11th posting

I am choosing to write about my progress so far and the impacts of this blog on my overall writing skills. In the beginning of this project I thought that I would be doing little research and very little deep thinking. Well, I was completely wrong about that! Suffice it to say I have enjoyed digging deeply into research and soaking in the information.

Research and thinking deeply is harder than you think. Looking beyond the ordinary, or just thinking much more in depth is a very important skill to obtain. In my 7th posting I talked about a country’s hidden agenda to make a short-term profit. By looking a little further, I found some very interesting facts and opinions. For example, I found that the big resort hotels are sometimes hurting the environment by dumping their waste into the nearby lake or ocean. That was something that I would never have expected to learn while researching about long-term affects. Nevertheless, it is cool to learn something interesting that may not be directly related to your issue or point.

It has been an exciting journey and I have enjoyed writing my blog every week. It has been more than just boring homework it has been an interesting topic with a variety of eye-catching subtopics and diverse ideas each week. That figures high on my list of priorities. I am also happy to provide this information and be able to present it in a way so everyone can read it and learn something from it.

I have learned to write a movie review, a deeply written essay with a thesis, a progress report, a report with a numerical poll, a report with a data chart, and a variety of other literary writing styles that are related to this topic. Given this experience, I feel prepared to do this again if I were given the chance and also I feel lucky to have had so much freedom with this project. All the information that I have learned from my topic on exotic getaways has allowed me to decipher the true meaning of vacation and form my own opinion about it. Vacation is to do something solely for you, and get away from the distractions of life. Also, never look back on the stresses of living and always focus on what’s good in life and what you want to do.

10th posting

Movie Review

Who wouldn’t be willing to go to paradise to save your marriage? This was the premise used by Cynthia and Jason to convince three other couples into joining them for an exotic getaway. Couples Retreat is a comedy directed by Peter Billingsley and written by Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau and Dana Fox, who have all worked together in the past. This fictional film is an enjoyable adventure to the incredibly beautiful setting of Bora Bora. Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau (actors in this movie) add a humorous touch to the film, and with the extremely young and attractive wives, it creates a typical man-directed film. 

One would remember Peter Billingsley as the child actor turned producer/director who played Ralphie in A Christmas Story. He has a lifetime of experience in filmmaking and producing movies since he’s been in Hollywood most of his life. He has an innate ability to create hilariously funny scenes. Peter was also behind the scenes as an executive producer in the movie Iron Man directed by Jon Favreau, who actually plays Joey in Couples Retreat.

“It looks like a screensaver!” says actor Jon Favreau as Joey when they arrive at Eden resort at Bora Bora. But what they didn’t know is that they’re not going to be undergoing the typical free-to-do-what-you-want schedule. Instead, when obtaining the agenda brochure from the Eden Resort receptionist they found otherwise. Although, Cynthia and Jason, the one’s driving the plan, already knew about this so called agenda of waking up at 6 A.M. and doing couple’s skill building classes and experiencing the French Fabio of yoga instructors, the other three couples remain clueless. The humor and hilarity of the misunderstanding generates the adventure that the couples will go through.            

Couples Retreat is far from an immaculate film, but is a light-hearted entertaining movie that teaches a lesson. Learning to live with your spouse by staying true to yourself is one of the messages that I perceived from watching this film. After the couples got over the agenda problem things got interesting, funny and free. They started to loosen up and have fun with it. The film accomplishes their goal by creating a true-to-life relevant and funny story line. Since the people who made this film were familiar with each other, by default, they added another success to their list of achievements. 

9th posting

In America people spend approximately 3% of their annual income on traveling. These findings were recorded in 2008, and it is my opinion that the recession has caused a decline in the 3% since then. The 97% portion of the graph incorporates mortgage payments or rent, food, utilities, clothing, insurance, entertainment and communication costs. Families work in order to pay for the cost of living, which is so high that people are not able to take as much time away from all this as they used to. One of the things I noticed about this graph is the 44% of that 3% is used for transportation. That just shows you that the price of traveling is dependant on the price of oil and gas. It also shows our dependence on outside countries that are in control of the indispensable energy of everyday life.

