Three Pane Model Essay Example for Free

Three Pane Model Essay Utility for Business Managers: Firms resort to macroeconomic analysis to make rational judgments about the effects of global events or policy shocks on the economy and thereby on the business environment. But such analysis is often laden with possibilities for logical missteps. The Three- Pane model (open economy IS/LM model) is discussed here as a tool for explaining key relationships in the economy while avoiding the missteps encountered in macroeconomic analysis. What is open economy macroeconomics? Macroeconomic analysis helps firms to explore the interrelationships among a whole host of markets, while microeconomics focuses on variables like price and quantity, cost and revenue in individual markets. Macroeconomic analysis can be closed-economy or open -economy. Closed-economy macroeconomics deals with movements in and relationships among aggregate variables such as National Income, rate of interest, the aggregate price level, rate of inflation etc. Open economy macroeconomics makes the analysis complete by adding analysis of capital flows, international trade and exchange rate. The objective of this note is to introduce the Three-paned or Open-economy IS/LM model. As we will see, this model is an extension of the simple closed-economy IS/LM model. A Little Bit of History: The IS/LM closed economy model was introduced by the British Economist, Sir John Hicks in 1937. The IS/LM model denotes the simultaneous equilibrium of the two key markets in a market economy, product (real) market and the money market. IS represents real/product market equilibrium and LM, money market equilibrium. IS refers to the fundamental relationship between Investment (I) and Saving(S). LM represents the relationship between L, the demand for money, and M, the supply of money. The open economy version of IS/LM is credited to two economists, Robert Mundell Marcus Fleming and hence called the Mundell-Fleming model. The three-paned model we are discussing here is pretty close to the Mundell-Fleming model. This model is best suited for discussing short-to-medium term changes in the economy, i.e., changes over a few years. The Three-Paned Model [Large Open Economy IS/LM Model]. The model as presented in the below diagram has three panes with one graph in each pane. (1) Pane I depicts the IS/LM model [product money market]. Point ‘e’ in the first graph represents the equilibrium rate of interest and the corresponding level of output/income at which, both the product and money markets are in simultaneous equilibrium. (2) Pane II [capital outflow schedule] shows Net Capital Outflow as a function of the rate of interest. Net Capital Outflow (CF) is defined as the difference between Capital Outflows and Capital Inflows. (3) In Pane III, we have the foreign exchange market, where the exchange rate, E is determined by the capital outflow schedule in Pane two and net export schedule ( NX). NX is the difference between Exports and Imports. PANE I PANE II PANE III Diagram showing the Three-Paned Open-Economy IS/LM Model Explaining the working of the Three-paned Model: Now let us see how the three-paned model works. We begin from point ‘e’, the initial equilibrium, in the ISLM model. Point e represents the simultaneous equilibrium of the product and money markets at an equilibrium rate of interest, ’ r’, and ‘ Y ‘ level of income/output. To determine the equilibrium in the capital outflow schedule, the equilibrium rate of interest, r, is brought over from the first pane to determine the equilibrium amount of net capital outflows. When the rate of interest is r, equilibrium CF in the economy is given by CFo. Suppose the RBI hikes the rate of interest from r to r1. If r* remains constant, r-r* increases. This increases relative returns in the domestic economy which creates two kinds of impacts. One, the capital outflow decreases, and two, the capital inflow increases. Therefore, the net capital outflow decreases, which is shown by the fall in CF from CFo to CF1. Likewise, if there is a fall in the interest rate from ro to r2, capital outflow increases, and capital inflow decreases, leading to an increase in net capital outflow as indicated by an increase in CF to CF2. The Capital Outflow (CF) curve is therefore, downward sloping. This means that, higher domestic rates of interest are associated with lower net capital outflows, and lower domestic rates of interest are associated with higher net capital outflows. As mentioned earlier, the three-paned model plots the net export schedule (NX) with respect to the exchange rate, E. E is defined as the foreign currency per unit of domestic currency. If we drop the equilibrium amount of capital flows CFo from pane II to the third pane we get the equilibrium amount of net exports, NXo, which is determined by the intersection of the perpendicular dropped from the CF schedule with the NX schedule. This also gives the equilibrium nominal exchange rate, Eo. [Here, we are assuming price levels at home and abroad as constant, therefore, nominal and real exchange rates can be considered to be proportional. i.e., they won’t be different]. How do we explain the model in simple economic terms? In a closed economy, the rate of interest decided by the RBI defines the simultaneous equilibrium in the product/goods market and the money market, as shown by the intersection of the IS LM curves (Pane I). Suppose that we open up the economy and also assume that we are considering a large economy [as in the case of India]. Pane II III shows how a domestic interest rate change (assuming foreign rate of interest rate to be fixed) impacts capital flows and thereby the exports and imports and the exchange rate in the economy. A hike in the interest rate by the RBI would attract capital from outside-increase in inflows- and would decrease capital outflows. This would lead to a fall in the net capital outflow. A fall in the interest rate would have the opposite effect, leading to a decrease in inflows and an increase in outflows, thereby increasing net capital outflows. When capital inflows increase due to a hike in the domestic interest rate, let us assume that most of the inflows are in the form FDI. That is, there would be an increase in demand for rupee denominated assets thereby increasing the demand for the rupee in the foreign exchange market, vis-à  -vis the foreign currency, say, dollar. This would appreciate the exchange rate (E to E1) vis-a –vis the dollar (exchange rate E was defined as foreign currency per unit of domestic currency).The appreciation of the exchange rate makes exports costlier and imports cheaper. Therefore, exports fall and imports rise, resulting in a fall in Net Exports as shown in pane III, from NXo to NX1. Similarly, a fall in rate of interest would depreciate the exchange rate, leading to a fall in imports and rise in exports, resulting in an increase in net exports. Thus the three-paned model or the open-economy IS/LM model gives the business decision maker a framework to understand and analyze changes in and interrelationships between rate of interest, capital flows, exchange rate and net exports in a large open economy. â€Å"We can address important questions about how the macroeconomy, capital flows, international trade, and the exchange rate will respond to a wide variety of events and shocks. (1) How will these key variables respond to an increased money supply or an increase in taxes? (2) How does a sudden drop in consumer’s willingness to make purchases or a technological shock that makes investing more appealing affect interest rates, unemployment and the exchange rate? (3) What will be the resulting effects on the direction of the economy and the key variables?† [ 2 ]. Economic Models: An economic model may be defined as a logical framework that is based on explicit assumptions about how key economic variables interact. The links between these variables are based on assumptions rooted in economic theory and are also explicitly defined by the relationships that govern the model. The key to understanding any economic model is to understand the logical structure and its underlying assumptions. The set of assumptions in the model enables the analysis of the impact of changes in one or more variables on the rest of the economy (-while not violating the original behavioral assumptions). [ 3 ]. John Hicks, â€Å"Mr. Keynes and the Classics: A Suggested Interpretation†, Econometrica, 1937. He was awarded the Economics Nobel Prize in 1972. [ 4 ]. For a detailed discussion of the IS/LM model, see Dornbusch,Fischer, Startz-Macroeconomics, Chapter 10, pp219-240,10thedition. [ 5 ]. Net capital outflows as defined earlier, are equal to capital outflows minus capital inflows. Here the assumption is that capital flows are a function the difference between relative interest rates. The domestic interest rate is given as r and the foreign rate of interest rate is taken as r*. Since it is not shown in the graph, r* is assumed to be constant. Therefore, capital flows effectively are determined by the changes in the domestic rate on interest rate. i.e., Net capital outflow, CF = f (r – r* ). [ 6 ]. Quoted from Darden Business Publishing- A Technical Note on The Open –Economy IS/LM Model, 2008.

