with this fad for sustainability, many new terms for alternative tourism have emerged. Hein (1997) actually suggests that many of those new forms of tourism, like green, progressive and alternative tourism is purely a reaction to the contemporary green and environmental movement that we are experiencing in Western societies. Therefore, that would then imply certain superficiality and that this whole trend is more about attracting customers, rather than being really concerned about sustainability. However, Fennell (2003) on the other side notes that the trend has initiated many new fashionable tourism forms, like ecotourism, which when applied properly, should be beneficial. However, caution should be the word to consider, as those labels are easily abused as marketing tools. The chances of marketing abuse is debatably encouraged by the argument that consumers are driving this movement at least partially, as their demands are changing when it comes to the consumption of tourism services. Goodwin (cited in Jenkins et al. 2002) argues that the movement for responsible forms of tourism is beginning to impact mainstream consumer preferences. And Butcher (2003) notes that there has been an important shift to a growth in ethical consumption, not only in tourism, taking Body Shop as one success example. And while this ethical tourism is debatably having a clean image of being â€Å"good†, it may not be all as shiny as it sounds. â€Å"Ethical consumption ends up moralizing about exaggerated problems between people, hosts and tourists, and moreover, neglects an assessment of the social inequalities that characterize relationships between nations† (Butcher, 2003:3). He also argues that the promotion of nature-based tourism shows little prospects in regards to the potential to address the real problem, namely the poverty and inequality. A good example is Ethiopia and the case of the 5 star Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa. The owner of the hotel was praised for his sensitive treatment and re-homing of the shack-dwellers who used to live there. However, the area of this luxurious hotel is surrounded by poverty. And for being in one of the poorest countries in the world, it is questionable of how moral it is to rub such wealth of a luxury 5 star Sheraton Hotel into the faces of the people who have to live under extreme poverty (Smith and Duffy, 2003). Codes of ethics and chain of distribution and the impact on the tourism industry Firstly one should outline what exactly a code of ethics is. A â€Å"†¦.codes of ethics or conduct are lists designed to elicit a change in behaviour of particular stakeholder groups; a form of compliance for acceptable behaviour at a tourism setting† (Fennell, 2003:11). Environmental commitment, responsibility, integrated planning, environmentally sound management, cooperation between decision makers, and public awareness, are according to Genot (1995, cited in Fennell, 2003) the core principals of any code of ethics. One can easily recognise the complexity of the subject, especially when considering that it has to be applied to everyone involved in the tourism process and hence all the chains of distributions. Arguably a code of ethics could have positive impacts on the tourism industry and its channel of distributions. Simply because it would clarify what exactly ethical and sustainable development and tourism is. However it would prove almost impossible to monitor al the chain of distribution outlets. And also may the codes be against certain chains own value system, which bring us to the locality of ethics which will be discussed later on in the assignment. Wheeler (1994, cited in Fennell, 2003:186) is also critical of the implementation of codes of ethics and the sustainability and ecotourism trends, and so he notes: â€Å"†¦ a never-ending series of laughable codes of ethics: codes of ethics for travellers; codes of ethics for tourists, for government and for tourism businesses. Codes for all – or, more likely, codeine for all†¦. But who really believes these codes are effective?† In Zimbabwe there is the aid-funded Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (Campfire). Limited ecotourism and game hunting are organized here where the revenues support the rural population. While this is advertised as appropriate development but is this symbiosis per se a good thing? (Butcher, 2003). And moreover, how is it going to be possible to ensure that everyone adheres to the code of ethics, when the people are rural and unable to identify with the Western values and ethics system? Fair trade and ethical tourism Ethical tourism has been said to be synonymous with sustainable tourism, alternative tourism, appropriate tourism or sympathetic tourism (Hall and Lew, 1998). Hall and Lew (1998) argue that it is Western values and ethics that provide the base for the implementation of the concept of ethical tourism, and in thus impose its Western culture on the host domination. Is this then ethical in itself? Following are some examples for fair trade and ethical tourism initiatives illustrated in the case of the Gambia: Fair Trade practices in tourism (just like Fair Trade bananas) are being established by the Gambia Experience in conjunction with Tourism Concern (Author Unknown, 2002). TUI and First Choice take part in a revolutionary scheme to raise awareness of under-aged prostitution. Therefore the Crimestoppers lines in the UK now accept calls from holidaying British people. Those tourists have on their flight into the Gambia been taught the signs, and encouraged