Tourism Operation Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Tourism Operation Management - Essay Example An attempt has been made in this paper to investigate two key challenges relating to management and operations - capacity building, and quality of services - and to make suitable recommendations concerning the possible measures to overcome these challenges. Tourism has emerged as a major business activity world wide. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reported that tourism operations generated revenues totalling US$4421 billion in the year 2002. According to the Council's estimated projections, tourism business will grow to over US$8614 billion by the year 2012, registered an annual growth rate of 4.5% in global demand (Page, 2003, p. 2). The Council also reported that tourism accounted for almost 8% of employment worldwide, which translates to one in 13 jobs. In the year 2002, tourism-related jobs totalled a whopping 198 098 000 jobs, and according to Page (2003), this is expected to touch the magical figure of 249 486 000 by the year 2012. Stephen Page (2003) noted: "The late twentieth century and the new millennium have witnessed the continued growth of interest in how people spend their leisure and non-work time." Leisure pursuits and holiday tours are increasingly becoming a major non-work activity for millions of people across the globe. This growing interest to travel and holiday has now come to be recognised as a truly international phenomenon, or 'tourism' that motivates people to use their leisure time to visit different localities, landmarks, places and destinations across the globe. Added to this is the growing demand for tours and travels relating to specialized events, such as seasonal pilgrimages to holy sites and shrines. Among the latter, Mecca stands out as perhaps the single biggest spot the world over in terms of the number of tourists and pilgrims that flock to this holy city. Growing Profile of Global Tourism There has been a phenomenal growth in the demand for air travel since the 1960s. According to Page (2003, p. 144), the global airline industry carried 1600 million passengers (many of them tourists) to and from 10,000 airports, with 18,000 aircraft in the skies in the year 1998. Air traffic demand in Europe alone stood at 541 million passengers, and is expected to touch the 1101 million figure by the year 2015. With steadily increasing demand, several carriers and tour operators have even commissioned their own charter planes to woo tourists and to boost their tourism business. Boeing even evolved a hub-and-spokes services facility with point-to-point flight services. According to estimates, Hajj pilgrims to Mecca alone totalled the one million mark every year (2003). Among several reasons for this stupendous growth in tourism operations, the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), a lobby group in the aviation sector, cited mainly five factors (2003, p. 3): A major downslide in the real cost of a travel Increasing activities in international trade and economic deals that call for frequent

The Handsomest Drowned Man Essay Example for Free

The Handsomest Drowned Man Essay The story begins with several children playing on the beach. That pretty much suffices for They see an abnormal looking bulge in the ocean. They try and guess anything that it might be until it washes up shore and they realize it’s a drowned man. The children, being children, start to play with the body until an adult spots the new toy and lets the rest of the village know. The men of the town carry the body to the nearest house and talk about how heavy he is. Since the body was in the ocean for so long, they figured it was the water that went to his bones. In their small fishing community, there is such little space around that dead bodies are not buried, but thrown over the cliffs and into the ocean. Since the village is so small, the men look around to see that none of them are missing, and automatically know that the dead man is a stranger. That night, the men of the village go around to other towns to seek a better idea of where he might’ve come from. The women stay behind to clean the ocean’s waste off the body. As they clean him off, the women notice that he comes from somewhere far away because the junk that they clean off isn’t a part of anything around their part of the world. When the drowned man is finally cleaned off, the women are left in awe because he is the biggest and tallest and most proud looking man they have ever seen. Hes so big that the women can’t find a bed big enough for him. They can’t find any clothes to fit him, so the women, sewed clothes for him from a sail. While they work on his clothing, the women feel like everything has changed because of their discovery. They start to compare the dead man to their husbands in such a way that made their husbands seem like the worst choice they’ve ever made. The oldest woman in the group of women looks down at the drowned man and says he has the face of someone named Esteban. All of the other women agree right away. Later on after midnight, while the women watch the body being dragged along the ground, they start feeling pity for the drowned man because of his massive size which must have been a burden for him. They thought about his life; and how he would have probably had trouble going through doorways, hitting his head on crossbeams, and not being able to find a chair sturdy enough to seat him. When the men come back and announce that none of the nearby villages can claim the dead body, the women get hyped up about the idea that he is now theirs. The men think their women are being ridiculous and just want to get this burial done as fast as possible. They make a type of stretcher to carry him to the cliffs. While the men rush to get the task done, the women try to waste time by covering the dead body up with other little items. The men complain the entire time until the handkerchief uncovers the dead man’s face and they all stand there in awe about how handsome he is and know that he is â€Å"Esteban†. They thought the same thing about the man and how he must have had such a hard time moving his massive body around and how burden he was causing the villagers. So the villagers make a formal funeral. They go to villages around them to get flowers, and they choose for him honorary family members from their village, The women mourn so loud it steers the sailors off course. As they carry his body to the cliff, the women are aware for the first time that everything they know doesn’t compare to the beauty of their drowned man. When they finally let the body go off the cliff, they don’t anchor it, so that he can come back if he wishes. The villagers realize that everything will be different from now on. They will make the best of their village and make it progress by building houses bigger and better, paint them bright colors, and plant flowers on their cliffs so that future sailor’s going by will see and smell them, and they will know that it’s â€Å"Esteban’s Village†.