Orgon The Good, Or Orgon The B Essays -- essays research papers

In the beginning of Moliere’s play Tartuffe, the character Orgon is very distasteful, but changes by the end of the play and becomes more amiable. The character Orgon, in the beginning, is exceedingly stern. For example, in the beginning of the play, Orgon takes a man into his home, to which he believes is pious in every way. This man is Tartuffe, who deceives Orgon and Madame Pernelle into thinking he is a heavenly man, in order to gain their wealth and Orgon’s wife. He Tartuffe succeeds in deceiving those two but the rest of Orgon’s family discovers his unheavenly ways. Orgon’s family tries to convince Orgon of Tartuffe’s evil intentions, but when Orgon believes something to be true, he won’t let anything come between him and what he thinks is right, even his own family. Orgon orders his only daughter to wed Tartuffe against her will. Orgon states to Mariane, “Yes, Tartuffe shall be allied by marriage to this family, and he’s to be your husband, is that clear? It’s a father’s privilege.'; (Act 2, scene 1) Orgon’s son Damis who told him of Tartuffe’s treachery also confronted Orgon, but Orgon does not believe him. Orgon screams, “ So! You insult him, and defy your father! A stick! A stick! Out of my house this minute! Be off with you, and never dare set foot in it again. I disinherit you; an empty purse is all you’ll get from me-excep... Orgon The Good, Or Orgon The B Essays -- essays research papers In the beginning of Moliere’s play Tartuffe, the character Orgon is very distasteful, but changes by the end of the play and becomes more amiable. The character Orgon, in the beginning, is exceedingly stern. For example, in the beginning of the play, Orgon takes a man into his home, to which he believes is pious in every way. This man is Tartuffe, who deceives Orgon and Madame Pernelle into thinking he is a heavenly man, in order to gain their wealth and Orgon’s wife. He Tartuffe succeeds in deceiving those two but the rest of Orgon’s family discovers his unheavenly ways. Orgon’s family tries to convince Orgon of Tartuffe’s evil intentions, but when Orgon believes something to be true, he won’t let anything come between him and what he thinks is right, even his own family. Orgon orders his only daughter to wed Tartuffe against her will. Orgon states to Mariane, “Yes, Tartuffe shall be allied by marriage to this family, and he’s to be your husband, is that clear? It’s a father’s privilege.'; (Act 2, scene 1) Orgon’s son Damis who told him of Tartuffe’s treachery also confronted Orgon, but Orgon does not believe him. Orgon screams, “ So! You insult him, and defy your father! A stick! A stick! Out of my house this minute! Be off with you, and never dare set foot in it again. I disinherit you; an empty purse is all you’ll get from me-excep...

Pro-Forma Statements Essay

B1. Analyze Simulation Results A budget is a financial plan which is expressed in real numbers, typically in monetary units, which set the expectations for the expenses the company will incur to reach its goals, and management objectives. A good budget uses forecasts to determine what amounts should be used to reach desired efficiency and profitability. Budgets can be used to determine whether a not a process is working effectively, whether or not changes in operations need to be made in order to reach goals, and can help solve problems before they occur and help make changes when necessary. Budgets are important because they provide a quantitative measurement to establish goals, coordinate efforts and departments, and help to realize changes are needed before problems occur. Budgets should be broken down into fragments (short term, mid-term, and long term) which will allow for more precise measurement of the success of a project, allow for changes to be made before moving onto new projects, and to expand on goals when appropriate. By setting short term budget goals and reaching them it helps to ensure that the company is on pace to reach its long term objectives. Budgets need to be revised whenever they no longer useful for planning and control purposes. Anytime there are major changes in the processes or operations the budgets will also need to be revised. Budget figures should be measured frequently to ensure they are still reasonable and that the company is still on track to reach its goals. A Pro-Forma Statement is defined as â€Å"a financial statements prepared on the basis of some assumed events and transactions that have not yet occurred.† (Ralph Estes). Unlike Historical Financial Statements which use real scientific information and are based on facts, Pro-Forma Financial Statements use assumptions to help forecast the future and allow for the use of creativity and flexibility. Pro-Forma Financial Statements are similar to Historical Financial Statements in look and content, both use the same major financial statements including the income statement and the balance sheet, but the Pro-Forma Financial Statement allows for changes to be made in the volatile environment. Pro-Forma Statements are important because they provide the needed information to track progress towards goals. They are based on historic figures so they do provide realistic projections while still allowing for adjustments as needed. Typically a long collection of historic data is used to produce a Pro-Forma Income statement; since the company I created was a start up our information was limited there was even more of a reliance on projections to complete my statements. In the first quarter I had start up factory expenses of $430,000 and spent $120,000 on market research. I had gained $3,000 in interest from a small deposit into a short term CD. I had invested $1,100,000 for fixed plant capacity. Of the $2,000,000 of initial capital $547,000 was used for start-up expenses leaving the company with $1,453,000 in current assets. Important decisions had to be made during Quarter 1 in order to make my projections and set my budgets and expectations. First I had to choose what products to manufacture. I wanted to look for two segments which had some similar wants and needs. By developing two products for two segments with similar wants and needs the hope was that I would be pay off later in saving manufacturing costs by utilizing customization of parts, decrease training costs, cut down on salary expense by having a sales force that could be knowledgeable with both products, and would allow the company to provide better service after the sale. The decisions were all based upon the market research which had been done providing the wants and needs of the segments as well as the price willing to pay, the 12 month demand, and the demand per city. By performing some simple calculations (i.e. price willing to pay X Demand / cost to produce) I was able to make an informed decisions on the two products I wanted to deve lop, where I wanted to set up shop, the size of my sales force, as well as the amount of inventory to produce. I decided to manufacture two products which I felt met the needs of two specific groups. The first group was decided upon due to the quantity of the demand. I felt around this product I could better reach my goal of utilizing an employee empowerment strategy, being able to utilize work cells due to less technical processes and needs, be able to take advantage of customization of parts, and also be able to offer better service after the sales due to increased employee knowledge of the product and the service needed. I decided to focus my efforts on the Workhorse and the Traveler markets. Both markets had similar needs and the products would only need to differ in portability. The market was large and although the desired price would be lower, the higher demand would help generate profit. The hope was to build the distinction of being the low price leader while still providing a reliable product and providing excellent service after the sale. By setting proper starting budgets and being able to adjust accordingly by utilizing the pro-forma statements I was able to make sound financial decisions throughout the simulation. I never had to use emergency loans so I was able to avoid that penalty and cost. By using the statements was even able to make small investments and earn some interest off of those funds. Being a startup company I was very conservative with my investments so I could ensure I would not incur those costs. At the end of the 4th quarter my ending cash balance was over 4 million dollars. This allows for great expansion and higher sales as well as the ability to invest more funds and take advantage of additional interest income. Without the use of the statements and the budget it would not have been possible to monitor the spending and make informed decisions. The Pro-Forma statements and budgets were used to make decisions throughout the entire simulation. Each Quarter I began by examining the cash flow statement. This allowed me to make proper decisions based on the Firm’s solvency as well as my company’s potential for growth. At the beginning of Quarter 1 I had $0 in my beginning cash balance. Thus it was necessary to sell common stock. $2 million dollars were raised through the sale of common stock. It was very important to use my income statements, original budgets, and monitoring my balance sheet. $1.1 million of the funds would be used to invest in my fixed plant capacity in order to reach the needed production levels. With the funds on hand I was only able to open 2 sales offices. I chose the locations based on the projected sales demand, the allotted funds in the budget, and the money left in the cash flow. The two offices cost $430,000 to start up and would also cost a total of $220,000 per quarter for lease. After setting up the Plant capacity and the Sales Offices I had $470,000 dollars left. I still needed funds for Research and Development to ensure that I was making proper decisions and to help guide my decisions in future quarters. I decided to spend $120,000 on research and development. This left me $350,000 in excess cash. I decided to invest a portion of it