to report inappropriate behaviour of under-aged prostitution (Baldwin, 2004). The Gambia Tourism Concern has various initiatives; a street newspaper called Concern Magazine, an in-flight video aiming to raise awareness and encourage appropriate behaviour (Smith, 2002) and there is a weekly radio programme for the locals, educating them about issues of tourism (Williams, 2002). This debatably is to inform both, the tourist and the locals, of appropriate ethical behaviour towards the other party. Conclusion The definition of sustainability and hence the term sustainable tourism can be interpreted in various ways, and thus makes measurement a difficult task. It is questionable whether sustainability in tourism really does exist as there are always some aspects of concern. However, sustainability and ethical consumption seems to be in fashion, and hence making the possibilities of the terms being (ab)used for marketing purposes even bigger. To clarify the standards for sustainability, ethical codes should be implemented across the tourism industry. However, this again in itself might pose an unethical aspect, as it might impose culturally dependable aspects on host communities, and what is right in one community, may not be right in another community. Also would it be impossible to control the adherence of the different chains of distribution units. To conclude, it could be said that there is no single answer to this complex conundrum of sustainable and ethical tourism. And while there may be some superficiality in its use within the industry, it may be questioned whether it is not at least better to have some effort, than none at all. References Author Unknown (2002) Small operators push change, Travel Trade Gazette UK Ireland, 26/08/2002, Issue 2528, p20 Baldwin N. (2004) Sex tourism fight scores first victory, Travel Weekly: The Choice of Travel Professionals (Reed), 20/08/2004, Issue 1732, p68 Butcher J. (2003) The Moralization of Tourism, Sun, Sand †¦ And Saving The World? London; Routledge Coltman M. M. (1989) Introduction to Travel Tourism, An International Approach, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Fennell D. A. (1999; 2003) Ecotourism, An Introduction (2nd edn.), London; Routledge Hall C. M. and Lew A. A. (1998) Sustainable Tourism, A Geographical Perspective, New York; Longman Hein W. (1997) Tourism and Sustainable Development, Hamburg; Deutsches Uebersee-Institut Jenkins T., Birkett D., Goodwin H., Goldstein P., Butcher J. and Leech K. (2002) Ethical Tourism, Who Benefits?, Reading: Hodder Stoughton Keyser H. (2002) Tourism Development, Cape Town: Oxford University Press Lickorish L. J. and Jenkins C. L. (1997) An Introduction to Tourism, Oxford;  Butterworth-Heinemann McKercher B. (1993) The unrecognized threat to tourism, Can tourism survive ‘sustainability’?, Tourism Management, April 1993. Richards G. and Hall D. (2000) Tourism and Sustainable Community Development, London; Routledge Smith M. K. (2003) Issues in Cultural Tourism Studies, London; Routledge Smith M. and Duffy, R. (2003) The Ethics of Tourism Development, London; Routledge Weaver D. and Oppermann M. (2000) Tourism Management, Brisbane; John Wiley Sons Australia, Ltd Williams S. (2001) The Gambia, African Business, Jul/Aug 2001, Issue 267, p44 Winpenny J. T. (1991) Values for the Environment, London; HMSO Bibliography Cooper C. and Fletcher J. and Gilbert D. and Wanhill S. and Shepherd R. (1998) Tourism Principles and Practice (2nd edn.), Harlow; Longman Heery E. (1992:825) The management of international Tourism (Book Review) Journal of Management Studies, Nov. 92, Vol. 29, Issue 6, p825 Middleton V. T .C. and Hawkins R. (1998) Sustainable Tourism, Oxford; Butterworth Heinemann Sharpley R. and Telfer D.J. (2002) Tourism And Development, Clevedon; Channel View Publications Theobald W. F. (1996:2005) Global Tourism (3rd edn.), San Francisco: Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann Witt S. F., Brooke M. Z. and Buckley P. J. (1991) The Management of International Tourism, London: Unwyn Hyman Ltd.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Literature Review on “An Echo in the Bone” by Denis Scott

On May 1974, the first performance of Dennis Scott's An Echo in the Bone was staged by the Drama Society at the University of the West Indies Mona campus in Jamaica. The play deals with the destructive impact slavery has left on the history of Afro West Indians. Scotts aim, through this play, is to reclaim and recreate the past lost to our ancestors as well as the voice taken from them, that merely stands today as an echo in the bone.Though he aspires to recreate the history of then enslaved, he also acknowledges that the past should not hold possession over one’s self but act as a guided to not repeat past mistakes. He focuses on the period of enslavement and its transition to post emancipation while using the thematic issues of racial prejudice, the supernatural, gender roles in society and the repercussions of history. He sees the past as a guide to fully understanding ones true identity and culture, a view many of his generation holds in high regard as opposed to the moder n generation who believes the past should remain in the past.With there being limited and somewhat biased credit of the period of enslavement, Scott intricate oral traditions and folklore animate his play to life with a sense of emotional and spiritual understanding. The title itself is a play on words and the play is written in colloquial language in Jamaican dialect and is centered on the murder of Mr. Charles, a