The US government shutdown of 2013 was an event that led to significant financial losses for many industries in the country. This shutdown, which lasted from October 1 to 16, happened because Congress could not agree on spending priorities and policies. This led to a failure in passing the bill appropriating funds for the year 2014.
Once the shutdown was in action, federal employees were required to go on leave and only employees offering crucial services continued working.
Since the services provided by federal employees in the tourism sector are not considered crucial, the shutdown led to the closure of all national parks, museums, and other tourist attraction sites under federal control. This paper will highlight the negative impacts that the politically motivated government shutdown of 2013 had on tourism.
Impacts of the Shutdown
The tourism industry in the US is heavily dependent on federal services to operate. The federal government manages the major national parks and tourist attraction sites. It employs the personnel who work in these avenues and maintains the sites. During the shutdown, these tourism sites were closed; therefore deterring tourists from visiting. Hetter reports that the National Parks have a flow of about 715,000 tourists each day (par.5).
As such, over 11million visitors were turned down for the 16-day duration that the National Parks were closed. The White House reports that over $500 million was lost due to the closing of national parks during the 16-day shutdown (11). This amount was what the National Park Service would have obtained as revenue from the visitors who visit the various tourist attraction sites.
In an attempt to reduce the losses suffered by tourism due to the shutdown, State governments opened some of the parks about eight days after the shutdown began. However, this re-opening still failed to attract the high number of visitors who frequent the parks.
During the duration of the shutdown, people were unwilling to make travel plans to the tourist sites due to the uncertainty surrounding the shutdown situation (The White House 11). The decrease in tourist levels was also caused by the fact that most people had canceled their travel plans following the news that a shutdown would occur.
In addition to the revenue lost by the national parks, the communities that live around the national parks and tourist attraction sites also suffered from financial losses. These local communities provide services such as accommodation and entertainment to the tourists.
They rely on the high inflow of tourists to make their living (Hetter par.5). During the government shutdown, there were few tourists visiting since the attraction sites were closed. The local communities could, therefore, not generate income during the period of the shutdown.
Conclusion
This paper set out to discuss the negative impact that the government shutdown had on tourism in the US. People who work in the tourism industry or depend on tourism to make a living lost a substantial amount of revenue during the shutdown.
These losses were caused by the closure of tourist attraction sites and the lack of confidence in federal services. The uncertainty surrounding this situation led to a dramatic reduction in the number of tourists to open sites. The negative impacts of the shutdown made many people angry with Congress for failing to reach a compromise and avoid the shutdown in the first place.
Works Cited
Hetter, Katia. Attention, travelers: Your plans have changed. 2013. Web.
The White House. Impacts and Costs of the October 2013 Federal Government Shutdown. 2013. Web.
According to Horowitz et al. (2008), the growth in medical travel is accelerating at a very high pace. The average annual revenue generated from the medical travel industry was estimated at $60 billion as at the end of 2008. Furthermore, the industry revenues were estimated to grow at the rate of 20% per year, meaning that the revenue that is generated from the industry as of today has surpassed the $100 billion dollar mark.
Medical tourism is caused and spearheaded by a set of complex interactions among different forces. These forces include medical, political, economic, and social forces. The factors that promote medical tourism include the availability of care in the destination, timeliness of medical care, the cost of care and the ability of people to meet the costs, different preferences for medical service, and the preference of patients for certain type of care.
Reddy, York and Brannon (2010) observed that most medical tourists flow from the United States, the Middle East, Western Europe, and Canada to the South East Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and India. In addition, trends in the industry point to the flow of medical tourists to South and Central American countries like Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Costa Rica (Reddy, York & Brannon 2010).
However, it should also be noted that medical tourism is not only pictured from the cross border travel perspective, but also from the broader lenses from the intra-national perspective where people across different regions within national borders move in search for medical services (Behrmann & Smith 2010).
Stakeholders in medical tourism
The global medical tourism industry is quite broad. There are a lot of players in the industry, beginning with the consumers of the medical services, hospital doctors and other medical specialists, governments, hotels, tourism operators, the travel industry, and the communities in which medical tourism services are offered (Medical Tourism Association n.d.).
Governments are prominent stakeholders in the industry by virtue of being the main regulators of healthcare provision in any given country. Healthcare is largely regulated by the government. Therefore, all the developments that take place in the medical industry in any country happen under the watchful eye and the regulation of the given national governments.
However, the expanding scope of medical tourism and the pace at which the government allows players to come into the industry results in questioning the ability of the government to regulate the industry effectively (Behrmann & Smith 2010).
The consumers, the medical service providers, and the accommodation and hotel industry are the direct stakeholders in the industry. The accommodation and hotel industry is essential in providing services to both the patients and the people who accompany these patients to the medical destinations.
The medical service providers keep developing services and expanding their capacity to capture as many patients as possible. In addition, aspects of diversification of service provision are embraced by service providers as competition increases (Medical Tourism Association n.d.).
Consumers and motivation for service consumption in the medical tourism industry
From its very nature, it is apparent that the medical tourism industry attracts a large number of consumers due to the wide range of medical services that are developed and offered by the players in the industry.
The consumers in the industry range from critical patients who seek for specialized medical services that are not available in their countries to patients whose medical costs cannot be covered by the medical schemes due to the cost of health care in their countries, forcing them to seek for such services at affordable rates.
There is also a certain class of consumers in the industry who seek for certain services that are not primary per se, like people who seek for services in cosmetic surgery (Reddy, York & Brannon 2010).
One thing that qualifies this as a form of tourism is that it gives opportunities to the consumers of the services to go for vacation. Therefore, vacation is one of the factors that motivate most people to embrace medical tourism.
According to Behrmann and Smith (2010), consumers in the medical industry highly value anonymity and privacy. This is based on the wide range and nature of services that are sourced by the consumers in the medical tourism industry.
An example of the service that calls for privacy and anonymity is cosmetic surgery. Therefore, the fact that medical services can be sourced from far off regions from the homes of the consumers assures them the two attributes.
Abortion tourism and cosmetic and reconstructive surgery or plastic surgery are forms of services that are offered in the industry. This raises questions about the consideration of ethics in the industry. It is common nowadays to find people seeking for the services that are forbidden in their countries from other countries where such services are legal.
For example, abortion tourism, which is profoundly illegal in most countries, is highly active in a country like Canada whose laws back abortion. Therefore, most women from countries that have banned abortion across the globe fly to Canada where they can freely access the services (Behrmann & Smith 2010). Similar to abortion tourism, a lot of questions are also raised about the validity and worth of cosmetic surgery.
People spend huge sums of money to engage in this practice, yet it poses a large number of risks to the lives of people due to the nature of technology that goes into the service. This, in turn, raises concerns about the responsibility of governments in protecting the lives and promoting the health of the citizens (Sterodimas, Radwanski & Pitanguy 2011).
Impacts of medical tourism
NaRanong and NaRanong (2011) ascertain that medical tourism has greatly spurred the economic growth of these countries. Taking an example of Thailand, medical tourism boosts the generation of revenue in medical services and the accommodation and tourism revenue. This boosts economic growth. This is expounded in the figure below.