Essay --

Clarence Mai Mrs. Chaid ERWC 12 February, 2014 Peace Through Strength No matter how oxymoronic it seems, I strongly agree with the phrase â€Å"The only way to prepare for peace is to be prepared for war.†I feel that this relates back to the adage that â€Å"the best defense is a good offense†. For me, I view the Cold War as proof that the weapons of war can also be used as instruments of peace. To start off, one of the key ideas behind the tense, yet somewhat stable peace between the Soviet Union and United States during the second half of the 20th century was the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD. As both of the world’s superpowers attempted to outstrip each other in a nuclear arms race, it grew increasingly apparent that should one nation attempt to strike the other or its allies with nuclear weapons, the consequences from the secondary strike would cause an unacceptable loss of life and likely the extinction of the human race. Consider the Cuban Missile Crisis, for instance. There were multiple times where all out nuclear war between the East and the West ca...

Describe Scene Essay

Cameran Highlands is accessible by road. Cameran Highlands is about a 3 hours drive either from KL or Penang Its strategic location makes it a favourite weekened escape for cityfolk/ city-dwellers from all over the coutry. It is a popular haunt for both local and foreign tourists to let their hair down. For those who are faint-heated the ride along the steep, narrow roads can be quite an unnerving experience as there are numerous hairpin bends along the route from Simpang Pulai. After about a three-hour ride in Dad’s Pajero, we finally reached Kampung Raja. We could feel the goose-pimples on our arms. We had to put on our jackets to keep ourselves warm. Standing about 1400 metres above sea level, this hill resort is certainly an ideal retreat for city dwellers like us who long to get away from scorching tropical heat. Besides, its high altitude together with its invigorating coolness will leave a person refreshed and is the ideal place for the rat-race and the hustle and bustl e of city life. Read Also:Â  Descriptive Essay Rubric On our journey to Tanah Rata, we stopped at a scenic lake. Although the chilly weather and freezing water will make us to think twice about whether or not to don our swimming wear, we can enjoy the solitude of nature with only the swish swashing of the gurgling water to disturd us. Thus, in spite of the cold weather, my little sister, my brother and I could not resist the urge to jump into the water and splash around. Hardly a minute in the ice cold water and we were out again, teeth chattering. At Tanah rata, we checked into a motel. As soon as we had dumped our luggage in our rooms, we went out again. The street in which our motel was situated had a fine vista of a sprawling town against a backdrop of lush greenery. At that moment , We felt ravenously hungry, Hence, we settled for a sumptuous meal of nasi kandar. Undeniably, the number of eateries that have sprung up is indeed alarming. Satiated, we turned in for the night. We put on the appropriate gear and headed for Gunung Beremban for an hour of jungle-trekking. Hikers will certainly enjoy traversing the jungle paths, for they are well-maintained and easy to follow. If you find the jungle trails a little monotonous, the blossoms of brightly coloured wild flowers along the way will provide an interesting diversion. My mother, who is extremely afraid of heights, was soon down on all fours, not daring to look down and yelling at the top of her voice. It was such a rib-tickling sight. Our next destination was a tea plantation.