white estate owner, whose death occurs nine days prior to the beginning of the play, presumably at the hands of a black peasant farm owner popularly known as Crew.In the pursuit to capture Crew, his shirt and machete were found by the river bed, covered with blood. It is this evidence that leads to the conclusion by his wife, Rachel, that Crew is dead. In accordance with her cultural tradition, Rachel decides to keep a nine night for her deceased husband. The play is set in Jamaica, in an old dilapidated sugar barn behind Crew's house in the year 1937 during the post-colo nial era. The italics in the play represent a prelude of the events that will occur in the play, as well as, the stage directions.A nine night or set up is a ritualistic ceremony concerning the celebration of life and death. â€Å"The Jamaican Negroes believe that for nine nights after death, the ghost rises out of the grave and returns to its familiar haunts† states Martha Beckwith in Black Roadways. Its origin is sourced from Africa though it incorporates Christian elements and is performed to encourage the deceased spirit to move on. Rum plays a very significant role in a nine night as it is used to â€Å"appease the rooming spirits of loved ones† states Mango Salute writer, Nadya-Kaye Phillips.Scott uses the nine night as an avenue to answer the unresolved questions Crew has left behind by the act of spiritual possession. He brilliantly manipulates the characters of the play to transport the audience to the past and present to fully understand the history of the en slaved and his need to recreate it and further more reclaim it. Through this possession the voices of the dead speak through the bodies of the living. It is during the opening scene that Crew's spirit manifests itself through Dream Boat after rum is spilt at the home of the deceased.In Jamaican folklore, the breaking of glass is seen as a bad omen. When the spirit takes hold of dreamboat, Madam uses the light of a candle and oil to free dreamboat of the apparition. Scott uses stage conventions and props to portray of light versus â€Å"darkness. † Light may act as a representation of life and nature as opposed to the darkness of death and the unknown. Sonson, Crew's first son, after putting on the clothes of his diseased father, became his father's vessel to host. These props aid in authenticating the play as it relates to the financial background of the main characters in the present.Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn child to inherit the family e state, in preference to siblings, it is a practice commonly done in African Societies. The first barn male is treated specially as he will be the patriarch of the family should the existing patriarch die or is unable to perform his responsibility due to mental or physical health issues. This part of African culture makes Sonson the best character to be the medium through which Crew communicates. It is after this possession, that the audience is transported through time and space to a ship, docked off an African coast.The use of auditory imagery is consistent in the play through instances of the drum being beaten by Rattler as well as being heard along the dock on the coast of Africa when transported to the past. In this episode, Scott successfully multiplies his characters personalities without having additional cast, to integrate in this scene. Through this enactment we are able to see the opposing perspectives of slavery.We see the perpetual voicelessness of the enslaves through t he historical perspective of the tribal warfare among rivalling tribes in Africa who sold prisoners of war into slavery and that of their white oppressors in European society through the writings of Bryan Edwards and the Slave traders aboard the sea vessel on scene. The irony of this scene as it relates to the voiceless of the enslaved occurs through the violent act of Rattler's tongue being cut off in the past and Rattler in the present being a mute, here also we see Scott's genius use of characterization. Visual imagery portrays the harsh reality that the enslaved endured being captured, bought and sold like animals, this same reality that European authors dilute to create a false preconception.The play successfully links historical events with subjective fictionionalization which clearly depicts the seen and the unseen, the heard and the silenced. The names of few the characters can be compared with these characters personality. â€Å"Stone† for instance has been described as â€Å"strong, almost as strong as Crew,† however, Stone as well as other nine characters were given multiple personalities which meant that there was no individual characterization. This is better understood in the production of the play which was performed by only black characters who would where white masks to represent white characters.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Prosthetic Devices