Figure 1.0: High and low growth scenario cases for medical tourism in Thailand.
Source: NaRanong & NaRanong (2011).
The other positive impact of medical tourism is that it encourages professional development and competitiveness in the industry, thereby enhancing quality in the national health care systems (Snyder et al., 2013).
The other important thing that is raised is the increase in the number of medical services. Therefore, questions are raised about the level of quality that goes into the provision of the medical services in given destinations as people seek for affordable services. Problems in this sense involve the difficulty of patients to embrace follow-up care when they have returned from foreign countries where they receive treatment (Snyder & Crooks 2012).
Accompanying the problem of follow-up is the embrace of vices due to the active and competitive environment in the industry. The environment makes it difficult to enforce a number of legal concerns and regulations. An example is the breaking of law by seeking for services that are illegal in some countries, like abortion tourism (Behrmann & Smith 2010).
According to Chakravarthy, Kumar and Deepthi (2008), there is a low level of coordination in the medical industry, with each stakeholder in the industry seeking to promote their services. Moreover, the more players are attracted into the industry, the more it becomes difficult to embrace quality services since more fake players are bound to take advantage of the high demand in the industry.
Future challenges of medical tourism
There is a higher likelihood that the capacity of the providers is likely to get overstretched in the long run as more people continue to seek for certain medical services from certain providers in certain destinations. The quality of medical services provided is watered down when the capacity is stretched.
Areas of medical care provision that attract foreign patients in certain countries are bound to be incapacitated in the event that the level of persistence of the diseases that require those services keeps rising (Reddy, York & Brannon, 2010).
The regulation of the medical industry is one of the key challenges in the industry today. As Behrmann and Smith (2010) point out, the efforts of regulating the developments in the medical tourism industry will be subjected to significant challenges. The industry attracts many players who are allowed by the government to operate to help the government to beef up the capacity of providing medical services to their citizenry.
This happens despite the fact that the healthcare industry is considered to be a primary industry. The industry is quite active and important. This makes it difficult for national governments to fully enforce the regulations and jurisdictions that go beyond national borders.
The modern globalized world continues to embrace liberalization and global connectedness. Based on this fact, national legislations that aim at embracing the regulation of medical tourism are often rendered ineffective when they are deployed across national borders (Behrmann & Smith 2010).
According to Álvarez, Chanda and Smith (2011), medical tourism has been grossly globalized. Medical tourism operates on a multilateral scale. This, in turn, raises questions about the ability of countries to offer quality and affordable health care services to their citizens.
Therefore, the future environment in the medical tourism industry will be dominated by friction between countries as questions of quality, ability, authenticity, and competition among countries gain prominence. This will affect the functioning of the industry. This is another dimension of the issue of future regulation of medical tourism.
The uncertainty in the global economy heaps pressure on the players in the industry, thereby heightening competition in the industry.
The aim of the medical service providers in the industry is to increase their clientele base. The healthiness of the competition in the industry is the determinant of positive practices in the industry; otherwise, the competition is bound to result in malpractices as providers seek to retain their significance and level of competitiveness in the industry.
The medical tourism industry is widely unregulated. This makes the industry attract a lot of players. Therefore, a multi-channel promotional environment has been established in the industry by the players who seek to promote their services and products (Reddy, York & Brannon 2010).
It is important to note that the medical tourism industry is fairly young. The growth in the industry implies heterogeneity in medical services, as well as the service providers in the industry.
The growth in specialization and the increase in the variety of services in the industry are factors that promote the complexity of the industry. While this growth promotes opportunities, it is also bound to result in duplication of services and the conflict of interest in service development, as well service provision by the players in the industry.
Recommendations
One of the most important things that need to be considered in enhancing the industry is the convergence of the stakeholders in the industry to promote a favourable environment that is well regulated. Both the in-country regulation and the regulation of healthcare at the global level are critical for embracing quality and competitiveness.
In addition, it is important to diversify the strategies of dealing with high numbers of medical tourists in certain destinations. One way this can be done is through the embrace of partnerships and joint-venturing in the provision of medical services by the specialized providers.
For instance, special medical service providers can establish ventures in other regions where patients from those regions can access those services quickly, instead of travelling for long distances to get medical attention. This also makes it possible for medical follow-ups to be conducted and emergency situations to be attended promptly.
Reference List
Álvarez, M., Chanda, R., & Smith, R. 2011, ‘The potential for bi-lateral agreements in medical tourism: A qualitative study of stakeholder perspectives from the UK and India’, Globalization & Health, vol. 7 no. 1, pp. 11-19.
Behrmann, J., & Smith, E. 2010, ‘Top 7 issues in medical tourism: challenges, knowledge gaps, and future directions for research and policy development’, Global Journal of Health Science, vol. 2 no. 2, pp. 80-90.
Chakravarthy, K. K., Kumar, R. C. H., & Deepthi, K. 2008, Swot analysis on: Medical tourism. Web.
Horowitz, M., Marsek, P., Mohanasundaram, S., Pachisa, M., Jones, C., Keith, L., Metaxotos, N., Alexis Heng Boon, C., Yah Yuen, T., & Sze Yiun, T. 2008, ‘Special feature’, Asia Pacific Biotech News, vol. 12, no. 7, pp. 24-53.
Medical Tourism Association n.d., Healthcare Clusters, medical clusters and healthcare associations. Web.
NaRanong, A., & NaRanong, V. 2011, ‘The effects of medical tourism: Thailand’s experience’, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 89, no. 5, pp. 336-344.
Reddy, S. G., York, V. K., & Brannon, L. A. 2010, ‘Travel for treatment: students’ perspective on medical tourism’, International Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 510-522.
Snyder, J., & Crooks, V. A. 2012, ‘Guidelines for reducing the negative public health impacts of medical tourism’, Bioéthique Online, vol. 1, no. 12, pp. 1-4.
Snyder, J., Crooks, V. A., Turner, L., & Johnston, R. 2013, ‘Understanding the impacts of medical tourism on health human resources in Barbados: a prospective, qualitative study of stakeholder perceptions’, Int J Equity Health, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 2-12.
Sterodimas, A., Radwanski, H. N., & Pitanguy, I. 2011, ‘Ethical issues in plastic and reconstructive surgery’, Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 262-267.
The McKenzie River is a Willamette River tributary which runs 90 miles and is approximately 145 km. The McKenzie River was named after a Scottish Canadian, Donald McKenzie who was a fur trader. It is situated in the western part of the Oregon, United States. McKenzie River flows to the south most end of Willamette Valley and drains some part of the Cascade Range which is in the east of Eugene.
The river has six large dams in this river and its tributaries. The Valley of McKenzie forms one of the most popular destinations for recreation in Lane County and Oregon. The valley is internationally recognized for the superb tout fishing that it provides.
It offers a variety of recreational activities ranging from shopping from distinctive gift shops and art galleries, by the river relaxing, golfing at the beautiful courses, running in a drift boat, raft or kayak and hiking in the wilderness among other recreational activities (Solomon, 2010).
The McKenzie River has a wide range of attraction besides the recreational activities mentioned in the above paragraph.
