Blog #4 - TDM 401

TOP 5 Tourism website Videos

From the ten tourism website videos I had reviewed the following are my top five choices:

1. Utah
2. California
3. Hawaii
4. Louisiana
5. US Virgin Islands

TOP Selection

 

My top choice for best tourism website video is Utah (ww.Utah.com). What I liked about this website and their videos is each week Utah.com has a “Weekly Video Premier”. The weekly video shows something special or unique that has happened recently in Utah on the homepage banner. This week (11/29/2009) the website had a video of the First Snow in Park City, these videos create a more personal aspect to the viewer and the state almost linking the tourist to the locals and having something special to share. It also introduces possible tourist activities in the city when it snows, such as sledding and skiing and also enjoying the beautiful view of fresh snow.

            Also each topic tab on the homepage has it’s own introductory video for the states topic tourism locations and activities such as skiing, national parks, river rafting, golf courses, destinations and also temple square.

            However these videos are not the only aspect of why I chose Utah.com as the best tourism website for videos, under the website’s “top spots” tab on the homepage the website has a slideshow of different top things to do in Utah, instead of a simple worded description of the locations or the activities the website provides short videos that promote the top spots in the state. Not all of the videos in this tab are high quality but what lacks in quality the videos provide visual stimulation versus reading a standard description and also provides areas for future improvement for the website.

            Overall I believe these videos on the Utah website will improve visitor spending because it touches on the many different services and products the state has to offer. This websites video’s compared the others provides a sense of a personal touch due to the weekly video the state posts each week for all to view.

 

List of Tourism Website Videos

1. US Virgin Islands

http://www.usvitourism.vi/multimedia_island_journal

 

2. Hawaii

http://www.gohawaii.com/stories/stories.html?video=18&cid=2009r3stories_home01a

 

3. Philadelphia

http://www.gophila.com/Go/PhotosMultimedia/videoaudio.aspx

 

4. Utah

http://www.utah.com/

Homepage banner, homepage tabs and “top spots” link

 

5. South Dakota

http://www.travelsd.com/ http://www.youtube.com/user/SouthDakotaTourism

 

6. Canada

http://www.visitcanada.com/educational-tours/slideshow.html

 

7. New Mexico

http://www.newmexico.org/video/

 

8. Florida

http://www.visitflorida.com/

 

9. Louisiana

http://www.louisianatravel.com/history

10. California

http://www.visitcalifornia.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&ContentID=21166

PRM 380 - Blog #6

I think that Dr. Cronon has an interesting point in regards to people viewing wilderness as natural or artificial. I would have to agree, thinking of the wilderness as out “there” some people may be missing the nature in their own yards. I did not grow up going to national parks or wilderness areas however I was taught the names and types of fauna and flora that are native to Arizona by just spending time with my relatives in backyards.

For example, many people do not know the different between a frog and a toad. Many times I am in a situation when I am with someone, outside, after it had rained and the toads come out and I hear “Oh my gosh. Look there’s a frog!”

Thanks to my family for spending time with me outdoors and teaching me that wherever you are there is wilderness. I am able to take my knowledge and pass that onto others and open their eyes to the wilderness around them and that it is real no matter where they are.  

TDM 401 - Blog #3

The Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale

 

            I had an amazing opportunity to stay at the Phoenician over the summer of 2008 with my mother and friend. It was the most relaxing and best resort experience I have had to experience yet!

            The Phoenician is located in Scottsdale right off the Camelback Road on 250 acres of land. It is home to a boutique hotel, ten restaurants and lounges, spa, championship golf course, nine pools, tennis courts, retail shops, meeting space as well as a $25 million art collection.

            The moment I drove up to the Phoenician for my “stay-cation” I could tell that this location was well-managed tourism dependant facility. The landscaping and lawns were well manicured and the signed was appropriately displayed. The valet and bellmen were very professional when assisting my party with parking our car and brining our luggage up to our room. The front desk staff was very courteous and well spoken and the whole check-in process was flawless. To my surprise, the front desk agent mentioned that they had an upgraded room available and could place us into the room at no additional cost. We excitedly accepted the offer and made the trip to our room over looking the valley and the bright city lights. I was very impressed by the graciousness of the front desk agent and no that she took the opportunity into her own hands to create a memorable experience.

