Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Fried Rice! Oh my LEG?!
Is killing me again!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Tourism - why is African Region lacked behind as compared to Europe?
Brief introduction: This is a piece of work done by me in order to fulfill part of my task in Tourism course which I am taking now for this semester. Below is the question and answer.
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Why is Europe, in general, far more developed as a tourist destination region than Africa? What strategies could African countries implement to improve their status as destinations?
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A brief glance is necessary to understand the situation in both Europe and Africa. What are really the main factors that have departed both these nations far from each other in this tourism sector? First of all it will be worth to note that not only in term of tourism industry that Africa is lacked behind, there are several other sectors that Africa is still far left behind by most of these developed states in Europe. The infrastructures, economic stability, and the political stability are some of the aspects that Africa is far left behind, if to name a few. All these aspects have either directly or indirectly caused the gap between European Region and African Region in this particular issue. Europe as a region which consists of several well developed countries has been greatly visited by tourists globally all this while.
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The accessibility in European Region is very high which includes access from other regions to European Region and access between states in European Regions. European states are easily accessed by using air, sea and land. One, from other region or continent can travel to Europe by using air. There are plenty of aviation services provided by several airlines companies which link directly to Europe. This in fact has increased the number of people flying in the region annually and this has contributed to the number of inbound tourists. We are also aware of the several sea ports in European Region. This, of course, has also contributed to the inbound of tourists across the globe. Europe which has been surrounded by several seas (e.g. North Sea, Norwegian Sea, Baltic Sea and Mediterranean Sea, to name a few) and also a big ocean i.e. Atlantic Ocean has a good seaway system which has been used since decades ago for the purposes of trade and business. This is further developed by several giant corporate which provide cruise services from a state to another in European Region. As we all know, the land transportation system has been well linked from each other in Europe. Most of the states have been linked with systematic railway system. This has made the accessibility among the states much easier. This has become one of the prime reason people across the globe have chosen European as their destinations. This includes the business and conferences. Let give a glance at the poor transportation system in African Region. How possible is it for tourists to travel around in one of the states in Africa. Even accessibility is already a problem, it will definitely cause a break down in the mobility of tourists when they are in Africa. Without a proper land transportation system, it will be hard to access from a place to another place. This has caused tourists to always ignore or rather reject this destination.
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Another pulling factor that has caused European to be a far more developed tourist destination region as compared to Africa can be seen from the aspect of peace, stability and safety. This has been a great point to really observe by other states if they would like to develop their tourism industry. As a fair comment, all have been quite relieved with the peace, stability and safety provided by European states. These states are well protected in term of civilians’ safety. Their police forces have been in well trained status and are always in duties to ensure the safety of the people in their states and this includes the tourists. The stability in Europe’s economy has caused its region to stay in harmony status. There are less riots or chaos in the cities throughout the region. This has formed the assurance deep in the heart of people throughout the world in the peace in European states. On the other hand, in the eyes of the people globally (majority if not all), African states have failed to give assurance in the aspect of peace, stability and safety. People feel reluctant to travel to Africa region due to this factor. It has been set in their minds that Africa is a third world region and thus far from developed status. A more critical thought would be that Africa is actually in the process of “Thirdworldization” – a new concept introduced by today’s publicists. This has caused the retreatment of many investors as they can see no economic stability in that region. Bear in mind that the aspect of stability is not only confined to economic sector per se, but the whole region in term of criminal. This has led to the retrenchment of more tourists from stepping into this region.
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A last important factor that I would like to touch on is the pro-tourism policies. This indeed has been much helpful to attract tourists worldwide. European states have been quite success in term of this. This again, is back to the government in the respective states to work with their own policy regarding this issue. With the help of several attractive destinations and the availability of services, the government plays an important role to promote its tourism industry to the other countries. This has been done by European states by introducing their tourism packages. From time to time, there are campaigns being held in different countries in order to attract people to visit to its state. The lacked of such policy has turned down the Africa in this industry. No one really knows of its attractive tourist destination. All we know is that it is a region filled with hunger, as one would comment on Africa. This has created an impression to other countries that Africa is a less friendly region.
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Moving to the next limb of the question, it is to think of what are the strategies that can be implemented by countries in African Region in order to improve their status as tourist destinations. My prime point is again the role of the government. Without a good pro-tourism policy, everything will remain as a thought. By setting a good pro-tourism policy, the whole world will be made known of this region, which is actually far better than the impression of the people globally. After all, the region is no longer out of control as before. The states in Africa should take the tourism industry seriously and formulate a good pro-tourism policy. Various aspects have to be looked into detail. To be frank, there are a lot of tourism industry’s resources in Africa. It is solely depending on the government to fully utilize them to develop this industry. Throughout the whole Africa, there are different sceneries which can be “commercialized” into tourist destinations. At the same time, the accessibility within the Africa should be done in a proper manner. In such, tourists can easily mobilize from a place to another. Or else there will be no point to spend in terms of monetary and time but only can visit limited places. It will be wise, too, if Africa can organize various global events to attract people into its region. Tourists who come to join the event at the same time can travel around the region or maybe a particular state in Africa. This can definitely burst up the market of Africa when people start to realize the wonderful land of Africa.
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In short, statistic shows that from year to year there has been decrease in people visiting More Developed Countries – MDCs, and this of course includes European states. On the other hand, there has been an increase in tourists visiting Less Developed Countries – LDCs. In my humble view, this is a great chance for countries in Africa to seriously look into this matter and take this time to burst up their tourism industry. Tourism sector is a sector that can help to generate a great income to the country and this can assist in building a better and stable economic status. That concludes my answer.
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Henry
Monday, July 27, 2009
I am proud of you!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
7/10? 10/10?
Monday, July 20, 2009
Happy? Short term? Long term?
Friday, July 3, 2009
Sweet Chat
Now, is time to consider about this matter again. I think is time also to have a great hunt around the city to look for another chair which is more likely to support a young man with more than 75 kg. Or should I turn to Chong for any brilliant and constructive advice?

yellowhen