Some of these attractions include; the McKenzie River Trail and hiking; floating in the McKenzie River, flying fish in the McKenzie River, the hot springs, driving the scenic Hwys, riding the horse through the forests, playing golf at the Tokatee, taking a Row Boat out on the clear lake, biking and riding at the road, visiting waterfalls and snow bikes at the HooDoo.
The McKenzie River is generally a scenic site that has many attractions to its tourists and satisfies them with the wide range of recreational activities that it has in its vicinity (Nancy, 2004).
Target Market for McKenzie River
The current target of the McKenzie River is basically tourists and people who are out to look for vocational areas and destinations. Those tourists and people who earn a lot of money may access several recreational activities and therefore they form part of the current target market for The McKenzie River.
The target market of the McKenzie River may be described as those who are old or aged in need of vocational places which offer everything they need. The new target market of the McKenzie River include those with small families, the elderly, newly weds and those with huge salaries.
The consumer perception on the McKenzie River Tourism include things like the environment full of fun, convenient services, and heavy marketing to get many users (Nancy, 2004).
The four P’s of McKenzie River
The Products that are offered here include hiking, rafting, biking, sightseeing, fishing and camping among others. The old services should however be improved and new ones developed. The promotion of the mentioned services creates awareness of the recreational activities available.
The McKenzie River does this through its online website, brochures focusing on people between 30 to 50 years old and the local enlightenment of the people around about their offerings. The price of the activities offered here are affordable to those people who are looking for vocational area and those with huge salaries to spend.
They may not be favorable to people who are sensitive about the price. That is why the target market is the old people who can afford and spend on the services.
The place and distribution of the McKenzie River services is done through the fishing stores where people shop their fishing supplies. The online website and store are their major distribution areas. This is also done by publishing brochures about the place and the services they provide (Solomon, 2010).
References
Nancy, J. (2004). Consumer behavior. London: Prentice Hall
Solomon, R. (2010). Consumer behavior. London: Prentice Hall
Hospitality has to do with the art of being human. It is the ability and willingness to provide care and receive care. The hospitality industry got established several decades ago to offer relaxation and care – spiritual, social, emotional and physical to those who needed it. Hospitality focuses on the interrelationship between individuals and strangers.
It highlights the moral, spiritual, social and financial obligations of the host towards the hosted (Cummings, Kwansa & Sussman, 1998, p.4). The industry got credited with health and fitness issues. One of the booming hospitality businesses is the Sanita Par Aqua – The SPA. The SPA industry has become increasingly popular in the western economy. It has a connotation for quality of life, health and wellness.
The current hospital industry landscape
The growing awareness of SPA services has increased its global demand. The hospitality industry has made substantial economic gains from the SPA business in the recent past. The goal of the hospitality industry is to meet the diverse needs of its customers. Consumers have varied tastes and preferences which the drivers of the hospitality industry have to consider in their provision of services.
The business organization reflects the physical environment, demographic and cultural priorities of the consumers. The management of the industry has grown in professionalism. There is extensive attention given to such matters as cleanliness and neatness, staffing and organization (Barrows and Powers, 2008). The current industry is product focused.
Current Global Trends in the hospitality industry
There is a global transformation on how the hospitality business becomes implemented. The whole concept guiding the changes has to do with the growing customer care. There is a general shift from focusing on the products to the consideration of the customer needs and brand intensification.
The old method of developing products around the customer needs and enthusiastic sales and marketing are becoming irrelevant. The industry is moving to a place where the psychological and emotional needs of the consumers count more. This level of priority goes beyond the traditional focus on the physical needs of the consumers (Andrews, 2007).
The marketing strategy is changing rapidly within the hospitality industry. Newer and innovative approaches get adopted to sustain the industry on the cutting edge. This is important for the business because of the new insurgence of gay and lesbian tourism. Old approaches cannot sustain the complexity of marketing needs of gays and lesbians as part of the expanding hospitality industry.
The SPA model got much publicity because it has led to increased profitability of the industry. It has led to quality of care and little effect on the ecology. The business legal consent and reputation are on the highest scale. There is more automation in the provision of information and making of service reservations.
The SPA concept attempts to get hold of the customers beyond their working and schooling time. This enables the service providers to understand and scope the essential needs of each category – men, women, children, gays and lesbians.
The current market trend and focus on environmental issues are critical to the expansion of this industry. Attention given to staff training and improvement on quality of life is inherent in the future growth of the industry.
Conclusion
The hospitality industry has outgrown the traditional models of doing business. The industry now embraces innovative methods of marketing and service provision.
Reference List
Andrews, S., 2007. Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality Industry. India: Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited.
Barrows, C.W., & Powers, T., 2008. Introduction to the Hospitality Industry. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Cummings, P.R., Kwansa, F.A. and Sussman, M.B. (eds) 1998. The Role of the Hospitality Industry in the Lives of Individuals and Families. United States of America: Haworth Press, Inc.
In various nations in which tourism is a major industry for exports, the sector of hospitality has become the central point for the globalization concepts to take root. Evidently, tourism is today the largest export industry in the world since it involves the gargantuan cross boarder flows of capital and people. Hospitality industry has become the world’s largest employer and almost the largest foreign exchange trader.
It is the center of idea transfer and cultural cross fertilization. It plays an important role in the physical bringing up of people in a global community (Benckendorff, Moscardo & Pendergast, 2010). Therefore the hospitality industry is the core of international business globalization.
They thus need to make considerations of the global context implications in which they perform their operations and must get ready to address the arising questions resulting from the changing environment (Bryman, 2004).
There have been various current trends in the global hospitality industry that are tangible enough to drive the global marketplace of this industry.
There has been globalization of lifestyles and businesses that are characterized by communication in foreign languages over vast distances, multiple currency dealings, high frequency in distant travels overseas, copying with various social and political systems, cultures and customs and different regulatory environment.
Although the mentioned globalization aspects may not be difficult to identify, conceptualizing the underlying future and current trends in global hospitality industry may not be easy but problematic (Botherton, 2008). Analysis has revealed that certain issues do reshape the global hospitality industry. Some of these issues arising include;
International expansion within the common brand position and product
Cross boarder training of the employee in order to support operations
Marketing and sales programs that capture the global economies of scale fully
Utilizing the world capital market as the main source of funding
The structures of the organization that allow delivery of services globally with the local operational controls
After an intensive study of the provided book and article sources, I have identified various current trends in global hospitality industry. These current trends include: less real service, most services in the hospitality industry are self-served.
Things like reservation, checking in, making telephone calls and unpacking are practically done by the guests. There is less service provided by the staff and user friendly has replaced the services; continual change of employees, most employees stay for less time in the jobs by their choice or the employers.
The employers are looking for those who can be multitasked in order to improve productivity; owner groups have become hyper-active, owners are more likely to be corporations and are represented by asset managers. The owners want frequent financial returns; and multiple brands originating from the same mould, more brands now offer a similar base product (Botherton, 2008).
Other current trends in the global hospitality industry include the replacement of management companies by the advancing technology that measures best practices of management. The definition of luxury now varies with every guest. This has led to the diversification of service offering leading to the best services clients ever dream of making the industry competitive.
