Monday, January 27, 2020

Impact of Tourism on UK Tourist Destinations

Impact of Tourism on UK Tourist Destinations Evaluate the Nature and Extent of Tourism Impacts at a Range of Tourist Destinations The tourism and travel patterns of past decades, combined with the challenging market conditions, especially given the impacts that recent terrorist activity and natural disasters have had on the tourism market, have tended to result in short-term approaches from many organisations in travel and at destination resorts, where commercial activity has thus impacted negatively on natural or cultural environments. In historic terms, leisure travel is relatively new phenomenon, starting in the UK with the ‘Grand Tour’ journeys of the eighteenth century, when wealthy individuals chose to visit neighbouring lands to learn about politics, culture and art. By the nineteenth century, leisure travel within Britain increased, with the growing popularity and royal patronage of spa and seaside towns, and the corresponding availability of transport, which became faster and easier during the industrial revolution, with improved roads and the introduction of trains and rail travel. The we althier and aspiring middle classes popularised travel destinations that developed into resorts offering entertainment and serviced accommodation. (Global Market Information Database, May 2005) However, this rapid growth of tourism has resulted in several unforeseen impacts on destinations, which have been observed to be either beneficial or detrimental to the locality. The twentieth century inventions of the motor car and coach transport accelerated the popularity of domestic holidays, leading to the seaside holiday becoming firmly established as integral to British culture, with corresponding impacts on town such as Brighton and Blackpool, which have become strongly geared towards holidaymakers Sea travel improved and developed with the leisure traveller in mind, bringing ferry routes, luxury liners and vessels for hobbyists. The two World Wars also brought about the accelerated development of air transport, which resulted in a demand for civilian passenger planes, and thus fast overseas travel by plane opened up the world to international leisure journeys. As a result of this massive explosion in tourism, over the past three hundred years, tourism has brought prosperity to many regions of the world that would otherwise exist in abject poverty, such as the island of Bali, where living standards are considerably higher than the neighbouring islands in the Indonesian peninsula. (Friedheim, 1996) However, frequently tourism grew to suit human interests, particularly those of the tourists and businesses, and by no particular long-term plan with regards to sustainability at the local destinations. As a result, today the detrimental effects of global tourism are evident in the form of pollution, the erosion of local culture, the widening of the gap between rich and poor, a threat to survival for local economies and the spoiling of natural habitats and landscape. (Cooper et al, 2004) Indeed, whilst Friedheim (1996) mentions the strong positive impact of the tourist trade in Indonesia’s Bali Island, with the island frequently being described primarily as a popular tourist destination, Friedheim also comments on tourism’s impact on the island’s economic and social conditions for those locals not actively engaged in the trade. He also comments on how traditional skills and employments are increasingly being suborned to appeal to the tourist masses and their money, and thus the island’s culture is being eroded. Similar comments are made on the developments related to the tourist trade in Eastern Europe, following on from the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ‘Iron Curtain’, when the area’s potential as a tourist destination first began to be explored. However, in this case, there was widespread cooperation amongst the Eastern European countries for the promotion of the regions tourist trade, and tourism generally had a positive impact on the areas re-building efforts (Friedheim, 1996) due to its focus on the culture of the cities, rather than beach holidays. Lori (1998) takes a similar view, but focuses on the second annual Sustainable Tourism Conference of the Caribbean Tourism Organization in Trinidad, Spain. In the Caribbean, tourism had previously followed a quite unsustainable model; however the aim of the conference was to address this, based on the tourism strategy initiatives followed by the Dominican Republic: a model ecotourism destination in the Caribbean. Although it is wise to aim for sustainable tourism wherever possible, to reduce the negative impacts on regions wherever possible, there are often factors that work against this desire. One of these is seasonality: an integral quality of the landscape which greatly affects, informs and interweaves with many tourism factors, such as the tourism-based economies of Greek island communities, currently almost entirely dependent upon summer holiday tourism for their survival. (Terkenli, 2005) The multiple facets and impacts of seasonality produced