Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
10 Facts About Marijuana
Marijuana is a plant containing a psychoactive chemical, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), in its leaves, buds and flowers. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug, with forty-two percent of American adults reporting that they have used it.Despite the fact that marijuana's effects are less harmful than those of most other drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, it is the most common drug that people are arrested for possessing. U.S. marijuana policy is unique among American criminal laws in being enforced so widely and harshly, yet deemed unnecessary by such a substantial portion of the population.
Fact #1: Most marijuana users never use any other illicit drug.
Marijuana does not cause people to use hard drugs. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the United States today. Therefore, people who have used less popular drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and LSD, are likely to have also used marijuana. Most marijuana users never use any other illegal drug and the vast majority of those who do try another drug never become addicted or go on to have associated problems. Indeed, for the large majority of people, marijuana is a terminus rather than a so-called gateway drug.[1]Fact #2: Most people who use marijuana do so occasionally. Increasing admissions for treatment do not reflect increasing rates of clinical dependence.
According to a federal Institute of Medicine study in 1999, fewer than 10 percent of those who try marijuana ever meet the clinical criteria for dependence, while 32 percent of tobacco users and 15 percent of alcohol users do. According to federal data, marijuana treatment admissions referred by the criminal justice system rose from 48 percent in 1992 to 58 percent in 2006. Just 45 percent of marijuana admissions met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for marijuana dependence. More than a third hadn’t used marijuana in the 30 days prior to admission for treatment.[2]Fact #3: Claims about increases in marijuana potency are vastly overstated. In addition, potency is not related to risk of dependence or health impacts.
Although marijuana potency may have increased somewhat in recent decades, claims about enormous increases in potency are vastly overstated and not supported by evidence. Nonetheless, potency is not related to risks of dependence or health impacts. According to the federal government's own data, the average THC in domestically grown marijuana – which comprises the bulk of the US market – is less than 5 percent, a figure that has remained unchanged for nearly a decade. In the 1980s, by comparison, the THC content averaged around 3 percent. Regardless of potency, THC is virtually non-toxic to healthy cells or organs, and is incapable of causing a fatal overdose. Currently, doctors may legally prescribe Marinol, an FDA-approved pill that contains 100 percent THC. The Food and Drug Administration found THC to be safe and effective for the treatment of nausea, vomiting, and wasting diseases. When consumers encounter unusually strong varieties of marijuana, they adjust their use accordingly and smoke less.[3]Fact #4: Marijuana has not been shown to cause mental illness.
Some effects of marijuana ingestion may include feelings of panic, anxiety, and paranoia. Such experiences can be frightening, but the effects are temporary.That said, none of this is to suggest that there may not be some correlation (but not causation) between marijuana use and certain psychiatric ailments. Marijuana use can correlate with mental illness for many reasons. People often turn to the alleviating effects of marijuana to treat symptoms of distress. One study demonstrated that psychotic symptoms predict later use of marijuana, suggesting that people might turn to the plant for help rather than become ill after use.[4]
Fact #5: Marijuana use has not been shown to increase risk of cancer.
Several longitudinal studies have established that even long-term use of marijuana (via smoking) in humans is not associated with elevated cancer risk, including tobacco-related cancers or with cancer of the following sites: colorectal, lung, melanoma, prostate, breast, cervix. A more recent (2009) population-based case-control study found that moderate marijuana smoking over a 20 year period was associated with reduced risk of head and neck cancer (See Liang et al). And a 5-year-long population-based case control study found even long-term heavy marijuana smoking was not associated with lung cancer or UAT (upper aerodigestive tract) cancers.[5]Fact #6: Marijuana has been proven helpful for treating the symptoms of a variety of medical conditions.
Marijuana has been shown to be effective in reducing the nausea induced by cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite in AIDS patients, and reducing intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma. There is also appreciable evidence that marijuana reduces muscle spasticity in patients with neurological disorders. A synthetic capsule is available by prescription, but it is not as effective as smoked marijuana for many patients. Learn more about medical marijuana. [6]Fact #7: Marijuana use rates in the Netherlands are similar to those in the U.S. despite very different policies.
