Chekhov and Mauassant essays

Chekhov and Mauassant essays The Darling by Anton Chekhov and The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant are very similar pieces of writing even though they were written fifteen years apart and in two separate countries (Russia and France respectively). In both stories we have a woman who loses something at a point in her life, and she is forever a different person because of it. Precisely looking at a passage from The Darling and a passage from The Necklace, one can notice many similarities between the two stories. The passage from Chekhovs The Darling starting on page 298 and finishing on page 299 from Now she was absolutely alone. (298) To And she would shake the kitten off her skirt and say... (299). This passage, written in the third person, takes place after the main character Olenka (Olga) is absolutely alone. At this point, her father has been dead for a long while, her first husband Kukin had passed away, her second husband Pustovalov had just died, and her friend Vladimir Platonitch had left her. At this point, she is very depressing, yet no one feels sorrow for her any longer. They no longer look at her as they used to and did not smile at her. She does not enjoy life anymore. She sits at her porch and looks without interest. In Guy de Maupassants The Necklace, Madame Loisel changes through her loss of a friends necklace. During the time the Loisels are repaying the loans back, Mme. Loisel changes drastically. She goes from a young woman in heart and physical appearance to strong and hard and rough. This is clearly evident in the passage on page 980 to 981 at Mme. Loisel now knew the horrible existence of the needy (980) to How little a thing is needed for us to be lost or to be saved! (981) Mme. Loisel, aged from the ten h...

The History of the Valentines Day Origins

The History of the Valentines Day Origins St Valentines Day has roots in several different legends that have found their way to us through the ages. One of the earliest popular symbols of Valentines day is Cupid, the Roman god of love, who is represented by the image of a young boy with bow and arrow. Several theories surround the history of Valentines Day. Was There a Real Valentine? Three hundred years after the death of Jesus Christ, the Roman emperors still demanded that everyone believe in the Roman gods. Valentine, a Christian priest, had been thrown in prison for his teachings. On February 14, Valentine was beheaded, not only because he was a Christian, but also because he had performed a miracle. He supposedly cured the jailers daughter of her blindness. The night before he was executed, he wrote the jailers daughter a farewell letter, signing it From Your Valentine. Another legend tells us that this same Valentine, well-loved by all, received notes to his jail cell from children and friends who missed him. Bishop Valentine? Another Valentine was an Italian bishop who lived at about the same time, AD 200. He was imprisoned because he secretly married couples, contrary to the laws of the Roman emperor. Some legends say he was burned at the stake. Feast of Lupercalia The ancient Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia, a spring festival, on the 15th of February, held in honor of a goddess. Young men randomly chose the name of a young girl to escort to the festivities. With the introduction of Christianity, the holiday moved to the 14th of February. The Christians had come to celebrate February 14 as the saint day that celebrated the several early Christian martyrs named Valentine. Choosing a Sweetheart on Valentines Day The custom of choosing a sweetheart on this date spread through Europe in the Middle Ages, and then to the early American colonies. Throughout the ages, people also believed that birds picked their mates on February 14! In A.D. 496, Saint Pope Gelasius I declared February 14 as Valentines Day. Although its not an official holiday, most Americans observe this day. Whatever the odd mixture of origins, St. Valentines Day is now a day for sweethearts. It is the day that you show your friend or loved one that you care. You can send candy to someone you think is special and share a special song with them. Or you can send roses, the flower of love. Â  Most people send valentine a greeting card named after the notes that St. Valentine received in jail. Greeting Cards Probably the first greeting cards, handmade valentines, appeared in the 16th century. As early as 1800, companies began mass-producing cards. Initially, these cards were hand-colored by factory workers. By the early 20th century even fancy lace and ribbon strewn cards were created by machine.