but was careful using my Pro-Forma statements to ensure that I would not run into the cost of emergency cash loans. $200,000 was placed into a conservative short term C.D. which earned me $3,000 in interest income. The $3,000 and the excess $150,000 would be carried over into the next quarter. The same techniques were used every decision every quarter. Any time I made a decision it was based on my cash flow, income statements and demand projections. Lessons were learned from these decisions, more funding into research and development needed to be used early in the simulation. The result of the poor planning led to the expense of products needing to be redesigned. The carry over equipment had to be sold for salvage value and additional funding needed to be raised to develop the new products. With the proper products in place for the market demand the profits would have been much larger for my company. B2a. Just-in-time Just in Time operations is basically a system which helps force problem solving and drives down start-up costs and inventory costs by initiating a pull system driven by consumer demand and reducing inventory to meet the customer’s needs only when the customer has that need. If the product is not available at the time of demand a problem is found and improvements need to be made. This is very important to any company but especially for a start-up company who really need to watch their cash flow to avoid any emergency loans and the cost and fees associated with them. In my projections I had to take into account the demand of the segments in the cities decided to serve and make educated estimates on how much to produce based on those calculations. There were still questions which needed to be answered which led to less aggressive manufacturing; would my advertising efforts convey the right message to my target audience? Would my choices on where to advertise be successful on reaching my target audience? Would my product designs and branding fit the needs of my customers or would new products need to be developed? The answers to these questions could lead to major adjustments to our entire process and if not done well could lead to an excess of unused inventory which would only be able to recover a small part of the cost it took to develop them. Estimates were made based on the projected sales demands of the markets. Fixed capacity, sales force decisions, and of course inventory decisions were made based on these projections. The idea of course was to have the perfect amount of inventory available to my customers at the exact time they needed them, with very little cost from carrying over unused inventory. Proper use of a Just-in-time strategy could have saved me money and helped expand my company’s growth. During the manufacturing process a Just-in-time strategy would’ve have uncovered the need to increase production to meet my customers’ demand as the products were being â€Å"pulled through† the assembly process. The improper use of the JIT strategy resulted in a loss of 278 Venture II customers and 143 customers of Quest II. The result of these lost customers was $578,453 in profit. By properly utilizing the strategy profits could have been even higher and future growth could have increased. Going forward it will be important to utilize the performance of the past year and make better decisions to provide for a better customer experience. Fortunately after the losses occurred decisions were made to make sure it did not happen again throughout the simulation. A good Just-In-Time strategy would have allowed the mistakes to be caught prior to having to absorb the losses and the poor customer experiences. B2b. Lean Operations Lean operations work hand in hand with making J.I.T. effective. By definition lean operations are used to understand customer’s needs and then to stock and prepare appropriately based on said needs. In my project this was done by successful forecasting based on potential demand of the customers in the given areas and based on the chosen products. By basing our inventory on a lean operations focus the company will be able to decrease the costs of waste in it’s operations, both in unused inventory and the cost of storing excess inventory. B3. Applicability of Work Cells versus Traditional Straight Line Method An effective layout design strategy is important because the decision alone can help decide the efficiency of production as well as help to determine a firm’s competitive advantage. How will the firm be looking to set itself apart? Will it be through differentiation, low cost, or response? Will the company’s priorities focus on capacity, processes, flexibility, and/or cost, etc.? In its very basic form an effective layout design will improve efficiency by better utilizing space, people, and machinery, improving communication, improving inspection, and by allowing for flexibility. Work Cells are specially arranged groups of workers and workstations designed to make the production of a single product or group of related products more efficient by allowing workers to have more reach in the work area, allow for immediate inspection of complete product, fewer workers are needed, less work space, and prom otes better communication between workers. Workers often accept the responsibility of building the product from start to finish in a more positive light because of the empowerment it provides and the specialized training and expanded knowledge. Work Cells are often in the shape of a â€Å"U† allowing for better balance and division of work. The U-shape also will take up more space on the floor than the Traditional Straight Line process method. A Traditional Straight Line process method is the old assembly line assembly process. Each worker is responsible for a piece of a product. That piece is then put together with other pieces and the final product is put together in a series of pieces. The assembly line relies on workstations to be balanced in the share of the work to be effective however; the layout alone often leads to an unbalanced division of the workload. The pieces cannot be inspected until the finished product has been fully assembled by the varying teams, and communication and diverse learning is very limite d. The assembly line approach also leads to the possibility of a â€Å"bottleneck† effect where total production can be slowed by slow production from one of the work units. The advantages of the assembly lines are of course a less expensive and quicker training process, more standardization of parts, and lower handling costs. The decision on which method to use was a difficult one. One of the reasons I chose the two products that I did was because of their similarities and the ability to use customizable parts. However another key to the success was the ability to capitalize on efficient inventory management and processing. Another key was employee empowerment through knowledge which would lead to better service and the ability to recognize and fix problems as they occur during the assembly process. With this being said I would implement a work cell assembly approach. B4. Decisions Involving Inventory Management Understanding the relationship between inventory levels and customer needs is a critical part of any company’s success. Too much inventory can lead to extra costs for the company in the form of storage costs of unused inventory and the expense of selling off unused inventory at discount prices. Not having enough inventory can lead to poor customer experiences by not being able to meet the customer’s needs when needed. This leads to fewer repeat sales and poor relationships. In order for a company to have a low cost strategy they must master inventory levels. As discussed earlier I did not do a good job of inventory management and it cost me in the form of profits and customer satisfaction. The idea is to be perfect and I was far from it. I underestimated the increase in demand after improvements were made in product design and marketing. The result was having higher demand than inventory available. The miscalculations of potential demand cost my company through the simulation and it is very important to execute better inventory management decisions in the future to avoid such issues and losses in the future. My growth decisions were made properly in the form of additional markets, additional sales and service staff, and more fixed capacity capabilities. However, I did not make good inventory management decisions to match the growth demands. The idea of inventory management is of course to find the perfect balance of meeting my customers’ needs while limiting my costs in holding costs and excess capacity costs. It was again necessary to utilize my pro-forma statements to monitor these expenses. The inventory needs were based on demand projections, marketing efforts, and the number of sales people hired. Since my company was a start-up company with little or no brand recognition it was important to find a conservative figure which would still fit the customers’ wants and needs. In the initial Quarter I chose to project demand at 100 units per sales person. I had confidence in my product in the first quarter and decided to leave 43 units of Venture and 32 units of Quest as carryover. The hope was not to run into issues of Sales lost and a loss of customers due to poor experiences. The problem I ran into was due to poor research and development the target market did not find either of my products desirable to fit their needs as they were. My confidence quickly turned into an error in Inventory Management. The remaining units had to be sold at a Salvage price ($846.40 for Venture and $870.40 for Quest). The set price on Venture was $2500 and Quest was $3200, the cost to produce Venture was $1667 and Quest was $1698. This was an enormous loss in potential profits for my company and better use of inventory management and of course research and development could have prevented it. The new products were produced that met the customers’ wants and needs and I decided based on the research which was provided and the history of sales I would be more aggressive