The Netherlands' drug policy is one of the most nonpunitive in Europe. For more than twenty years, Dutch citizens over age eighteen have been permitted to buy and use cannabis (marijuana and hashish) in government-regulated coffee shops. This policy has not resulted in dramatically escalating marijuana use. For most age groups, rates of marijuana use in the Netherlands are similar to those in the United States. However, for young adolescents, rates of marijuana use are lower in the Netherlands than in the United States. The Dutch government occasionally revises existing marijuana policy, but it remains committed to decriminalization.[7]Fact #8: Marijuana has not been shown to cause long-term cognitive impairment.
The short-term effects of marijuana include immediate, temporary changes in thoughts, perceptions, and information processing. The cognitive process most clearly affected by marijuana is short-term memory. In laboratory studies, subjects under the influence of marijuana have no trouble remembering things they learned previously. However, they display diminished capacity to learn and recall new information. This diminishment only lasts for the duration of the intoxication. There is no convincing evidence that heavy long-term marijuana use permanently impairs memory or other cognitive functions.[8]Fact #9: There is no compelling evidence that marijuana contributes substantially to traffic accidents and fatalities.
At some doses, marijuana affects perception and psychomotor performance – changes which could impair driving ability. However, in driving studies, marijuana produces little or no car-handling impairment – consistently less than produced by low to moderate doses of alcohol and many legal medications. In contrast to alcohol, which tends to increase risky driving practices, marijuana tends to make subjects more cautious. Surveys of fatally injured drivers show that when THC is detected in the blood, alcohol is almost always detected as well. For some individuals, marijuana may play a role in bad driving. The overall rate of highway accidents appears not to be significantly affected by marijuana's widespread use in society.[9]Fact #10: More than 800,000 people are arrested for marijuana each year, the vast majority of them for simple possession.
Police prosecuted 858,408 persons for marijuana violations in 2009, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s annual Uniform Crime Report. Marijuana arrests now comprise more than one-half (approximately 52 percent) of all drug arrests reported in the United States. A decade ago, marijuana arrests comprised just 44 percent of all drug arrests. Approximately 46 percent of all drug prosecutions nationwide are for marijuana possession. Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 88 percent (758,593 Americans) were charged with possession only. The remaining 99,815 individuals were charged with “sale/manufacture,” a category that includes virtually all cultivation offenses.[10]
MARIJUANA
WHAT IS MARIJUANA?
Marijuana
is the word used to describe the dried flowers, seeds and leaves of the
Indian hemp plant. On the street, it is called by many other names,
such as: astro turf, bhang, dagga, dope, ganja, grass, hemp, home grown, J, Mary Jane, pot, reefer, roach, Texas tea and weed.
Hashish is a
related form of the drug, made from the resins of the Indian hemp
plant. Also called chocolate, hash or shit, it is on average six times
stronger than marijuana.
“Cannabis” describes any of the different drugs that come from Indian hemp, including marijuana and hashish.
Regardless of the name, this drug is a hallucinogen—a substance which distorts how the mind perceives the world you live in.
The
chemical in cannabis that creates this distortion is known as “THC.”
The amount of THC found in any given batch of marijuana may vary
substantially, but overall, the percentage of THC has increased in
recent years.
How is it used?
Marijuana is a mixture of dried-out
leaves, stems, flowers and seeds of the hemp plant. It is usually green,
brown or gray in color.
Hashish is tan, brown or black resin that
is dried and pressed into bars, sticks or balls. When smoked, both
marijuana and hashish give off a distinctive, sweet odor.
Marijuana
is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world. A survey conducted
in 2007 found that 14.4 million individuals in the US alone had smoked
marijuana at least once during the previous month.
Marijuana
is usually smoked as a cigarette (joint), but may also be smoked in a
pipe. Less often, it is mixed with food and eaten or brewed as tea.
Sometimes users open up cigars and remove the tobacco, replacing it with
pot—called a “blunt.” Joints and blunts are sometimes laced with other,
more powerful drugs, such as crack cocaine or PCP (phencyclidine, a
powerful hallucinogen).