The Bureau of Labor has access to people’s tax records to use as part of their research. Because this site is a .gov I believe it is very accurate and reliable as far as factual information goes. Out of anyone who could come up with this graph, the US Department of Labor knows about this stuff on a national level. They have a lot of data to analyze and support. This data point is probably under the scrutiny of the BLS on a yearly basis. This is relevant to my topic because if Americans are among the most traveled people in the world this impacts the tourism industry negatively. The percent of  a households traveling costs will have an effect on the tourism industry because of the recession and because of what I said above (people having to work and pay the 97% of the graph just to live normaly). This data opened my eye’s up to all the things households pay for besides their travel costs. This also made me sad because Americans aren’t taking as much time for themselves anymore and their mostly focusing on making it financially on a daily basis.

Month, By. "Travel: BLS Spotlight on Statistics." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. July 2010. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. <http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2010/travel/>.

8th posting

            Throughout this English 4 class I have developed a liking for this blog project. It allows us to save paper, and use our existing technology. It was a rigorous challenge getting myself started with this blog, particularly choosing my topic. Exotic getaways have been a wonder to me forever, but so have many other things, which made it hard to decide on one topic of interest. When I decided to do exotic vacation spots I did some simple research to find some quick facts. It ended up being a little harder because there are key words you have to type in to find information, and not just a travel site that doesn’t help. I learned so much since we started, which is what I was striving for. I feel more aware of what is happening in the vacation world presently now that I’ve done some deep research. Also, I have learned much more about where to vacation and where to not vacation depending on my liking.

            This last blog helped me learn lots of stuff related to my thesis. I got to know more about how resorts make money and maintain a steady income. I also have been able to learn about the poverty and wastewater issue’s involved specifically in Cancun Mexico where they have giant resort areas with people living in 5 star conditions. That opened my eyes up to other possible countries who are suffering this crisis as well. When I posted my poll a couple weeks ago I noticed some interesting stuff as I analyzed the data. But I was expecting this data for a reason. People will not vacation to places too much like where they currently live because you wouldn’t be experiencing anything different. This blog project also helped me pick and choose the “credible” sites and find information within the site that helps you decide weather it is a reliable site. In the very beginning of this blog project I was researching simply vacationing in today’s society. I found it to be much more rare to vacation then it used to be, mostly because of people’s financial state. Also, people do not just vacation to get away from work or stress. I found that people actually travel to volunteer or to cook. Many cooking vacations have become popular and yoga as well.

            Now that I know a lot about exotic places I feel more prepared to travel. Although I still wonder things about people’s cultural activities involved when you travel to other countries, what to do and not do, and what to say and not say mostly involving respect. I hope to further my research to the point where I know as much as possible and my brain can’t take anymore. The rubric proved to be indispensable in preparing my blog posts throughout this project because it guided my writing. It was fun to design and work on a project that is under development the whole time. It’s helped me be a better editor and also designer. 

7th Posting

When building expensive, world-class resort areas, the danger and pressure to make short-term profit often hides long-term ramifications and eventually puts countries in a bad economic state. Some of those ramifications can range from, retaining workers, and maintaining a clean and luxurious area, to making sure there is enough money to operate the resort and pay their bills and taxes. Also, making a profit from tourist income is an issue because most country’s goals are to create cash flow, and make more money than they spent building the resort. This can be a challenge especially for third world countries since it is costly to bring in materials and they are dependant on the tourist as a commodity. Nowadays, the average tourist needs to come from all over the world in order to keep the reservations coming in. For example, the money it takes to build the resort and the cash flow it takes to keep the place running like paying the workers, cleaners, and cooks, will affect their profit in the long run if tourists are only coming from one location. The development costs of a resort are also difficult to plan for when you depend on many other countries for building materials, supplies and more. This is why it is dangerous to build expensive resorts without first thinking and planning for the future.