with my inventory levels. The sales force was increased to 16 people in Quarter 3 with a demand per sales person of 148, and based on the success in Quarter 4 the sales people were increased to 25 people with an estimate of 225 units per sales person. Due to the increase in demand caused by the additional production more inventory would left at the end of the quarter. The recommendation was that inventory levels should be left at a range of 25 to 50 units of each product, but based on the confidence of sales I increased those ranges and decided to have 86 Venture II units and 64 Quest II units in inventory left at the end of each quarter. I had no missed sales because of a lack of inventory and fortunately did not have to sell any unwanted inventory at salvage prices. Costs did increase in Quarter 4 both in holding costs and excess capacity costs but the cash increases were more than enough to justify the additional inventory. B5. Use of Specific Continuous Programs to Achieve Quality Assurance Goals. Having a culture which promotes quality from top to bottom affects the company in many positive ways; if it starts at the top it becomes a culture which then empowers employees and leads to better customer satisfaction. There are several different programs which help to measure quality; 1.) Continuous Improvement, 2.) Six Sigma, 3.) Employee Empowerment, 4.) Benchmarking, 5.) Just in Time (J.I.T.), 6. Taguchi Concepts and 7.) Knowledge of Total Quality Management (T.Q.M.) Tools. Every aspect of operations can be improved and of course the overall goal is perfection. The cost of defective parts and or systems can be dramatic for a company and difficult to recover. Therefore it is very important to have the proper programs in place to measure quality. I believe two Quality Inspection programs would have been beneficial for my company. It was very important to my company as well as my target customers for us to provide a quality reliable product and have the service in place after the sale for my customers. I believe by implementing an Employee Empowerment program I can help develop quality on both the production side as well as on the service side. Employee Empowerment involves expanding the employees’ roles and responsibilities so that empowerment and belief is spread throughout the company from the highest to the lowest level. By including such responsibilities to the lowest level there is a greater chance that defections or needed improvements will be both addressed as well as shared by the employees who are using the machinery and involved in the everyday operations of the company. With high morale and open communication lines the company should be able to reach the desired quality. The desired quality which the company will be seeking will be determined by using a quality program called Benchmarking. That desired quality will be what our products and services will look like at their very best. All other performances will be judged by comparing to this benchmark. A team will need to be assembled, benchmarking partnerships will need to be formed, data will need to be collected and compared, and improvements will need to be to try and reach our benchmarks. Our benchmarking efforts will analyze such important factors as percentage of defects, customer satisfaction rate, cost per unit, return on investment, customer retention, and response time. References 1. Ralph Estes Dictionary of Accounting (MIT, Cambridge, 1981, p. 105)

Cuba is a country that has a cuisine filled with an...

Cuba is a country that has a cuisine filled with an abundance of flavors and influences of the origins of its citizens and people that came by the island over the centuries. Filled with fruit trees and the perfect land for raising animals and growing vegetables, Cuban cuisine is unique and vast. A staple in a Cuban’s diet is, of course, their coffee. Internationally known for the strength and flavor of Cuban coffee it has made its way into many people’s morning routines. Breakfast, or desayuno, isn’t a very ceremonious occasion in Cuba. It’s quite short and to the point, consisting of cafà © con leche (coffee with milk), plain coffee (Cuban coffee), or sometimes a heavy, Spanish-style hot chocolate. The hot drink of†¦show more content†¦Dinner, or comida (although its literal translation means â€Å"meal† it is referred to as the evening meal in Cuba) is a dressy affair in most Cuban homes, regardless of the social status of the family. Ev ery day when the adults return from work and the children from school and playing outside everyone comes home to bathe and dress in fresh clothes for dinner, which is served at 7:00 or 8:00 P.M. Some ladies dress in leisure yet fashionable clothes. In late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries women wore batas, long white linen dresses, usually hand- embroidered with ruffles and lace down to their ankles. The food served for comida was generally lighter than that served for almuerzo, but was nevertheless rather elaborate, consisting of three courses. Cubans living in America nowadays don’t generally distinguish much between dishes appropriate for lunch and dinner. Most have adopted the American custom of having a single large meal in the evening, at which any dish can be served. Meat is very popular in a Cuban’s diet making beef a common main protein in most lunch and dinner dishes. According to â€Å"Havana: Autobiography of a City†, Beef has been popular since ancient times when the crews of the La pinta, La Nina, and La Santa Maria brought jerked beef and live cattle when they landed on the island in 1492. Christopher Columbus said when he arrived to the island â€Å"Cuba-Show MoreRelatedThe Caribbean Country of Haiti1499 Words   |  6 Pages Introduction to Haiti Haiti is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola. It is the third largest Caribbean nation with a population of 10.4 million which makes it the most populous full-member state of the Caribbean community. Haiti is also the poorest country in the Americas as measured by the human development index. Haiti is so poor that people used to work as restavecs(unpaid household servant).half of the children in Haiti are unvaccinated.2%of

Wilderness Tourism Marketing

Sample details Pages: 19 Words: 5574 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Marketing Essay Type Dissertation Level High school Did you like this example? Promoting Wilderness Tourism Literature Review Introduction Behavioural research on the study on wilderness destination is a relatively new development in the ecotourism industry. Promoting place marketing has become increasingly important within the tourist industry (Kang-Li 2008). There has been limited work done on promoting wilderness as a place of tourism. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Wilderness Tourism Marketing | Leisure Management Dissertations" essay for you Create order This research project aims to identify whether experiential marketing would have a greater impact than traditional marketing and branding approaches in promoting wilderness in tourism. The literature review will explore the concepts of Tourism, Wilderness, Place Marketing and Experiential Marketing, looking at past and present literature from various scholars and academics who have conducted extensive research on these subject areas. Arguments identifying gaps that exist within the literature will be presented, exploring the extent to which experiential marketing would be different and/or more effective than traditional marketing approaches. The Evolution of Tourism and it’s relationship to Wilderness In the early 19th century, the term â€Å"tourism† was used to describe the movement of people for pleasure (Smith, 1989). It is also written that a more convincing origin to present day tourism is centred on the medieval pilgrimages. There is a distinct difference between pilgrimage and tourism. One is a religious activity and the other is a secular (Theilmann 1987). However, as years have passed, there have been further attempts to define the term â€Å"tourism†. The United Nations Statistical Commission has accepted the following definition recommended by the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), stating that tourism comprises: activities where people may travel to different places and stay away from their normal surroundings for not more than a year for leisure, business or any other purpose. (World Tourism Organisation, 1993). In a similar context in the UK the definition most often used was proposed by the Tourism Society in the early 1980’s: Tourism is de fined as destinations where people would travel for temporary or short-term stay away from their natural environment to live, work or engage in activities as day visits or excursions (Tourism Society, 1982) Similarly, Jafari, 1977 argues that tourism is about the study of man away from his natural habitat, where the industry responds to his needs, and there an impact is created by him and the industry on the host social-cultural, economic and physical environment. In a simplistic form the term tourism could be understood as movement of people for pleasure or work. From the evidence presented above would it can be concluded from the above definitions that tourism would seem to be: People who are away from their normal place of residence and will return back to their homes at some point in the future. Visits that are only temporary or short term, but are not longer than 12 months in duration. Inclusive of a day visit (excursion). Inclusive of absence from home on business rather than pleasure. The 1990’s increasingly saw the development of tourism in new areas. While the more traditional sightseeing tourism remains at the core of tourism around the world, there has been a significant diversification occurring, particularly within adventure tourism (Cloke and Perkins, 1998), nature-based tourism (Pearce and Wilson, 1995; Higham 1998) and events (Nicholson and Pearce, 2000). Literature shows that one particularly distinctive area of growth has been in natural area tourism (Burton 1998). This form of tourism is nature-based and primarily motivated by an interest in the environment (Burton 1998). Burton further argues that people seek refuge in nature-based tourism to escape from their day to day pressured life style. But, he writes that with the level of growth in nature-based tourism literature, has given way for individuals to misuse and overuse the terms ecotourism and natural based tourism. Creamer, 1995 adopts a framework to present a clear distinction bet ween nature based tourism and ecotourism as seen in figure 1. This framework has been interpreted by arguing that nature-based tourism consists of all forms of tourism which occur in a natural environment and that ecotourism is one form of this type of tourism. Although they are similar there is a distinct difference (Goodwin, 1996). The experience of ecotourism goes beyond just being in a natural environment. Griffith, 1993 argues that ecotourists have distinctive perceptions and beliefs relating to their experiences. This is a far cry from the Sunday picnic or the occasional bush walker. It has been argued that ecotourism has the ability to influence the direction of a tourist’s life. This distinction is seen when they return from an ecotourism experience gaining a new outlook.