and inscribed by tourism on the landscape, and specifically on the landscape of northern Crete, can, as with many other impacts and destinations, be both problematic and beneficial. In the case of Crete, the three different stages of the tourism destination lifecycle model used by Terkenli (2005) are roughly represented by three different zones of tourism impact in the broader region of Hersonissos in northern Crete. Here, tourism-induced changes roughly attenuate with distance from the coast, acquiring distinctive geographical patterns that follow those of spatial tourist concentration, scale of development, and incorporation of tourism into Cretan society and space, thus giving the island a seasonal economy and demography, in common with many similar regions dependent on seasonal tourism. However, there can be major negative impacts on regions with economies of this type or, indeed, any economy based on tourism. For example, in the months immediately following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, there was a strong trend in many regions towards staying closer to home, with tourists being deterred from long-haul travel for several reasons, including lower incomes, the fear of further terrorist attacks, and delays at airports due to higher security. This benefited domestic travel, as well as regional travel such as travel between European destinations, travel between the US and Canada, and travel within Asia, thus helping some tourist destinations in these countries. However, it had an adverse impact on destinations such as Florida, which relies heavily on tourists from Europe, and many destinations that relied heavily on tourism from the US were particularly badly affected by the fall-off in American tourists immediately after the attacks of 11 September 2001. Thes e included destinations such as the Caribbean and Latin America, and within these regions, notably Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. (Global Market Information Database, Sep 2005) In response to this, Latin American and Caribbean governments launched marketing campaigns and other measures to encourage tourism in the region. In Mexico, for example, which depends on the US for 85% of its tourist arrivals, measures included the elimination of sales taxes on conventions, and an increase in the promotional budget of 50% through a new public-private consortium. The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) also launched an emergency joint marketing, promotion and public relations campaign at the end of 2001 to try and resurrect the failing tourism market which was pushing many of the region economies towards recession (Global Market Information Database, Sep 2005) Indeed, increasingly governments and organisations across the world are realising that travel and tourism growth cannot be left to chance, as the potential impacts on regions, and also entire nations, are just too great. As a result, in 2003 over five hundred of the world’s most influential business leaders called on the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) to form a new vision and strategy for travel and tourism. This project combined the forces of stakeholders from public and private organisations, resulting in the formation of â€Å"Blueprint for New Tourism† campaigns to influence behaviour and to introduce new legislation and best practice for the industry in its quest to help governments recognise travel and tourism as a top priority, to balance economics with people’s needs, culture and environments and to share the pursuit of long-term growth and prosperity, underpinned by corporate social responsibility. Global Market Information Database (May 2005) O rganisations are now required to evidence the measures they take towards social responsibility in their annual reports, and consumers too are becoming more aware of the impact that tourism and development can have on the world, through television documentaries and media coverage of issues such as global warming, endangered species and fair trade practices. To help consumers make informed choices on their travel destinations, consumer advisory services such as the Centre for Environmentally Responsible Tourism and ecotourism.org were established, offering advice on the best destinations and most sustainable tour operators. Indeed, as with many regulatory bodies around the world, for tour operators, such an endorsement provides a promotional opportunity and can further benefit nations: for example, the dreadful and much publicised effects of the Asian tsunami awoke the UK public to the need to give and support nations in peril. Popular destinations for back-packers were literally wipe d off the map, and to support the regeneration of the tourist industry in the affected countries, volunteer holidays were offered, which helped provide useful skills and manpower to local populations, as well as helping tourists get closer to the local culture. A final impact of tourism is its tendency to skew the geographic distribution of wealth in countries that have particular tourist attractions. Egypt is a good example of this, as it is now looking into the