Preparing for further study: reading

In preparation for my further study I read two books on the subject of tourism. I had already spoke about the first one I read ('Tourism in the age of globalization'), now I'd like to show which are the main points analized in the second one 'Tourism, globalization and development'.
The part that I read from this book was very interesting because it proposes not only the economic side of the touristic industry, but also a moral viewpoint. The author examines the social and environmental impact of tourism in developing and less-developed countries. Many of the poorest countries in the world rely their income on the tourist trade but developers often exclude local communities.
Donaald G. Reid argues on this problematic criticizeing developed countries and he exposes acontrolled plan for an equally development of the touristic sector.

I found very helpfull the intoduction of this book. It gives me the idea on which are the main problematics linked to tourism. Moreover I'm quite sensitive to issues regarding under-developed countries and I hope to delve a bit more into this area.

'INTERNET DETECTIVE' TUTORIAL

Doing the tutorial i understood how to evaluate the quality of web site for my reserches. Is important to use appropriate sources in accademic essays and the Internet could be a good tool or an enemy. You don't have to:
- focus your attenction only on Internet searches and ignore other sorces (jurnal articles,books on the subject)
- copy informations from the Internet
You have to:
- critycally evaluate the quality of information found on the Internet
- synthesize the information to form your own work

There is an accademic publishing process that sources should have passed to be reliable and is important to check if they have the right requirements (before based your work on them!)

Negative sides of the Internet are:
- anynone can put somenthing there and from everywhere in the world
- they can say anything they like
So is essential to know how is the writer and if he/she is an 'authority' in your subject area.
You need to question the quality and the credibility of informantion you find before you use it in your essay.
The URL on a web site can help you to understand more about the site.

Refleting writing on the Pre-sessional course and university study

I started this course two months ago and since the first day I liked the university background. I went to uni when I was in Italy and the environment is quite similar compered to this: a lot of young people running every where, trying to find the right way both in corridors and...in life. Of course there is a big difference: here in London you get in touch with people from all the world and, I think, this is a great opportunity. The theaching method is closed to the one adopted in Italy. Professors are well prepered and they give us a good preparation for the next step...the degree course.

I find this course very usefull for my personal knowledge and also to aquire the qualifications required from university. Speaking about courrent issues is very important for me to understand in which direction the world is looking. A part from that, as I said before, they teached me how to manage with the university life. For example, I wrote few essays in my country but I had difficulties to do that in English. During those months I had the possibility to improuve my writing skills and now I feel more confident.

I think I'm quite ready to contend with my degree course. I know that it may be hard especially at the beginning but it will be a good experience. The first challange will be the first formal exam and... I hope to start with the right foot!!

GLOBALIZATION LECTURE

A coplue of weeks ago with my english teacher we attented a live lecture on the subject of 'globalization'. The reader, Steve, spoke about globalization mainly from an economic point of view. He started giving us the current economic background:
- depression as bad as the last one (1931)
- banks don't have money, so the real world doesn't have money
Then he continued saying that globalization, even if it has some wonderful aspects (comunication technoligies-internet and free trade), has provided to this crisis:
- banks all around the world don't have money, because of globalization this crisis involved all countries > bank sistem is linked between all over the world
- global finance e.g. someone in China has to pay for someone else in America
- 'contagion'> is a medical term that used in an economic context means no barriers, no regolations between countries > the sickness of one country became the sickness of the world
- liquidity crisis: no money. Government started to help banks with tax money (our money!!)
- stock market: tells us that our economy is sick
- free trade > who benefits? banks and big brand companies ( e.g. Ikea, Gap...).
Unfortunately he didn't has time to conclude, but those are the other points he should has argued regarding the global impact of globalization:
- world poverty
- inequality between countries and within countries.
The solution?!? Is up to us...!!

I found this lecture very interesting. It helped me to understand how the economic world works and why nowadays we are facing this big crisis. Another thing that i liked is that the speaker used an easy, clear language.

TOURISM IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION

Globalization as a megatrend is changing the nature of international tourism:
-expansinon and diversification of travel motivations and expectation
-labour mobility (people travel to different countries to manage properties and systems)
-increse in information and communication technologies (internet: people can chose touristic destination looking at pictures and videos, last-minute offerts give the opportunity for short and cheap week-end)
-increse in travel system technology (easier acessibility of the destination)
-shopping and commercial fcilities
-multi-cultural environment (cultural differencoes between tourist and local people play an important role in the choice of a holiday destination)
-level of economic development in the destination, in paticularly if it's a under-developed country (the majority of tourist's money goes to travel agency that usually has its main office in the departure country)

Understanding plagiarism and referencing

Definition of "plagiarism": the taking and using as one's own... the thoughs, writing or invension of an other. That means pretending something is yours when it isn't, not just the words but also ideas, data and images.
There are many reasons for plagiarism:
- poor time management or planning
- carelessness with sorce information
- poor note taking skills
- incomplete referencing
Penalties for plagiarism:
- application of the mark of 0 to the whole module
- the downgranding of the award
How avoid plagiarism:
-plan ahead (don't do all the essay at last minute)
-record source detail (Books:name of author, year of publication, title of the book, name of publisher, place of publication, page reference Web-site: name of author,http:// address, date page accessed)
-take appropriate notes

OVERVIEW OF MY SUBJECT AREA

International Tourism Management

Today tourism is probably the industry which can avail itself of the greatest number of possibilites for expansion, both on a national and international level.
Tourism is able to contribute to development which is economically, ecologically and socially sustainable, because it:

• has less impact on natural resources and the evironment than most other industries
• is based on enjoinment and appreciation of local culture,built heritage and natural environment as such the industry has a direct interest to protect those assets
• can play a positive part in increasing consumer commitment to support underdeveloped countries
• provides an economic incentive to conserve natural environments and habitats which might be otherwise damage by an unconscientious land uses (maintain bio-diversity)