Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Tourism concern Essay Example for Free

Tourism concern Essay Introduction I have been approached by a tourism organisation to assist in researching the current and potential impacts of tourism development in a destination. I chose the Maldives because they have an impressive record of growth, while at the same time rapidly expanding their lodging capacity. There are major factors that have clearly contributed to this phenomenal growth. The remote island nature of the Maldives has been nurtured, even if guests fly in Boeing Triple Sevens and other large aircraft. 1. Tourism in the Maldives. The Maldives consists of a chain of 26 coral atolls straddling the equator south west of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. The country occupies an area of sea measuring 754 kilometres in length and 118 kilometres wide where there are 1192 islands, only a small proportion of which are inhabited, and almost 80% of land is a metre or less in height (Domroes, 2001). Its distinctive geography and tropical climate are valuable tourism resources and the industry has grown rapidly since the 1970s when the first resorts were constructed on two islands. By 2007, there were 89 resort islands with over 17,000 beds and a further 35 islands were available for development (MTCA, 2007a). Tourism grew at a rate of 11. 6 percent between 1972 and 2005; 26. 5 percent between 1972 and 1982; and 6. 7 percent since 1982. These rates are well above regional or global growth rates, as might be expected for a successful emerging market. Total bednights exceeded 5 million for the first time in 2004 and the Maldives has shown steady growth since the late 1980s. The three key original markets were Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom and these continue to be the core of the Maldives travel industry. However, new markets are also emerging regularly. While recent growth has been noted in markets such as Russia, China, Japan, and Australia, Europe still accounts for 80 percent of Maldivian tourism and Asia for 10 percent. Tourists to the Maldives have tended to be couples in recent years. The honeymoon market has been strong, but there are signs that family travel, in spite of the cost, is becoming more frequent. Originally, Maldives was a diving destination and still is, but now many travel simply for the sea and sand and the opportunity to unwind. 2. Impacts of tourism on economy, environment and social-cultural. A goal of developing the tourism industry in a community is maximizing selected positive impacts while minimizing potential negative impacts. First, it is essential to identify the possible impacts. (Cooper C, Fletcher J, 2008) 2. 1 Economic impacts of tourism on the Maldives. Tourism, Maldives largest industry, accounts for 28% of GDP and more than 60% of the Maldives foreign exchange receipts. Over 90% of government tax revenue comes from import duties and tourism-related taxes. Fishing is the second leading sector. (Tourism sector and its potential 2007) Positive impacts Particularly in Maldives tourism increases employment opportunities. Additional jobs, ranging from low-wage entry-level to high-paying professional positions in management and technical fields, generate income and raise standards of living. Maldives has the highest ratio of international tourism receipts to GDP (49. 8 percent) (WTO 2002) Especially in rural areas, the diversification created by tourism helps communities that are possibly dependent on only one industry. As tourism in Maldives grows, additional opportunities are created for investment, development, and infrastructure spending. Tourism in Maldives improved public utilities such as water, sewer, sidewalks, lighting, public restrooms, litter control, and landscaping. Such improvements benefit tourists and residents alike. Likewise, tourism encourages improvements in transport infrastructure resulting in upgraded roads, airports, public transportation, and non-traditional transportation (e. g. , trails). (Kreag G. , 2001) For example tourism help to develop the first two resorts Kurumba and Bandos both on islands in close proximity to Hulhule Airport and Male. (A report on the WTO 2002) Tourism encourages new elements to join the retail mix, increasing opportunities for shopping and adding healthy competitiveness. It often increases a communitys tax revenues. (Kreag G. , 2001) Maldives currently has almost no corporate tax revenues from tourism. Taxation is based on long-term land leases negotiated on a per-bed basis for each individual resort island. In fact, the leases amount to taxes paid in advance. In addition, each tourist pays a bednight tax of $8 and a one-time airport tax (or user charge) of $10. The other major source of taxation is duty on all imports (except for initial construction, which is exempt as an incentive); the impact of the import taxes is estimated at about 30 percent of sales. ( The world bank Maldives, 2009) Tourism in the Maldives largest industry and generates of 30% GDP. Profits from this lucrative sector have the potential to help alleviate poverty and improve living conditions for local people. (A report on the WTO 2002) Negative impacts Maldives have hyperdependency of tourism (93,8%) (Weaver D. , Lawton L 2002), that mean if tourists will stop coming to Maldives their economy will have crisis, because money will stop coming in to the country. When considering the economic impacts of tourism, it is essential to understand that tourism businesses often include a significant number of low-paying jobs, often at minimum wage or less. (Kreag G, 2001) For example tourism employees in the Maldives have won the first hurdle in their struggle for basic working rights including a minimum wage and maximum working hours, after the president agreed that new labour lows should extend to protect workers in the sector. (Tourism concern 2008) These jobs are often seasonal, causing under-employment or unemployment during off-seasons. Labour may be imported, rather than hired locally, especially if particular skills or expertise is required, or if local labour is unavailable. (Kreag G, 2001) Some tourism-related businesses are volatile and high-risk ventures that are unsustainable. Greater demand for goods, services, land, and housing may increase prices that in turn will increase the cost of living. Tourism businesses may claim land that could have higher- value or other uses. Currently, despite the Maldives luxury tourism industry, over half the population suffer abject poverty and live on just over a dollar a day. (Tourism concern 2008). Local people in the Maldives are unable to speak out about these awful conditions. The government continues to impose severe restrictions on freedom of expression. Unfair trial, torture and imprisonment occur all too often. (Tourism concern 2008). 2. 2 Environmental impact of tourism on the Maldives Tourism in the Maldives exists solely due to the physical and geographic features of the coral islands. The beauty of the underwater world at the reefs, clean water in the lagoons, white and pristine sandy beaches, a rich island vegetation and ideal tropical climate which form a virtual paradise that attracts tourists from Europe and Australasia. (A report on the WTO 2002) Pollution The first proper evaluation of tourism in the Maldives was carried out in 1983 after 10 years of tourism development. It was revealed that the pollution of the sea with garbage, piles of waste found in the resorts often close to the tourist: cottages, the picking of corals, the use of spearguns wer, features present that did not fit into the tourists image of the Maldives. Rubbish on beach is the next environmental problem identified by the resort management. Rubbish on beach mainly results from waste dumped at sea irresponsibly by neighboring resorts and inhabited islands that get washed ashore onto islands with the current and to some extent from the messy habits of certain tourists. The resort management is quite emotive on this issue as this is one issue that will reflect very badly on the image of the resort environment. (Safkar. K. , Noronha. L. , 1999) Solid waste disposal One of the most obvious impacts of tourist resort operation and one of the easiest environmental management problems to deal with and thus has been addressed in a number of reports on tourism development in the Maldives. The pollution of the sea with garbage and piles of waste found in the resorts often close to the tourist cottages were identified in 1983 among features that was not aesthetically pleasing.

