Analysis Of The Vietnamese Tourism Market

Analysis Of The Vietnamese Tourism Market My friend and I have passion in tourism. My friend has several years of experience working for an international travel company in Ho Chi Minh City as a travel consultant cum tour operator. She have strong relationship with five star hotels and restaurants in Vietnam. I have chance to travel to many countries and study international tourism industry. I also have a part-time job as a tour guide for some travel companies. I understand what tourists expect from a knowledgeabe and friendly tour guide , quality service as well. Thus, combining her experience in Vietnamese tourism market and my understanding about international tourists demands, we decide to open a travel company, named Luxury Tour Co. in Ho Chi Minh City. Our target market is Spain. Within the next five year, we build Luxury Tour as the first choice for the Spaniard when they think of travelling to Vietnam. This name guarantees for best service,best choice as our slogan of Think nothing, let us. This marketing plan is desi gned to highlight significant steps and other related issues to run business well and meet the goal. Market Overview Tourism is considered as the key industry in the near future. Tourism involves three sectors, they are, domestic market, inbound market and outbound market (Helmut Wachwiak, 2006:48). Domestic tourism aims to local customers, while inbound tourism aims to attract international tourists to the country and outbound tourism aims to organising tour for local tourists who want to travel abroad. Among of which, inbound tourism is emphasized most. It not only creates more employment opportunities for the local people but also plays an important role to attract foreign investment in Vietnam as MICE tours becomes popular. Tourism is based on a lot of factors. Here is the list of some changes influencing tourism in general and Luxury Tour business activities ( Lloyd E. Hudman, Richard H.Jackson, 2003:24) Infrastructure in Vietnam . Understanding the contribute of the non-smoke industry, Vietnamese Government has invested in some projects, such as building metro, road etc. , and encouraged people take part in introducing beautiful image of Vietnam to the world ( Vietnam Tourism, 2010 ) Social behavior. For example, considering the tour price, it depends on the suppliersquotation. They are five star hotels, restaurants, transportation etc. In peak seasons when several tourists come to Vietnam, lack of commodation or waiters/waitresses is predictable. As the result, the tour price is higher, but tourists are served less. Increased gas/petrol price. That is to say, it leads to the increase of price in transportation, flight ticket etc. The rapid development of Internet and e-commerce. According to the CIA Factbook, in 2009, 50% of Spaniard use internet, and this number is increasing repidly. It push e-commerce developped more Stable VND-Euro currency rate makes tour price stable and more competitive than other markets ( Vietnam Central Bank, 2010) Stable politics makes international tourists feel safety while staying in Vietnam New tourism trend. According to ITB World Travel Trends Report 2010/2011, Southeast Asia is sparkling as an ideal destination to EU market. They prefer enjoying sun and beach and discovering Eastern culture Increased income. That is to say, more tourists want to spend their holidays at the highest standard Customer Information According to World Tourism Ranking, Spain ranks 11th in the world in terms of spend on international travel, but there has been significant growth in recent years in outbound travel. Growth is expected to continue as more and more Spaniards have holiday habits .Besides , Spanish long-haul travelers take advantage of very favorable Euro to VND exchange rate. The weakening of the VND could attract more interest in this destination .To understand clearly, here is the Spanish Outbound Travel Trend. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Destination: Some competitive destinations to Vietnam are: Fiji, French Polynesia, Australia, China, Japan, Mexico, and the USA . However, Europe remains the main destination for Spanish travelers , only 27 % of the outbound trips are far beyond the European borders ( World Tourism Organization, 2007 ) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Travel season : Most of the Spanish decide to travel abroad in August , September the time of summer vacations . However , short breaks are spread more widely through the year, in particular around public holiday times. The average length of stay for holidays abroad is around 9 nights. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Purpose : Leisure (54.3%) remains the main reason for travelling outside Spain , followed by business events or work related (20%). The key driver for taking overseas holidays is visiting other countries, learning about their culture and seeing and doing lots. Market Information According to Vietnam tourism, in 2010, there were 5,049,855 international tourists travelling to Vietnam, which was 34.8% higher than 2009. Most of them were from China, South Korea, Japan and other Asian countries. Obviously, compared to other markets, Western tourists have not known much about Vietnam. With the wave of Asian culture, Asia becomes an ideal choice, especially Southeast Asia. Following the new trend, Vietnamese government have encoraged travel companies to study and make plans to expand busiess into Western markets. According to World Torism Organization, in Europe, with 19.7 billion USD spent in international tourism expenditure (2007), Spain ranked 11th in the world . This number seems to increase annually. However, according to Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the number of Spanish tourists to Vietnam for leisure purpose is still low and recently, the government with promoting activities is aiming efforts at opening Spain market as our main target market in the near future In Vietnam, there are two major travel companies which target Spanish markets, they are, ASCO Lotus Travel and Exotissimo Travel. ASCO have years of experience for Western tourists to operate tour to Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia and ASCO while Exotissimo opened branches in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and Myanmar. They aims to high-and-above-income maket while Luxury Tour aims to serve mid and high income tourists with the highest standard. As a Vietnamese travel company, Luxury Tour understand Vietnamese business behavior. Thus it is easier to build strong relationship with local suppliers. Industry Information Nearly 1.6 billion is the expected number of international arrivals forecasted by UNWTOs Tourism 2020 Vision by the year 2020. Among of them, 1.2 billion will travel to other countries and 378 million will take longer trips. It is obvious that travel between different regions (outbound and inbound) tends to grow at a faster rate than intraregional travel (domestics) . In 2007, interregional travel increased by 8% as against a growth of 6% for intraregional traffic. According to Vietnam Tourism(2010), from October 10th to December 31st 2010, following Vietnam-your destination campaign, international tourists were welcome to Vietnam without visa. With this opened policies, Vietnam was successful in attracting inbound tourists, especially in Western markets. In 2011, it is expected that Vietnamese Government will consider its effectiveness and efficiency to making further decision better. Product/Service Information Luxury Tour wants to approach mid and high income Spaniards. Most of them are businessmen, specialists, and professors etc. who are too busy to enjoy their time. With the slogan of Think nothing, let us, Luxury Tour wants to be the useful right hand by bringing them into the most comfortable world with families and friends. We offer several tour packages with high quality. All customer requirements are satisfied perfectly. From the moment customers contact Luxury Tour to the end of the tour, customers will be serviced by friendly and professional staff, such as travel consultants, tour operators, tour guide and others SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS High-quality service Operational efficiency Experienced and highly customer-oriented staff Strong marketing and sales forces Strong relationships with both suppliers and Spanish travel agencies WEAKNESSES New brand name in the market Limited budget No representative office in Spain, so Luxury Tour can not contact directly to the target customer Depend on Spanish travel agencies OPPORTUNITIES Spain is a new emerging or developing market for Vietnamese tourism industry Less competition Rapid development of e-commerce Support from government (i.e.: opened policies to encourage tourism) Social changes: more Spanish want to travel to Southeast countries THREATS Financial crisis The increasing of potential competitors Social problems: there are many beggers who follow tourists from places to places Objectives The key objectives for Luxury Tour are: Within 5 years , Luxury Tour becomes the Vietnamese leading tour operator in Spanish market segment with 30% of share market . Integrated marketing services are established to present a unified image/brand identity of Vietnam as an ideal destination . The number of loyal tourists is increased After the first five year, Luxury Tour will expand business into other Western markets, such as the Portugal, the Netherland etc. Strategy With Luxury Tour, tourists will experience the finest service, enjoy the most delicious Vietnamese cusine and stay at the most comfortable hotels. Our efforts are to make tourists remember uniqueness and hospitality of Vietnam in general and Luxury Tour in particular. It is can be measured by the increased number of Spanish tourists coming back to Vietnam annually. What Luxury Tour try to sell is not only tours themselves but also benefits. A good tour operator knows how to control income factors and how to balance incomes and outcomes ( customer requirement) to satisfy three parties, that is to say, tourists are pleased with service, suppliers are happy to serve and Luxury Tour gets profits and more importantly, customer awareness. Product To be more competitive in the market , our tour itineraries are designed with two advantages : Quality and Customer service. *** In term of Quality :Tour itinerary is designed based on 5H model , that is the combination of Hospitality, Honesty , Heritage, History,Heroic **** In term of Customer Service : Speed :We have hotline served 24/7 to answer all customers questions and complain Flexibility : Tour itinerary can be re-designed to fit each customers requirement Reliability : all needed info is provided to customers before they book tours , including warning (if applicable ) Pricing Our target customer is from mid-income and above. They usually prefer to enjoy holidays in their own tastes and required to be served at the highest level. Thus we mix two price strategies, good-value pricing strategy and value-added pricing. Luxury Tour will design a basic package price which combines high standard, good service at reasonable price. From the basics, this tour is