            That afternoon down at the pool was another great example of a well-managed staff. The pool attendants were absolutely amazing in the way they treated guests. One gentleman that assisted my party help us find a location of lounge chairs that were all together, constantly moved the umbrella every time my mom was in the sun and brought us fresh water whenever he noticed all the ice in the pitcher had melted. This showed me that the Phoenician had either the ability to train their employees on attention to detail or great interview/hiring skills by current employees to have the ability to find such great staff.

            Our dinner later that night at Il Terrazzo was wonderful; our server obviously valued his job and treated us as if we were his first customers. He was very good at carrying on conversations and was also very knowledgeable of menu. He made my party and I feel like we were truly in a special place and not to mention the food was very delicious, especially the crème brule. Next I am planning on trying J&G Steakhouse and their famous Caesar salad.

            Overall the Phoenician had an atmosphere about it that read “good management” all over it. The staff was superb, the accommodations were clean, the pool was relaxing and the whole stay is definitely one I would like to experience again. Trip Advisor contributor, TreverNYC1111, would agree, he wrote “....top notch stay and not a complaint in mind. The grounds are impeccably kept and the rooms are fantastic. This is a very unique and special place!”

Source:

TrevorNYC1111. (September 2009) Never disappointed – the Phoenician is the tops. Retrieved from: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g31350-d74199-r40476647- The_Phoenician_Scottsdale-Scottsdale_Arizona.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT 

Blog #4 - PRM 380

Troon Neighborhood wants gate…

Conservation is the use of natural resources for the benefit of people, but to use the resources wisely for “the greatest good to the greatest number, for the longest time”, as stated by Gifford Pinchot. Where preservation is the idea of protecting natural resources in a natural unaltered state.

A current topic that has been in the news recently is the debate of the gate at Troon Highlands Estates. Residents of the this neighborhood live near the McDowell Sonoran Preserve a frequent outdoor recreational site for outdoor enthusiast. Residents of the Troon neighborhood have been requesting to make the street that leads up to the north end of the preserve private therefore allowing the neighborhood to add a gate. This gate will help with elevating people from illegally dumping and partying in the desert. Visitors of the preserve think that not only will the gate limit access to the northern part of the preserve but also “send the wrong message about who owns the taxpayer-funded public amenity” (Bui, azcentral.com). At this time Scottsdale’s preservation department plans to place a gate at Paraiso Drive no matter if the Troon neighborhood becomes a gated community or not, the city wants hikers to access the north end by taking Ranch Gate or Happy Valley roads. To read more about this topic and read the article reader’s comments visit, http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/10/20/20091020gate1020.html.

Source:

Bui, Lynh. (Oct. 20, 2009). Troon neighborhood wants gate to deter trash, parties.             Retrieved (October, 2009) from             http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/10/20/20091020gate1020.html

Blog #2 - TDM 401 (Management Book Review)

Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst “Best” Practices of Today by Susan Scott (the same author of Fierce Conversations) is a management book written to educate readers on becoming great (or fierce) leaders in the workforce. This is done while breaking the habits of the old “best” practices and leaving them behind with suffering businesses. In the beginning of the book Scott introduces the term “squid eye” and uses the term as the idea of being able to identify key issues of “bad” business practices. Squid eye is used through out the book in each different chapter, which are labeled as Fierce Practices. Each Fierce Practice touches on different situations that a leader does or would face in the business realm (or even at home). Some of these Fierce Practices include: Fierce Practices #1: From 360-Degree Anonymous Feedback to “365” Face-to-Face Feedback, Fierce Practices #3: From Holding People Accountable to Modeling Accountability and Holding People Able and Fierce Practices #4: From Employee Engagement Programs to Actually Engaging Employees.

The above Fierce Practices were just few of my favorites and easy to relate towards my current managers. However there are many more great practices in the book that educate the reader to be able to pick-out the “tells” of a bad leader (AKA the Squid Eye) and ways to improve through action plans. The interesting and useful qualities about this book are the sections where Scott provides the reader areas to practice improvements as she teaches different leadership topics. For example from Fierce Practices #1 on page 48, Scott provides the reader a work page to prepare a 60 second opening statement in preparation for a face-to-face conversation with an employee who has had a problem arise about them. This preparation area is provided to the leader as a practice template so they do not get sucked into many common errors. Errors such as beginning the difficult conversation with “So, how’s it going?” when we know how it’s going or that the leader places too many “pillows” in the conversation, otherwise softening the blow by placing cushions around the real topic. These work pages can be found in each Fierce Practice section in the book, it is a great resource and helps the leader practice the topics currently being discussed.

