Tourism and Basic Needs Essay Example for Free

Tourism and Basic Needs Essay Poorer countries should consider developing their tourist industry as they are predominantly agricultural, have sharply limited development prospects in the near future and tend to be heavily dependent on official development assistance as almost everything requires money. Tourism is an attractive tool that could solvooe these problems as the developing countries could invest in this industry to reap massive amount of profits which could speed up the development of the country’s economy and allow the basic needs of people to be met. Tourism is considered to be the most tactical approach for economic development, specifically in the poorer countries. When viewed as an export industry of the 3Gs, ‘ Get them in, Get their money and Get them out’, tourism has the greatest tendency to assist developing countries to move away from a dependency on agriculture and also, diversifying its sources of revenue. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s study on tourism and travel, tourism industry creates most jobs in developing countries and their foreign earnings leapt from less than US$50 billion in 1990 to more than US$260 billion in 2007. With such vast amount of revenue, this could jumpstart the local economy and provides quick capital injection. Furthermore, in the case of having inefficient or corrupted government, the tourism industry can also provide one source of direct earning to the poor people. Therefore, poorer countries should place the development of their tourist industry as their main priority because it would address the problem of insufficient funds and to better caters the basic needs of their own people. Basic needs of people often include food, clothing and medicine. Others are clean water and sanitation, adequate levels of nutrition, access to primary health care and basic education. To achieve all these, the government has to invest in the tourist industry such that it would play as a substantial role in job creation. In addition, good planning is also required of the local government. Good planning will allow poorer countries to benefit from high-value added tourism such as eco-tourism, medical tourism, educational tourism, adventure tourism and creative tourism which is a form of cultural tourism. Private tour guides are also an excellent way to get insight of the country and help the locals to earn an income. A recent trend is dark tourism which is a small niche market driven by varied motivations such as mourning, remembrance or macabre curiosity. The main draw of this is mostly due to their historical value rather than their associations with death and suffering. An example will be Cambodia which combines cultural and dark tourism in places like Angkor Wat and Tuol Sleng War musemum. Thus, with such planning and vast diversity of tourism, the locals will definitely benefit from them and would be self-sufficient in meeting their own basic needs. However, the environmental impact of the tourism industry on the locals must be considered. Where there is no benefit to offset the negative impact, developing the tourism industry may be just a raw deal. Hotels, discos, greater air, land, noise pollution and urban congestion would upset the tranquility of the area. Tourism can also lead to the creation of unsightly human structures that do not fit in the local architecture and would lead to the disturbance of the wildlife habitat which accompanies with the loss of biodiversity of plants and animals. Some tourism destinations may become victims of shifting taste. In this context, the excessive building and environment destruction are often associated to the traditional â€Å"sun and beach† tourism which may contribute to a destination’s saturation and its subsequent decline. Such example would be Spain’s Costa Brava. To counter to this problem, the local government of the poorer country needs to practice careful urban planning and introduce new laws and enforcement. Instead of the creation of infrastructure that do not fit into the local community, the government could consider building something that has the local colours as it may have a greater effect in attracting tourists to visit them. By doing so, it would reduce the chances of the traditional â€Å"sun and beach† tourism. In addition, the implementation of laws and enforcement would tackle the local greenery issues as this could reduce the impact on wildlife and plants. Therefore, only with these accompanying solutions, the problem can be reduced to the minimum and would prevent huge financial loss. In all, poorer countries should develop their tourist industry as it would provide them with an alternative source of financial income. This would also assist in the economic development as it brings in the much needed foreign currency which would benefit the locals as their basic needs could then be met.