tailor-made to fix each customer demand. The price is changeable based on the seasons, supple-demand balance and other unforeseen situations. Normally our estimated price is around USD 2,200 / pax. Distribution For the short term , to perform activities to attract tourists from Spain to Vietnam and expand distribution channel to meet market needs and serve customers better, Luxury Tour has partnered with tourism companies in Spain. With this partnership, Luxury Tour has been in the big cities of Spain, such as Barcelona , Madrid , Valencia etc. For the long term, within the next 5 years , Luxury Tour opens one representative agency in Madrid to approach customers needs easily and efficiently Promotion Website: Luxury Tour launches and operates Internet site effectively as a virtual tourist office in which customers can find a lot of information about Vietnam and useful tips for their tour . The website is designed with friendly screen and easy-to-follow instructions. Besides, our online travel consultants are willing to help customers design suitable tour itineraries with reasonable price and support them during and after journey. Search Engines Optimisation: To be recognized among millions of tourism websites, we will corporate with some internet search engine sites such as : http://www.ivivu.com/ http://www.skydoor.net/ http://www.chudu24.com/ http://yeudulich.vn/ http://www.tourism-review.com/ Instead of buying a place on their website, Luxury Tour offer them a business corporation opportunity, this is, banner exchange. This is a win-win corporation Advertising: As a new brand name in luxury tourism industry, we decide to focus on bringing our image to the target customers. Our target customer segmentation is from mid and high income. Choosing a reliable magazine is the first choice. Among of which is Travel and Entertainment magazine the publication of Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism and the leading magazine in tourism of Vietnam. It is available in Vietnam Airlines, Indochina Airline and Royal Brunei Airline. Public Relations: To build strong relationship with Spanish travel companies as well as to prove them our outstanding service offered, Luxury Tour usually invites partners and Spanish press to have trips to Vietnam for free of charge. It is not only a normal business trip but also a chance to introduce Vietnam beauty and its tourism potentials as well. Besides, Luxury Tour also have budget to sponsor for community activities such as planting tree, building houses for the poor etc. to emphasize that Luxury Tour image is not connected to business only, it is the combination between social responsibility, environmental protection and business. Promotions: Luxury Tour usually takes part in some trade exhibitions in Vietnam and foreign countries. This form of promotional activity enables promotion directly to the consumer for creating word-of-mouth channel. We offer 10% discount for who books tours at exhibitions Branding: Luxury Tour wants to build a friendly image and impress current and potential customers by service quality. Our logo is design with the main color of green and the image of a typical tourist. Our slogan is think nothing.Let us. Operational Plan Sucessful tourism business depends on the service quality. Tourism is unlike other industries. We try to sell invisible products. The key points are how to persuade them to trial our service and how to make them feel undisappoited about their decision.To meet that goal, Luxury Tour must pay attention to setting up a quality control system strictly. Not only checking service from suppliers, employee force must be trainned to serve customer 24/7 . Any problems before, during and after tour need to be solved soon. After each tour, based on their feedback, Luxury Tour have some change to improve more and serve better. Sales promotion Dyring the first six month, Luxury Tour aims to attract customer awareness and introduce our service. We offer customers 5%-10% discount program. When customers know more about us, so discount strategy is not applied. Instead, we focus on added benefits, for example, booking tour to travel across Vietnam, tourists get one buffet ticket at Caravelle Saigon. Advertising Our target segmentation is mid and high income customers. Most of them are businessmen who usually travel by airplain. Thus in our marketing budget, there are amount of money spending to advertising on airline magazines, such as Travel and Entertainment . Public relations Public relation is a tool to improve company image positively. It needs long-term plan. Developing a brand name with the image of friendliness and hospitality, Luxury Tour will organize some special tours called community connection. Joining this, tourists do not only have chance to travel to Vietnam but also join community activities, such as teaching children, planting tree, farming etc. It makes tourists feel that their money is reinvested into society. Direct Marketing In term of direct marketing, there are many forms. To maximize marketing effectiveness, we suggest to combine direct mail, email marketing, social network, brochure and magazine advertising. To get the mid and high income customer database, Luxury Tour could buy from market research companies or take advantage of current database of Spanish travel agencies. Then we will send them our company profile and e-brochure to introduce our service and encorage them to log in our website to receive a 10%-discount travelling coupon for the first visit. Online Marketing Owning a well-designed and multi-function website is a tool to approach targeted