A great resource for leaders preparing to interview and hire for their company is Fierce Practices #2: From Hiring for Smarts to Hiring for Smart + Heart. The idea of this section is hiring to gain emotional capital and not only hire for the GPA or IQ scores. Scott mentions “each of us accumulates or loses emotional capital – building relationships we enjoy or endure with colleagues, bosses, customers and other partners – one conversation at a time” and that we are “engaged in emotional enterprises”. What she recommends to the leader is that sometimes smarts are not the only thing to hire for, she leave a section in the book to write down attributes that are essential to the success of the company in the job they are seeking to fill. Also being able to recognize hiring traps that include personal biases, personal insecurities, resume “puppy love” and many more errors that can lead a leader into hiring the wrong person and losing the emotional capital in the company.

Susan Scott has provided many real life situations in her book, situations from large unnamed companies who are failing to gain customers, to the successful practices of Google as well as her very own company’s confessions. Having these examples in the story not only made the topic more clear but also increased the creditability of Fierce Practices. How are these practices helping the suffering multi-billion dollar companies? How are these practices keeping successful companies successful and are these practices so effective that even the author has to remind herself to use them within her company?

Although sometimes I did feel that Susan Scott rambled on and on without any point during some portions of the book, however the rambling did eventually turn around into a point that was very useful and worth practicing as a leader. The book is an easy read, full of humor and very well organized. In the preface Scott mentions that the book is setup as being able to read cover to cover or being able to look in the table of contents and jump around from one Fierce Practice to another making it a great resource to keep by your side. A review from Amazon.com on Fierce Leadership by Matt G. Sharrers reads, “Fierce Leadership is an absolute must read. As a reader of leadership books by the dozen, this one truly stands out. Why? Because it has a point of view, supported by tangible examples and forces the leader in each of us to truly analyze how we "lead".”

I would recommend reading this book if you are a CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation, a student at a university, an entrepreneur or even a leader in the household. The information will make you analyze yourself and your practices and test your leadership skills and ability to create and maintain lasting professional and personal relationship in and out of the office. 

Sources:

Scott, S. (2009). Fierce leadership: A bold alternative to the worst "best" practices. New York: Broadway Business.

Sharrers, M. G. (2009). Challenge your mental model. Retrieved October 13, 2009, from Amazon website: http://www.amazon.com/Fierce-Leadership-Alternative-Practices- Business/product-reviews/0385529007/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_5? ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addFiveStar 

Blog #3 - PRM 380 (John Muir)

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

- John Muir

From this quote I read that John Muir is very much a transcendentalist and shares his spiritual thoughts with readers to motivate them to love nature and protect it. He is truly happy and at peace when he is in nature and feels as though it is where people can heal themselves and give strength to their bodies and souls. His passion to preserve the wildernesses and attempt to maintain the aesthetic for all to see and witness is the main message that I receive from this quote.

Things that I have learned about Muir that I did not before was that he has a variety of places and items named after him in his honor such as the John Muir Trail, Muir Woods National Monument, Muir Glacier and the Muir Beach. I learned that Muir accompanied President Roosevelt on a camping trip through Yosemite; I thought this was amazing that this man had so much love and passion for nature that he could influence a man with such power and influence over the people of the United States.

John Muir’s philosophy is very much relatable in the need to protect nature for all to experience its beauty. I am especially moved by his passion, a person with such great passion can change the world and that is exactly what he did.  

Quote from: BrainyQuote.com 

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_muir.html

Blog #2 - PRM 380

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burrnett was a book that I loved to read when I was a young girl. The is about a girl who goes to live with her Uncle and ill cousin in a huge mansion surround by a large amount of land. One day while wondering around the property she came across a wall covered by over-grown vines, as she followed the wall she discovers a mysterious locked gate. When she finds the key in one of the rooms of the house, she uses it to enter the gate and discovers the Secret Garden. She realizes that the garden has been unkempt a left to whither away. Mary, the young girl, becomes determined to save and bring back life to the suffering garden. Over time with love and appreciation the garden grows back as well as the suffering relationships between the characters in the story. 