(Hunter 1994) In a similar vein Ziffer, 1989: 5–8; Ceballos-Lascurain, 1996: 22 and Boo, 1990: 10, have also echoed the same principles underpinning ecotourism. Nature-based tourism has b een distinguished into three main categories (Valentine, 1992: 110). Activities dependent on nature (i.e. bird-watching); activities enhanced by nature (i.e.camping); and activities where the natural setting is incidental (i.e. swimming). Adding to this framework, Duffus and Dearden (1990) defined these activities in terms of human and wildlife interaction. Similarly Goodwin, 1996: 287–288, argues that nature tourism includes the marketing of the natural elements to the tourists while enjoying the nature around them. Other arguments present ecotourism as a concept that definitions of integrated tourism giving emphasis particularly to nature conservation (Goodwin, 1996; Ceballos-Lascurain, 1996; Dowling, 1995a, b). Moreover the natural settings characterized in the definition of ecotourism were proclaimed to be similar to that of the concept of Wilderness Recreation in North America, (Boyd Butler, 1993: 11) or in other words, new name to an old activity (Wall, 1994: 4; Nel son, 1994: 248). Academic literature of wilderness exist within the discipline of tourism literature detailing about wilderness and the experiences that people have experienced during their visits. However, wilderness and the relating â€Å"sense of place† it evokes has not been investigated in-depth within the empirical research studies (Dawson, 2006). Managers of wilderness areas need to further understand and measure the relationships that tourists are developing or have already developed with the land area that they are managing. â€Å"Place† is defined as a physical location and a visitor’s subjective experience or relationship with the particular place. The concept of place has been subdivided into a variety of factors, such as place meanings, attachment, identity and dependence (Cheng et al. 2003). The term wilderness has been perceived differently by various scholars and academics. Some academics argue that wilderness is a conserved area where ther e is a limited presence of humans (Dawson, 2006). While others argue that it is place where people go to the wilderness for short or long hikes that last a day long, while another set of people who camp for several days using primitive means of travel and living (Chad, 2006). At one time, the earth was just a place of wild. The natural environment of wind, fire and rain was operating without the interference by any human influence. The earth was a global wilderness. Today, questions have risen on what is wilderness, how much of it needs to be preserved and should it be managed. Wilderness has achieved a reputation of being a highly valuable resource to many countries.(Stankey 1989) Wilderness has commonly been used in the context of the Bible (Nash 1974). Nash reports that the term wilderness appears in the bible nearly 300 times both in the Old and New Testaments. He continues to report that the term was used as a synonym for â€Å"desert† and â€Å"waste† with the same Hebrew or Greek root. Wilderness has been described as having had three physical characteristics. (1) virtually inhabited. (2) deserted and dry and (3) they were large areas. Human survival in the wilderness was difficult (Stankey 1989). Nash further reports that the wilderness was used to describe in the bible as a place where God’s blessings were absent; paradise and wilderness was a contract to each other. The story of the Garden of Eden stated in the Bible captures this theme explicitly. Nash writes, â€Å"The story of the Garden and it’s loss, imbedded into Western thought the idea that wilderness and paradise were both physical and spiritual opposites† The book of Genesis in the Bible reveals the early Christina idea of the relationship that transpired between man and nature. White (1967), argues that based on the qualities that were developed from the relationship between man and nature, Christianity was the most â€Å"anthropocentric† religion. Furthermore,White argues, â€Å"in great measure, God’s transcendence of nature. . . . Christianity, in absolute contrast to ancient paganism and Asia’s religions . . . not only established a dualism of man and nature, but also insisted that it is God’s will that man exploit nature for his proper ends.† This type of perspective created negative and exploitative thoughts about nature and wilderness among humans. However, it is argued that Christianity also fostered counter perspectives, which have led to our modem views from where wilderness would be have been originated (Stankey 1989). The experience of the Promised Land mentioned in the Biblical context has helped develop a tradition of going to the wilderness. Reasons for going to the wilderness have been determined to get freedom and a purification of spiritual-values. This may have possibly led to the present-day legislative definition for wilderness. Tuan (1974), writes â€Å"For the ascetics the desert was in effect at once the haunt of demons and the realm of bliss in harmony with the creaturely world.’ However, the Judeo-Christian defined wilderness as a cursed land, evil places and a place where water was not present (Dilworth 2006). Dilworth further argues in this context, the paradox of wilderness was evil, it was a necessary evil, also where you could be closer to God, a refuge and testing ground. On the other hand, the Puritan tradition wilderness was understood as a threat to survival, and the ability to survive in the wilderness would make you in favour of God. However, the Utilitarian view of nature was cultivation and civilization instead of using the term wilderness. This was necessary as it would be a land useful in a practical sense as well as to be in favour of God (Nash 2001). Nash further argues from a Romantic and Transcendentalist era. He writes, wilderness was looked in a more positive sense. The Romantic era brought man â€Å"an enthusiasm for the strange, remote, solitary and mysterious† (Nash, 2001, p. 47). On the other hand the Transcendentalist eras, gave emphasis to the spiritual quality of the wilderness experience. This experience brought humans closer to God and the importance of material things. From the above arguments it seems evident that the definition of wilderness is very much fluid in the sense that there does not seem to be one single definition which can clearly explain the term wilderness. Sigurd Olson, in the early 20th century further expanded on the definition of wilderness – is escaping from a mans everyday difficult life and gaining freedom from â€Å"tyranny of wires, bells, schedules, and pressing responsibilities† (Olson and Backes 2001). This definition was further refined by the Wilderness Act of 1964. They defined wilderness as an undeveloped Federal land maintaining its character of the early years and the influence, without any lasting improvements or human habitation while it being a place that has generally been affects by the forces of nature. It also has an â€Å"outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation†. On the other hand culturally, it has been defined as any natural areas, to the â€Å"Urban† wilderness (Dilworth 2006). Evidently, it seems that Wilderness means different things to different people. Dilworth 2006, recently conducted a study on the meaning of wilderness based on images of the wilderness. His sample was students. The study revealed that based on the images the students viewed they defined wilderness as primarily with natural landscapes lacking human sign, particularly mountains, lakes, and forests. The questions would then arise as to what do you mean by the terms; mountains, lakes and forests? The debate would seem to be endless !! Increasingly, popular adventure recreation activities such as rock climbing, mountain-eering and remote-area trekking most often take place in the wilderness. Most often commercial packing of this type of recreation in the wilderness is coloured with fundamental irony (Eric, Linda et al. 1998). Wilderness business range from skill-building schools to eco and ethno tourism adventures (Eric, Linda et al. 1998). For example in Thailand back-pack trotting adventures (Cohen, 1989). This type of adventurous excursions and activities are positive, enjoyable experiences for participants (Arnould and Price 1993). The commercial offering of Wilderness as a tourist attraction means converting wilderness into a commodity to be marketed as a tourist attraction. Wilderness tourism requires human intervention. This would mean ensuring the wilderness is evaluated, managed, regulated and controlled (Eric, Linda et al. 1998). Therefore, the comodification of wilderness would require the intervention of a communication medium which would attract visitors of the wilderness for tourism. Creating a memorable lasting