Chick-Fil-A

Chick-Fil-A is a fast food restaurant based off a religious based principle. Truett Cathy the founder of the company always put his religious beliefs ahead of all things. All Chick-Fil-A's are closed on Sundays so that the employees of the company can attend church (Chick-Fil-A). Truett Cathy opened his own Diner at the age of 25. Truett and his brother Ben opened up the Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia, a suburban area in Atlanta Georgia, in 1946, after Truett Cathy was discharged from the U.S. Army. The two brothers wanted to build the fast food restaurant near a striving company, which was a Ford Auto plant. Hoping that hungry employees would come and buy, and it worked. Truett and Ben noticed when they were serving the customers, they were taking rolls and chicken, turning them into a sandwich. Giving them and ideal for the concept of Chick-Fil-A. Tragedy Truett's brother Ben and another brother were killed in a plan crash but Truett continued to run the Dwarf House which before was the Dwarf Grill. The Dwarf Grill soon became a franchised throughout the Atlanta area (The balance small business). A Chick-Fil-A manager in Texas decided to post a list of banned words and phrases on Reddit. That list of words went viral. Chick-Fil-A has not responded to that list of banned words yet. Eric the manager at the Texas Chick-Fil-A listed the unacceptable slang workplace phrase because he believes in the command: â€Å"You will speak properly when you walk through these doors† (Suhay). The list of words included: â€Å"cuz,† â€Å"Bae,† â€Å"Bruh,† and other urban terms. Also, on that list was the word â€Å"Ebola† because some of the employees have accused people in the establishment of having the deadly disease while working (Suhay). Gottsman suggest that, â€Å"Slang and business really do not go hand-in-hand† (Suhay). Gottsman, who coaches major corporations and university students made a rare appearance to help a group of teenagers learn proper businesses and interview protocols in preparation for college and scholarship interviews. (Suhay). Gottsman says,† It shouldn't matter that this is a fast food establishment. Employees should be ambassadors of the company they work for† (Suhay). Organization behaviors impacts the success of the company. A company that have motivated, engaged employees with clear goals that aligned with the company's strategy, creates a successful company. Organization behavior can help a company perform well (Managing People and Organizations 8). It is important when working in an establishment, speaking well and clearly to the customers possess as good communication skills. Communication allows us to form connection. Influence decisions and motivate change. Decisions that the leaders make tend to help mold the culture of the company. Making the wrong decisions can have a great impact on the business or organization. Leaders have a responsibility to make the right decisions for everyone involved. Truett created a successful business at Chick-Fil-A's because of a highly effective business model. He created something bigger than himself based on his leadership style. â€Å"They've experienced a more than 10% sales increase almost every year since launching in 1946. Franchisees retention rate has been 96% for nearly 50 years, while the corporate staff retention rate has hovered at 95-97% over the same time period† (Forbes Magazine). Letting your employees know that you are there for them is team building practice. Chick-Fil-A believes that all business leaders can introduce growth and development for their own companies. The company encourages its staff to develop different programs; plans and support them by providing budget necessary class, books, training and conferences to help with team building within the company. Chick-Fil-A is one of the largest privately-owned restaurant chains with 1,450 restaurants in 38 states, with its charitable sponsor of religious and community groups world wide (Vivian). Building trust, mitigating conflicts, encouraging the communities and increasing collaboration is what Chick-Fil-A does. Every single Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sundays; Truett Cathy says, â€Å"Our decision to close on Sundays was a way of honoring God and directing attention [on] things [that are more] important than [the] business† (Vivian). Spending time with family and having time to recover from a hard week of work; helps the moral of the employees to have a common goal, allowing bonding to happen more organically and far more effectively for the company. The successful chain has used it success to commit to education. Earning $25 million dollars in Leadership Scholarships, the company has allocated $1.4 million of that to be awarded to its team members of the fast food chain (Vivian). Team building expands not only to the employee but the customers too. Cow Appreciation Day is a day costumer get to dress up like a cow and receive a free chicken sandwich. The appreciation day is to show their thanks to the loyalty of the customer's. Because of the team building this company haves not only for their employees but for the customers; they have a large and growing base of Chick-Fil-A fans around the world (Vivian). Process gain plays an important role in team building it is part of the performance improvement. That is when people work together and not independent (Management People and Organization 268). Chick-Fil-A is always trying new things with their staff that can generate good vibes among the employees, which benefits the business. Team togetherness builds results for the business long term. Socializing and making friends in the workplace is a great way to increase productivity in the company. Its increases morale in the workplace and a better way of solving everyday workplace issues. When a business provides team building activities together, employees have a better understanding of others weakness, strengths and interest.This helps with better understanding to work together on future progress, which is vital to the company. Chick-Fil-A has build Social Facilitation, this happens when the employees and staff are motivated to look and feel good to others and maintain a positive image (Management People and Organization 269). Chick-Fil-A has established team efficacy, it shares beliefs that can be organized and execute the behaviors in it company (Management People and Organization 269). Improving productivity can be a difficult thing to do in a business. You can not always tell which solutions are right for the company. Trying solutions one at a time can be time consuming and expensive. The best approach is to take steps that are necessary to get your staff and employees on board. One approach Chick-Fil-A will plan to try and that is broaden their appeal to the Millennial market. The Millennials will broaden Chick-Fil-A's national and, ultimately, international growth plans (Horovitz). Chick-Fil-A also plans to replace all of it's current salads and replacing them with an entirely new salad, focusing on fresh ingredients (Horovitz). The company will introduce new wraps and post calorie counts on new menu boards (Horovitz).  This fast food restaurant knows that it needs to be able to look at what is working well and where there is room for improvement. The workers of a business are the ones who are immersed in the production processes on a daily basis, so empowering them on developing ideals for improvement for the company, is always a great thing to do. Workers who feel empowered are more likely to demonstrate increased productivity. Chick-Fil-A has exceptional service, quick service and cleanliness because of the hard workers. Many of the franchisees offer training classes for their employees to earn certificates in managing food, labor cost managing conflicts in restaurants and other areas of expertise with in the company.