Tconsistency of quality is now a factor in most hotels. The clients are able to predict the quality of the services they would receive from the service provider before making any move (Bryman, 2004).
In summary, I would assert that current trends in the global hospitality industry have led to the creation of a link between entertainment and hospitality which attracts many generations. The industry ahs become more profitable with quick returns.
Many consumers are also able to access the truth about the services in this industry. Sustainability and variety of hospitality services has been improved by the current trends in this industry (Benckendorff, Moscardo & Pendergast, 2010).
Bibliography
Benckendorff, P., Moscardo, G. and Pendergast, D. 2010. Tourism & Generation Y, CABI: Wallingford, UK.
Botherton, B. 2008. Researching Hospitality and Tourism. London: Sage Publishing
Bryman, A. 2004. The Disneyization of Society. London: SAGE
The overall tourism industry entails various sectors and sub-sectors, all of which contribute towards adding value to the entire industry. Up to eight major sectors have been formulated within the larger tourism industry based on their closely related features and functionalities.
They include transportation, accommodation, meetings events & conferences, food & beverage, attractions, tourism services, travel trade, as well as adventure tourism, recreation & ecotourism (Tourism Industry Association of Canada, 2012).
This paper seeks to discuss the tourism services, including illustrating existing subsections within the industry, defining revenue sources, and explaining some of the costs that relate to the operations. The sector entails providing support tourism-related activities, promoting other sectors in the tourism services, and serving the traveling public with information centers and reservations.
Tourism Services: Sub Sectors
Government
Direct participation by the federal government, through established organizations, helps in the growth of the sector in various ways. As a critical player, the government assists through enhancing services, offering knowledge and information, as well as providing funds. An illustration of the government’s participation in the sector includes collecting valuable market research, as well as promoting the numerous destinations
The government also issues policies that have a direct impact on the operations in the sector. Such policies determine the establishment of the infrastructure system that is directly associated with tourism. Some of the infrastructures include roads and parks. The authorities in Canada directly market the country on the international market scene.
On the local scene, the provinces and territories have established their marketing systems that seek to create awareness amongst all the prospective tourists. To enhance their performance, the local marketing activity incorporates contributions and associations from other established systems at the municipality level. They also foster marketing, promotional, and research activities (Tourism Industry Association of Canada, 2012).
Industry Associations
The associations exist for purposes of serving specific sub-sectors or the entire industry. Industry associations such as the ‘Convention Bureau’ established in the Prince Edward Island region, have their main role concerned with marketing and advertising the island’s tourism sector.
The tourism education council exists in every Canadian territory and province with their main roles involving training and professionally developing the individuals employed within the tourism industry.
Other associations in this sub-sector focus their attention, mainly on advocacy and lobbying. The Tourism Association, for instance, covers the entire country’s tourism services industry and comprises of all the critical players within the sector. Some of these stakeholders include hotels and travel agencies. Other specific sub-sector associations like in the restaurant and food sector only include hotels and restaurants.
Marketing Services
The tourism service providers and product sellers undertake the promotion of their numerous services to attract customers. Competition within the sector is high. Thus each of the players has arranged specialized marketing services and staff to woo customers into their premises.
Research
Many of the government’s tourism departments involve both researchers and analysts whose activities target the improvement of service delivery and overall performance. Market research firms equally exist, serving the same objective of improving and developing service delivery. Market research significantly assists the industry players in their decision making plans (Tourism Industry Association of Canada, 2012).
Information is collected widely by the research and analysis, including on market competition. The resultant reports are used for purposes of planning and decision making. They appraise the entire tourism services sector, analyzing the particular effects that are likely to be experienced in the economy in detail. The researchers can accurately deduce what the travelers need and expect at any given time once these findings have been obtained.
Retail
The overall retail subsector is made up of all the retail entities that serve tourists or related tourism industries in one way or the other. Such retailers sell important products or services needed by the tourists, essentially contributing revenues to the Canadian economy. Such retailers may include barbers who shave the tourists when they are in the country, or those selling a variety of merchandise such as socks and mobile phones.
Revenue Sources for this Industry
Visits to Attraction Sites
The tourism industry mainly involves individuals visiting scenic sites for their relaxation and fun. Canada attracts both international and domestic visitors whose varied expenditures during the excursions contribute to the revenue collected within the entire tourism services industry.
According to The Canadian Tourism Industry (2012), the international and domestic tourists who visited Canada in 2011 spent a total of $78.8 billion (Tourism Industry Association of Canada, 2012).
Accommodation
Tourists require accommodation services when they are on their excursion. Hotels and special lodges located strategically within the scenic regions or areas offer the accommodation services at a fee. The total revenue earned by the accommodation service providers also includes additional services offered by the hotels and lodges, such as meals and drinks.
Transportation
Different firms and agencies exist for purposes of providing transportation services to the tourists. The transportation agencies offer various modes of transport, including road and air transport services for ferrying individuals from one location to another (Tourism Industry Association of Canada, 2012). The tourists pay for the services rendered, and the service providers use part of the revenue earned to buy fuel and spend on repair services.
Food and Beverage Services
Tourists depend on the local foods and beverages during their prolonged stay in Canada as they continue with their excursion activities. Players in this subsector earn revenue as the tourists spend their money on the food and drinks. The players use this money to acquire additional stock and expand their businesses.
Meetings, Events, and Conferences
Special facilities built for purposes of hosting meetings, events, as well as conferences equally provide a significant avenue from where revenues in the tourism services can be earned (Tourism Industry Association of Canada, 2012).
Apart from site seeing, visitors to Canada or the local nationals may consider using some of the available facilities for holding meetings, conferences, or events. They pay a fee to secure these facilities. The fee contributes to the overall revenue earned by the tourism services industry.
The huge revenue achieved from the tourism industry is mainly generated from the four leading tourism commodities of transportation, accommodation, food, and beverage, as well as other tourism related services like recreation and travel services (Tourism Industry Association of Canada, 2012).
Costs Associated with Operation
High-Cost Air Transport
Apart from a few visitors originating from the USA, Canada’s tourists mainly use air transport for their transportation into the country (The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, 2013). The air transport sector, however, includes high costs resulting from numerous policies introduced by the government. These user levies and fees charged in the aviation market force passengers to pay a higher cost, of which between 40% and 70% is contained in the several policies (The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, 2013).
Apart from charges contained in government policies on air transportation, the government further imposes taxes on the user fees, which amounts to about 100 million additional Canadian dollars obtained from the passengers.
In essence, the imposed costs have made the average departure from any of the Canadian airports to be close to 30% more expensive compared to departures from the US (The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, 2013). The policies introduced by the government on air travel have damaged the restaurants, accommodations, arts events, and sports sectors because all the other tourism sectors rely on the air mode to conduct their operations.
Marketing Costs
High competition in the tourism service sector has resulted in industry players seeking to create awareness about their products and services. The marketing efforts are not only being made in Canada but internationally as well as the numerous industry players make efforts to attract more buyers (The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, 2013).