When a person smokes a joint, he usually feels its effect
within minutes. The immediate sensations—increased heart rate, lessened
coordination and balance, and a “dreamy,” unreal state of mind—peak
within the first 30 minutes. These short-term effects usually wear off
in two to three hours, but they could last longer, depending on how much
the user takes, the potency of THC and the presence of other drugs
added into the mix.
As the typical
user inhales more smoke and holds it longer than he would with a
cigarette, a joint creates a severe impact on one’s lungs. Aside from
the discomfort that goes with sore throats and chest colds, it has been
found that consuming one joint gives as much exposure to
cancer-producing chemicals as smoking five cigarettes.
The
mental consequences of marijuana use are equally severe. Marijuana
smokers have poorer memories and mental aptitude than do non-users.
Animals given marijuana by researchers have even suffered structural damage to the brain.
Monday, February 25, 2013
MARKETING STRATEGIES
GETTING A PRODUCT TO MARKET
Introduction
Getting a new product on the market is not easy. It is a long process and will need a good deal of thought and planning. Many people who come up with ideas for new products believe that others will immediately see the benefits of their product and offer financial and other support. This is unlikely - a product will not "sell itself".
Protecting your product
Even if you do not intend to protect what you have it is advisable to carry out some thorough searching to try to determine whether anyone else has already done so. A search may enable you to avoid infringing someone else's existing rights. Don't assume that just because a product is not on the market it has not been protected.
In relation to this, If someone offers to carry out some searching for you (particularly for a charge) make sure that they provide you with details of what they have searched and also the strategy they have used. You should never just accept someone's word that there is nothing like your product without evidence of how they have come to this conclusion.
Confidentiality
If you are intending to apply for a patent it is vital that you do not disclose details of your product to a potential manufacturer or investor (or make those details public in any other way) before filing your patent application. Using a confidentiality agreement (also known as a non-disclosure agreement or NDA) is one way of avoiding potentially damaging disclosures.
The Business Case
Just because you have a patent granted on your product does not guarantee that there will be a market for it. Just because the product is new does not guarantee that anyone will want to buy it. It is often the case that if a particular product is not on the market it is because nobody wants it rather than because nobody has thought of it.
You need to determine the commercial advantage or benefit of your product. If you can show that it is faster, better or cheaper than similar products already on the market then manufacturers and retailers are more likely to be interested. Different companies will have different views on which of these features are most important. Similarly, customers tend to buy products they are familiar with. You need to give them a good reason to turn to your product.
Knowing your market
In order to determine whether there will be a demand for your product you need to be familiar with your market and your potential customers. The more you know about them the more you can target your product at them. It's also important to be aware of any companies you will be competing with. Particularly if you are competing with large companies who have more substantial budgets than yours it will be more difficult to break into the market. The Information for Business and Starting a Business sections of our website may provide you with a starting point for your research.
You also need to think about how you will promote the product. Image, quality and price are all part of this. In deciding on the price you will have to include the cut which you have agreed with any manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer.
Manufacturing the product yourself
If you have the necessary skills and facilities to produce the product yourself this may be the best option particularly if the market for it is not particularly large. You are likely to have more control in this situation. However if the product sells well you may not be able to meet demand.
Approaching a manufacturer
A manufacturer will only be interested in becoming involved in a new product if they are convinced of the product's potential. Just as importantly they will want to be sure that the creator of the product is reliable and not someone simply hoping for a big pay-off in return for some vague ideas.
Manufacturers and retailers often prefer to deal with people they are already familiar with and inventors, in particular, often don't help their cause by making basic mistakes. The following are typical reasons for a manufacturer turning down a new product:
- The inventor has not bothered to carry out searches to try to determine if it is original.
- The product is too expensive to make.
- The product is too similar to something which has already been patented.
- The product is too similar to something already on the market.
- The inventor knows very little about the manufacturer. Awareness of how they work and what their market is would obviously be important.
- The inventor has not carried out sufficient research to show that there is actually a market for the product. Many simply ask family and friends if they like the product. This will not impress a manufacturer.