Development of a GIS Within a Water Company

Development of a GIS Within a Water Company Introduction Geographic information systems (GIS) confirm every day, and with increasing popularity, that they are some essential tools for storing, managing, processing and mapping a large amount of georeferenced data, which related to a database shape a given geographical space. The increasingly widespread use of personal computers, along with a greater choice by software manufacturers allow an item, previously limited to powerful computers, can be treated by a large number of users. Geographic information systems make possible, among other things, the ability to extract different layers of thematic information relating to a particular spatial area, as well as all kinds of analysis and diagnosis in areas as diverse as territorial planning, or the environment or management resources This report aims to examine the development of a geographic information system within an organisation. More specifically it is a water company, as might be the case of Thames Water. This report will go into the operation of a large water company. The nature of the information included into geographic information system is varied. For example, data from network infrastructure projects are used as well as a geographical aspect, such as hydrologic basin boundaries, water bodies and other In this company there is also administrative information such as databases related to public use of water resources in a basin. Another type of information made available is the satellite image. For the development of the geographic information system it has been necessary to carefully define its own infrastructure of all the components involved in the process. These components are: hardware, storage, software, information structure in a server (done in a way that can be cost effective), tools for accessing and updating. Thus, it allows system users to access all information related to use them in tasks of water management. The idea of the implementation of a geographic information system in the company aims to provide technological and methodological solutions to the tasks of water management. The geographic information system is established to respond to questions that are not predefined in advance. Background An initial analysis of the company gives an idea of its size, and in base to this, the kind of infrastructure is chosen. Also, an study of the resources available is needed in order to meet the requirements of GIS that the company has. Services are put in place regarding maintenance of the geo-referenced information: infrastructure maintenance Within a water company, like Thames Water, several activities related to water management are summarised next in order to give examples of need for a GIS. First, there is a need to manage water resources, the public usage of water, water supply infrastructure and reservoirs GIS can help in the creation and implementation of water policies. Carry out the administration of public water usage and manage the use of water. Manage the implementation of works and water infrastructure, coordinate the exploitation and management of works and projects. Manage the recruitment, management and control of the earnings in the company A mobile system that reinforce the departments ability to manage field resources and service orders (Jacobs, D. et al., 2007) GIS sources As mentioned earlier, the company deals with information from different sources, each with its particular characteristics: information from infrastructure projects and other projects and other directly related to the natural environment, information from information systems information from satellite imagery and derived products. Information from infrastructure projects and other projects and other directly related to the natural environment The projects that the company deals with generate a lot of geographic information: major infrastructure projects (for example, water supply), environmental monitoring and planning (like flood zones and evacuation routes map (Mioc, 2008) and reference maps on issues relating directly to the environment (for example maps of rivers or watersheds). Once the company receives the information, the administrator of GIS adds value to information. One example is the case of water supply infrastructure: establishing topology, and enabling queries of what happens at certain point. Information from other systems The GIS of the company uses data from other information systems. The GIS software of the company is linked to external databases. Through database connectivity the company have access to information on Oracle format and Access format that contain administrative information with the records of the actions of the public with water resources (for example consume, discharges, building permits, etc..). It is also linked to other information systems with information directly related to the physical environment (network information system of surface water control) The company databases are based on a relational data model where data is stored in two dimensions tables. In this way theses tables are related and contain records for one entity. The company databases are also based in a georelational model where the tables are linked and contain data like topology, attributes etc. Using SQL language the company can query the data from the database and in this way can generate maps and tables with the information required by the users. The integration between databases and GIS software allows the end user to represent the elements of the database on a map, in that way many layers o different maps can be opened and overlaid and geographical relations between the