customers. Our online travel consultants who comminicate well in English and Spanish are willing to assist customers to search info, design tour itineraries. Customers can book and pay online. The payment method is variable, from bank transfer to PayPal, Master Card, Credit Card etc. Once payment is done, confirmation, receipt, flight e-ticket and a package of Vietnamese information are sent to customers email box. Budgets and action plan Item Jun-11 Jul-11 Aug-11 Sep-11 Cost ( USD) Department / Employee name Measure of Success Making business plan, design logo, slogan and complete register documents 1st 1st 2,000 Nguyen Mai Ly The genaral Director Recuit human resource 1st 1st 1,000 HR Department recruit experienced employees Design tour itineraries and deal with suppliers 1st 31st 1,500 Operation Department Tour itineraries are design to meet Luxury Tour targerted market requirement and local suppliers are pleased with our request and agree to offer competative price Contact with some Spanish travel companies, pursuade them to corporate with Luxury Tour and sign the contracts 15th 15th 5,000 Operation Department At least 10 Spanish travel companies are interested in our offers and agree to cooperate with Luxury Tours Design Website and brochure 1st 15th 1,000 Admin Department The website is well designed , easy-to-follow and imformative Discuss with tourism websites for banner exchange 15th 15th 1,000 Sales and Marketing Department our banner is posted at all sites as listed Print brochure and distribute at luxury hotels, Tan Son Nhat airports and other entertainment centers 15th 15th 3,000 Sales and Marketing Department Our brochures are delivered to the targeted customers Advertising on travel magazines and newspapers 15th June 15th December 2011 700 Sales and Marketing Department Luxury Tour information is advertised for 7 months ( June December 2011) Organize tours for 10 major Spanish travel representative and 10 Spanish travel journalists to Vietnam 15th 5th 20,000 Operation Department All guests are pleased with our service and after this tour, ten articles will be written and published over the next month in major travel magazines and website in Spain Opening ceremony 8th 2,000 100 invited guests, including suppliers, Spanish travel companies, press, Spanish businessmen in HCMC and others TOTAL 37,200

Team Sports Economis Assignment

Name: James Sumner Student ID: 33255189 Question: Critically evaluate the approaches and policies to achieve competitive balance in North American Sports and European sports through an examination of competitive balance philosophy and policy in North American and European professional sports organisations. Illustrate your analysis with examples from both the European and North American professional sports leagues. Tutor: John Embery Statement of Authenticity: I confirm that this submission is all my own work. Any quotations are properly referenced using the Harvard referencing method.All errors and omission are my responsibility alone. Word Count: 1744 There is a lot of distinction today between the North American and the European model for sport in order to achieve what each seems to perceive as the right competitive balance. This can be defined as ‘the actual performance of a league to the performance that would have occurred if the league had the maximum degree of competitiv e balance in the sense that all teams were equal in playing strengths. The less the deviation of actual league performance from that ideal league, the greater is the degree of competitive balance’ (1).This essay will outline what policies and approaches both the American and European sports models have in order to achieve competitive balance by looking at each continents system of competition, the extensive system of team and player restraints in America such as salary caps compared to the relaxed system Europe has and also amateur and professional sports in both models. It is important to note that not all sports adhere to their so called ‘model’. Sports in America such as football, baseball, hockey and basketball are very diversified in terms of rules, scheduling, commercialization etc.The European model is largely based on one sport, football/soccer which we know is not what other sports follow. In North America there is a closed system of competition meaning no promotion or relegation from a league. This means that the same teams compete in the same league every year. From this we can conclude that the North American model supports equality and fairness not competitiveness, which could then be perceived as good for achieving competitive balance in the sense that teams do not have to worry about being relegated to a lower division.This would also mean that teams get to know their counterparts very well which would also add to the competitive balance aspect of sport. However no promotion or relegation may also be deemed as uncompetitive and unbalanced because teams know each year they will still be competing in the same league the season after. This could lead to clubs getting complacent and happy to be in mid-table of their respective leagues as the amount of money all teams earn is astronomical. In NFL the Dallas Cowboys were valued in 2012 at $2. billion (2. ) yet didn’t even finish in the top 6 of their respected league (3). In Europe teams can fluctuate up and down divisions therefore making our sports more based on competitiveness and the will to win which could also be interpreted as competitively balanced or unbalanced. It could achieve higher competitive balance because it allows better teams to move up and play against other better