- The product does not fit into the manufacturer's market or future plans.
- The inventor is unable to show that the product works. It is unlikely that anyone be interested in an unproven idea.
- The inventor has no idea of the likely costs of production. It may cost more to make than you will get back in sales. Awareness of other costs, such as compliance testing, is also important.
- If you do reach an agreement with a company this does not necessarily mean that your product will be manufactured. It takes time to test and get into production, and in that time the market can change and the company's priorities can change.
Prototypes
If you are hoping to attract a manufacturer or investor you will need to be able to demonstrate that your product works. A good quality working prototype is likely to be essential and it can be costly. As the company you present it to may want to spend some time testing the prototype it may be advantageous to have more than one.
Finance
Obtaining financial assistance for a new product is not easy and there is no set route by which you can do so. Depending upon your geographical location and the subject area of your product there may be grant schemes to which you could apply. Your local Business Link may be able to advise on what schemes are available.
Invention Promoters
A number of companies offer a service whereby they promise to evaluate a new product and promote it to potential manufacturers. This can seem very attractive particularly to inventors wanting someone else to do the work for them. However you should take great care. Some companies charge large amounts of money for work which you could do yourself for little or no cost. Any claims by such a company that your product has huge potential or is likely to make significant profits should be treated very warily. If you do intend to use an invention promotion company the following points may be helpful:
- Be wary of any company wanting large amounts of money "up-front".
- There is a lot of information available for little or no cost. Is the company offering something extra or are they charging over the odds?
- Don't give details of how your product works without using a confidentiality agreement.
- Before paying for a service look around and compare prices. Make sure you know exactly what you are getting before you pay for it.
- Ask for details of their success rate and find out what you can about the company. What sort of reputation do they have?
- If a company offers to do a search for you ask them what the coverage of the search will be (which countries and what time period) and what databases are being used. When the search is complete make sure that they provide a printout indicating clearly what search strategy was used and a list of everything which the search found. If literally nothing is found this usually indicates that there is something wrong with the search - it rarely means that there is nothing there!
Saturday, February 23, 2013
UNNOTICED
Tourism
Wealthy people have always travelled to distant
parts of the world, to see great buildings, works of art, learn new
languages, experience new cultures, and to taste different cuisines.
Long ago, at the time of the Roman
Republic, places such as Baiae were popular coastal resorts for the rich. The word tourist
was used by 1772[16]
and tourism by 1811.[17]
The origins of modern tourism can be traced back
to what was known as the Grand Tour which was a traditional trip of Europe
undertaken by mainly upper-class European
young men of means, mainly from England. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the
advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated
with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of
passage. Though primarily associated with the British
nobility and wealthy landed gentry,
similar trips were made by wealthy young men of Protestant
Northern European nations on the Continent, and from the second half of the 18th
century some South American, U.S., and other overseas youth joined in. The tradition
was extended to include more of the middle class
after rail and steamship travel made the journey less of a burden, and Thomas Cook
made the "Cook's Tour" a byword.
The New York Times recently described the Grand Tour in this way:
Three hundred years ago, wealthy young Englishmen
began taking a post-Oxbridge trek through France and Italy in search of art,
culture and the roots of Western civilization. With nearly unlimited
funds, aristocratic connections and months (or years) to roam, they commissioned paintings, perfected their
language skills and mingled with the upper crust of the Continent.
—Gross, Matt., "Lessons From
the Frugal Grand Tour." New York Times 5 September 2008.
The primary value of the Grand Tour, it was
believed, laid in the exposure both to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance,
and to the aristocratic and fashionably polite society of the European continent.