elements mapped can be checked. The company uses Automated Mapping/Facilities Management AM/FM. With this application the non geographic and the geographic information can be integrated in one. The information of the company database is geocoded with the postcode address of their home. The process to geocode can be tedious, so another company does it. Once the information is geocoded analysis can be undertaken combined with other maps overlaid like a city map for instance. Like this the company can undertake different tasks. Information from satellite images and derived products Another type of information that makes use of GIS is the remote sensing information. Through contracts with other companies water company regularly receives processed images from satellites such as Landsat or SPOT. The images are geometrically and radiometrically corrected, the metadata is completed and is integrated into the GIS. The images are produced as a product of great visual interest. Compositions are created with true colour and false colour, easily accessible guide maps are made for quick access to view the images. This information is also used to track water requirements of crops, monitoring of snow cover and monitoring of water quality along the coast. On products derived from monitoring the area are creating databases, initially simple, storing the information, and are creating management tools to generate reports, graphs and maps to access quickly. On products derived from monitoring the area databases are created, that store the information, and management tools are created to generate reports, graphs and maps to access quickly. Maps can be created using this information of humidity index, cadastral parcels with water content, evapotranspiration, etc.. One of the problems that the company is facing is the lack of knowledge of the resources of remote sensing data. The GIS and Remote Sensing software used have been chosen according to the needs of the company: the key points when deciding which software to use in the company are: which benefits the software offer, the profile of users who will use it is also important, number of licenses needed and the price is also important. The technology is used by the company is ESRI because offers a high performance level in GIS: for example, has the necessary tools for analysis and interfaces hydraulic and hydrologic modelling (very important for a water company) and also offers the possibility of programming highly customized interfaces that are often very friendly welcome by users, but the disadvantage is its high cost that can limit the number of licenses. Hardware For hardware, the company has chosen to use a high-powered server as the company is a large size company and the amount of map information generated is very large. It is very important to choose a high performance hardware because as a large company, the amount of data to be processed is very high. When choosing the hardware is taken into account the time factor as the large amount of data that is received daily makes essential a technology that can provide mid-term capacity. Besides, the hardware has to respond to the addition of new series of maps and the continuing contribution of remote sensing imagery. It is essential to manage the huge volumes of geographical data in a efficient and effective way if the GIS is to be cost justified. Apart from hardware and software the structure of the data is also very important. The access to the information has to be easy to the users and also the maintenance and update. Information must be stored in a way that is structured in a objective way, scalable and easy to add new information. The structure of the data have been created according to the major thematic areas within the company. Here are the big four groups where the data has been divided into: Mapping management: maps and databases that include elements of the territory directly involved in the management, control, planning and land always in relation to the water business. These maps are generated within the company. (watershed, sewage systems, etc.). Thematic Mapping: mapping not linked to the water business, but that is related to environmental issues that the company is related to like natural reserves, Mapping of reference: map collections supplied by the Ordnance Survey (all sort of maps, from topographic to aerial photo rectified Other mapping: maps and databases of a part of the territory administered by the company, this mapping may also come from other entities as a result of specific studies Those who do easier tasks they dont need a full training on GIS and Remote Sensing because probably they are not going to use it, but what it is important is that these users have a personalised training on the task that are going to perform normally. For this reason within the company some personalised training is undertaken. Also step by step manuals describing the processes and above all the GIS office of the company is conducting ongoing advice on issues of GIS and Remote Sensing to the entire company. Conclusions Currently the GIS is an essential tool in the in the day to day in the company. Work of different sorts relating the water is undertaken with GIS. The GIS model of the company has allowed, despite some problems, enhance in each of the workspaces GIS as a tool for management, planning and analysis. Jacobs, D., Souza F., Ramey R. â€Å"GIS to the Rescue† Water Wastes Digest February 2007 Volume: 47 Number: 2 Darka Mioc, Franà §ois Anton and Gengsheng Liang On-line Street Network Analysis for Flood Evacuation Planning Remote Sensing and Gis Technologies for Monitoring and Prediction of Disasters. Berlin: Springer, 2008. Pages219-242