Prosthetic Devices A prosthetic is an artificial body part that replaces a missing or non-functioning body part such as an arm, heart or breast. Humans have been making prosthetic limbs since the Ancient Egyptians to replace limbs lost during battle, work or just by mistake. Evidence has been found of Egyptians trying to replicate toes with copper ones. Although these were very impractical as they were solid and so were mostly for aesthetic purposes. In the 1400s, prosthetics arms made out of iron were available to wealthy Knights and lords.These arms had a relatively useful function as they were made to hold shields, allow them to open their purse and/or sign their name. As well as for function, prosthetic limbs are also developed for aesthetic purposes as people want to look normal and not attract stares or whispers. Prosthetic Arms Modern prosthetic devices have advanced a great deal since ancient times. Now, some very complicated robotic limbs are available that can detect the el ectrical impulse that would normally move your arm and replicate this movement robotically.Robotics in prosthetic devices is seen mostly in robotic arms because of the nature of the movement of fingers and the thumb. Advancements in the processors used in myoelectric (robotic) arms has allowed for artificial limbs to make fine-tuned movements with the prosthetic. This is extremely significant as previously robotic arms had only one or two movements such as closing the thumb to the hand to hold things. Modern fine-tuned arms can have up to 7 movements and it is likely that they will advance to have even more movements than a human hand.A future advancement that is being researched and developed is the addition of a sense of touch that would be able to detect, and then relay to the brain the amount of pressure being applied. It is currently being experimented to add small pods filled with a highly compressible liquid at the end of each finger. Inside each of these pods would be a pres sure sensor that would compress as force is added with the robotic finger. The pressure sensor would then sense the amount of force being applied and relay this to the central processor which would translate this to an impulse to send to the brain.An alternative to relaying it to the brain is to have a small display or other indicator that shows the amount of force being applied by each finger. Although this is easier to develop, most people wouldn’t like the indicator over each finger or on the wrist as it wouldn’t look at all natural. Although there have been many advancements in robotic arms, they are still very much a crude replacement to a real arm. They have to be replaced every 3-4 years, there function is still much slower than real arms and fingers, and the intricacy and delicacy possible by real fingers is currently far superior than the robotic replica.Bionic Eye The Bionic Eye was developed to restore the vision of people that lived in total blindness, or v ery low vision. The first prototypes are now developed but they are researching ways to improve them as although they are functional and can convey an image to the brain of blind patients they only send an extremely low quality image in greyscale to the brain that is only useful to avoid walking into large objects such as buildings, cars and tables. The reason for this low quality image is because there are 98 electrodes in the chip that connects to the optic nerve.This is a very small amount when you compare it to over 120 million photo-receptor cells. The chip developed has about 1 000 000 wires connecting it and is one of the most complicated neuro-stimulation chips ever designed. Although it seems as though good vision will not be possible with the bionic eye for a long time to come you can have far less receptors than that to have adequate vision to love independently. Researchers are hoping to include about 1000 electrodes in the next generation of the bionic eye and believe t hat this is enough to allow people to recognise faces and read large print.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Evan Breyer, The Founder And The Former Ceo Of Growing Places

Background Information History Evan Breyer, who was the founder and the former CEO of Growing Places, failed to make profitable growth that the company had to struggle to break even. Evan had spent too much time on the gripe sessions, which was a platform for employees to voice their gripes, in lieu of working out plans. Also, Evan did not have innovative ideas so there was not an impressive growth of the company. To rescue it from the edge of closure, Evan hired Rob Miranda, who had worked as the president of a small insurance company for ten years, to be the new CEO of Growing Places. Development Rob had a different perspective on the challenges the company was facing and he had innovative ideas to revitalize the company’s financial performances. His strategy was to refocus the company’s objectives and set new goals for the employees. Under the leadership of Rob, together with the reforming of the company, Growing Places had expanded from six freestanding, garden-variety facilities in Ohio to around 60 of on-site facilities at companies and universities in five states. Rob’s creative ideas, such as the lactation rooms, helped the company pass through its hard times. Growth The board of Growing Places wanted to set up a scholarship program for children from families which demonstrated financial needs. The company was finding corporate sponsor to help pay for the scholarships and extend the program to the other centers. Thrivand, one of the possible sponsoringShow MoreRelatedCoffee and Crisis Management Team21317 Words   |  86 Pagescoffees for millions of customers worldwide since its 1971 founding in Seattle s Pike Place Market in the state of Washington. Still headquartered in Seattle, Starbucks Coffee Company has expanded to stores in all 50 states and in 43 countries outside of the United States. You get more than the finest coffee when you visit a Starbucks - you get great people, first-rate music and a comfortable and upbeat meeting place, says Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president, and chief executive officer.