Emergence of Leisure travel
Main article: Leisure
travel
This section needs
additional citations for verification. Please help improve
this article by adding citations to reliable
sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2013)
|
Englishman in the Campagna by Carl Spitzweg
(c. 1845)
Leisure travel was associated with the Industrial Revolution in the United
Kingdom – the first European country to promote leisure time
to the increasing industrial population.[18]
Initially, this applied to the owners of the machinery of production, the
economic oligarchy, the factory owners and the traders. These comprised the new
middle class.[18] Cox &
Kings was the first official travel company to be formed in 1758.[19]
The British origin of this new industry is
reflected in many place names. In Nice, France, one of the first and best-established holiday resorts
on the French Riviera, the long esplanade along the
seafront is known to this day as the Promenade des Anglais; in many
other historic resorts in continental Europe, old, well-established
palace hotels have names like the Hotel Bristol, Hotel Carlton,
or Hotel Majestic – reflecting the dominance of English
customers.
Panels from the Thomas Cook Building in Leicester,
displaying excursions offered by Thomas Cook
A pioneer of the travel agency, Thomas Cook's
idea to offer excursions came to him while waiting for the stagecoach on the
London Road at Kibworth.
With the opening of the extended Midland Counties Railway, he arranged to
take a group of 540 temperance campaigners from Leicester Campbell Street station to
a rally in Loughborough, eleven miles away. On 5 July
1841, Thomas Cook arranged for the rail company to charge one shilling
per person that included rail tickets and food for this train journey. Cook was
paid a share of the fares actually charged to the passengers, as the railway
tickets, being legal contracts between company and passenger, could not have
been issued at his own price. This was the first privately chartered excursion
train to be advertised to the general public; Cook himself acknowledging that
there had been previous, unadvertised, private excursion trains.[20]
During the following three summers he planned and conducted outings for
temperance societies and Sunday-school children. In 1844 the Midland Counties
Railway Company agreed to make a permanent arrangement with him provided he
found the passengers. This success led him to start his own business running
rail excursions for pleasure, taking a percentage of the railway tickets.
Leicester railway station - this was built
between 1892 and 1894 to replace, largely on the same site, Campbell Street station,
the origin for many of Cook's early tours.
Four years later, he planned his first excursion
abroad, when he took a group from Leicester to Calais to
coincide with the Paris
Exhibition. The following year he started his 'grand circular tours' of Europe.
During the 1860s he took parties to Switzerland, Italy, Egypt and United
States. Cook established 'inclusive independent travel', whereby the traveller
went independently but his agency charged for travel, food and accommodation
for a fixed period over any chosen route. Such was his success that the
Scottish railway companies withdrew their support between 1862 and 1863 to try
the excursion business for themselves.
Modern Day Tourism
Many leisure-oriented tourists travel to the
tropics, both in the summer and winter. Places of such nature often visited
are: Bali
in Indonesia,
Colombia,
Brazil,
Cuba, Grenada,
the Dominican Republic, Malaysia,
Mexico
the various Polynesian
tropical islands, Queensland in Australia,
Thailand,
Saint-Tropez
and Cannes
in France,
Florida,
Hawaii
and Puerto Rico,
in the United States, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
Barbados,
Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica,
St.Lucia
Saint Maarten, St. Martin's Island in Bangladesh,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, The Bahamas,
Anguilla,
Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Bermuda.
In 1936, the League of
Nations defined foreign tourist as "someone traveling
abroad for at least twenty-four hours". Its successor, the United
Nations, amended this definition in 1945, by including a maximum
stay of six months.[7]
Winter tourism
See also: List of ski areas and resorts and Winter sport
Although it is acknowledged that the Swiss were
not the inventors of skiing, it is well documented that St. Moritz,
Graubünden
became the cradle of the developing winter tourism; since that year of 1865 in
St. Moritz,[21]
when many daring hotel managers choose to risk opening their hotels in winter.
It was, however, only in the 1970s when winter tourism took over the lead from
summer tourism in many of the Swiss ski resorts. Even in winter, portions of up
to one third of all guests (depending on the location) consist of non-skiers.[22]
Major ski resorts
are located mostly in the various European countries (e.g. Andorra,
Austria,
Bulgaria,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czech
Republic, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, Slovakia,
Slovenia,
Spain,
Switzerland,
Turkey),
Canada,
the United States
(e.g. Colorado, California, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, New York, New Jersey,
Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire) New Zealand,
Japan,
South Korea,
Chile,
and Argentina.