La Misma Luna Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

La Misma Luna - Essay Example La Misma Luna is a modern day film that takes the viewers on a journey. The setting of the film varies significantly, but presents different environment and situation that the character finds himself. Besides, the setting ranges from lavish cities and restaurants in Los Angels to poverty-stricken background of the boy. In addition, the boy finds himself in the truck as he illegal gets immigrated by coyotes. The director of the film in bringing out the crude mode of trans-border dubious strategies succeeded in highlighting reckless police checks at the border. As the film progresses, the boy finds himself at the edge of being caught by the police. In the same scene, some women dresses provocatively around the restaurant suggestive of females working in the sex trade. In addition, men characters are seen wearing small boxer shorts an indication of immorality at the restaurants where immigrants find themselves working. The film portrays a woman smoking, men drinking beer and using derogatory language as they watch a football match. La Misma Luna â€Å" you bastard come here†. It is, therefore, certain that through costume designs immorality is brought to focus. In Mexico, the scenes appear darker an indication of sheer poverty. In addition, the Rosario, the leading protagonist is among the few lucky people to enjoy the bright U.S environment. In one of the scenes, Rosario is awakened by an alarm and she shouts "Are you up?" However, the lighting and the scene changes to Mexico to Carlitos as he prepares to leave in pursuit of his mother. In this scene, the lighting, costumes and setting helps to bring out the contrast of life in these two different worlds. The boy meets a benevolent fellow migrant Enrique although they separated shortly after crossing border. In this scene, the three-pointer light use helps in unraveling the boy emotional

Criminal and civil litigation; Mental Health Law Coursework

Criminal and civil litigation; Mental Health Law - Coursework Example In every criminal situation, the Mens Rea concept has to be present, which in simply terms is the Latin word for â€Å"a guilty mind.† Consequently, the concept of Mens Rea carries out an in-depth analysis of the mind of the defendant in the moment preceding the crime. This goes to explore the thoughts and intentions of the defendant during the committing of a crime as this plays a great role in determining the culpability of a defendant. As such, the concept of Mens Rea enables the criminal justice system to differentiate between an individual who did not plan or mean to commit a crime, and an individual who planned and set out intentionally to commit a given crime. This concept rules out crimes that were intentional from crimes that were accidental, even if the results of the crime were the same1. For example, in the event of a murder case, the attorneys of law can evaluate the case to determine whether it was pure murder case or manslaughter. The difference in these two legal terms is that the former was an intentional crime whereby the defendant plotted to kill the victim and actually executed his or her plan. On the other hand, the latter is an accidental crime whereby the defendant accidentally killed the victim without prior intentions to end their victim’s life, such as a case of self-defense, a stray bullet, or a riot stampede. The charges for both cases also differs depending on the legal position established by the judge, as well as, the prosecution team on the guilty mind of the defendant in the moments preceding the commitment of a given crime. For instance, the above case has the same charge, which is death of an individual, whether committed intentionally or otherwise. As such, the guilty party has to face the charges of the crime committed, and the extent of the punishment vented against him or her for the crime depends on their guilty conscience

Has globalization improved womens political and economic conditions Essay

Has globalization improved womens political and economic conditions - Essay Example 2. Globalisation is said to have been successful and has been beneficial, but at the same time it has caused harm or damage. There are both winners and losers from globalisation.3 Globalisation has not affected all countries or regions in the same way, so that the processes of change is not the same for all.4 Because of different levels of modernisation and technological capacity, regions and countries have not felt similar effects of globalisation. Southeast Asia’s experience, for example, differs from that of the experiences of Vietnam and South Korea in terms of benefits and losses in the process of economic globalisation.5 Across regions, socio-economic groups within regions, and between sexes, the process has not been equal.6 Those who benefit from it generally assert that it, too, is beneficial for all. On the other hand, those against it, particularly the intellectuals and street protesters, declare that it is universally evil.7 Hence, there are strongly differing views on globalisation including when it concerns women. Author George Soroos,8 for example, argues that the global financial system is dangerously unstable and must be regulated. Another one, Clare Short 9 argues that the outcome of globalisation depends upon political choices made. Writing in December 2000 in Making Globalisation Work for the Poor, Short asserts that if and only if the right political choices are made, can the poor benefit. 10 Lene Sjorup11 does not look at globalisation as an arch-enemy. She says women may sometimes be victims of globalisation but can also be benefactors as actors too. Arguing that globalisation if not defined, examined, and discussed, is a very broad category, she says it can become useless as an analytical tool. For example, she warns that a myopic view of globalisation may depict it as an overwhelming enemy victimizing women, but when integrated with a nation state’s system, globalisation will even strengthen the feminist movement worldwide. To