The marketing expenses are equally being incorporated within the tourism operations as it is almost impossible to maintain operations without marketing the services and activities on offer. As competition increases in the industry, tour firms and other related service providers are forced to increase their marketing budgets to attract more customers and expand their revenue base (The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, 2013).
Target Audience in the Sector
Canada’s tourism sector is targeting both local populations and international travelers as its potential market.
Demographics
In 2011, up to 317,021 Canadians comprised of the target audience within the country’s tourism service sector. Ontario produced the highest number of domestic tourists during the year, which stood at 123,926, while Quebec had the second highest figure of 83,737 (Canadian Tourism Commission, 2012).
Other provinces with significant numbers of domestic tourists included Alberta and British Columbia with 3,162 and 31,756 respectively. Provinces and territories that produced the lowest number of domestic tourists included Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, which produced 1,386 and 4,314 tourists, respectively (Canadian Tourism Commission, 2012).
In the same year, 2011, Canada had more than 25 million and 66 thousand non-resident tourists entering Canada. The USA is by far Canada’s largest international tourism market because it has 20.54 million travelers to Canada during the same year. In 2012, the total number of non-resident tourists visiting Canada increased to 25.32 million with the USA, making up 20.72 million tourists of the overall figure (Canadian Tourism Commission, 2012).
The US leads with 11.88 million trips in terms of the overnight trips made by nonresident tourists to Canada in 2012. This is equivalent to 6.33 million Canadian dollars worth of expenditure (Canadian Tourism Commission, 2012).
The UK followed by a total of 597 thousand overnight trips, worth 785 million Canadian dollars, while France was third with 423 thousand trips and 530 million Canadian dollars in expenditure (Statistics Canada, 2013).
Germany and Mainland China complete the list of Canada’s top five markets with 277 thousand and 273 thousand overnight trips worth 417 million Canadian dollars and 486 million Canadian dollars respectively (Canadian Tourism Commission, 2012).
Psychographics
Both the domestic Canadian tourists and travelers from the USA who form the bulk of foreign tourists in the country are cultural tourists. This category of tourists is comprised of generally older individuals with better education and earning more money compared to the traveling public. They often spend more funds on holiday, elongate their duration of stay in specific areas, and actively participate in additional activities.
Both Canadians and Americans value their respective cultures and are well educated. They are willing to learn and are more curious about the happenings in their vicinity. Both countries are experiencing an aging population, and the residents have a great love for traveling.
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Canada has put in place an elaborate mechanism for advertising its tourism market, both locally and internationally. Each of the provinces and territories has established their marketing departments or agencies that focus on creating market awareness for their tourism potentials. The federal government leads the way in advertising the country as a perfect tourist destination through the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC).
The organized provincial and territorial marketing agencies work in collaboration with the CTC to make it easier and possible for the entire industry to market itself as the perfect tourist destination globally.
Additionally, private advertising is also being undertaken to enhance overall marketing efforts. Private groups and organizations organize to create and fund their advertising. Advertising mainly relies on the use of paid media to reach targeted audiences and potential markets.
Overly, Canada’s advertising is effective. It entails a combination of research activities that determine the preferences of the various categories of tourists before advertising the same to the target markets.
Canada’s annual tourism statistics also portray a gradual growth in the number of nonresidents who travel into the country. The gradual growth is a perfect indicator of the fact that the advertising and overall marketing efforts reach a significant number of new potential travelers, resulting in the improvement of tourists to the country.
Barriers to Travel and their Effects on the Sector
Low Number of Visitors
Barriers to travel directly affect the number of travelers, especially the non-residents, who anticipate visiting Canada as tourists at any given time. The delays and difficulties faced by the potential tourists in getting their travel details ready to deter them from visiting Canada, and they opt to travel to other countries as excursionists.
In essence, the barriers to travel deny the tourism sector an opportunity to get additional revenue because the eventual number of tourists who visit the country is smaller (Woodside & Martin, 2008). It is critical to note that the barriers to travel result in lower collectible taxes by the government because a larger turnout of tourists also translates to a bigger margin of taxes collected by the federal and regional authorities.
Revenue by the related Industries
The effects of barriers to travel further extend to affect other related industries and subsectors. With a lower turnout of tourists visiting the country, the hotels are not able to maximize their profits as would be the case if the turnout was large (Woodside & Martin, 2008).
The travel and transport agencies equally make losses or relatively smaller profit margins when there is a reduced tourist turnout. Other significant sectors such as the events, conference, and meeting organizers equally suffer from low opportunities because of the relatively smaller number of the nonresident tourists who visit Canada for excursion (Woodside & Martin, 2008).
Employment
The tourism sector is among the largest employer of Canadians because of its widespread effect on the economy. People working in the transport sector, in the hotels and catering industry, foods and beverages, and retailers all depend on the booming tourism industry for their livelihoods.
These large numbers of employees are threatened because of the lower number of nonresident tourists arriving in Canada because of complications and barriers to travel (Woodside & Martin, 2008). The elimination of such barriers would, in turn, observe a large number of Canadians getting employed within the larger industry and spur growth and development because of the equally large number of tourists who visit the country.
Ramada: A Tourism Service Industry Player
The Ramada chain of hotels is a significant player in the Canadian tourism services industry. It mainly provides accommodation to travelers on excursions. The Ramada hotel is located in the vicinity of the Niagara Falls, which is one of Canada’s most scenic sites.
The popular falls attract a significant number of travelers, who in turn rely on Ramada for the provision of accommodation services. Thus, the hotel’s main source of revenue relies on its provision of accommodation services to travelers (Ramada, n.d.).
Ramada Hotel competes with many other accommodation service providers located in the Niagara Falls vicinity. As such, the company spends a significant amount of its revenues to fund its elaborate marketing and advertising activities. The marketing expenditure, in turn, comprises of a significant cost of operation for the company (Ramada, n.d.).
Also, the hotel is required to meet all taxes levied by the government and other fees charged by industry regulators. For instance, all the commodities purchased by the hotel, including furniture, foodstuffs, and materials, among many others are levied numerous taxes set by the government in its efforts to raise revenues through taxes.
Ramada Hotel mainly targets the nonresident tourists mainly because of its large international expansion. International tourists from countries such as the USA and the UK are more likely to book themselves into Ramada Canada because of the hotel’s presence in these countries, respectively (Ramada, n.d.).
Apart from the nonresident tourists, however, the hotel also targets Canadian tourists who intend to visit the Niagara Falls for excursion purposes (Ramada, n.d.).
The hotel advertises its services both locally and internationally. Its marketing activities are carried over a wide selection of channels, including on the electronic and print media.
The Ramada Hotel uses an online advertisement to reach its existing and potential customers from all over the globe as part of adopting advancements in ICT. The extensive advertisement adopted by the hotel for marketing its services is practically effective because the hotel has managed to increase the number of tourists visiting its premises each year (Ramada, n.d.).
Conclusion
The tourism industry in Canada comprises a multiple of sub-sectors, all of which contribute towards value addition. The sector’s main source of revenue includes the expenditure made by travelers on excursions, amounts paid for travel, accommodation, and food and beverages. The federal and regional governments practice taxation on the tourists to obtain revenue that helps in the running of the country.