experience would be the challenge for wilderness managers and marketers. Place and city marketing has been one of the most interesting research topics which have grown in the last 20 – 30 years (Metaxas 2005). Much of the marketing literature over the years have sited on the impact that marketing has had on the global Tourism industry (Palmer and Bejou 1995; Mark and Robert 2002; Theobald 2005; Alistair 2006). Within the marketing literature, â€Å"Place Marketing† has grown rapidly among cities globally and especially in Europe who use different promotional policies to support images of their cities to gain competitive advantage (Metaxas 2005). Promoting the wilderness experience within the place marketing literature has been limited although marketing of island tourism, alpine tourism and adventure tours have developed (Tuohino). As mentioned above, comodification of wilderness is a challenge for marketers. A greater challenge would be the comodification of wilderness as a â€Å"sense of place†. The next section of the literature will seek to explore the idea of place and place marketing and it’s relevance to wilderness tourism. Place Marketing as an opportunity for Wilderness Tourism The concept of place is often related to the adjective â€Å"safe†. But there could be negative feelings also attached to that place (Tuohino). Tuan (1974) defines â€Å"topophilia† as a place which one belongs to and has a sense of belongingness. On the other hand â€Å"topofobia† (Tuan 1974) is defined as negative feelings – aversion or fear. Tuan, further argues that feelings such as fear being connected to a place will remain in the human mind as well as in the environment. Similarly, â€Å"placelessness† is defined as where the environment does not recognise place. Furthermore it does not take into consideration the meaning of places (Tuan 1974; Relph 1976). A â€Å"Sense of Place† has been one of the important concepts of human geography (Tuohino). Tuan in the 1970’s introduced this concept within the geography literature. The concept of â€Å"Sense of Place† has been determined as a social concept and as an individua l value or phenomenon (Tuohino). This concept has been sited in many of the tourism literature in the recent years. To quote Tuan (1974), ‘people demonstrate their sense of place when they apply their moral and aesthetic discernment to sites and locations†. In other words â€Å"Sense of Place† is the connection that man would have with a place. Hence, it could be argued that is an important development for tourist and developers of tourism. Place marketing has become an important policy goal for most governments (Kang-Li 2008). Kotler (2002), claimed that the concept of place marketing of a city is considered as a market-oriented product. Ashworth and Voogd (1993) argue that place marketing is where the local activities of a particular location will work together to meet the customers needs. On the other hand Gold and Ward (1994) claim that place marketing is all about creating a positive and attractive image of the place. On the other hand it is argued that Place Marketing is about locality-based strategy to reimage and restructure local economies (Demaziere and Wilson 1996). Furthermore it is argued that Place Marketing is about â€Å"the strategic manipulation of image and culture clearly provides a strong basis for coalition building†(Hall and Hubbard 1996). From the arguments presented, place marketing seems somewhat similar to running a business but ensuring the required facilities, services and visions for further developments are presented. Tourism as an industry, especially cultural tourism has been fully integrated into place marketing (Stabler, 1990). Holden (2000), argues that negative impacts of tourism development can harm the local communities of a place by: misuse of resources, negative behaviour and pollution of the environment. Therefore it is important that place marketing ensures it develops cultural tourism strategies keeping in mind the external factors that can harm and hinder, while satisfying the cust omers (Kang-Li 2008). Wilderness managers strive to provide a quality experience to all visitors (Dvorak and Borrie 2007). This has lead to the need to incorporate a relationship aspect in the planning and management framework. These experiences are not one off transactions. These are relationships which develop over a period of time between the visitor and the setting (Borrie and Roggenbuck 2001). There is also other aspects that have an effect on the relationship / experience a visitor would have with the wilderness setting. These factors are cultural and social forces, social institutions and the lives of visitors. These factors do change and this has an effect on the wilderness experience (Dvorak and Borrie 2007). Psychology and marketing research have provided some insight in support of this wilderness relationship (Berry 1995). One key aspect to this relationship is that the visitor tends to accumulate an experience with a particular place that associates to a certain id entity. Over a period of time the visitor develops a certain loyalty towards this particular area / place (Dvorak and Borrie 2007). It is argued that this relationship built over a period of time becomes something of an individuals culture, expressions and defining who he was and hopes to be. It is this relationship / experiences that managers/marketer of wilderness tourism would find as a challenge in promoting and sustaining. What means are available to marketers in promoting and sustaining this experience? The next section of this paper will argue how place marketing could be integrated into a wilderness marketing experience through the idea of experiential marketing. Marketing Wilderness Experiences The evolution of the philosophy of marketing management has moved from production concept, product concept, selling concept, marketing concept, societal marketing concept to relationship marketing concept. Traditionally marketing has viewed customers as being rational decision markers who care mainly about the features and benefits of the product and service they purchase (Schmitt 1999). An integral part of the marketing mix is the element of promotions better known as marketing communications. Marketing communications is a mode by which marketers / firms attempt to inform, persuade, incite and remind customers about their product or service they sell (Poul Houman 2001). This is one area in marketing which has evolved and changed dramatically over the last 20 – 30 years (Kevin Lane 2001). This has resulted in firms faced with the challenge of designing, implementing and evaluating their communication campaigns which are unique and competitive. In other words campaigns whi ch create a unique customer experience (Mark and Robert 2002). Today the concept of selling experiences is spreading beyond theatres and theme parks. Pine and Gilmore, (1998) claim that experience is not an amorphous construct, but is as real an offering like any other service, product or commodity. Stage experiences occur when a company goes beyond the offering of a good and service by engaging with the customer to create a memorable event. Experiences have always been at the heart of tourism and entertainment (Tsaur, Chiu et al. 2007). For example Walt Disney and his company took the industry by storm with creative interactions with customers. At theme restaurants such as Hard Rock Cafà ©, Planet Hollywood the food is just a prop for what is known as â€Å"eatertainment†. But experiences are not just about the pure experience that a customer may encounter (Pine and Gilmore 1998). Company’s stages an experience were they could engage with customers to present i t in a memorable way. Experience is everywhere. Companies have moved from the traditional â€Å"features and benefits† marketing towards customers encountering an experience (Schmitt 1999). To get a grasp of the concept of experiential marketing, Schmitt (1999) presented an argument comparing principles that underpin the traditional marketing approach and the experiential marketing approach. As discussed above (Schmitt 1999) argues that the traditional marketing is all about customers being rational decision makers who care about the feature and benefits. However, experiential marketing is viewing consumers as rational and emotional human beings concerned about experiencing a holistic consumption experience. Further (Schmitt 1999) claims that this shift has occurred due to omnipresence of information technology, the supremacy of brand and the ubiquity of communications and entertainment. This argument was echoed by (Pine and Gilmore 1998) when they claimed that leading- edge companies whether they sell to companies or consumers will be facing the competitive battlefield of â€Å"staging experiences† as presented above. Along with this trend, some companies adopted this concept of experiential marketing to gain competitive advantage such as Apple(Randall 2003), DaimlerChrysler (Tanya and Karl 2003), PG (Jack 2004) and IMG(Barry 2005). Sky, Nike and Strongbow are companies who have in recent years adopted the concept of experiential marketing. But some firms still remain sceptical (Mark 2007). Andy Bellass, of Splendid communication agency argues that experiential marketing has â€Å"come of age†. Bellass explains that it is becoming increasingly difficult to build relationships with customers when you are standing outside. Advertising is not dead, yet, until the circle of experience marketing is complete – getting people to experience the brand, agencies are standing outside (Mark 2007). The biggest problem being that the def inition of experiential marketing has flaws and it lies at the roots. Marketing Director of Sledge understands experiential marketing as a â€Å"medium that is focused on creating one-to-one experiences that engage consumers in deeper and more memorable ways†. Others understand it as integrating brands to people’s life styles and adding value to create an experience with the brand rather than having any interruptions. Going further some feel that the definition is becoming broader by