Business Proposal On Tailor Made Adventure Holidays Tourism Essay

Business Proposal On Tailor Made Adventure Holidays Tourism Essay This report puts forth a unique business proposal, based on tailor-made adventure holidays. This business plan encompasses unique holiday packages for adventure lovers residing in the United Kingdom, attractive deal of prices and promises of delivering a true value for money experience to our customers, a clear understanding of the market, the anchoring segmentation, marketing and pricing strategies that confirm a competitive edge over existing players in the market, along with the financial projections made in light of realistic terms and conditions. To deliver our customers an entire experience to value, rather than a mere service for a value. Our aim is to make it a very simple and pleasant experience for our customers at every step, i.e. right from the time they consult us to bookings made, to the time their trip comes to an end and even after that we intend to live up to the needs of a good and lasting customer relationship. To encourage eco-tourism. Our second aim is to actively encourage eco-tourism. Any kind of harm caused to the ecology, if witnessed, would certainly not be entertained. Our effort towards this aim would be, say, taking care of the camels during camel safari that is amongst one of our packages for trip to Rajasthan in India. Also, not causing any kind of disruptions to the space and milieu of various animals, during trips to forests, would be highly acknowledged. Especially, during trips to forests in Africa which form a paradise for several endangered species. Our objectives are: To be the first choice of our prospective customers. We wish to be the first choice of the adventure lovers in the UK, seeking to book adventure trips for themselves. To rule the niche market of exclusive tailor-made adventure holidays. Considering the fact that we belong to an extremely niche market, it is one of our prime objectives to dominate the market, where customers come to us by choice, and not just by chance. To cover as many as, all the adventurous destinations round the globe by 2020. We intend to take our customers to numerous destinations to adventure the real variety of adventure! Right from the soft adventures like balloon safaris through the royal palaces of the incredible Rajasthan in India to extreme adventures of confronting the ultimate wildlife in the bushes of Amazon. In years to come, not only cover, but we also intend to discover such adventurous destinations round the globe that are still waiting to be seen and experienced. Product PRODUCT The product we would be offering is the various packages to the destinations mentioned below. Destinations Europe Asia Africa Polland India Spain Thailand Amazon Turkey Tanzania Uganda Initially, we have chosen these eight destinations because, they exhibit variety in adventure. Our packages to these destinations would be promoted by the following names: Phenomenal India Wild Tanzania Thai venture Enticing Poland Frantic Amazon Sensational Spain Kingkong Uganda Thrill In Turkey CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR PRODUCT Exclusively for UK residents wanting to book an adventure tour. Our main focus as far as customers are concerned, are the people residing only in the United Kingdom and the ones who want to go for an adventure trip in particular. Tailor-made in true sense. We are different from other tailor-made tour companies as we provide for freedom of choice in every sense. For e.g. definitely, apart from our advice and suggestions; our customer is given a wide range of choices to make according to his requirement and convenience with respect to selection of hotel rooms (whether deluxe or economy), option of booking Air tickets with us, including or excluding the meal option and so on. Also, our customer is free to decide the combination of adventure activities within a destination, like, he may choose a combination of Tiger Safari and Paragliding in two different places within India that we offer. For all age groups. We are open to all age groups because we offer a mix of soft as well as extreme adventure. The customer decides the price is our key selling proposition. Other agencies offer packages inclusive of all its features for a set price. We would offer only what the customer is seeking for and he pays only for what he chooses. Thus, it is the customers choice of place, adventure and price too! All procedures are just at a click of a button. Our official website