teams but it could also be unbalanced because teams moving up may not have the same resources as other teams in that league.For example Barnsley does not have the same amount of resources Manchester United has if they were promoted. An extensive system of team and player restraints in America certainly improves the goal of competitive balance. There is a salary cap on not just players but also clubs as well. Since most leagues compute their caps on the basis of revenues for the preceding season, the cap is actually a fixed sum. In North America the NBA, NFL, NHL and Canadian football league have all installed salary caps (4).For example in 2006 the NFL had a salary cap of approximately $102 million. If a team breaches the league’s salary cap for the season then the fines and penalties incurred are then shared between the rest of the teams in that league (5). These salary caps were put into place to achieve two main objectives: increasing competitive balance and for clubs to be financially stable. To say this has been a success is an understatement as many clubs not just in the NFL but also the NHL and NBA are now worth more than half a billion dollars.Competitive balance is also extremely high as 13 different clubs have won the NFL in the last 21 years compared to that of only 5 in the English Premier League (6). Salary caps have prevented large clubs becoming too dominant in America which is exactly what has occurred in Europe, in Spain there is only Barcelona or Real Madrid, in England there is Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea competing for the titles. This is partly due to player’s demands for wage rises and bonuses. M ost clubs simply cannot offer a player ? 80,000 per week.To give an example in terms the amount big clubs spend on wages to compared to smaller ones in 2009 Manchester United spent ? 123. 1 million while West Bromwich Albion spent ? 30. 0 million (7). This is the main reason why competitive balance in the EFL has drifted further apart in recent years. The media, other big organisations from different industries and even governments have heavily criticised the way European football clubs are run because of this and also because clubs can then not afford to pay off their debts. There is one sport that is an exception in Europe and that is rugby union.They have imposed salary caps on players since 1999 and it has been largely successful for them as well. No clubs have fallen into financial meltdown since the measure was introduced and players have been happy to comply with the cap (8). As previously outlined there are also lots of player restraints that come with playing sport in Ameri ca. For example clubs have the power not the players. The players are owned by the league not the clubs and must go as a group/union to the league if an issue arises. The ‘draft’ is a system where players are chosen from the colleges/universities by the clubs.The picking order for this is determined by the clubs previous season’s finish in the league with the clubs occupying the lower league positions getting the first pick. This hugely increases competitive balance as obviously they will pick the best players which in theory would bring the teams closer together in terms of quality for the next season. Therefore before the start of each season each team has just as good a chance of winning the league as the others. With the NFL having 13 different champions in 21 years it shows that that the system works and is a lot more competitive than football in Europe. 9) The policy or approach that ties these team and player restraints together in North America is called ‘the collective bargaining system’. These are largely labour agreements between the league, clubs and players where issues such as minimum and maximum salary caps are agreed. This system has been described as the ‘very essential difference compared with Europe, where the sports industry concept and player unions have been relatively weaker and not equipped with the necessary bargaining powers’ (10).According to Fort there are also 3 other major differences between the American and European models that affect competitive balance. The fans, sports organisations and team objectives are all different. There is evidence to support this assumption as studies have shown that both sets of fans want different things. America does have better policies to keep the competitive balance fair but in terms of the rules of the games the balance is a lot closer in Europe. For example in Europe we have draws in football making the balance higher, Americans have overtime in th e NFL until one of the teams score.Also in Europe we have lower scoring games such as 1-0 or 1-1, in America this is considered boring and teams regularly score over 30 points in a game. Therefore some aspects of European sports do have a higher competitive balance than some American sports. There are also major differences between amateur and professional sports. In America there is a sharp distinction between the two levels each with its own integrated structures. Athletes that compete in Amateur sports in America are unpaid whereas quite a lot of amateur players in Europe are.These athletes are also governed by more than one organisation. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Amateur Sports Alliance of North America (ASANA) are just two of these. This is a more horizontal system rather than the vertically integrated system Europe has which means that professionals and amateurs do not compete against each other. This could be seen as a good approach to achiev e competitive balance as there are amateur and professional levels for a reason, mainly because the level of skill required in professional sports is a lot higher.Therefore by keeping them separate each athlete knows where they stand. You are either a professional and get paid or you’re an amateur, not a mixture of both like we have in Europe. The pyramid structure of European sports organisations such as UEFA and the FA for example brings together amateur and professional sports into a vertical system governed for the common good by integrated associations and federations. In this vertical system there is not such a sharp distinction between amateur and professional sports.For example Bath City, an amateur team, beat Grimsby Town, a professional team in the 2009 FA Cup first round (12). Therefore the two different levels of sport in Europe can compete against each other. This approach to achieving competitive balance could be seen as both positive and negative in terms of ac hieving competitive balance. The positive side is the fact that with our promotion and relegation system amateur teams can develop into professional ones. AFC Wimbledon set up after Wimbledon FC was liquidated by the supporters and had amateurs playing.They had five promotions in nine years propelling them into the football league making them a professional club (13). The negative side to having little distinction between the two levels is that big professional teams can play small amateur teams which would not be good in terms of achieving competitive balance as the gap in skill level would be too much for the smaller teams. It has been shown therefore that the North American and European sports models are very different in their policies and approaches to achieving competitive balance.Salary caps for players and limiting the amount sports teams can spend in America has proved positive for achieving competitive balance. Thirteen different champions in 21years proves it has been a s uccess. The closed system and promotion and relegation system both have aspects that bring competitive balance closer but also aspects which take it further away. References/Bibliography 1) Noll 1991 2) Mike Ozanian. (2012). Dallas Cowboys Lead NFL With $2. 1 Billion Valuation. Available: http://www. forbes. com/sites/mikeozanian/2012/09/05/dallas-cowboys-lead-nfl-with-2-1-billion-valuation/. 3)

Economic recession Essay

Economic recession is a period of economic decline; it means that there is a drop in the stock market, and an increase in unemployment but also a decline in the housing market. It also means that in Tourism, the residents of UK will have to will choose to holiday at home as the http://www. independent. co. uk infers ‘’ Grounded by the diminishing value of the pound and fears about the recession, record numbers of Britons will choose to holiday at home this summer. ‘’ Source – http://www. independent. co. uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/its-an-ill-wind-uk-tourism-finds-recession-is-so-bracing-1522542. html Additionally, the research by Visit Britain, the tourism authority, has shown that 74 % of people are trying to reduce their holiday spending, and are spending more time planning their trips to maximize value, a cottage in Britain where you can just pack the car up and take all your own food suggests that you’ve got greater control. However reducing the holiday spending is not the major problem, as there has been a big change in visits to Britain – official figures have revealed that the number of tourists who visited the UK from overseas in 2009 suffered a 7% decline on the previous year to 29.57 million. The data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also showed that the number of UK residents who made trips abroad fell 15% last year to 58. 53 million. But visitors to the UK spent around ? 16. 48 billion, or 1% more last year than they did in 2008, a contrast to UK residents’ expenses while abroad, which amounted to ? 31. 85 billion – a 14% fall on figures from 2008. The recession also had an impact on the number of trips UK residents took abroad last year. The figure fell 16% to 38. 44 million, while business trips were down 22% and visits to friends and relatives (VFR) abroad fell 7%. By contrast, more foreigners visited the UK on holiday, with the numbers rising 3% last year, although the overall total suffered with business trips falling 20%. The ONS also recorded a fall of 10% in the number of VFR trips to the UK last year. Records also reveal that UK residents took 21% fewer trips to North America last year and 15% fewer trips to Europe. Source – http://www. statistics. gov. uk/hub/index. html Source – http://uk. reuters. com/article/2009/07/16/us-britain-travel-idUKTRE56F3FX20090716 QUALITY OF GOOD AND SERVICES Most visitors that come to United Kingdom have clear expectations about what they must pay for, but most of all; they are hoping that the quality of what they pay for is worth their money. The concept of value for money is closely related to price but also involves other quality criteria. The English Tourism Council’s has set up star rating that let the visitors to be informed before they book accommodation to recognise quality and to differentiate levels of facilities and services which as potential guests they can expect, so that it can help them to match their needs and ensure they are not disappointed. The star rating gives an overall judgement of quality including comfort, space, facilities, and cleanliness, and can be used by both domestic and inbound tourits. One star indicates that the place is acceptable overall of quality. There is also adequate provision of furniture, furnishings, and