Taught To Teach Professor Ramos Blog

Taught To Teach Growing up as a middle child in a large family there was always something to do. Playing hide and seek with my younger siblings or getting dressed up with my older sister. But through all the fun there were also chores that needed to be done. With such a large family we needed to help each other so that Mom would not pull her hair out and ground us all. My big sister Kayla was left in charge and she looked to me for help or how I looked at it as bossing me around. She was the foreman on the construction site and I was just a grunt. As she sat on the couch giving me orders I thought to myself , â€Å" Someone should give her a bell.† I had to help my sisters and brothers get ready in the morning like a mother duck and her ducklings by making breakfast, making sure that they were fed, that their teeth were brushed. My job was to make sure they were ready for school and that I was as well. These moments, good and bad taught me to care for young children. These beginning tools set me on my way to become a teacher. As I continued through school and began to reach the end, the big important question of â€Å"What are you going to be ?† came up . Just like in kindergarten when the teacher asked if you wanted to be a police officer or a firefighter. There where so many options to choose from.The school passed out a test which would determine what you should be. This test gave you different options to choose from that your skills would match up well with. But so many questions and doubts ran through my head. â€Å" Am I going to be good at that?† Or â€Å" Will I be happy with my job choice?† My test results were in! They told me I should become an aero mechanic or a teacher. I left that day with so many thoughts, until I realized I was no good at math so aero mechanic would be out of the question. Teaching sounded like the best possibility especially with all the training I had acquired from my home life. With my new found knowledge of what I might be good at , I entered the mountain scholar program, which taught me how to manage money and how to properly dress for a job interview. This program would give me the skills to apply for my first real job as a teacher. Our advisor Mr Kevin who was a large man with a jolly laugh, kind of looked like a Santa wanna be, sat with a group of teenagers and asked us â€Å" What do you want be ?† Once again I was being asked this question. And without thinking I gave him a piece of my mind . â€Å" Hell if I know!† I responded. He went on to give me the big speech about you can be anything you want to be as long as you put your mind to it. But this made me think â€Å" I was great with children and with some schooling I could be a teacher.† After a long search I found an opening at the local Boys and Girls Club. I applied and was accepted! Mrs. Beckey, an old skinny woman was my boss and would show me around the center. About thirty kids from the local elementary school attended this after school program. I was told to manage the children and keep them on schedule, this meant I was to play and interact with the students while keeping everything running smoothly. â€Å" Easy !† I thought. I had done this millions of times while getting my siblings ready for school. However it was not at all what I expected . My day consisted of Johnny hitting Sara and Rachel wetting her pants. Oh yea she’s hungry too! Let’s just say the day did not go as planned and I left feeling a little low about myself. However on the worst first day of my young adult life I learned some valuable information. I learned not to allow myself to become overwhelmed, you need to step back once in a while and collect yourself. Also I realized that I needed to pay more attention to the students body language and social behavior. For example if I had noticed Rachel doing the potty dance in the corner I could have sent her to the restroom. Second, if I saw Johnny teasing Sara for losing a game of tetherball, it would have never escalated to hitting. Through one of the most difficult days of my job career I learned many valuable tools that I have taken with me throughout my career. A couple of years down the road I found myself at Kids Corner preschool as a teachers assistant. This is where I learned how the classroom processed. I was encouraged to enroll into college classes for my certification in early childhood education. Through these classes I have come to understand how a young child develops socially and cognitive. But the most valuable knowledge I have encountered was from being hands on in the classroom setting. Being able to interact with my students and staff members has helped me understand that nothing can prepare you for what could happen while working with young child. However with the skills and knowledge I gained at the Boys and Girls Club and my own family I feel confident in my skills as a teacher.