would provide for easy accessibility to complete information of our products, booking and payment procedures and all the required guidelines to our customers all over UK. Market analysis Market research is just like the foundation of any business research. Thus, it is one of the most crucial functionality that makes a piece of information more reliable and evident. Businesses, small or large, need this kind of research, not only to keep a track of the market, but also, to understand what and how certain strategies need to be introduced into the business to keep in pace with the uncertain market situations. For a start up business like ours, market research and analysis is of great onus, to determine the feasibility of a new business. Our market analysis comprises of reports from Keynote and other websites like CNBC, that discuss about the UK travel market. The following data largely talks about our market, the customer behaviour persisting in the market and the trends, that in turn suggest us how can our business reach the desired levels of profit. TRENDS IN OUTBOUND TOURISM According to Keynote, the UK tourism market, in total is divided into three categories namely, inbound, outbound and domestic. The combined market yielded  £74billion in the year 2008; out of which the contribution of domestic and outbound was as good as 77.9%. The outbound market increased by 20.6% during 2004-2008; being quite remarkable. (KEYNOTE: A Report on Overseas Tour Operators, 2009) Analysis The table above clarifies the total UK market for tourism. This table was used to identify and understand value and number of overseas holidays made. It implies that outbound travel or overseas trips are greater than others, by value. This says, in UK tourism market, role of outbound is significant. This also means UK population, appreciates trips abroad and hence would buy our packages as we offer mix and range of many countries. PATTERN OF HOLIDAY TRIPS ABROAD Statistics highlighted by Keynote show, that holiday trips both domestic and abroad, estimated up to 120 million; almost equating to two holidays per resident. Figures put forth a lucrative amount of 64.1%, being the share of the total amount of money that people in the UK spend on holidays abroad. In volume (Million Trips) By value ( £ Billion) (KEYNOTE: A Report on Top Markets: Transport Tourism, 2010) Analysis This report was used to identify holiday trips made abroad. Trip abroad can mean a visit to family or friends, or a business trip, or a holiday trip. These two graphs help us in narrowing down to holiday trips only. This shows customers spending on holidays abroad. According to the graphs above, although the outbound holiday trip is less in number as compared to domestic trip (by number of trips made); but, is definitely much superior with respect to value. It can be understood as; value of one overseas trip is equal to value of three domestic trips, concerning the price of package. This also shows outbound holiday trips generate more money than domestic trips. ADVENTURE TRIPS MADE, IN PARTICULAR It is interesting to note that, average expenditure made on activity trips abroad is much higher than that of domestic ones; which is estimated up to a significant  £1,000 in comparison with a mere  £193 respectively. By Volume (Million trips) By Value ( £ Billion) (KEYNOTE: Report on Activity Holidays, 2009) Analysis This report from Keynote helps us to narrow down to adventure holidays in particular. This data is used to investigate, the interest and buying behaviour of UK population towards activity holidays. Total holiday trips abroad comes to 39 £bn, and the total of adventure holiday trips abroad is 7.7 £bn. These figures tell us that out of all holiday trips made abroad, 20% are only for adventure. This is a very positive figure for us, because, there are so many types of holidays like, Sightseeing, Beach holidays, Historic attractions, Honeymoon holidays, Spa holidays etc. Amongst this scattered range, adventure holidays has a good 20% share, which says all; that people in UK like adventure holidays and they spend too accordingly for it. RANKING OF DESIRED DESTINATIONS The following are the favourite destinations, where people prefer to go for holidays. Especially, 13.4 million visits have been made solely to Spain, which makes way for it to top the list of most preferred holiday destinations that people of UK tend to choose. (KEYNOTE: A Report on Travel agents and Operators, 2009) Analysis These are favourite places where people of UK like to visit. According to this report, largest number of tourists is for Spain. We have used this report, to decide onto the choice of countries to offer to the customer. Looking at the statistics, we chose Spain, Turkey, Poland and India, as these are the destinations consumers like to visit. Our other choice of country i.e. African countries is done for a reason that, several UK consumers are yet to explore these regions as tourist places. Our research and observation shows, African market for adventure holidays is still unexplored and untapped for UK customers and the beautiful aspect of this is, the variety and thrill in adventure that Africa has; is what UK consumer will love. So, what intend to offer places they typically go in accordance with what they like and also place that