possibilities for diversifying its tourism opportunities throughout the country, with the main target for expanding the tourism sector in nature-based tourism. The coral reefs and rich marine life in South Sinai and the Red Sea coast have made these two areas among the premier scuba diving destinations in the world, with many beach resorts are now in operation and still hundreds to be constructed. However, previous tourism development in Egypt has resulted in a series of negative environmental impacts, both to the reefs and marine life, and to the other areas of the country which have suffered a lack of funding and investment due to not being in proximity to well known tourist destinations. The ambitious development plans to receive 16 million tourists across the country by 2017 wi ll thus take into consideration sustainability and demographic concepts, with the government and developers having significant roles to play in adopting and implementing environmentally sound policies and practices to avoid the degradation of the natural heritage of Egypt for the sake of the current as well as future generations. (Shaalan, 2005) In conclusion, tourism offers some of the most impoverished regions of the globe the chance to develop their infrastructure and quality of life in ways that would otherwise be impossible in the modern world. However, frequently these developments are allowed to proceed without thought to maintaining a balanced distribution of income amongst the local inhabitants, and preserving the very attractions which bring tourists to the area. As a result, tourism can often have significant, wide ranging negative impacts as well as positive ones, such as in the case of Bali. However, with the new sustainable tourism developments helping to reduce the negative impacts, and distribute the positive ones equally across the local populations, there is evidence that tourism can, and in future increasingly will, provide beneficial and sustainable long term impacts to the communities and destinations it affects. References Cooper, C. Fletcher, J. Fyall, A, Gilbert, D. and Wanhill, S. (2004). Tourism: Principles and Practice, 3rd Ed. Prentice Hall: London. Friedheim, E. (1996) Holding on to paradise. Travel Agent; Vol. 284, Issue 1, p. 22. Global Market Information Database (Sep 2005) The World Market for Travel and Tourism. Euromonitor International. Global Market Information Database (May 2005) Travel and Tourism in the United Kingdom Euromonitor International. Shaalan, I. M. (2005) Sustainable tourism development in the Red Sea of Egypt threats and opportunities. Journal of Cleaner Production; Vol. 13, Issue 2, p. 83. Tenny, L. (1998) Second CTO conservation confab explores tourisms impacts. Travel Weekly; Vol. 57, Issue 38, p. C9. Terkenli, T. (2005) Human Activity in Landscape Seasonality: The Case of Tourism in Crete. Landscape Research; Vol. 30, Issue 2, p. 221.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Public Law and Judicial Review

Proportionality exists as a ground for setting aside administrative decisions in most continental legal systems and is recognised in UK cases where issues of European Community law and ECHR is involved, it seems logical that the treatment becomes the standard of substantive review in all cases. A significant criticism of the Wednesbury criteria is that they do not allow for the effect on the life of the individual involved to be judged.Just because a judgement is not so unreasonable as to be incomprehensible does not mean that it is not disproportionately devastating for the affected individual – for example, when resources are scarce, it may not be irrational for a local authority to discharge their statutory duties under the 1996 Housing Act by offering housing in an area where it is cheap, but the effects on the lives of e. g. a person who has become homeless who is only offered accommodation a long way from good employment prospects, may be enormous.In such cases, the prop ortionality test would reveal that a general policy intended to conserve resources would in fact cause the individuals affected to consume more resources. The state and thus administrative decisions enter into so many areas of the lives of individuals that the idea of bifurcation – using proportionality where â€Å"fundamental rights† are concerned and the Wednesbury test in all others – is disingenuous at best. In areas such as asylum support or housing, it is immensely complex to distinguish the point at which mere â€Å"interests† end and â€Å"fundamental rights† begin.It is both simpler and more logical to assume the same standard for all issues of judicial review. It is also notable that the Wednesbury test is, by its very nature, a less transparent methodology than proportionality – there are a number of significant cases, such as Wheeler v Leicester City Council, where decisions have been overturned on grounds of irrationality withou t substantive reasons being given as to why â€Å"no reasonable judge could make this decision,† – which must, by its very nature, be on some level subjective.That is not possible with proportionality, where all aspects must be laid out