fittings. Hotels that have only one star are usually small, and privately owned. Dinner may not be offered. Two star hotels are also usually small, and privately owned, including resort hotels, and commercial hotels. Accommodation offers a good degree of space and convenience. Furnishings may be simple but are well maintained in all the bedrooms. Breakfast is offered daily to residents and their guests. Dinner is available at least five nights per week. Three star hotels indicates that it is a more formal style of hotel with a greater range of facilities and services such as colour television, telephones, radios, desk etc. There are also public areas including lounge seating, restaurants or bars. Dinner will be provided seven nights per week and light snack lunches are available in the bar or lounge, together with a wide range of drinks. Additionally, there’s also laundry service available. Four star hotels infers that there is a luxury quality with services to match, for example, there is a selection of catering options all offering cuisine and service of the highest international quality. There is also highly trained, professional staff providing exceptional levels of anticipatory service. Source – http://www. britainexpress. com/oxford-hotels/star-ratings. htm EXCHANGE RATES The value of one currency against another currency is known as the foreign exchange rate. Exchange rates are an important factor in determining patterns of holiday taking, as any rise in the value of the pound will encourage outbound tourism, particularly if it involves the leading destinations countries. The value of the pound, or sterling, against another currency affects the cost of coming here for inbound tourists. It can affect negatively if it is more expensive to visit UK, but also can affect positively it is cheaper to visit UK. It is more likely that the appeal to tourist will increase when sterling is weak, as they will get more pounds for their money. Conversely, if sterling is strong, overseas visitors get less pounds in exchange for their money and are less likely to want to come here. In recent years sterling has been very strong against the dollar, or the dollar has been weak against sterling – which amounts to the same thing. This has meant that it has been relatively cheap for UK outbound tourists to visit the United States and more expensive for Americans to come to the UK. As VisitBritain. org have suggested that due to the dollar being weak against sterling, America perceived United Kingdom, as an expensive place to visit – the cost of accommodation, transport, and food has been highlighted by Americans as being really high priced. If the pas is riding high against most other currencies, it allows the British to budget for their holidays abroad with unusual freedom of choice, because the UK holidaymakers get much more for their money. For example, the rate of exchange with the Spanish peseta, the French franc, and the US dollar influences over 60 % of the holidays taken abroad by the British. The exchange rates depend on the strength or the weakness of sterling but they are also affected by the internal strength of currencies in main destination countries like France or Spain. At the moment the strenght of the pound sterling against other currencies looks as following Source  http://fx-rate.net/

Detail How Leiser Questions the Moral Condemnation of...

Unnatural – More Than One Meaning? There are those words that have more than one way to be spelled, have more than one definition, and have more than one meaning. The word â€Å"second† can mean something that is right after the first, or it can be a unit of telling time. The word â€Å"unnatural† is a similar word. It has different meanings, but the meanings are also related. Burton Leiser questions the way â€Å"unnatural† is used when he hears people say that homosexual intercourse is unnatural. Views on homosexuality were based on Christianity, which views homosexuality as unnatural, a violation of natural law, immoral, and condemnable. When we use the word â€Å"natural†, we have to deal with how ambiguous it is. In nature, it can either mean one of†¦show more content†¦I have been told that I look like a duck or an ostrich when I run, but that doesn’t give a reason for me to be condemned. Some uncommon or abnormal traits can be praised because they are so unique. Some people are good at cooking and some people aren’t good at cooking, which benefits a lot of people because people can enjoy good food without having to deal with their lack of cooking skills. I definitely would not condemn a person who knows how to make a good steak, or even a good wine. If unnatural is used in this sense, then homosexuality can’t be condemned. The fourth argument on if homosexuality is unnatural is based on how any use of an organ or an instrument that is different from its main use can be seen as unnatural. Every organ in the body and every tool or instrument is designed to do a certain task. Sometimes, if a tool is used in a certain way, that is different to its original use, it can be improper, and even harmful. Keys are used to unlock doors, unlock padlocks, and start cars, but some people use keys to cut through plastic containers. Keys are not designed for cutting, and if a person is not careful, that per son can cut or stab him or herself in the process. People know that the main purpose for sex organs is to reproduce and to create more of their own kind. No other organs in the body have the ability to reproduce. Any other use of the sex organs, such as homosexual behavior, and even masturbation, can be seen as unnatural.