How to teach :: Employment, Education, Staffing

Tenure is a topic that has produced much heated discussion in recent years. Some argue that tenure is an outmoded conce and, if institutions are going to remain competitive, they need to be able to have more flexibility to hire and fire faculty as student needs change. Others argue that tenure is vital to the protection of academic freedom and that without tenure we will return to the days when faculty were dismissed for teaching unpopular opinions. Several state legislatures have mandated post-tenure review for faculty, i.e. Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas. New campuses have been created in Florida and California that do not have faculty tenure. In addition, to the arguments about tenure, institutions have not been filling tenure-track positions as faculty retire or resign to take another position. Instead we are seeing an increase in the numbers of faculty hired on limited term contracts of five years or less and an increase in the numbers of part-time temporary faculty hired. Tenure is a topic that has produced much heated discussion in recent years. Some argue that tenure is an outmoded conce and, if institutions are going to remain competitive, they need to be able to have more flexibility to hire and fire faculty as student needs change. Others argue that tenure is vital to the protection of academic freedom and that without tenure we will return to the days when faculty were dismissed for teaching unpopular opinions. Several state legislatures have mandated post-tenure review for faculty, i.e. Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas. New campuses have been created in Florida and California that do not have faculty tenure.

Drugs, Money, Media and Advertising Essay -- Drugs Argumentative Persu

Drugs, Money, Media and Advertising Ads for pharmaceutical drugs are everywhere. They are in magazines, on television and radio, on billboards, and on the little bags that you get from the pharmacist. These days it is difficult to get away from all the drug advertising. All these ads are for products that require a doctor's prescription. The goal of advertising is to increase profits. By advertising so heavily for drugs that the majority of the population does not need, pharmaceutical companies attempt to create as large a consumer base as they can. In advertising directly to the consumer, the drug companies accomplish two objectives. First, they get information directly to the consumer. Second, they promote the product and generate demand for their particular drug. Whether this type of direct-to-consumer advertising is good or bad depends on your perspective. The controversy about drug advertisement lies in how drug companies use the money generated by ads and how they choose to advertise their products. Some argue that the pharmaceutical companies just pocket the profits generated by ads, while the companies themselves say that the money is needed for the research and development of new cutting-edge drugs. The information that the drug companies provide in the ads can be both informative and misleading. Deciding which side is right or wrong may be more difficult than we think, as both sides make good arguments for their case. More likely than not, the answer lies somewhere in between, with both sides being right and wrong. Allergy drugs such as Claritin, Allegra, and Flonase have become very popular in recent years. In 2000, Claritin was fifteenth in the 200 most prescribed drugs in the US, wh... ... No. 21 Public Citizen. (31 Aug. 2000). Schering-Plough Political Money Pushes Claritin Patent Extension and Distorts Report. Public Citizen. http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=369. (7 Oct. 2001). Sanes, K. (2000). The Fake Haven of Claritin. Popular Culture. http://www.transparencynow.com/claritin/claritin.htm. (7 Oct. 2001). Scott-Levin (2001) The Top 200 Prescription for 2000 by Number of US Prescriptions Dispensed. http://www.rxlist.com/top200.htm. (6 Oct. 20001). Secondwind (2001) Direct-to-Consumer Advertising. Second Wind. http://www.secondwindmagazine.org/issues/2001/spring/feature.html. (7 Oct. 2001). Swanson, Jack. (2001). Personal Interview. 17 Aug 2001. Tidwell, J. (31 Aug. 2000). Claritin Patent Gets Extension. Allergies. http://allergies.about.com/library/weekly/aa082100a.htm?once=true&. (7 Oct. 2001).

Now Is The Time To Be Computer Literate Essay -- essays research paper

Now Is The Time To Be Computer Literate Now is the time to become computer literate. Now is the time to become familiar and comfortable with the computer because in the future we will become virtually a paperless society and many daily activities will be linked to the computer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mail delivery to the home and business will be almost entirely phased out and e-mail will replace it. Bills will come via the computer and paid the same way. Pay checks will be electronically deposited to your bank account. On special occasions such as birthdays, greeting cards will be sent from your computer to your loved ones computer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shopping malls will become cyber malls and we will do our shopping via the computer. You will be able to view on your monitor how you would look in a certain outfit you are considering to buy. Imagine traveling over the entire mall in a comfortable in front of your computer. Push a button and the entire stock of a store will be at your finger tips. When you do go to a store to shop you will not use money. You will use either a credit card or debit card which will automatically deduct the amount if you purchase from your bank account.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Our homes will be run by computers. Computers will adjust the temperature. Home appliances will be linked to the computer. Imagine driving home from work and calling your computer and having it start dinner for you. Have it adjust the temperat... Now Is The Time To Be Computer Literate Essay -- essays research paper Now Is The Time To Be Computer Literate Now is the time to become computer literate. Now is the time to become familiar and comfortable with the computer because in the future we will become virtually a paperless society and many daily activities will be linked to the computer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mail delivery to the home and business will be almost entirely phased out and e-mail will replace it. Bills will come via the computer and paid the same way. Pay checks will be electronically deposited to your bank account. On special occasions such as birthdays, greeting cards will be sent from your computer to your loved ones computer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shopping malls will become cyber malls and we will do our shopping via the computer. You will be able to view on your monitor how you would look in a certain outfit you are considering to buy. Imagine traveling over the entire mall in a comfortable in front of your computer. Push a button and the entire stock of a store will be at your finger tips. When you do go to a store to shop you will not use money. You will use either a credit card or debit card which will automatically deduct the amount if you purchase from your bank account.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Our homes will be run by computers. Computers will adjust the temperature. Home appliances will be linked to the computer. Imagine driving home from work and calling your computer and having it start dinner for you. Have it adjust the temperat...

Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Essay

People of the world have always faced both types of disasters, natural as well as man-made. Man-made disasters were not prevalent in ancient times. Man-made disasters are the results of industrial and material progress. Natural and man-made disasters equally play havoc on human in modern times. Sometimes, a man-made disaster has bigger impact than natural disaster. The cause of natural disaster is natural with man-made disaster is caused by man himself. Man-made disasters include leakage of oil in the sea, nuclear explosion, leakage of poisonous gases and chemical, fire, floods created by dams etc. Man-made disasters are avoidable. They may be averted if man works efficiently and carefully. On the other hand we have no control over a natural disaster. They include earthquake, tsunami, flood, typhoon, hurricane, tempest, avalanches, land slide etc. Man cannot avert them. However, it should be noted that some natural disaster are indirectly the result of man’s activities. For example draught may be the cause of cutting of forests. Thus, the number of man-made disasters is greater than natural disaster. Natural disasters like tsunami and earth quake plays havoc on life and property. Sometimes, millions of lives are lost in these disasters. Certainly, there are some measures to minimize the impact of natural disaster. But they cannot be averted altogether. A natural activity is not termed as a natural disaster until it has impact on human. For example, a volcano eruption at an uninhibited place is not a natural disaster. It is a natural event surely. Natural disasters are aggravated in the condition of unpreparedness on the part of man. A natural disaster has a bigger impact when man is not prepared for it. For example, earthquake cannot be predicted beforehand. It may engulf a large number of people at night while they are sleeping in their homes. A hurricane or a tornado gives opportunity for preparation to face it. Man-made disasters are caused by human activities. They may be in smaller magnitude such as a forest fire which has less impact and may be colossal such as the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Man-made disasters are brought unknowingly as well as knowingly. Accidents happen due to negligence on the part of man. The Bhopal Gas tragedy is a result of an accident which played a havoc on the local residence. In the modern world, terrorism is considered as a cause of man-made disaster. The 9/11 attack of terrorism on WTO is a kind of man-made disaster which took the lives of thousands of people. This was a crime of man against man. Terrorism has taken the lives of millions of people all over the world. So, crime may also be considered as a man-made disaster. Wars are another kind of natural disaster. Millions of people have been killed in the wars during the last one hundred years. These wars were not accidents. They were fought intentionally to kill people. They are the shame on people who caused them.

Swot Analysis of Sony Corporation

SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT ANALYSIS OFSONY  CORPORATION&L. G COMPANY STRENGHTS  Of  SONY  CORPORATION ? Strong Brand Image ? Worldwide Reputation ? High Market Share ? High Quality Products ? High Technology ? Pioneer in the Industry as Being Creative and Innovative ? Supports R&D Activites ? Diversification in Manufacturing Locations Around the World ? Ability to Provide High Motivation to Its Employees ? Loyal Customers STRENGHTS Of L. G SWOT ANALYSIS ? Market leader in home appliances. ? Has got manufacturing unit in tax incentive . ? Wide range of products to serve  all categories. ?Widest distribution network in the industry(47barnches,10000 trade partners). ? Good after sales service offered. WEAKNESSES  OF  SONY  CORPORATION ? Over self-confidence which’s level sometimes reaches notpaying attention to their rivals. ? Diversifications in unsuitable businesses for itself. ? They insist on their own formats. ? Competitively high prices. WEAKNESSES OF L. G ? Samsung being its competitor provides similar  products. ? Consumers compare L. G with Samsung its Korean rival  notwith other global companies. ? Lack of expert operators for complex machines due toilliteracy and lack of training in India. SWOT ANALYSIS OPPORTUNITIES  OF  SONY  CORPORATION ? Continuous growth in their sectors. ? Increasing demand in technological products around theworld OPPORTUNITIES OF L. G ? Fast growth of the home appliances market ? Shifting to rural areas ? Thus maintaining  control over  the market  and  the highestshare in home appliances market THREATS  OF  SONY CORPORATION ? Strong competiton in the market. ? Short product lifecycle. ? Imitation of brand name and technology THREATS OF L. G ? Close competitors like Samsung are compared to it. ? Price war with Samsung. ? Competition from Indian brand and other foreign brands. ~