            When building a sizeable resort there is many intangible issues that you have to take into account. Travel cost is an important factor in making a profit; it must be affordable for the tourist to reach the destination and have enough money left over to spend while they are there. “The direct income for an area is the amount of tourist expenditure that remains locally after taxes, profits, and wages are paid outside the area and after imports are purchased; these subtracted amounts are called leakage (http://www.unep.fr/scp/tourism/sustain/impacts/economic/negative.htm, Economic Impacts of Tourism)”. A portion of the money that is spent by the tourists actually goes to companies that are not located within that country, like “A study of tourism 'leakage' in Thailand estimated that 70% of all money spent by tourists ended up leaving Thailand (via foreign-owned tour operators, airlines, hotels, imported drinks and food, etc.). Estimates for other Third World countries range from 80% in the Caribbean to 40% in India (http://www.publicsector.org)”. So, even though people are spending money to go to a certain resort, all of that money does not calculate into a profit for the country. Developers have to do methodical research in order to make a business plan that considers all these complex details.

            The tourism industry is causing resorts to lose part of the local economy. The big businesses that assail the country’s income are taking an essential part of their economic income. “Economic recession and the impacts of changing tourism patterns can have a devastating effect on the local tourism sector (http://www.unep.fr/scp/tourism/sustain/impacts/economic/negative.htm, Economic Impacts of Tourism)”. One of the risks involved in these world class resorts is the fact that you have to make sure people are able to vacation there. In other words, if people, for some economic reason, cannot visit the resort anymore, there is a huge issue for the country that relies on that income. The resort also must make sure that they are able to meet their operating costs and build in a profit margin allowing for fluctuations in the market. If tourism stops in that resort area, the country is lacking economic stability and therefore will not be able to pay for all of these costs. 

            The local resort needs to appeal to a global population and economy because “Of each US $100 spent on a vacation tour by a tourist from a developed country, only around US $5 actually stays in a developing-country destination's economy. http://www.unep.fr/scp/tourism/sustain/impacts/economic/negative.htm, Economic Impacts of Tourism)”. For example, if you take a look at the historical development of the Aspen area as a world-class resort you can see how it has changed to keep up with the economic times. In the 1960’s Aspen was mainly a winter ski resort. Over the years, Aspen continued to expand the mountain terrain to include Aspen Highlands, Aspen Mountain, Snowmass and Buttermilk. Aspen has even grown to include such things as the X Games, music festivals of all kinds, and fall and summer times of year for tourism. It shows how the resort has had to evolve in order to keep people coming.

             Clearly the ramifications are more long term than short term when building and maintaining a resort area.  Also, there are clear and present risks involved in making a world-class resort, which makes the process and development more complicated. It is not worth building if you do not have a business plan for all the expenses and operations that have to maintain themselves as long as the resort is functioning.

Works Sited

"UNEP DTIE SCP Branch: Tourism." UNEP Division of Technology, Industry, and Economics. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://www.unep.fr/scp/tourism/sustain/impacts/economic/negative.htm>.

"Agenda 21." While Travelling 5 - Questions for Your Travel Agent. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://www.publicsector.org/local_agenda_21and_you/WhileTravelling/5Questions.html>.

"What We Do." Tourism Concern. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/>.

6th Posting

There is a paradox existing between many five star resorts with every luxury imaginable, and the local neighborhoods down the street where families are living in blatant poverty. A place that exemplifies this is Cancun, Mexico. When tourists vacation in Cancun, most of them do not leave the Zona Hotelera, which is the long strip of hotels, resorts and expensive stores. The resorts are designed so no American feels far from home with  McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food places, along with anything else they need. The Zona is located just one block from a very distinct dividing line. “More than 44 million Mexican families are living in poverty. They literally have nothing, no clean water, no money for food, and no clean living conditions. About 15 million of the 44 million live in what we would call extreme poverty, with no food and nothing to sustain them. (Cancuncanuck.com, Blog Action Day-Poverty in Mexico).” “Going down Avenue Kukulkan, a long strip of golf courses and polluted lagoons, you come along Km. 0, the point at which the scenery begins to change. Still there are the multinationals like Pizza Hut and OfficeMax. The hotels are gone, as well as the beach and most of the gringos. Here are the markets and smaller ‘quainter’ restaurants. Here is where the tourists would come to experience some ‘culture.’ Beyond this is unknown to them. Here, in these neighborhoods, there is often no fresh water or electricity, and no sewage treatment plants. The groundwater is contaminated from sewage runoff, so self-sufficiency is hopeless. Education is often ignored in the face of poverty, and drugs have become a useful response to the boredom that goes along with it. The lagoons are becoming polluted by leakage from the hotels. The very attractions that support the infrastructure of Cancun, the beaches and the sea, are perishing under the weight of capitalism. This means that Cancun is dying, and with it goes the whole population of Cancun. Those who have built Cancun will surely go down with it, while only those who profit will escape, unharmed. (upsidedownworld.org, The Real Cancun).” This harsh viewpoint proposes a reality that in-fact turn out to be true in the long run. What happens when we can’t travel anymore if our economy is not strong enough to support personal luxury travel? Cancun will not so beautiful if they are solely dependent upon tourism income. 