Mass tourism
Reisepläne (Travel plans) by Adolph Menzel
(1875)
Mass tourism could only have developed with the
improvements in technology, allowing the transport
of large numbers of people in a short space of time to places of leisure
interest, so that greater numbers of people could begin to enjoy the benefits
of leisure time.
In the United States,
the first seaside resorts in the European style were at Atlantic City, New Jersey
and Long Island,
New York.
In Continental Europe, early resorts included: Ostend,
popularised by the people of Brussels; Boulogne-sur-Mer
(Pas-de-Calais)
and Deauville
(Calvados)
for the Parisians;
and Heiligendamm,
founded in 1793, as the first seaside resort on the Baltic Sea.
Adjectival tourism
For a more comprehensive list, see List of adjectival tourisms.
Adjectival tourism refers to the numerous niche or
specialty travel forms of tourism that have emerged over the years, each with
its own adjective. Many of these have come into common use by the tourism
industry and academics.[23]
Others are emerging concepts that may or may not gain popular usage. Examples
of the more common niche tourism markets include:
Recent developments
There has been an up-trend in tourism over the
last few decades, especially in Europe, where international travel for short
breaks is common. Tourists have a wide range of budgets and tastes, and a wide
variety of resorts and hotels have developed to cater for them. For example,
some people prefer simple beach vacations, while others want more specialised
holidays, quieter resorts, family-oriented holidays or niche market-targeted destination
hotels.
The developments in technology and transport
infrastructure, such as jumbo jets, low-cost
airlines and more accessible airports have made many types of tourism more affordable. On
28 April 2009 The Guardian noted that "the WHO estimates that up to
500,000 people are on planes at any time."[24]
There have also been changes in lifestyle, for example some retirement-age
people sustain year round tourism. This is facilitated by internet sales of tourist services. Some sites
have now started to offer dynamic
packaging, in which an inclusive price is quoted for a tailor-made
package requested by the customer upon impulse.
There have been a few setbacks in tourism, such as
the September 11 attacks and terrorist
threats to tourist destinations, such as in Bali and several European
cities. Also, on 26 December 2004, a tsunami, caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, hit the Asian
countries on the Indian Ocean, including the Maldives.
Thousands of lives were lost including many tourists. This, together with the
vast clean-up
operations, stopped or severely hampered tourism in the area for a time.
The terms tourism and travel are
sometimes used interchangeably. In this context, travel has a similar
definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey. The terms tourism
and tourist are sometimes used pejoratively, to imply a shallow interest
in the cultures or locations visited by tourists.
Sustainable tourism
Main article: Sustainable tourism
"Sustainable tourism is envisaged as leading
to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and
aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity,
essential ecological processes, biological
diversity and life support systems." (World Tourism Organization)[25]
Sustainable development implies
"meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs." (World Commission on Environment and Development,
1987)[26]
Sustainable tourism can be seen as having regard
to ecological and socio-cultural carrying capacities and includes involving the
community of the destination in tourism development planning. It also involves
integrating tourism to match current economic and growth policies so as to mitigate
some of the negative economic and social impacts of 'mass tourism'. Murphy
(1985) advocates the use of an 'ecological approach', to consider both 'plants'
and 'people' when implementing the sustainable tourism development process.
This is in contrast to the 'boosterism' and 'economic'
approaches to tourism planning, neither of which consider the detrimental ecological
or sociological impacts of tourism development to a destination.
However, Butler questions the exposition of the
term 'sustainable' in the context of tourism, citing its ambiguity and stating
that "the emerging sustainable development philosophy of the 1990s can be
viewed as an extension of the broader realization that a preoccupation with
economic growth without regard to its social and environmental consequences is
self-defeating in the long term." Thus 'sustainable tourism development'
is seldom considered as an autonomous function of economic regeneration as
separate from general economic growth.
Ecotourism
Main article: Ecotourism
Ecotourism, also known as ecological tourism, is
responsible travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that
strives to be low impact and (often) small scale. It helps educate the
traveler; provides funds for conservation; directly benefits the economic
development and political empowerment of local communities; and fosters respect
for different cultures and for human rights.