Monday, January 20, 2020

The Future of Women in Sports :: Female Athletes Sports Essays

The Future of Women in Sports As the year 2010 has arrived, the problem of the portrayal of women in sports no longer lies in their fight for equality and opportunity, but in fighting off the competition with men. It is no longer an issue of women not being taken seriously or being looked down upon if they decide to be athletes, but that men want to take part in competition with women in sports. This film thus focuses on the struggles that the male protagonist faces in trying to compete with the popularity of women's sports and his desire to take part in the world of women's sports. Women in this film are portrayed as strong characters who are highly capable of doing what they do -- being professional basketball players. Their struggles lay in their dealing with fame and all the complications that it entails. These include rumors of financial problems, affairs, and infighting among teammates. The female protagonist is a character who can "do it all." She has a family, including two young children and a husband. She was raised in a proper household, but held on to her dreams of playing basketball for a living. The beginning of the film shows her struggles as a child in fighting against stereotypes, being taken less seriously than the boys, and being discouraged from playing sports. However, as she reaches high school and beyond, the sky is the limit. Her opportunities increase as women's sports in the general society are given greater emphasis and professional leagues are established for all sports that had an equivalent male league. The women's leagues' visibili ty and popularity rise among fans who become disillusioned with all the infighting that had been occurring in the male leagues. Soon, the financially disadvantaged male leagues decide to challenge the women's leagues to compete against each other. This is where the major climax of the film occurs. The male protagonist had been involved in a financial scheme within the male basketball league which ended in the murder of a major basketball star. He ends up broke, without friends, and with no possibility of playing professional basketball, especially in light of the financial distress that the league was experiencing. He knows of the success that the women's teams had been recently having and approaches the manager of his ex-team with a plan for reviving the popularity and financial wellbeing of the male league.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Personnel Policies Essay