Free Essays on A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol Written by: mr krabs â€Å"Humbug!† was Scrooge’s favorite answer to any question and any question was an inappropriate question to the grumpy old covetous man. Depicted in the ethical story, The Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Scrooge’s fowling manner transformed his once passionate heart to a black hole, which pulled in all hope and happiness as if it were a powerful magnet. Nevertheless, the jar of hatred shattered and Scrooge’s impaired spirit rose again. Love and happiness permeated his body, and the once ignorant Scrooge developed into an irresistible congenial fellow that everyone now knew. Scrooge found that he had the ability to alter his behavior and realized that spreading Christmas was more rewarding than any given amount of money. Scrooge’s capability to transform himself from a wrenching, disgruntled man to a blithe, amicable friend was surprising to the inhabitants of the small city. For instance, Charles Dickens wrote, â€Å"Some people laughed to see the alteration in him [Scrooge], but he let them laugh, and little heeded them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (page 112). Scrooge didn’t mind the giggles and laughs directed at him because he believed in himself for the first time in a very long time. His confined spirit was freed at last and it allotted happiness and joy around from mysterious turkeys on the doorstep to charity donations. Scrooge sought to make the people of the city cheerful and in doing so, people enjoyed watching an old jolly man hop around delivering gifts. Thus, Scrooge did not heed to the snickers in the crowd. The joy of spreading Christmas was Scrooge’s indirect gift to mankind and it rewarded him with long-lasting friends, which could never compare to any wealth. For example, Charles Dickens wrote,† He [Scrooge] became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world â€Å" (page 112). Thi... Free Essays on A Christmas Carol Free Essays on A Christmas Carol A Christmas Carol Written by: mr krabs â€Å"Humbug!† was Scrooge’s favorite answer to any question and any question was an inappropriate question to the grumpy old covetous man. Depicted in the ethical story, The Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Scrooge’s fowling manner transformed his once passionate heart to a black hole, which pulled in all hope and happiness as if it were a powerful magnet. Nevertheless, the jar of hatred shattered and Scrooge’s impaired spirit rose again. Love and happiness permeated his body, and the once ignorant Scrooge developed into an irresistible congenial fellow that everyone now knew. Scrooge found that he had the ability to alter his behavior and realized that spreading Christmas was more rewarding than any given amount of money. Scrooge’s capability to transform himself from a wrenching, disgruntled man to a blithe, amicable friend was surprising to the inhabitants of the small city. For instance, Charles Dickens wrote, â€Å"Some people laughed to see the alteration in him [Scrooge], but he let them laugh, and little heeded them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (page 112). Scrooge didn’t mind the giggles and laughs directed at him because he believed in himself for the first time in a very long time. His confined spirit was freed at last and it allotted happiness and joy around from mysterious turkeys on the doorstep to charity donations. Scrooge sought to make the people of the city cheerful and in doing so, people enjoyed watching an old jolly man hop around delivering gifts. Thus, Scrooge did not heed to the snickers in the crowd. The joy of spreading Christmas was Scrooge’s indirect gift to mankind and it rewarded him with long-lasting friends, which could never compare to any wealth. For example, Charles Dickens wrote,† He [Scrooge] became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world â€Å" (page 112). Thi...