The industry players also pay taxes and other government policy fees, on top of the marketing expenditures that they incur. These comprise their overall cost of operations. The USA is Canada’s largest market for non-resident tourists, with annual travelers from the country comprising of about 75% of the total tourists who visit Canada. Both the US and Canadian travelers visiting Canada’s scenic features and areas are cultural tourists.
They are generally older individuals with better education and earning more money compared to the traveling public. The advertising of the country’s tourism service is effective because it has seen the number of tourists to Canada increase gradually over the years.
References
Canadian Tourism Commission (2012). Delivering value for Canada’s tourism businesses through innovation and efficiency. Web.
Ramada (n.d.). Niagara Falls Fallsview. Web.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce (2013). Uncompetitive travel & tourism strategies. Web.
There are some beautiful places in every city. However, we rarely think that the interesting places can be found even in our neighborhoods. In this essay, I am going to guide you down the Irving Street in San-Francisco. This is the street in the local Chinatown. I hope you will like this small trip!
The Place of Interest in My Neighborhood
We start our walk from the intersection of the Irving Street and the 24th avenue and will go down to the 19th avenue. You will find a lot of cafes, restaurants, shops, and salons there. The first place, which you can see is the Baskin Robbins store at the corner of the 24th avenue. There you can taste the delicious ice-creams before our walk. The fine restaurant is located nearby the intersection of the Irving Street and the 23rd avenue. It is named Marnee Thai Restaurant. If you like the exotic dishes, this place is, undoubtedly, for you. In particular, you can taste the spicy shrimp soup, the spicy green papaya salad, and many other dishes (“Top 10 Thai Food” n.pag.). The restaurant specializes in the authentic Thai food. Some of my friends like this place and often invite me to taste some Thai dishes. However, there are many other interesting places in my neighborhood.
One more Thai restaurant is located down the street. At Chabaa Thai Cuisine, you can also taste the national Thai dishes and take a rest. Besides, the Japanese restaurant is situated just across the street. They prepare delicious sushi. I like this place very much.
There are also a lot of stores in this area of the street. In particular, you can find the food, clothes, and even the mobile phones at the nearest shops.
At Uncle Benny’s Donut & Dacel, you can drink a cup of espresso or taste the pastry. Sometimes, I attend this place with my friends.
By the way, there are a lot of banks down the street including Wells Fargo, HSBC, Citibank, and Bank of the Orient. It will not be a problem to find the ATM in my neighborhood.
I advise you to visit Sheng Kee, the bakery and café. They offer a good menu at a reasonable price. Besides, I like the calm atmosphere there.
You can also visit the Indian restaurant. It is named Amisha Indian Cuisine and it is located at the intersection of the Irving Street and the 20th avenue. Tofu Village is situated nearby. People like this place. They really prepare tasteful Korean B.B.Q. and other national dishes. I guess you will not be disappointed if you visit this café. The store selling the fresh juices is situated to the left from Tofu Village.
Conclusion
In order to sum up all above mentioned, it should be said that every neighborhood has some interesting places. Although they may seem ordinary, they are the places where you can relax and spend your free time with your family and friends. I think it is important for everyone to recognize that everyone should try to see the good in surrounding environment, because if we learn to see something good even in the simple and ordinary things, we will make our life much happier and better. There are no historic places or beautiful parks in my neighborhood but you can always find the place where you can take a rest and enjoy your time with friends. I like the place where I live and I will be happy to walk this street again with you.
This research focuses on a new cruise experience with Britannia. It covers the design of the boat, décor, and designers. In addition, the research highlights entertainment and meal experiences believed to be beyond what other cruise ships can offer.
Britannia’s Design
Britannia has a capacity for over 3,647 guests, and it is the largest ship ever built for the UK holiday market (Griffiths 2015, p. 9). The state-of-the-art ship combines elements of freshness and modern styling to create perfect harmony that defines classical elegance in its interiors. The interior reflects conceptualisation of the best Italian designers at Fincantieri. They are among the world’s finest hospitality designers. They have created some of the most luxurious interior designs for some of the most iconic structures in the world.
They were focused on developing public utility areas that captured the tradition and elegance of Britannia. At the same time, the designer elevated the interior design to create a more contemporary element of past, present and future.
By concentrating on fluid curves and elegant lines, lightened spaces and the acceptable recreation of public spaces, the designer symbolically approached the interiors of Britannia with a sense of music and architecture. That is, the designer aimed to develop interiors that could tell stories, which guests could easily relate with during the voyage. It reflects a combination of music, architectural elegance and geometry (Osborne 2013).
The key to interior design in Britannia is the use of visual interaction and related effects to reflect exactly what customers wanted (Griffiths 2015). In this manner, travellers can easily connect with the architecture instead of just moving through it in a passive manner. The interior design of Britannia sought to evoke the sense and splendour of a design done gracefully to enhance striking textures, lighting effects and contemporary use of materials. Height and majestic spaces have been used to amplify grandeur in every part of the ship.
At the centre of the ship, for instance, the designer introduced a central atrium to create visual effect. With three decks higher, Britannia’s interior adorns a spacious stainless steel structure that reflects modernity. It creates different experiences as travellers explore various areas of the ship.
The skylight for the atrium creates a perfect backdrop for the space light projection. Travellers have opportunities to experience wispy cirrus clouds and the reflected image in water, and the atrium changes its colour during the evening to create a magnificent starlit constellation.
Britannia has hallmark venues done with a different method. For instance, ship’s main dining area occupies a double floor and offers a nice view of the sea. At the same time, the interior is bright to reflect contemporary, design and provides a new definition for incomparable dining experiences.
The ceiling is curved and strong to bring out the rising ceiling while chic, customised furnishings and current glass lighting have been installed just for Britannia. At the centre of the room, there is a curved copper casing enclosing a large wine tower with an excellent collection of the best wines.
Britannia has one of the best lounges with a modern, elegant theatre and an entertainment arena that covers two floors. The lounge has been hosting excellent musicians and other entertainers with guests enjoying the spacious and largest dance floor in Britannia. Architects and designers worked together to create a modern style characterised by elegant hallmarks. These innovative styles were responsible for creating life in Britannia.
The design elements incorporated in Britannia have never been seen before and they have evolved the feeling and look of the ship while keeping an exciting feeling for guests. The ship has a large glass-enclosed pool area that occupies two floors. The lower section reflects a traditional pool while the upper section displays a new brand. Other design elements by Fincantieri included areas that emphasise basic features of nature such as fire, earth, water and wood. These are innovative designs that set Britannia apart from its peers.
The Caribbean has always been among the best and most popular cruise destinations for many travellers, and one can only experience and enjoy the ship in such vacation destinations.
Entertainment
Britannia has changed the approach to entertainment in the cruise industry. It has a live blues club in a large lounge that is held every day. To enhance experiences of travellers, Britannia has partnered with performing artists to provide an enthralling large space dedicated to the music complex.
The same space is used for other entertainment purposes after evening blues performance. It provides live music supported with modern sound technologies and special LED lighting that provides unique lighting effects.