they would like to go, if given a chance. It is more like introducing African adventure holidays to UK consumers in a refined and tailor-made way. US, the second favourite, will be offered in years to come. ROLE OF INTERNET IN BOOKING TOURS (KEYNOTE: A Report on Holiday Purchasing Patterns, 2009) Analysis This table is been used to see the importance of internet for holidays. The chart above reflects the source of information for the last holiday taken in last 12 months (in % of adults) This table supports that, internet is the largest source used by people to book their holidays. This would be very fruitful to us because, as we are a virtually operating tour company, we would have the largest number of potential customers finding us and seeking information. The figure for information from tour operator is also pretty decent. So, in a way, we are likely to benefit in this situation, both, through internet users as well as our physical presence. CUSTOMER SOPHISTICATION According to a Keynote report based on Purchasing Patterns (2009), customer sophistication in terms of their awareness about technology usage has seen a steep rise. Moreover, their ideas about holidays have only and only grown clearer about how exactly they wish to design their trips; further adds to attract them towards our type of service. A survey by CNBC says, Holiday Are a Necessity for Britons Further it mentioned that, Despite the fragile economic recovery, 91% of Britons surveyed are still keen to take their annual holiday, according to the British Travel Awards. Lorraine Barnes Burton, CEO of British Travel Awards, told CNBC Thursday that people are more likely to cut back on other discretionary spend before they cut back on their holiday (CNBC SURVEY, February 2010) FORECAST With respect to a report on Keynote, activity holidays abroad are expected to grow from 5.6 million trips to 6.1 million trips during the year span from 2009 to 2013. Moreover, the expected increase by value, during the same span is  £5.3 billion to  £6.7 billion. (KEYNOTE: A Report on Activity Holiday, 2009) Analysis Considering factors like recession and consumer spending, tourism is definitely in a little unstable situation. But the best part is, things are moving towards positive and the forecast table supports this. Outbound activity holidays are expected to rise in the next three years. The growth is predicted to be comparatively higher in 2012 and 2013. Forecasts further show that outbound activity holidays will continue to generate more revenue compared to domestic activity holidays. There are few more implications regarding the forecast related to Political and Economical issues. Factors like, more specific regulatory issues relating to tour operator licensing and customer safety and restrictive entry visa requirements. There was decline in UK GDP in 2009. However, 2010 observed a 1.2% increase and the prediction for 2012 expects a rise by 2.5%. COMPETITORS As mentioned earlier in this report, we belong to an extremely niche market. Our research says, there are quite a few tailor-made tour operators and travel companies specialized in designing adventure trips; but very few direct competitors i.e. both tailor-made as well as specialized in adventure trips in particular. This gives us a stronger chance to make our presence felt in the market with the help of appropriate strategies. The following are our indirect competitors: Tailor-made holiday Tour operators Tailormade Travel Kirkir holidays Travelbag.co.uk Kuoni travels Audley travels Theres a long list, of about 40tailor made holiday operator companies in UK. These are the most known and popular. They are not direct competition, but there is obviously a threat because they have adventure holidays. There is another aspect to this too that, customers who like tailoring their holiday might look for tailor made adventure holiday as well. Adventure Holiday operators The Adventure Company Explore! World-wide Adventure Travel Adventure Sports Holidays Activities abroad Footloose Adventure Travel Addicted to Travel Active Adventure High Adventure and Wild Expedition These are the tour operators which have only adventure activities. They are even bigger threat, because customer looking for adventure holiday would not necessarily try for tailor made holidays unless he is looking for same. The following are our direct competitors: Tailor-made adventure tour operators Wild Frontier Adventure travel Adventure tours and Tailor made holidays Tailor-made Explore Adventure Holidays Responsibletravel.com Imaginative traveller These four are our main direct competitors, all UK based. Undoubtedly, these travel companies have a wide range of destinations to offer. But, they tailor only to the extent of preferred types of rooms in a hotel, flight bookings. A customer is definitely free to state specifications if any; but, anything more than this might or might not be arranged for. This is what is common in all these adventure tour operators. How are we different from our direct competitors Intensely Tailor-made: We welcome choices made by our customers in light of not only hotel rooms, flight seat specification; but also, to the extent that our customer is free to choose his own adventurous activities at various destinations that we offer. The Kingpin pays only for what