 When the Zona Hotelera was being developed, the Mexican government wanted to have a tourism area that was more popular than Acapulco at the time. Before the development, this area of the Yucatan Peninsula was a thick jungle. “Cancun was the first large project this part of the country had ever seen and was expected to help the economy. The Mexican government pushed the project by investing itself vast amounts of money into the infrastructure of the area. (SunofCancun.com, History of Cancun Mexico).”  They wanted to turn it into a five star resort area because they knew it would bring money into the economy like it had done with Acapulco. The tourist industry is not all about exploitation. These resorts are supporting and contributing to the development of the local economy by providing jobs and making money available to further improve the systems like water, roads and power. It is possible that Cancun will eventually become like Acapulco, where instead of having poverty-stricken shacks next to the resort, they will actually evolve into more middle class neighborhoods with grocery stores, homes and schools. During this evolution there are many details to consider. They have to decide whether to maintain the resort as a non-urban beach setting or let it grow naturally into a big city.  It is a question of balance – how to keep tourists coming to an exotic getaway or to make it more like home with a Wal-mart just down the street from your hotel. So far, resort areas in the Cancun strip are finding ways to improve their resort without allowing too much commercialization. This is quite a challenge throughout the tourism industry.

Works Sited

"Blog Action Day- Poverty in Mexico." A Canuck in Cancun. 15 Oct. 2008. Web. 07 Nov. 2010. <http://www.cancuncanuck.com/2008/10/poverty-in-mexico.html>.

"History of Cancun Mexico." Cancun Mexico. 2004. Web. 07 Nov. 2010. <http://www.sunofcancun.com/history-cancun-mexico.php>.

Tonak, By Ali. "The Real Cancun (11/10/03)." Upside Down World. 17 Oct. 2005. Web. 07 Nov. 2010. <http://upsidedownworld.org/main/trade-archives-54/78-the-real-cancun-111003>.

5th posting

                    To further my research about exotic places, I gave a survey so that I cold have some of my own statistics. My survey consisted of one question: what is your idea of an exotic getaway? I asked this particular question based on my hypothesis that says if the people surveyed lived in one of the places listed that they would not choose it as their exotic getaway. I expected that people wouldn’t choose the mountain climbing because it is banal and quotidian. Since we live in the mountains, going mountain climbing wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. Also, I expected that if the people had already visited a place listed on the survey that they wouldn’t choose it either. Although, some people only go to one exotic destination because of their positive experience there, and see it as an exotic place forever no matter how many times they’ve visited.

           

What is your idea of an exotic getaway??
Sandy Beaches, blue ocean	5 votes
Mountain/Rock Climbing	0 votes
Africa-Volunteer vacation (help the poor)	1 vote
Big City with Bright Lights	1 vote
Egypt-learning vacation (study pyramids and culture)	3 votes

           

               As you can see above, my data consists of ten votes, 5 of those votes are form students in the class, and the other 5 are homeowners in RVR. I was sort of happy the way the results came out because it followed my hypothesis. No one voted for mountain climbing. Many people voted for sandy beaches and blue oceans, which I was anticipating as well. I know people around here do not go mountain climbing because it is more like a backyard activity than an exotic getaway. I was pleased that people voted for Egypt because it is not exactly a place that people just visit willy nilly, it is an exotic destination. This research helped me see what kinds of places that I might possibly research later in the semester. I would love to give information about these places to people that voted on this blog so that they know some knowledge about where they might plan to vacation. I would like to further my knowledge on people’s perspectives on Egypt mainly, and the background knowledge behind all the mysterious pyramids. Africa and Egypt sit adjacent to each other in a sense of wanting to further my studies on them. Overall I was expecting this data and I am happy that it came out the way I wanted it to.