Pro-poor tourism
Main article: Pro-poor tourism
Pro-poor tourism, which seeks to help the poorest
people in developing countries, has been receiving increasing attention by
those involved in development; the issue has been addressed through small-scale
projects in local communities and through attempts by Ministries of Tourism to
attract large numbers of tourists. Research by the Overseas Development Institute
suggests that neither is the best way to encourage tourists' money to reach the
poorest as only 25% or less (far less in some cases) ever reaches the poor;
successful examples of money reaching the poor include mountain-climbing in Tanzania
and cultural tourism in Luang Prabang, Laos.[27]
Recession tourism
Main article: Recession tourism
Recession tourism is a travel trend, which evolved
by way of the world economic crisis. Identified by American entrepreneur Matt Landau (2007),
recession tourism is defined by low-cost, high-value experiences taking place
of once-popular generic retreats. Various recession tourism hotspots have seen
business boom during the recession thanks to comparatively low costs of living
and a slow world job market suggesting travelers are elongating trips where
their money travels further.
Medical tourism
Main article: Medical
tourism
When there is a significant price difference
between countries for a given medical procedure, particularly in Southeast
Asia, India,
Eastern
Europe and where there are different regulatory regimes, in relation
to particular medical procedures (e.g. dentistry),
traveling to take advantage of the price or regulatory differences is often
referred to as "medical tourism".
Educational tourism
Main article: Educational tourism
Educational tourism developed, because of the
growing popularity of teaching and learning of knowledge and the enhancing of
technical competency outside of the classroom environment.[citation needed] In educational
tourism, the main focus of the tour or leisure activity includes visiting
another country to learn about the culture, such as in Student Exchange Programs and Study Tours,
or to work and apply skills learned inside the classroom in a different
environment, such as in the International Practicum Training Program.
Creative tourism
Friendship Force visitors
from Indonesia meet their hosts in Hartwell,
Georgia, USA.
Creative tourism has existed as a form of cultural
tourism, since the early beginnings of tourism itself. Its European
roots date back to the time of the Grand Tour,
which saw the sons of aristocratic families traveling for the purpose of mostly
interactive, educational experiences. More recently, creative tourism has been
given its own name by Crispin Raymond and Greg Richards,[28]
who as members of the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS),
have directed a number of projects for the European Commission, including cultural and
crafts tourism, known as sustainable tourism. They have defined
"creative tourism" as tourism related to the active participation of travelers
in the culture
of the host community, through interactive workshops and informal learning
experiences.[28]
Meanwhile, the concept of creative tourism has
been picked up by high-profile organizations such as UNESCO, who
through the Creative Cities Network, have endorsed
creative tourism as an engaged, authentic experience that promotes an
active understanding of the specific cultural features of a place.[citation needed]
More recently, creative tourism has gained
popularity as a form of cultural tourism, drawing on active participation by
travelers in the culture of the host communities they visit. Several countries
offer examples of this type of tourism development, including the United Kingdom,
Austria, France, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Spain, Italy and New Zealand.
Dark tourism
Main article: Dark tourism
One emerging area of special interest has been
identified by Lennon and Foley (2000)[29][30]
as "dark"
tourism. This type of tourism involves visits to "dark"
sites, such as battlegrounds, scenes of horrific crimes or acts of genocide,
for example: concentration camps. Dark tourism remains a small niche market,
driven by varied motivations, such as mourning, remembrance, education, macabre
curiosity or even entertainment. Its early origins are rooted in fairgrounds
and medieval fairs.[31]
Doom tourism
Amalia
Glacier, South Patagonia, Chile
Also known as "Tourism of Doom," or
"Last Chance Tourism" this emerging trend involves traveling to
places that are environmentally or otherwise threatened (the ice caps of Mount
Kilimanjaro, the melting glaciers of Patagonia,
The coral of the Great Barrier Reef) before it is too late.