he chooses to: By this we mean that our customer has the liberty to make a choice of even the activities at the destination he decides to go. He can choose his own combination of adventure according to his preference and most importantly pays only to the extent of what he chose. Thus, our packages have flexible pricing benefit. Strategy formulation Target segment Our segmentation is divided in two parts: By Age We would be considering all the age groups. Especially, age group ranging from: 30 years-49 years. While, 18 years-29 years and 49+, if applicable. By Class Affluent class. Upper middle class. Basically, our customer can be anyone who can afford to spend an average of  £1,000 for holiday trips as we provide for a blend of adventure with desired levels of luxury. The following table represents the weekly disposable income categorized by age. Considering this information can help us know who can be our prospective customers and how can we generate sales. (KEYNOTE: A Report of Market Assessment on Extended Financial Families, 2005) Analysis Age groups ranging from 30 years-49 years have the highest weekly disposable income; which also form our prime focus for selling packages. Second highest is the age group that ranges from 50 years-64 years of age; which implies that these are people who have money but most probably might not be keen to go for extreme adventure trips. So, we can sell them our packages that ensure soft forms of adventure, say, a balloon safari Rajasthan, India or boat cruise in the forests of Amazon. It shows that we have a good amount of prospective customers. It reflects that the market indeed has the type of customers we looking for, who can potentially buy our services if we can reach them. Competitive position The following table is a glance of what our direct competitors are offering and how different are we, to this regard. These are the specimen forms that are provided in either of the cases under specialized tailor-made holidays. DIRECT COMPETITOR VENTURE FUN TOURS CUSTOMERS PERSONAL DETAILS CUSTOMERS PERSONAL DETAILS CUSTOMERS CONTACT DETAILS CUSTOMERS CONTACT DETAILS CUSTOMERS POSTAL DETAILS CUSTOMERS POSTAL DETAILS EXTRACT INFORMATION: like, how did they hear about us etc. EXTRACT INFORMATION: like, how did they hear about us and so on. DATE OF TRAVEL DATE OF TRAVEL CLASS OF TRAVEL: Business/Economy DURATION OF TRAVEL: Default or set by customer. OTHER SPECIFICATIONS INCLUDE: Flight only/ Self drive/Camper van/ Coach. OTHER SPECIFICATIONS INCLUDE: Flight details- Economy class/Business class (both for International Domestic flights) Preferred Local transport- Coach/ boat cruises/local trains. Meals: Yes/No ; if yes, then Vegetarian/Non-vegetarian; Meals on certainly specified days; Go for the default program. CHOICE OF DESTINATIONS CHOICE OF DESTINATIONS CHOICE OF HOTEL CHOICE OF ROOMS IN HOTEL: Deluxe/Economy/Suite. CHOICE OF DURATION AVAILABLE PACKAGES AVAILABLE PAKAGES AVAILABLE ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES: By Default or chosen by the customer. PRICES OF PACKAGES (fixed) PRICE OF PACKAGE: Set by Customer. SPECIFICATIONS, IF ANY FURTHER SPECIFICATIONS SWOT Analysis The following are the strengths of our business, which grants us certain opportunities: STRENGHT OPPORTUNITY 1. Intensively personalized/tailor-made. Customers needs completely meet our offer. 2. Price of customers choice. Customer is free to stick to his budget. 3. UK has large no. of holidays abroad. We have a large prospective market to attract. 4. 20% of total holidays abroad comprise of adventure holidays in particular. A Large number of people from UK like to go for adventure trips. The following are the weaknesses that might probe into a threat to us in respective ways: WEAKNESS THREAT 1. We are yet to enter the market. The existing companies are presently more recognized. 2. Acts of terrorism tend to badly affect tourism. Reduced sales are a loss to the company. 3. Reduction in the currency rate of Sterling Pound due to recession. Might affect the spending ability of people on holidays thus, may lead to stagnancy in sales. + Pricing Strategy: Our pricing strategy would be Skimming Pricing. Segment: This pricing strategy implies skimming a segment of customers in the market; as, in our case it is mainly the rich class and upper middle class people. Cost of Production: Our average cost of production per package is approximately  £1,000. This includes payments to all our non-labour resources right from hotels/resorts to flight booking to activity operators to local transport providers so on and so forth. Cost Differentiation: It is not possible for us to compete much on grounds of cost differentiation. Hence, our prices are not very different from what other service providers like us are offering, but our service is undoubtedly more personalized. At the most, we can probably give certain discounts in peak season to our customers. For example, discounts for couples or kids in a family, who are below 10 years of age or school/college trips. Negotiation with Suppliers: Negotiation with suppliers might enable us to procure concessions on costs, so that we can either yield a greater profit margin or give discounts to customers to expedite sales. Competitive Pricing: The prices of our packages range from a minimum  £800 to  £1,500 