4th posting

Dubai is located east of Saudi Arabia, North of Oman and off the coast of the Gulf of Oman. Dubai’s coastal area is one of the most visited exotic places in the world. People want to visit there because of the unique nature of the area. One of seven Emirates that make up The United Arab Emirates, Dubai’s coastal palm islands are also known as the 8^th Wonder of the World. The islands are man-made and the contemporary architecture is stunning. This locale is certainly an eccentric example of 21^st century engineering and architecture. This area has been built within the last 10 years and boasts to be one of the most futuristic cities.

Dubaicity.com is an effective and credible source of information. “Dubaicity.com is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program. TRUSTe is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to enable individuals and organizations to establish trusting relationships based on respect for personal identity and information by promoting the use of fair information practices.” This site was copywrited in 2009. This site allows me to find information about Dubai easily and clearly. The site is particularly focused on Dubai and its attractions, airfare, luxurious locations, shopping and site seeing. I searched thourghouly through the site and compared information from other sites and found that the information is accurate. The cool and easy thing about this site is that it has events going on that day and also gives you the current time of day it is, and also Dubai currency rates off to the right side of the webpage. If you went to the top of the page you would find a place that would tell you the current weather forecast for the day. I feel that the wording of the information is easy to understand. The layout of the webpage could be more appealing to the audience. They should use more alluring colors, or organize the advertisements more effectively so it’s not cluttering the page.

Dubai’s main focus is to attract tourists and show off their ultramodern city and surrounding attractions to the world. They put a lot of money into the development of these websites and related links in order to make it easy for people to find information about this incredible city. They are trying to change their reputation from being nomadic people to a well-developed amiable area to visit.

Source:

"Dubai Wonders | Dubai Masterpiece | Dubai Architecture." Complete News and Information about Dubai City | Dubai Hotels Travel Shopping Mall Properties Guide | Dubai Holiday Travel. 2009. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.dubaicity.com/dubai-wonders/index.htm>.

3rd Posting

“Until the middle of the 19th century, Americans used the word vacation the way the English do, the time when teachers and students vacate the school premises and go off on their own. In those days, a vacation was also a mark of privilege. Over time, the vacation became a middle class institution, as well as a time for physical, mental and spiritual self-improvement, not to mention sheer entertainment (www.npr.org Cindy Aron The History Of The Vacation Examined)”. In the early 19^th century only the elite vacationed, and nowadays whoever has the money to spend goes on vacations.

In today’s society vacationing is harder than it used to be. One contributing factor is people’s financial situation. More people have filed for unemployment and therefore will not be spending Christmas in Hawaii. These are the families that cannot afford to spend money on a vacation. Many places, such as Las Vegas, cut their costs immensely to lure vacationers, but families continue to hold on to their money because they are afraid of spending.

Vacationing used to be a way for people to escape from work or the stresses of everyday life. People are becoming more and more creative and altruistic in their desire to travel. For example, people may want to visit Africa and so they go to teach children or help communities with poverty. This is personally rewarding and beneficial to third world countries. Another creative idea about traveling is cooking vacations. “Cooking vacations continue to grow in popularity, and not just for people who are good cooks. Cooking schools now offer a wide range of themed programs that benefit everyone from rising-star chefs to newbie’s clueless about such basics as boiling eggs (National Geographic-Traveler, Flavorful Pairings by Renee Restivo)”. Vacationing for different reasons besides your own health and well being benefits you and opens your mind to new things. In order to escalate your experience it is enjoyable to vacation for reasons that are not so selfish.