the day. However, in saying all this, it seems apparent that traditional communication agencies are nervous how company budgets are being reallocated in favour of experiential marketing techniques (Mark 2007). For instance, research showed that 68% of companies were spending more on experiential marketing in 2005 than they did in 2004 (Mark 2007). Based on the evidence presented, it would seem although there is scepticism, budgets being allocated to experiential marketing techniques means that there is some form of success in this concept in practice. It has been acknowledged that customers are driven emotionally and rationally (Schmitt 1999). People want products and services that render a certain experience. Tourism has been a pioneer example of the experience economy (Quan and Wang 2004). The nature of the travel and tourism product is intangible. What does a consumer expect or get when they visit a tourist location? These experiences are actual. How would companies promote these locations/places? Place marketing has seen it’s relationships to experiential marketing. Echoing on what has already being discussed, experience comes from direct interaction/observation in an event. The core of experiential marketing is about creating an experience for the customer. Accordingly, the experience marketing trends of â€Å"experiences, cultural marketing and ecological landscape† seems to have become the core for this concept (Kang-Li 2008). Based o n this, Kang claims that these factors can evoke a consumers motivation and feelings of certain meaningful attachments, while these features and styles need to be preserved and enhanced. So far the review has demonstrated the relationship that experience marketing has had / have with tourism and place marketing. However, there seems to be a gap in the tourism literature on how this concept could be used to promote wilderness in tourism? Ability to creating that â€Å"Sense of Place† and relationship with the wilderness, seems to be limited. Empirical studies have been done on what are the key drivers that motivate people to visit major wilderness areas. However, further research needs to be done on promotional strategies for creating that wilderness tourism marketing experience (Mabunda) Over the years, psychologists and market researchers have attempted to develop techniques and methodologies to explore customer experience (2006). Understanding consumer attitudes and b ehaviour have not always been easy for marketing researchers (Athinodoros and Ronald 2002). Psychologists view attitudes as a two step process : an antecedent stimulus followed by an evaluative reaction.(Adel 2003) In their paper (Pine and Gilmore 1998), argue the importance of economic progress. They convey their thoughts by way of the following figure. Their thinking on this topic of Experience Economy argues that whether companies are selling to individual customers or organisations, they will find that the next competitive challenge is â€Å"Stage Experiences†. How does â€Å"stage experiences† influence the promotion of wilderness in tourism? Does it create a greater impact on marketing of wilderness in tourism? Summary The aim of the research project is to evaluate if experiential marketing would have a great impact than tradition marketing and branding approaches in promoting wilderness as a tourist destination. The literature review provided a rationale for this main aim, whereby the outcome included in the review illustrated the need for further research in the area of wilderness in tourism marketing. The first section of the literature review focus on the evolution of tourism. The review demonstrated that there is a high level of evidence on defining the term tourism. However, it was evident that the term â€Å"tourism† in its simplest form was understood as people moving to different places for the purpose of pleasure or work. It was noted that in the 1990’s tourism evolved to a high level of definition. Evidence was presented that tourism diversified into adventure tourism, nature based tourism and events. Through the years it was noted that nature based tourism has grow n extensively within the tourism literature. Nature based tourism was understood as being primarily motivated by the interest in the environment (Burton, 1998) It was further argued that the Nature Based Tourisms and eco tourism although similar in nature had a distinctive difference. Although it was argued that ecotourism was some form of nature based tourism. (Goodwin, 1996) Much of the literature demonstrated that visitors of natural environments(ecotourism) would gain a new perspective or experience. (Hunter 1994, Ziffer, 1989: 5–8; Ceballos-Lascurain, 1996: 22 and Boo, 1990: 10) Moreover the literature review provided evidence to show that ecotourism was proclaimed to similar to that of the concept of Wilderness Recreation in North America. (Boyd Butler, 1993: 11) In stating these factors a gap in the literature demonstrated that little empirical studies were done on wilderness and the relating â€Å"sense of place†. Literature review then moved on to explore the concept of wilderness. Literature revealed that the term Wilderness was originated initially in the context of the bible. (Nash 1974) The term wilderness evolved from the eras of Christianity, (Nash 1974), to Judeo-Christian (Dilworth 2006), to Puritan tradition, to Utilitarian view, to Romantic and Transcendentalist. (Nash 2001). It was evident that none of the definitions were complimentary to each other. The conclusion gained from the evidence presented was that there was no single definition for wilderness as it meant different things to different people. A recent study proved this thinking. A study on images of wilderness revealed that the sample of students understood wilderness as natural landscapes lacking human sign, particularly mountains, lakes, and forests. The question was then raised, what are mountains, lakes and forests? This debate seems to be endless! Next the literature revealed that popular adventure activities often took place in the wilderness. Eviden ce proved that visitors on these adventurous excursions and activities always have a positive and enjoyable experience. (Arnould and Price 1993) It was noted that making these activities to commercial packages needed a carefully thought of marketing campaign as wilderness tourism has a human intervention. The greatest challenge all marketers of Wilderness would experience is the ability to comodify the idea of wilderness in tourism to ensure a memorable lasting experience. To explore the idea of comodification of wilderness experience, it was prudent to first understand the concept of marketing and its evolution. The next section of this literature review demonstrated this aspect of the subject area. Place marketing needs to be included. It was understood that traditionally marketing was viewed as customers being rational decision makers. They mainly cared about features and benefits of a product or service they purchased. It has been noted that the promotional element better known as marketing communications has played a major role in this conversion of features to benefit thinking. However it was presented that this element has had a rapid evolution over the years. (Kevin Lane 2001). The focus has been to develop marketing communication campaigns that would create a unique customer experience. (Mark and Robert 2002) The idea of Experience Economy was introduced in the last decade by (Pine and Gilmore 1998). They argue that this experience economy will find out that the next challenge is Stage Experience – where the company goes beyond customer’s expectations by ensuring the customers engages with the product or the service to experience something of a memorable event. This type of experience was pioneered within the tourism and entertainment industry. An example was Disney World. (Tsaur, Chiu et al. 2007) Furthermore the paper presented an argument comparing the principles underpinning traditional marketing and experiential marketing sited by Schmitt (1999). His argument was that traditional marketing is about customers caring about features and benefits where as experiential marketing was all about a holistic consumption experience. Although research showed that companies are spending more on experiential marketing techniques, the definition and understanding the concept was still fluid in the minds of most. The paper then went on to discuss about place marketing and the role it has played in t he tourism industry. It was identified that tourism is all about place marketing as it is intangible and is an actual experience. Over years place marketing has played a prominenet role in promoting tourism of all sorts. However, empirical evidence was not present in how wilde rness has been promoted to create a last memorable experience. It is this gap in literature that has led to the need to further research the possibility of using experiential marketing in promoting Wilderness in Tourism. References (2006). FT.com site : Part One: The rise of experiential marketing. FT.com: 1. Adel, M. A. (2003). A deeper look at the attitude-behavior consistency assumption in information systems satisfaction research. The Journal of Computer Information Systems 44(1): 57. Alistair, W. (2006). Tourism and hospitality marketing: fantasy, feeling and fun. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 18(6): 482. Arnould, E. J. and L. L. Price (1993). River magic: extraordinary experience and the extended service encounter. Journal of Consumer Research 20: 24-25. Athinodoros, C. and H. Ronald (2002). Theory building for experiential consumption: The use of the phenomenological tradition to analyze international tourism. American Marketing Association. Conference Proceedings 13: 318. Barry, J. (2005). 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In Search of the Spirit of the Lake Lakes as an opportunity for tourism marketing, Savonlinna Institute for Regional Development and Research University of Joensuu. White, L. (1967). Historical Roots of ou r Ecological Crisis. Sciences 155(3767): 1203-1207.