and higher, depending up on how much a customer is willing to spend. This price though is for 7 to 8 days, unless the customer wants to pay more and extend his holiday; other operators quote this price for approximately 15 days. But, we justify our prices because of the extent to which our packages are flexible and personalized. Marketing strategy Throughout our main marketing tag line would be; YOUR place, YOUR priceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ thrill too of YOUR choice!!! Web page: Our official website would be the prime place to promote our service. Hence, we would aim to build a very strong and impressive web page. Our web page would be clear and easy to understand. We would provide for online chat service. If the customer has a query or complaint, this service would facilitate personal contact. Online ads: As we are virtual travel operators, next best choice would be online ads. Online ads reach to large audience at a fast rate and are cost effective as well. For this, we would use Business Internet Directory and Axandra; which would cost us  £289/year and  £52/month respectively. We may also opt for such other online services that offer us still lower prices. Another advantage of this strategy is that we get to choose a keyword for which we want to come in first 10 choices in search engine; so that our customers can find us easily. Digital displays: We wish to have our digital display and banner at Heathrow International Airport. The digital display would have clips of destinations and would depict the tailor-made aspect clearly. The banner (1533/month) would show picture of a popular destination with the name of our company. Expenditure in both the cases would be  £1,533/month. Such ads would be displayed only six times in a year, i.e. those six months would be during and around the peak season. Billboards: Billboards would be put in four main city centres of UK; mostly in Finchley, London and the one in Cardiff. It would be for four months in a year in each of the cities. Billboards will have new features or aspects each time. This would cost us about  £500/month. Brochures: Brochure distribution in city malls would also be done. Around 200-250 brochures and pamphlets would be distributed, say, on any four days of a month. Tie ups: We would try to tie up with restaurant joints like Pizza hut or Burger King and convince them to have a contest or something. The trips awarded to winners then would be managed by us. Universities: Contacts would be made with Universities and our contact details would be furnished to them. We intend to help students by providing them information or internal interviews for their dissertations or research on any topic related to travel, tourism and hospitality. This would make us popular among students and universities. (All costs of advertising are included in Costing, under the heading Advertising.) Costing Costing here will cover costs that would be incurred initially, i.e. at the time of establishing the business; the monthly expenditures like, the rent, electricity charges, salary etc; costs incurred depending up on the type and the number of employees we would be hiring; also, costs anchored to our packages. The following are the costs represented in a tabular format along with their explanations. INITIAL AND MONTHLY COSTS: INITIAL COSTS (In Pounds) Security Deposit 1,000 Rent 500 Equipments 2,500 Advertising (6months) 10,000 Registration 350 TOTAL: 14,350 £ Explanation: Initially we would require paying a security deposit of  £1,000 i.e. double the rent, along with the rent of the first month being  £500. So, that makes it  £1,500 towards rent in the first month. Equipments would include computer systems, printer, scanner, fax machine, Xerox machine and so on. We would enter into a contract with an advertising agency for six months, which would cost us  £10,000. Cost of registration would come up to  £350. MONTHLY EXPENSES (In Pounds) Rent 500 Electricity 100 Water 40 Telephone 16 Stationary 1,000 TOTAL: 1,656 £ Explanation: Monthly rent would be  £500. We would get into a contract with SWALEC, according to which we would have a fixed post-paid amount to pay every month, which would be  £100 each month, which comes up to  £1200 per year. Water charges incurred would be approximately  £40. A special deal with Talk Talk service providers would grant unlimited international calling in a fixed rate of  £16 per month. Stationary would include pen, pencils and erasers, staplers, punching machines, papers, files folders and so on. STAFF WAGES: TYPE OF STAFF (In Pounds) Manager (Salaried Employee) 1,800 Customer service Executive (Full time) 1,200/Month Customer service Executive (Part time) 472/Month TOTAL: 3,472 £ Explanation: We would employee a Manager, who would be a salaried employee and would be paid  £1,800. We would require to employee a full time Customer Care Executive, who would be paid  £1,200 each month. We would also recruit a part time Customer Care Executive having a salary of  £472 per month. COSTS OF INDIVIDUAL PACKAGES: The cost of individual package means the cost incurred to make a particular package. This cost includes expenses to reach to different activity operators; which refers to contacting them or making contract with them, or giving them information or getting