Sources

Considered, Things. "The History Of The Vacation Examined : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. 17 June 2009. Web. 09 Oct. 2010. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105545388>.


Wise, Jayne. "Flavorful Pairings." National Geographic July-Aug. 2004: 106. Print.

2nd posting-Background

Everybody has a different idea when it comes to paradise.  For some, paradise would be climbing in a remote mountain range and sleeping in a tent that hangs cliff-side. For others, paradise would be bone fishing in the Exumas, or sailing for six months from South Africa to Australia to Antarctica. Conversely, others consider their home to be their paradise. For me, the epitome of luxury would be a place with clear, blue ocean water and white sandy beaches.

Paradise is defined as a place, situation, or condition in which somebody finds perfect happiness, or where there is everything that a particular person needs for his or her interest. Taking a vacation is also a nebulous concept that may mean different things to different people. Some people think it is an excuse to get time off work, or spend more time with their family. In any case, it is a good way to escape reality and have a break from a stressful life. “There are various natural vacation sites that are located in different parts of the world like spectacular beaches and lakes and eye-catching waterfalls. Today, almost every one prefers to enjoy their holidays in the lapse of nature so that they can easily spend some grand time of their life with their family members and relatives (Travlang.com)”.

When it is time to seek out your perfect vacation, the methodical approach will help you achieve “perfect happiness”. Deciding where you want to travel is the first step in planning an exotic getaway.  You want to think about details like how much time you have and what things you want to do. Also, explore different pricings and packages to help you decide your budget for the trip. No need to go overspending money that you do not have.

A lot of resorts and hotels provide you with luxuries you have never dreamed of. In some locations, the hotel room has a glass wall with an ocean view -- literally under the water. Other getaways cater to the people desiring privacy  -- private beaches and even your own island. One of the realities of exotic vacationing is that the changes in modes of travel have made some areas less and less of a getaway. Exotic resort areas around the world are becoming more exploited by world travelers. The current economic state in the United States has made it cheaper to get a penthouse in Las Vegas. This being a fact, some destinations are flooded with visitors and “paradise” may not be the ideal that people want. But, in other countries there are private beaches, resorts and even islands that can be all for you and your family. This, of course would be much more expensive than going to Las Vegas. Exotic vacationing is all about your definition of getaway and paradise.

If your perfect place includes understanding others cultures and lives, this might not be as luxurious as going to a beach and having servants at your hand and foot. But that might be what suits you. I personally think it would be interesting to experience how other cultures live and have a break from computers and cell phones. If you took a vacation to Egypt you would experience the way they live, and see their lives from your perspective. This can help you understand how other cultures live.

This blog will be exploring many different types of vacations and paradises. I hope you all enjoy what I research.

 Sources

"Make Your Vacations Comical with A Visit To The Black Pool Beach | Travlang Travel Guide." Travlang's Language and Travel Resources. Web. 04 Oct. 2010. <http://www.travlang.com/blog/make-your-vacations-comical-with-a-visit-to-the-black-pool-beach/>.

"Extreme Vacation on Maho Beach." Exotic Vacation Places. Web. 03 Oct. 2010. <http://www.exoticvacationplaces.com/2010/09/extreme-vacation-on-maho-beach.html>.

1st posting

My topic is exotic getaways and vacation spots. For the next hand full of weeks i will be talking about places you dream about! Within this topic there are many different subcategories such as the affect of tourists on the economy, cultural exchange, the physical affect on the environment and many more. I am interested in discussing the different perspectives of the class about their views or experiences on exotic getaways. I do not have a great deal of knowledge at this point about exotic places so i am looking forward to researching. I am particularly interested to learn about the reasons why people are drawn to certain locations. I am confident that you guys will have a keen on interest in the beautiful and mysterious places that i will be discussing and i hope to gain insight on these places.
I have many questions that i hope to get answered. For example;
- How do tourists affect the economy of the vacation spot?
- How do the resort spots get their funds if the country's economy isn't stable?
- What are the reasons why people vacation in certain places?
- What are the physical affects on the environment when you build a giant resort area?
- How does vacationing itself affect people and their economic state?