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I am unique

November 19, 2017

I define myself as a strong independent women able to speak my mind on issues I am passionate about well also laying low when I feel need be. My love for fashion goes far beyond picking an outfit in the morning, I use fashion as a way to express my mood look good feel good. Friends, why are friends important? Not only are they there as a listening ear but without friends life would be dull, be happy and go with the flow. This is my unique brand.

All destinations have a brand which is a key component to market the self. Destinations brand them self’s by defining the destinations unique selling points, for example why is this destination the top destination for leisure or business travel. Produces and prioritize motivational messages, create a slogan to attract visitors to your destination by incorporating MNE’s a person might have for that particular destination. Craft a positioning statement by making your destination a niche market for potential visitors, why are you the best of the best? Create and incorporate a unique logo, every brand needs a unique logo that visitors will remember you by use this strategy to make your destination or advertisement for you destination unforgettable. When creating a brand think about how to create a phycological, emotional, and motivational link between the customer and the product.

South Korea is one of lead Asian countries in tourism young or old you must go to Seoul South Korea. Their DMO website is very organized and easy to follow targeting young leisure travellers as well as business travellers. Their unique selling points are the modernization of the cities with a rich historical background. The culture runs deep in the creativity of the people expressing them self’s though food and clothes. Their motivational messages are “meet the creative people” “taste the creative cuisine” “feel the creative vibe” “love the creative nightlife” “enjoy you creative Korea”. Their positing statement is focused around creativity. The niche market they are capturing are the hungry for adventure traveler. Lastly their logo is colourful and creates an awareness of Korean culture through the strengthening and development of the tourism industry.

The number of traveller to Korea has doubled, with the trend seeming to hold steady with 14 million recorded visitors as of 2014. The KTO hopes not only to stimulate the Korean tour industry, but also further share Korea’s culture with the world.

Word count 411

References

https://kto.visitkorea.or.kr/eng.kto

https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_and_identity_for_south_korea.php

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel/countries#2

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If the walls could talk

October 30, 2017

No accommodation no holiday... accommodation is on of the most important aspects to plan when you go on holiday. Let’s take a look at the top trending accommodations.

Isn’t it on everyone’s bucket list before they dye they want to be arrested or even go to prison? Well checking that off your bucket list is possible now thanks to former prisons turned hotels or hostels. All over the world former prisons are Turing into hotels or hotels even the most famous hotel Four Seasons in Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey you can barley see the resemblance of a jail. The old wooden doors that lead to the lobby, many engravings on the walls, and the names of a former inmates can be found on a marble pillar inside from the original jail. The best part of The hotel is that it offers a luxurious stay, converting the former exercise courtyard into a beautiful outdoor dining area and the watchtowers into elevator shafts for easy cues around the hotel. Four Season is even close to the best sightseeing stops like the Hagia Sophia Museum and the Topkapi Palace. 

Now that we know that hotel prisons and jails are a thing there has to be one in Canada!

Canada's Ottawa Jail Hostel used to be the Carleton County jail from 1962 through 1972. The jail was famous for being home to inhumane treatment of prisoners, with up to 150 people living in tiny cells with little heat and plumbing.The upstairs of the jail used to be the execution centre, with some claiming to have witnessed haunting ghosts of former prisoners during their stay. A large majority of the building remains in its original condition, including gallows, cell bars, and stone walls. This hostel would be great for thrill seekers.

Not only does Ottawa Jail offer thrilling jail accommodation there are many other highlights included such as sleeping in a real solitary confinement cell, visit death row on a free daily jail tour, and walk to Parliament & the Byward Market which would be great for backpackers.

Ottawa Jail Hosel offers free wifi, free breakfast, bike rentals, kitchen, and much more. As I was looking into this hostel I was getting more and more interagency. There are many amenities a any other hotel would offer, but this thrilling experience would be amazing I would definitely spend a night there wit a group of friends.

The rooms range from small cells to room that cam be shared with groups even luxury cells, this is definitely a luxury hostel as its finest. There are even windows in many of the rooms for those who want to feel like their in jail but don’t want to fee totally locked in.

The price to stay in the Ottawa Jail Hostel is very inexpensive the price ranges from $50-$100 per night depending on the room you stay in. Considering the experience the price is nothing, who wouldn’t want to say they stayed in prison at least once in their life.

If the walls could talk I wonder what they would say...