and considered in turn as a basic fact of the methodology. The Wednesbury test comes under further criticism when we consider the significantly narrow scope for intervention. The case of Short v Poole Corporation (1926) Ch 66 at 90-91 is the well documented example of the red haired teacher dismissed because she had red hair. This case proved that decision makers can act unreasonably and reach the wrong decision but they can't exercise their power so unreasonably that no other body would have reached that decision.This was an extreme case of unreasonableness where lord Greene's principle could easily be applied however there are a large number of other cases where intervention is not so accessible. Le Sueur (2004) highlights that Wednes bury principle is only appropriate in the most extreme circumstances and does not allow for a varied intricate subject matter. Lord Walker (2007) in the case of R (Pro-life Alliance) v BBC appeal highlighted that the advantage of the Wednesbury test is simplicity.However, when it comes to human rights – a complex matter – ‘a one size fits all' test is nothing short of being unsatisfactory. The Wednesbury principle was adopted in the Australian case Parramatta City Council v Pestell (1972) It was concluded that the court had considered irrelevant matters and not considered matters that it should have. This clearly shows other forms of judicial review being used in conjunction with the Wednesbury approach thus endorsing that Wednesbury alone does not suffice in judicial review.Proportionality provides a more effective remedy as it allows courts to examine whether the violation of a right was necessary, not just whether it is reasonable. â€Å"†¦ it [the court s] has the constitutional role and duty of ensuring that the rights of citizens are not abused by the unlawful exercise of executive power† . In all matters of public law a right, formalised by the convention and human rights act has been violated. As Lord Bingham in the case of R(SD) v The Governors of Denbeigh High School[2007] 1 AC 100, para 30 â€Å"†¦ t is clear that the court's approach to an issue of proportionality under the Convention must go beyond that traditionally adopted to judicial review in a domestic setting† In Smith ;amp; Grady when â€Å"applying the conventional Wednesbury principles of judicial review (adapted to a human rights context) the judge found that, although the justifications may have seemed to many to be unconvincing, the policy was not â€Å"outrageous in its defiance of logic† and, accordingly, not unlawful. † However the European Court of Human Rights found it to be in breach of multiple articles of the convention o f human rights.Smith and Grady is an example of how many claimants now rely on both domestic law and HRA grounds of review. A key case in the propagation of proportionality is The House of Lords in R (Daly) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (2001) 2 AC 532 demonstrated how the traditional test of Wednesbury unreasonableness has moved towards the doctrine of necessity and proportionality. Lord Steyn stated that most cases would be decided in the sameway whatever approach is adopted, though conceded for human right cases proportionality is the appropriate test.The question arises as to whether doctrine of proportionality applies only where fundamental human rights are in issue or whether it will come to provide all aspects of judicial review. Lord Steyn in R. (Alconbury Development Limited) v. Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (2001) 2 All ER 929 stated as follows:- â€Å"I consider that even without reference to the Human Rights Act, 1998 the time has come to recognize that this principle (proportionality) is part of English administrative law not only when Judges are dealing with Community acts but also when they are dealing with acts subject to domestic law.Trying to keep the Wednesbury principle and proportionality in separate compartments seems to me to be unnecessary and confusing†. It would seem that as the proportionality test is more frequently applied, when there is violation of human rights, and fundamental freedoms, the Wednesbury test finds itself relegated to matters of a more domestic nature and as such its importance in matters of jurisprudence has diminished.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Gold on Trees

Have you ever said â€Å"I wish money could grow on trees? † Well that could actually be true! Geoscientist Melvyn Lintern was the author of â€Å"Gold Particles Found in Leaves of Eucalyptus Trees. † This article was published in Science News magazine on October 23, 2013 and retrieved online at http://www. sci-news. com, on January 16, 2014. Melvyn Lintern from CSIRO (Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization) Earth Science and Resource Engineering explored the gold particles in leaves of the eucalyptus trees in Australia.The article was written to let people know that leaves or soil underneath these trees could show gold that was buried underground. The gold discovered was up to 60 million years old. Geoscientists used the Maia detector to explore the soil. The Maia