Earlier in the day, the club lounge is used as a comfortable venue for hosting presentations, various speakers and other shows, including special entertainment activities, afternoon recital and an ensemble performing chamber music for guests. Britannia offers an afternoon recital accompanied by tea. In addition, the cruise ship offers wine tasting before and after any performance.
In this regard, the ship offers several interesting possibilities. The whole concept of music has enthralled guests at the ship. In fact, it is the music experience, which differentiates Britannia from other cruise lines. Therefore, for travellers who love music, Britannia should be the first choice.
It is noteworthy that Britannia is not all about blues and classical music. There are piano bars, live bands and trending loud music venues, which have enhanced the success of the ship.
In addition, it has Billboard Onboard that delivers an interactive music at the request of listeners. The billboard is based on more than 40 years of chart-topping musical hits. Blues club lounge has two floors to provide more space dedicated to music. This normally involves audience participation.
The performers are normally in touch with their audience during performances every night to ensure that experience is successful. Thus, they must be flexible and well versed with music. The ship ensures that guests are entertained in a different way at the large blues club.
To ensure that all guests are satisfied with music during their cruise, Britannia has a mix of talent to cater for various tastes of guests. For instance, there are pianists, DJs and guitarists who take turn to entertain guests through the billboard-sourced music. The venue was actually designed to deliver optimal entertainment for guests.
The ship has a well-developed onboard automatic choreography to ensure that guests have amazing entertainment experiences. In fact, they are encouraged to sing, dance and play with some trivia questions that run on the wide screens in the lounge.
Britannia entertainment is fun and game while the billboard is the ultimate voice in the music industry and it has a strong presence in the ship. The billboard creates an interesting concept and reinforces the entertainment theme in the ship. The billboard offers credibility and power within the ship. The new music venue provides an opportunity for artists to demonstrate their talents.
The meal experience
Britannia has an interior design that embodies a fresh, modern style to ensure excellent harmony that matches the intended meal experiences for guests. The ship has a culinary arts centre that offers guests up close and personal food experiences with excellent chefs who demonstrate and lectures guests about food.
Britannia has introduced several innovative concepts and large public spaces to enhance experiences of guests. By accounting for these innovative features, new culinary approaches delivered for guests are unique. Experiences noted so far confirm that Britannia’s interior designs incorporate the idea of its unique dining experiences. This reflects a focus on culinary, which is designed to please travellers, critics and fans of the ship. These travellers will take the ship into the future.
It has been noted that some of the cruise lines may be moving away from the normal dining room experiences. However, Britannia has embraced the main dining room experience to enhance and promote several alternatives for guests and create a large roster of culinary selections. There are new, tried and true options for travellers who love food in these modern alternative dining experiences.
From what one can observe, the ship is designed to accommodate various taste and preferences for guests and therefore creates an important distinction from other cruise lines. In a world where cruise lines strive to offer the best experiences for travellers and guests, there are always opportunities for improvements and could be of interest to Britannia. One can therefore conclude that all the available dining options and culinary spaces offered by Britannia are of great interests to majorities of travellers.
The culinary area is one of the most dedicated places in the ship. It has a dramatic show kitchen and personalised cooking areas, which are exclusively used for culinary activities. Guests can attend live cooking demonstrations and practical cooking classes delivered by visiting celebrity chefs and Britannia’s cooking experts.
In addition, the culinary experiences are further captured through cooking workshops, classes offered to kids and teenagers onboard. The ship also provides open kitchen, viewing screens and large mirrors for observation of live activities in kitchen. In this manner, every guest can observe live food preparation processes and learn more about foods from the comfort of their chairs and tables.
Dinner experiences at the culinary centre are equally exceptional. This is a completely new concept introduced by the ship. Every evening, guests experience the room change to a dinner with an absorbing farm-to-table experience.
In these cases, chefs are encouraged to prepare simple but creative dishes in the display kitchen while guests enjoy every fresh meal prepared. Britannia ensures that every food served showcase freshness, carefully selected ingredients while incorporating other unique ingredients obtained from a glass-enclosed section dedicated for growing them just next to the kitchen.
Britannia has a grand cafe. The cafe is an ideal place for travellers to enjoy their snack, beverages or beer that flows from the tap.
The ship offers a lido market, which is different from the normal lido dining places. This one acts as a modern place with coated wide varieties of delicious foods that guests can either eat on the go or easily grab their orders.
There are also various themed stations with walk-up services for dinners. These service areas display certain types of foods, specifically freshly prepared novel sandwiches, international fare, salads, desserts and other unique simple foods. In fact, the design ensures that the place creates an environment similar to a market because of daily special menus featured on the display menu boards, shelves, servers with unique uniforms and signage that depicts market practices.
Currently, the cruise line offers breadboard, which specifically serves freshly baked breads and sandwiches among other signature wheat products. Salads, fruits and other healthier alternatives are considered as wild harvest. In addition, the homestead consists of breakfast with home-themed scrambled eggs, roasted chicken with herbs and other favourable meals during lunch and dinner.
Britannia also features distant land foods, which mainly includes foods from other parts of the world and other places the cruise line has toured. Finally, desserts and treats are also offered in the ship.
Close to the dining area, there is a festive held each evening with various dinners sharing experiences. Guests get rare opportunities to sample various dishes from various parts of the world and share their food experiences with families and friends. There are meals served in small plates to increase the time for enjoying the meals and create long-lasting, authentic experiences. Guests must however pay a minimal fee to enjoy a variety of dishes served in this dining location.
Britannia has introduced a special kind of seafood. It offers classical French seafood served with current twist. These include fresh oyster, scallops, salt-crusted fish and other special dishes found from the sea.
The ship has a grill for guests. It is a popular restaurant for many guests and features special selections of freshly cut beef and other classical steakhouse preferences. The grill is a well-designed restaurant with a breathtaking glass-enclosed wine room to serve two different hotspots.
Guests can carefully evaluate their preferred drinks from any location within the two restaurants and select their favourite classical wines from many selections available on display. At this grill, guests pay a minimal fee to enjoy food and exotic wines. This is a common practice in all cruise lines, both traditional and contemporary ones.
Tamarind within the ship is different and provides unique experiences to visitors. It has a wide selection of culinary traditions from several regions. It is found on the topmost deck of the ship to offer guests the amazing panoramic views. The sushi bar located within the tamarind is different because it is only designed for a limited number of visitors for lunch and dinner. Guests must however pay nominal amount of money to enjoy meals at the tamarind.
Britannia offers another dining experience for guests in the dining room, specifically designed for that purpose. The main dining room has several windows to offer stunning view for guests during cruise while they enjoy their meals. It is amazing that far more travellers have been able to enjoy such panoramic view simultaneously while aboard Britannia.
The main dining room at the ship has provided various seating arrangements and several menus that contain a wide variety of dishes. In addition, there is a big wine tower, which covers two decks of the dining area. In fact, it is a focal point in the dining room.
An amazing list of Britannia culinary introduces various foods for outdoor lovers. The additional dining area outside the main dining room also feature dive-in pool that offers fresh signature hamburgers, French fries, hot dogs and other room services to enhance experiences of guests.