information. This cost is counted under the head of telephone cost. (Example: calling the operator dealing with winter sports in Poland and making the deal.) There is no cost involved for signing the deal, its a rapport built by communication modes like emails and telephone. This essentially lets the suppliers know that we too exist in the market, and that we can provide potential customers to them as well. This makes a win-win situation possible for both the parties. With time, we would get more and more familiar with suppliers in the market. Good supplier-relationship will lead to the scope for acquiring concessions also. Keeping aside the profit margin as  £150- £200, all the remaining price of the packages that range from  £1000- £1200- £1500, is the cost behind the packages that we would incur. In the third year, we expect a reduction in cost of sales, as we would be getting discounts from suppliers. Staffing resourcing STAFF Initially, we would be employing: One Manager. One full time Customer Care Executive. One part time Customer Care Executive. The following are the details of their job profiles, criteria of selection, likely remuneration and methods of recruitment. Type of staff : Manager Job profile : Managing and co-ordinating the team of customer care executives. Communicating courteously, in case required to deal with a client personally. Analysing market and financial statistics to mould strategies if necessary. Handling customer complains. Establishing contacts and networking with various hotels, resorts and activity operators, being one of the main demands of our service. Training the staff. Job specification : An MBA graduate or holder of a post graduation degree in Hospitality Tourism. Preferably should have a work experience of minimum one year. Excellent communication skills required. Must know to implement leadership qualities. Well versed with basic managerial skills. Remuneration :  £1,800 per month i.e.  £21,600 per year (8 hours/day, Mon-Fri, salaried employee) Type of staff : Customer care executive Job profile : Receiving calls of the customers. Handling customer queries. Suggesting and advising customers to design trips that best suits their choice and budget. Explaining the features of the various products if required. Co-ordinating with the resort and activity operators based on the instructions given by the manager. Managing the data base and information system. Job specification : Any graduate, preferably in the fields of Management or Hospitality Tourism. Preferably should have some work experience in any kind of hospitality service. Must possess excellent persuasive communication skills. Must hav

The Haitian Relationship With the Dominican Republic Essays -- Politic

The Haitian Relationship With the Dominican Republic The Haitian revolution had tremendous repercussions in the social, political and economic arenas of the world, but especially for the relationship with the neighboring nation of the Dominican Republic. In order to understand the development of the Dominican-Haitian relationship after the Haitian revolution one must examine how the two colonies of Hispanola dealt with each other before it. Throughout history there has been constant stress between the interactions of these nations, yet there is no easy explanation for what has caused it. In effect, it has been an accumulation of events which has allowed for the present relationship to evolve. By the 1780’s Saint Domingue’s had the largest amount of slaves in the Caribbean. This large amount of slaves can be greatly attributed to the nearly 30,000 Africans imported to the colony between 1785-1790 (Beckles 403) . This extraordinary amount of slaves allowed Saint Domingue emerge as one of the wealthiest colonies of its time, but it also made the island susceptible to a successful upheaval for the transplanted African communities. In 1789 Saint Domingue had approximately 8,000 plantations which produced crops for export which generated two fifths of Frances foreign trade, "a proportion rarely equalled in any colonial empire" (Beckles 403). The majority of crops being exported were coffee, and sugar although cotton, indigo were also part of this colonies economic prosperity. The majority of the nearly 500,000 slaves on the island, at the end of the eighteenth century endured some of the worst slave conditions in the Caribbean. These people were seen as disposable economic inputs in a colony driven by greed. Thus, they receive... ...nue to occur which has developed great tension between these neighboring nations. Works Cited Beckles, Dr. Hillary, Verene Shepherd. Caribbean Slave Society and Economy. The New Press, New York. New York, N.Y. 1991. Bethell, Leslie. The Cambridge History of Latin America Vol. III. Cambridge University Press, London, England. 1985. Logan, Rayford. Haiti And The Dominican Republic. Oxford University Press, New York, NY. 1968. http://www.uhhp.com/haitrev1.html http://caribbeansupersite.com/domrep/history.htm - Dominican History http://www.uhhp.com/haitrev1.html - Haitian Revolution http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/americas/Haiti.GIF Haitian Map (Large) http://caribbeansupersite.com/haiti/history.htm -Haitian History http://www.eurohost.com/imagesof/flags/anthems.html -National anthems of Haiti and Dominican Republic