Implementing high standard personnel policies are highly important in setting out rules and regulations that will dictate how employees will go about conducting organizational practices and operations. Aside from this purpose, personnel policies serve as guides to monitor the compliance of personnel to set rules and regulations. The content of personnel policies being implemented for compliance is broad. Its scope covers accepted organizational practices and operations that are framed within the context of the organization’s mission, goals, and objectives, ethical standards and guidelines including corporate social responsibilities, the job description, rules and regulations in carrying out the job description, necessary information that falls to an individual’s role in the company (Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, 2008) (i. e. alary, rules of termination, rules in asking for resignation, dress code, good manners and conduct in dealing with clients and leaders of the organization, the work schedule, rules and requirements in filing for a leave of absence, acceptable reasons for leaves of absence, etc. ) (NMML, 2007) With this in mind, personnel policies then become a regulating factor ensuring that employees uphold organizational goals and objectives. Aside from this, personnel policies identify the rights and duties of employees. (Minnesota Council for Nonprofits, 2008) For instance, if an employee sees the reason for the organization to raise his wages for sensible and accepted reasons, then he will be given a chance to make a plea to the leaders of the organization if the personnel policy allows this action. Another example of a right that the personnel policy can grant employees is the right to fight discrimination in the workplace. Whether it is discrimination motivated by gender bias (when a male superior harasses a female employee), cultural bias (being deprived of employee benefits because of one’s race), or any other biases not accepted by societal norms and mores, employees will be given the right under the personnel policy to take action in order to counter discrimination in the work environment. Other aspects of personnel policies that are critical to the success of the organization include how tasks and responsibilities will be delegated to personnel or staff members according to their capacity to accomplish them, the planning and implementation phases of employee training, and securing the interest of the organization as well as the employees by setting rules that are agreeable to both of them. Moreover, personnel policies seem to set a consistent and trustworthy organization because it enables them to have a guide where all business practices, operations, rewards system, policy-making steps, etc. are based on without having to argue about other aspects of these processes because personnel policies clearly provide a firm and long-existing ground. (Khungar, 2005) In the case of human resources management, the training of newly-hired employees will be based on personnel policies. With the aforementioned purpose of personnel policies to the hiring process, the human resources department ensures that all applicants that will be hired meet the standards of the organization and are willing to contribute to the accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives. This highly influences the cost of training newly-hired employees because it cuts down the required funds for conducting training-related programs. This is so because hiring is based on high standard personnel policies that ensure employees will not need to undergo strict and highly demanding training for their respective jobs. (McNamara, 2008) The pre-employment phase is the most critical factor of hiring and recruiting. It is a decisive factor that will dictate whether the organization will be well on its way to accomplish its goals and objectives because the kind of employees that the organization will be hiring will determine whether business practices and operations will be carried out by them successfully. Therefore human resources departments make sure that the pre-employment phase is thoroughly monitored and evaluated. Choosing from a diverse population of applicants is difficult because the HR department needs to make sure that the people they will be hiring meets the requirements of the organization as well as the position being called for as it is related to its great contribution to the success of the organization. During the pre-employment process, personnel policies exist to guide the hiring process. Personnel policies are laid out for applicants who will be potentially hired by the organizations. These personnel policies will determine whether applicants are able to meet the requirements set by it. For instance, part of the personnel policy is the salary for a particular position in the organization. Laying out the salary will help the applicant decide whether to take the job or not, and the organization to decide whether to hire the applicant or not in terms of his agreeable behavior towards the set salary. Aside from this reason, personnel policies also ensure that only the best of the applicants will be hired for their engagement and contribution to the success of the organization. Primarily, the records of the applicant will be screened, with regards to financial records, employment records, employment behavior in previous work, academic achievements, related experiences, criminal records, etc. This is to ensure that the applicant the organization will hire will not jeopardize the future of the organization. For instance, an applicant with drug addiction problems might hamper the growth and development of the organization because of his inability to be productive in the work place. Upholding personnel policies as directed by the goals and objectives of the organization will tell the human resources department that is responsible for hiring and recruiting to not employ the applicant to the organization because of his personal aspects that are proven to be a hindrance to organizational success. Overall, personnel policies are not only implemented within the organization for the compliance of its employees or staff members. It is also a critical determinant in the hiring and recruitment process. In conclusion, personnel policies should be framed within the context of highest standards to ensure that members of the organization and potential recruits will meet organizational standards and guidelines for its efficient accomplishment of its mission, goals and objectives.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Sexual Offenders Is The Most Vilified Type Of Offenders...

Sexual offenders are the most vilified type of offenders within public opinion and the criminal justice system. The American precedent cases of Jacob Wetterling, Pam Lyncher, Megan Kanka, and other notorious crimes perpetrated by sexual offenders with a prior history of conviction have demanded a response from the criminal justice system to increase public safety. In 1994, the Jacob Wetterling Crimes against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Program was passed (Scholle, 2000), the first piece of legislation to advocate for the development of state-maintained registries of convicted sexual offenders. The legislation has been amended numerous times since then; in its present state, the law requires all states to maintain a registry, the mandatory registration of convicted sex offenders after release, community notification laws in place, and public access to the registry (Burchfield and Mingus, 2012; Lees and Tewksbury, 2006; Petrunik, Murphy, and Fedoroff, 2008; Scho lle, 2000; Tewksbury and Lees, 2006; Wagner, 2011). Sex offender registry laws were intended to increase public safety and to reduce the reoffending rates of sexual offenders. However, this paper will argue that registration has no effect on recidivism rates and that the law actually negatively impacts rehabilitative goals because of the unforeseen issues stemming from registration. An analysis of the existing body of literature concerning registration from the United States will address the