Britannia provides a culinary adventure to guest who would like to experience various foods sampled from all over the world. Besides, there are many alternative restaurants, bars and grills as well as culinary centre for ultimate meal experiences. Themed serving areas, additional relaxing cafes and other walkway services are meant to provide various selections and alternatives for guests as they enjoy cruise across the ocean.
Some of the best culinary master chefs, including Mary Berry, Antonio Carluccio, and Paul Rankin have developed all menus found in the ship. The chefs have worked alongside other international chefs of the ship to deliver memorable meal experiences to guests. In short, Britannia has a created an exceptional culinary foundation and experience that cannot be found in other cruise lines. This way, guests at the ship can enjoy and appreciate several innovative menu selections and the visionary approaches used by chefs to deliver meals.
The dining experience at Britannia is dynamic. It presents a new approach to cruise cuisine. The dining strategies allow travellers to enjoy their meals wherever, whenever with no specific periods for any specific meals, except the evening dinners. The celebrity chefs and other international chefs deliver what guests expect while onboard. The dining areas are known to fill up fast at any time of the day.
Britannia is for food lovers and entertainment conscious travellers. Within the ship, dining areas are also favourite destinations for guests who wish to enjoy their cruise. World-renowned chefs offer their services in creating menus and preparing meals as guests watch. The openness of the process creates some of the most memorable moments during the cruise.
According to Harpaz (2013), cruise trends have changed significantly over time. Today, many cruise lines offer various forms of entertainment and cuisine experiences so that they can appeal to multi-generational travellers. They continue to deliver new forms of specialty dishes and innovative designs walk-ins, walk-ups, glass-enclosed and gardens among others (Harpaz 2013).
In addition, other forms of entertainment are also available at the indoor active space. Guests can use the transformative space for various purposes, including playing balls or drive rink and bumper cars with DJ music playing at the overhead-suspended booth.
Not really related to food and entertainment, but worth noting are the comfortable, modern cabins. The design also ensures that guests are comfortable in the cabins, which are equipped with different amenities. In fact, they are intended to offer a relaxing treat between meals and other activities during the cruise. The view of the sea is also fascinating from the 360 degrees view. The observation booth ensures that guests can have the most fascinating views of the ocean and nearest ports.
The décor and ship combine various elements of past, present and future to create elegance of the contemporary cruise lines. They are soothing and relaxing experiences enhanced by large wide spaces. Guests can take the perfect selfies during the cruise in these elegant designs and décor, which look like boutique shops (Griffiths 2015).
Reference List
Griffiths, S. 2015, What to expect from P&O’s new ship Britannia. Travel Trade Gazette. Web.
Harpaz, B. J. 2013, Cruise Trends For 2013: New ‘It’ Ships, Attractions & Food For New Year, The Huffington Post. Web.
“Conversing with strangers was discouraged. If someone asks you to help take a photo of him, watch out: this is a prime opportunity for thieves. I’d been in and out of Europe over the years, but the instructions put it in a new light, and I was oddly reassured to be traveling with three dozen others and a guide. The notes concluded with a piece of Confucius-style advice that framed our trip as a test of character: He who can bear hardship should carry on.” – Evan Osnos.
This passage by Evan Osnos highlights the perils of modern-day traveling. Travel magazines promote traveling as a hustle-free experience that is characterized by beautiful sites, friendly people, and extreme comfort. The ideal image of a modern-day tourist is also quite different from the reality on the ground. Most travel magazines paint the image of a relaxed tourist whose job is only to ‘enjoy’ the foreign flora and fauna. Nevertheless, travel narratives are more reliable when giving out the truth about modern-day traveling. According to Osnos, his travel experience started with a list of advisories about the dangers of being a tourist in Europe. Europe is considered as one of the most secure destinations in the world. Compared to destinations like India, Africa, and South America, Europe is a secure haven for tourists (Scheyvens 150).
However, Osnos is told to expect thieves, dishonest characters, and harsh administrations during his travel experience. The last line in the travel brochure highlights the hardships of a modern-day tourist through this caption; “He who can bear hardships should carry on” (Osnos 1). Travel narratives can capture the travel experience in a better way than other travel resources such as guides and magazines. The perils of modern-day traveling have contributed to making traveling less fulfilling. For instance, Osnos notes that the travel brochure advises tourists against talking to strangers. By not talking to strangers, tourists miss out on a great part of their traveling experience. For example, some of the best parts of Osnos’ travel narrative are exchanges with fellow travelers. A wholesome travel experience involves interaction with the natives and fellow travelers. Previously, travelers chose to ignore this risk and mingle with the local population. However, the travel industry has highlighted this aspect too much. This effort has ended up instilling fear on travelers.
It is noted that Chinese people believed that traveling was too dangerous and it was better to stay home to be safe (Osnos par. 18). However, it is clear that Chinese people have traveled for centuries, and modern Chinese travelers are open to new experiences and are eager to learn more about other cultures. Mike Pugh sees travel as a way to learn more about the world around him (“About Mike Pugh” par. 1). The traveler claims that he comes from the family of travelers who were not afraid of new experiences and traveling to other countries.
The two passages contain a similar idea that traveling makes people more open-minded and helps them learn about the world around them and themselves and their place in this world. Thus, Mike Pugh states that it is the best way to “learn about people and nature and your place in the world” (“About Mike Pugh” par. 1). Osnos also notes that modern Chinese people want to experience things rather than read about them or watch TV programs, so “Chinese literature lovers” want “to glimpse” at things they were reading about (par. 21).
They want to experience the same (or maybe different) feelings, and they want to listen to themselves and to understand their feelings. Another similarity between the two passages is that both authors refer to historical facts to prove that people have traveled for hundreds of years. Thus, Mike Pugh tells about his ancestors who came to the New World centuries ago (“About Mike Pugh” par. 3). Osnos states that Buddhist monks came to see other lands (like India) in the name of the emperor (par. 18). This makes the texts more relevant as the authors’ ideas are supported by experiences of people who lived many years ago.
Nonetheless, the two passages differ in several ways. For example, Pugh focuses on the history of his own family, but Osnos considers the history of Chinese people’s travels in general. Thus, Pugh mentions “Great-Great-Grandfather Pugh” who sailed to New York from Liverpool (“About Mike Pugh” par. 3). At the same time, Osnos starts with mentioning travels of ancient monks and then tells the story of Chinese people who “were permitted” to travel only a few decades ago (par. 19). Another difference is the way the authors start their stories. Pugh states that he sees “travel as life’s great educator” (par. 1).
However, Osnos starts with Chinese proverbs that prove Chinese people’s fears of travel as traveling is associated with great and unnecessary risks (par. 18). Thus, Pugh starts with something positive, but Osnos starts his story with something negative. Pugh notes that he is committed to traveling and tells about this commitment. At the same time, Osnos reveals fears first but then proves that these fears are in the past and modern people are ready to travel and explore new lands and cultures. This makes Osnos’ passage stronger and more persuasive than Pugh’s passage.
On balance, it is possible to note that Osnos’ passage and Pugh’s passage are similar as they both focus on the great power and benefits of travel. Both writers address the issue similarly as they state that travel helps people learn more about the world around them and even learn more about their place in this world.