Visiting Venice - Guide to Places of Interest and Travel Plans Assignment

Essays on Visiting Venice - Guide to Places of Interest and Travel Plans Assignment The paper â€Å"Visiting Venice - Guide to Places of Interest and Travel Plans" is an inspiring example of an assignment on tourism. There are a thousand reasons as to why one would choose to visit Venice. The city is breathtaking and truly romantic, especially for couples. The city rests on stilts and consists of a maze of islands, brides which totals to over 400 and also canals. In all the six quarters, that is; Santa Croce, San Polo, Cannaregio, Castello, San Marco and Dorsoduro, one can easily access Venice. Lack of motor vehicles in the city also makes one have a pleasant and unique experience in Venice as it is the only city in the world where it is purely a pedestrian city. Gothic, Renaissance and Byzantine styles which can be traced back to the 15th century dominates the landmarks in Venice. In this itinerary, we are going to consider two kinds of couples. One couple is old or otherwise visible achievers and they would like to spend their holiday in exquisite places where th ey will enjoy top of class services offered in Venice. Throughout Venice, they aim at educational trips and ones in a while activities that will keep them busy. The other couple is young or otherwise young optimism and they have come to spend their honeymoon in Venice. In this trip they are to be cautious about their budget hence in planning for their excursions, we are supposed to try and limit where they go and focus on the places that will not need a lot of spending.In choosing the places they are to go, the itinerary has incorporated activities that will revolve around romantic sites and the places they are to go should be more of adventure rather than educational. To make sure that both couples do not regret on their visit to Venice, the itinerary is going to ensure that they visit Venice’s major attractions some of them being the Grand Canal, the museums that have a great attachment to Venice history and not forgetting St Mark’s and its environs, Veneto hills and the major islands surrounding Venice. In this report we are also going to consider the 7 P’s used in marketing giving a justification as to why the places were chosen for either couple A or couple B. In the conclusion, the report incorporates recommendations on the areas discussed.

Critical Analysis Of Silence Of The Lambs Essay Example For Students

Critical Analysis Of Silence Of The Lambs Essay Clarice Starling is a precociously self-disciplined FBI trainee who is put into the position of trying to unravel the mind of an evil genius, Hannibal the cannibal Lecter, in order to find the answers needed to capture the serial killer, Jame Gumb, also known as Buffalo Bill. The psychological background is very strong in all of the characters, lending to their believability, except for some fragile associations between the characters Lecter and Gumb. The intrigue of Gumb with moths is particularly worth noting, since there is very little evidence of prior criminals being documented as having used this sort of post mortem decoration, yet the logic of the idea is impeccable. Starling is the protagonist in the book, and the majority of the story line takes place from her point of view. She is driven by memories of her childhood, which is a recurring theme throughout the book. Most of these are in the form of flashbulb memories, a recollection of an event so powerful that the recollection is highly vivid and richly detailed, as if it were preserved on film Brown Kulik, 1977. She draws upon these memories for courage, and they give her the strength of will to accomplish whatever task it is she is about to perform. Hannibal Lecter is neither an antagonist nor protagonist, but more like a middleman throughout the novel. He doles out parcels of knowledge to Clarice Starling in order to test her strength of mind, and to benefit himself by getting rewards for helping the FBI, such as a room with a window and unlimited access to books and any other sort of research material he might want, especially the criminal file on Buffalo Bill. He also wants to learn more about Starling, and the only way she usually got any information from him was through exchanging his knowledge for tidbits from her childhood. Jane Gumb is an enigma during most of the book, and is an unseen antagonist except for brief periods when the author switches to his point of view to enlighten the reader to exactly what Gumb is thinking about before he commits his murders, and shed some light upon what sort of personality Gumb has. He is a heavy-set cross-dresser who kidnaps girls of his size and then flays them in order to make body suits out of their skin. He is based upon the real life sexual psychopath, Edward Gein, who was also classified as schizophrenic. During the 1950s he gained notoriety as one of the most famous combinations of necrophilia, transvestitism, and fetishism Martingale, 1995. With the exception of necrophilia, Jame Gumb had an almost identical psychological make-up. The only true weak link in the authors psychological profile of the characters is exactly how Lecter knew of Gumb and how he relayed the information to Starling. Lecter prided himself on being able to figure things out on his own, yet the revelation of his knowing Jame Gumb came about through recalling a memory of one of his past patients, who was also a lover to Gumb and one of Lecters final victims. The fact that Lecter did not use any of his ample critical thinking skills into coming up with a suspect for the Buffalo Bill murders seems very out of line with his nature. This is the only inconsistency the author makes; yet it plays an intregal part in the book and its outcome. There are no other discrepancies in the psychological backgrounds of the other characters, from Starlings pragmatic way of thinking, to Jame Gumbs inclination towards wearing the skin of another human being. .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f , .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f .postImageUrl , .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f , .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f:hover , .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f:visited , .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f:active { border:0!important; } .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f:active , .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf3ef12ef6bf40b12f1ade8f0cb11206f:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Air Bud EssayAnother aspect of the story is Gumbs fascination with the metamorphosis of moths, particularly the deaths head moth. After the killing of each victim, Gumb places a moth just coming out of its chrysalis into the back of the throat of the victim. The significance of this is that with each skin Gumb is becoming more and more of a woman, with larger breasts, and a more effeminate body shape. The skull on the back of the moth is to signal the death of the old Jame Gumb, whereas the chrysalis is communicating the birth of the new Gumb. A tenuous theory put forth by Starling, and since it is fiction, the author could write the story in order to prove this theory. In conclusion, the research that went into the book Silence of the Lambs is remarkable. The psychological profiles of each of the characters remains strong even against the most rigorous of skepticism, and although the plot is very frail and almost over reaching in some parts, the depth of each of the personas as well as the writers fast paced style more than make up for the weakness of some parts of the plot.