All in all after seeing all my findings I would really want to stay in this hostel and experience it for myself. Maybe if I enjoy my stay here ill visit other former prison hotels around there world... stay tuned for that blog.

Word count: 555

Referane: http://hihostels.ca/en/destinations/ontario/hi-ottawa

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Meat is meat a man must eat.

October 16, 2017

Meatless Monday... To carnivores that sounds crazy, but it is a trend that is starting to pick up. Studies have show that eating to much meat can lead to major health problems, particularly red meat for women is extremely bad for their health. Hearing this as a moderately healthy women is scary because meat has always been apart of my diet. Nowadays a lot of families in North America have been going meatless at least once a week to better the health of their family and to save money.

So, if we are consuming too much meat, it’s unhealthy and its expensive why do we still eat it? To find out I searched a little dealer. I found out that that meat is a very touchy subject. Dating back though history eating meat is a way people would show their wealth, if you ate meat that would mean your family is eating well and has a lot money. Also genetics are also a reason, some of us actually have genes that make us more likely to eat a lot of meat, culture, psychology, in the way our minds works. Lastly the way meat wouldn’t be such a priority in our diet if it wasn’t for the meat industries. They market them selfs in such a way that we just buy and buy more.

There are many people flighting the carnivore urge. All North America people are joining the trend to help the environment and our health by going meatless one veggie burger at a time. I wanted to see if meatless butchers were a thing, so I searched “Meatless butcher” to my surprise thousands of articles and websites appeared. A website that stood out to me was The Herbivores Butchers a brother and sister duo wanting to change the way people look at meatless options. Their exact words “We're passionate about creating meat-free meats and cheese-free cheeses that taste like no other vegan product on the market. We've been developing our recipes for years and are confident that after one sampling you'll be hooked!”. The most important aspect of vegan product is that they still have the same distinct flavour, texture, and nutrition people are use to without the negative impacts on their health, animals, and the environment.

If I was going to research more about going meatless I was going to have to know I can get the products locally, so I searched... I came across Very Good Butchers located in Victoria British Columbia. Their concept amazed me not only did they create meatless product like Meatless Butchers but they opened up a small locations at a local Victoria market serving breakfast and lunch. This allowed you to taste the products and punches them at the same time. Their goal is to bring their business to Vancouver.

Meatless products are going to become main stream.

Word count: 478

References:

https://www.verygoodbutchers.com

https://www.theherbivorousbutcher.com

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/food-trends/why-are-humans-so-obsessed-with-meat/article28765074/?ref=https://www.theglobeandmail.com

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I am South African-Chinese

October 2, 2017

Being Chinese-South African I don’t know too in-depth about my Chinese heritage. Visiting Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden gave me a better understanding of how important the values and traditions my grandparents have taught me. Everything that I have learnt about my heritage defines who I am and how I carry myself through life.

My cultural identity lies with in the The Classical Chinese Garden representing my ethnicity and shows what my Chinese heritage is shares with the world. The Classical Chinese Garden is a intercultural experience because it was built by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen a Chinese scholar, he knew he had a purpose but didn’t realize it was to bring the Chinese language, traditions, and values to Canadian. By sharing his knowledge he brought the Chinese- Canadian community and the Canadian community together.

This landmark is very important on the Vancouver and Chinese-Canadian community because it is a part of history. The Chinese Classical Garden tells the story of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and the legacy he left of bringing two very different cultures together. The Chinese Classical Garden was the first classical garden built outside of China making it a home away from home for the Chinese community in Vancouver. The garden provides a understanding between Chinese and Canadian (western) cultures integrating together.

This trip was very valuable not only for me to learn about my heritage, but to better understand what we are learning in class. Cultural knowledge is the most important skill we can have in this day and age. There are many people who don’t believe that learning about different cultures is valuable, but I would highly disagreed because being able to learn and adapt will give us a better understand other cultures. “Employees who possess a high level of cultural intelligence play an important role in bridging divides and knowledge gaps in an organization.”

The best way to develop cross-cultural skills is to have empathy, tolerance, adaptability, and relational skills. Though that experience is the best pay to in force cross-culture development such as through studying or working in a foreign culture where you can practice these skills through trail-and-error. The tip to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Garden was a valuable experience for tourism studies because it gave us a chance to exercise what we have learnt in class and how the traditions, values, and language may differ from our own.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/iese/2015/03/24/why-you-need-cultural-intelligence-and-how-to-develop-it/#126f864b17d6

Words 410

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Where do I come from?