Identified by travel trade magazine Travel Age West[32]
editor-in-chief Kenneth Shapiro in 2007 and later explored in The New York Times,[33]
this type of tourism is believed to be on the rise. Some see the trend as
related to sustainable tourism or ecotourism
due to the fact that a number of these tourist destinations are considered
threatened by environmental factors such as global warming, over population or
climate change. Others worry that travel to many of these threatened locations
increases an individual’s carbon
footprint and only hastens problems threatened locations are already
facing.
Growth
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
forecasts that international tourism will continue growing at the average
annual rate of 4%.[34]
With the advent of e-commerce, tourism products have become one of
the most traded items on the internet.[citation needed] Tourism
products and services have been made available through intermediaries, although
tourism providers (hotels, airlines, etc.) can sell their services directly.
This has put pressure on intermediaries from both on-line and traditional
shops.
It has been suggested there is a strong
correlation between tourism expenditure per capita and the degree to which
countries play in the global context.[35]
Not only as a result of the important economic contribution of the tourism
industry, but also as an indicator of the degree of confidence with which
global citizens leverage the resources of the globe for the benefit of their local economies. This is why any
projections of growth in tourism may serve as an indication of the relative
influence that each country will exercise in the future.
Space tourism
is expected to "take off" in the first quarter of the 21st century,
although compared with traditional destinations the number of tourists in orbit
will remain low until technologies such as a space elevator
make space travel cheap.[citation needed]
Technological improvement is likely to make
possible air-ship hotels, based either on solar-powered
airplanes or large dirigibles.[citation needed] Underwater
hotels, such as Hydropolis, expected to open in Dubai in 2009, will be
built. On the ocean, tourists will be welcomed by ever larger cruise ships and
perhaps floating
cities.[citation needed]
Sports tourism
Main article: Sports
tourism
Since the late 1980s, sports
tourism has become increasingly popular. Events such as rugby,
Olympics, Commonwealth games, Asian Games and football World Cups have enabled
specialist travel companies to gain official ticket allocation and then sell
them in packages that include flights, hotels and excursions.
The focus on sport and spreading knowledge on the
subject, especially more so recently, lead to the increase in the sport
tourism. Most notably, the international event such as the Olympics caused a
shift in focus in the audience who now realize the variety of sports that exist
in the world. In the United States, one of the most popular sports that usually
are focused on was Football. This popularity was increased through major events
like the World Cups. In Asian countries, the numerous football events also
increased the popularity of football. But, it was the Olympics that brought
together the different sports that lead to the increase in sport tourism. The
drastic interest increase in sports in general and not just one sport caught
the attention of travel companies, who then began to sell flights in packages.
Due to the low number of people who actually purchase these packages than predicted,
the cost of these packages plummeted initially. As the number start to rise
slightly the packages increased to regain the lost profits. With the certain
economic state, the number of purchases decreased once again. The fluctuation
in the number of packages sold was solely dependent on the economic situation,
therefore, most travel companies were forced to set aside the plan to execute
the marketing of any new package features.
Latest trends
As a result of the late-2000s recession, international
arrivals suffered a strong slowdown beginning in June 2008. Growth from 2007 to
2008 was only 3.7% during the first eight months of 2008. This slowdown on
international tourism demand was also reflected in the air transport industry,
with a negative growth in September 2008 and a 3.3% growth in passenger traffic
through September. The hotel industry also reported a slowdown, with room
occupancy declining. In 2009 worldwide tourism arrivals decreased by 3.8%.[36]
By the first quarter of 2009, real travel demand in the United States had
fallen 6% over six quarters. While this is considerably milder than what
occurred after the 9/11 attacks, the decline was at twice the
rate as real GDP has fallen.[37][38]
However, evidence suggests that tourism as a
global phenomena shows no signs of substantially abating in the long term. Much
literature, especially that following the Mobilities
paradigm, suggests that travel is necessary in order to maintain relationships,
as social life is increasingly networked and conducted at a distance.[39]
For many vacations and travel are increasingly being viewed as a necessity
rather than a luxury, and this is reflected in tourist numbers recovering some
6.6% globally over 2009, with growth up to 8% in emerging economies.[36]
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