detector is an imaging system, which uses an x-ray microprobe, (a device used to stimulate radiation by a material in order to determine chemical or elemental composition). The Maia detecto r is similar to an x-ray machine. It allows you to see through leaves and determine their chemical or mineral composition.This is where the gold particles were found. The article also explained how the Eucalyptus tree acted like a hydraulic pump, (related to a liquid moving in a confined space under pressure), because its roots extend deep in the ground and draw up water containing the gold. Since gold can be toxic to the tree, it doesn’t stay in one spot; it moves to the leaves and branches where it can be released or shed to the ground. Article Analysis This is a new topic because before the Maia detector, the gold in the leaves was invisible and there was no way of detecting it, so this is a brand new discovery.The author of the Sci-News. com article did a good job explaining the information in a way that everyone could read and understand. Dr. Lintern said that, â€Å"Leaves could be used in combination with other tools as a more cost effective and environmentally friend ly exploration technique. † He also pointed out that, â€Å"Eucalpytus trees are so common that this technique could be widely applied across Australia and could also be used to find other metals such as zinc and copper. † Dr. Melvyn Lintern was the lead writer of this article and his quotes were chosen because they talk.About four important things: 1. How leaves can be used with other tools for exploring with the Maia detector; 2. The Maia detector makes this type of exploration friendly to the environment; 3. It is cost effective, and 4. The same technique could also be used to find other metals. This information is important to the environment because now it has been proven that you can get samples without destroying the land by drilling many holes and it also makes exploration if minerals quicker and less expensive.Unfortunately no one will grow rich looking for gold in leaves, since the gold found is about the size of a nano-nugget, which is a billionth in diameter and in this case, only 1/5 the diameter of a piece of human hair, (which is very, very tiny). This was a very interesting article to read. This discovery is so important to our economy and environment. It will help mining companies figure out where they can find more gold and other minerals just by examining plants and leaves. And most importantly, geoscientists have figured out a way to get these samples without unnecessary drilling which will help protect our environment.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Is a College Degree Really Worth It Essay - 1380 Words

In present day, it is expected that after high school students continue their education to college. Therefore, it is no surprise to say that most students follow the pedigree, making a bachelor’s degree dilute to the value of a high school diploma. Yes, it is great that you obtained a bachelor’s degree, but it doesn’t differentiate you from the other hundred people who apply for the job position. Now, advanced degrees like masters and doctorates are what count. Not only does it [bachelor’s degree] not give you a better chance at an entry-level job, but also, the majority of college graduates are swimming in a pool of debt. So in the end, after all those years of studying, the dollars in debt and the chance of not even getting a job in†¦show more content†¦As for the moneymaking, the first 5 years aren’t looking so great, but after that, on average, a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree earns $30,000 more per year than a high sc hool graduate, or about $500,000 more over a lifetime. Actually, any type of education past high school will have you earning more, whether it’s some college, an associate’s or anything higher. Furthermore, college graduates have a better quality life. â€Å"How?† you may ask, well apart from the obvious fact that their income is greater, studies show college graduates are healthier and live longer, their children are more prepared for school and are more productive members of society. The College Board reports only 9% of four-year college graduates smoke and only 6% of adults with advanced degrees smoked, compared to the 27% of high school graduates reported to smoke, also, college graduates and adults with advanced degrees are more likely to stop smoking. Additionally, roughly 81% of college-educated adults between the ages of 25 and 34 exercise at least once a week compared to the 54% high school educated young adults. Older adults are less likely to exerc ise than young adults but the pattern remains the same: the higher the education, the more exercise the person partakes in, making him/her an overall healthier person. Let’s not forget the children now, according to the study done by the College Board, â€Å"children of parents with higher levels of educational attainmentShow MoreRelatedIs A College Education Worth It?1443 Words   |  6 PagesOne 23 March 2016 Is a College Education Worth It? 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