September 18, 2017

Stone forest, tall rock columns that like they've been raised from the ground what appear to resemble petrified trees creating an illusion of a forest that has stood in time, I wonder how on earth tat could have been created? Stone forest is located in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, China. Formerly being a shallow sea the formation was created over 270 milllion years ago by sandstone and limestone building up in the basin of the sea, and was eventually pushed up to the surface. The rocks were then shaped by the wind and water forming tall columns that reach over 10m tall. What makes the Stones forest so interesting are the cultural stories behind it. Long, long ago a legend was told that the Stone forest was the birthplace of Ashima, a young beautiful girl. Ashima fell in love with a man that her parents did not approve of, she was told that she could never marry her chosen love and for that she turned into a stone in the forest, there is a rock in the forest named in her honour. Every Lunar year many Yi people celebrate the Torch Festival, which features traditional folk dance and wrestling competitions. Tradition and culture is such an important part of your identity, in the Chinese culture there are always answers to every question that is asked. Being born in South Africa growing up I always had a lot of questions about my culture never relating to anyone my age, yes we ate Chinese food and yes my parents spoke Chinese, but the culture didn't resonate with me until I was much older. What makes this simple folk tale about Ashima and the Stone forest appeal so much to me is the legacy it left with the Yi people the culture and tradition is so ingrained in them that on the 24th day of the 6th lunar month they celebrate the Torch Festival to honour their ancestors and cultural traditions that have been past down from generation to generation. I want to learn about where I come from and I want to tell people about the traditions my Chinese relatives had before me. Share my culture with the world through celebration just like the Yi people. Stone forest is voted the number one geographical landscapes to visit and is a national heritage site. Travellers come from all over the world to see the magnificent formations. It isn't easy getting there though, tourist can expect a hour and a half bus ride or a 2 hour train ride to the formation. Being able to get away from the hustle and bustle of crowds visitors will be able to take in the spectacular view as far as the eye can see, also featuring an amazing variety of plants. Visitors will leave with a lasting impression of the great wonders China has to offer.

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150205-the-15-most-amazing-landforms

https://www.chinahighlights.com/kunming/attraction/the-stone-forest.htm

Words 481

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Bon Voyage...

September 10, 2017

Vancouver is ranked one of the most beautiful cities to visit. There is no surprise that the Port of Vancouver welcomes over 800,000 cruise ship passengers each year. Many of them even extending their stay to take in what the city has to offer such as famous attractions, great cuisine, and entertainment. Welcome to Vancouver, more like stressing in Vancouver. on Friday September 8th 2 cruise shipped arrived leaving 8200 passengers, luggage and all trying to find their way to their next destination. Passengers faced with agonizing pain of looking for a taxi, some waiting over 2 and a half hours. One local passenger saying if he knew that the wait was going to be this long he would have parked his car downtown Vancouver even if it would have been more expensive. Tourism Vancouver stepping in saying that there need to be better ground transportation in the city to accommodate the thousands of people arriving all at once. Later the Taxi Association speaking up saying its not their fault and putting more taxis isn't going to resolve the issue, it's the road congestion in downtown Vancouver. Blaming one another isn't going to solve any issue. With tourist only having a limited time to explore the city and no transportation to take them out expectations of leaving the port on time will be very low. But this story is all too familiar to the city of Vancouver, in May 2016 the same issue happened that time leaving triple the amount of passages scrambling. One visiting passenger saying that he has never waited this long for a taxi in any other city he has ever visited, so what does this say about transportation in Vancouver? A 2014 Simon Fraser University study found that Vancouver residents have the hardest time trying to find a taxi in the city. In Vancouver there is 0.64 taxi’s for every 1000 people, 1.17 taxi’s per person in Toronto, 1.34 taxi’s per person in Montreal, 1.24 taxi’s person in Ottawa, and 1.37 taxi’s person in Calgary. Cities such as Toronto and Montreal have roughly the same amount of residents as Vancouver. There's ratios clearly show tat Vancouver has a problem with ground transportation and organizing. Will Vancouver still be ranked one of the top cities to visit is you can’t even get around with ease? Vancouver will always be one of the most beautiful and accepting cities to visit in my opinion, but I believe Uber maybe the answer to Vancouver’s ground transportation crises. Source http://bc.ctvnews.ca/tourism-vancouver-wants-more-taxis-for-waiting-cruise-passengers-1.3582516 Word count 417

#beautifulbritishcolumbia