Just like Mary, one summer in Colorado I spent hours in the my Grandma's garden. She cleared a plot for me to grow my own flowers and herbs and I would pretend that I was Mary and it was my Secret Garden and I was bringing life back to the garden. I even named and talked to the squirrels in the near by trees just like Mary would in the story strengthening my bond with the natural surroundings.

The Secret Garden was a very important piece of my childhood that helped create my relationship with nature. I hope one day to share the story with my children and help the book shape their relationship as well. 

Myself and Nature - Blog #1 (PRM 380)

When I think of nature, and myself I think how lucky I am to have the Grandfather I do. My grandfather who I call Opi loves nature and enjoys learning about it and spending time with it. When I was younger he would take me up the Four Peaks and guide me on hikes. All along the way he was stop to explain what tree, plant, animal or insect we were seeing. I never enjoyed going on these trips but my mom would make me, so I would reluctantly drag my feet and go. He would get so excited and pack lunches and snacks and bring different pieces of equipment that he thought I would enjoy using. I never understood his overwhelming excitement for being in nature; I just learned to accept it.

            My Opi recently purchased a summer home in Montana and he called it a shack... and I thought he was kidding. My mom and I went to visit one summer and after we drove through miles of dirt road and fields we arrived to literally to my Opi’s shack. It was a run down old house with one bedroom, one bathroom with a door that did not close and no air conditioning. I thought to myself, “how can anyone live here?”

            Then I realized that my Opi was happy, he lives on 20 acres of what seemed like untouched land. Land that has grasses two-feet-tall, horses, deer and a small creek for fishing. He had started a small garden and showed us his compost that he was very proud of creating. He explained to us that he used the garden for the vegetables for all his meals and what he did not end up using would go back into the compost and would be used again as the garden’s fertilizer.

            Now that I am older I look at nature the way my Opi does and respect it the way he does. I remember everything he taught me on our long unbearable hikes in the four peaks and now value that knowledge. He is a man that loves nature and loves being in it and I am honored that he has shared that love with me. 

TDM 401 - Blog #1

I started my SWOT analysis on Arizona specific sites, I then began to wonder how do other location's tourism websites compare to Arizona's? I was really excited to compare Arizona's site to the country of France, a place that is huge for international tourism. Needless to say, below is the SWOT analysis's I have done on 5 tourism websites:

----------

Visit Chandler website SWOT analysis:

 

Strengths – The website is very user friendly and really easy to navigate around. There are links for information that the average tourist would be interested in learning right up front and easy to locate. Links such as “Featured Events”, “Things to do” and links even specified for meeting and event planners. 

 

Weaknesses – In the Photo tour link it is labeled, as “Phototour” are they trying to make-up a new word? Although the pictures look professional and very interesting, the labels explaining what the pictures are, are not very well displayed. Some photos also lack information, for example there is a picture of the slide at the Aquatic Center at Hamilton high school but the photo label simply read “aquatic center”. It did provide any information to viewer as to where the aquatic center is located.

            Another weakness I did notice was how general the “contact us” link was; the link did not provide specific information to whom the viewer would be contacting. The link did not provide an e-mail address for the viewer to e-mail their questions too, only a mailing address and phone number with Monday-Friday hours. It is important to make things quick and convenient and be able to win the viewer over as quickly as possible.

 

Opportunities – There are opportunities for the website to make the font of the text, the information and the picture a little more fun to look at. The font of the information is pretty standard and I feel like I do not focus on the information that I want to know and I get bored and leave the page. Maybe if the text was larger and more to the point I would be interested in reading what it had to say.

 

Threats – I feel as though the slogan for the website could potentially be a threat to the growth in tourism for the city of Chandler. “ Where trips feel more like vacations” makes Chandler sound like only a day trip location versus a place where you can plan a vacation. Chandler has a lot to offer to more than just day visitors, there is the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa in Chandler, as well as Kai the only five star and five-diamond restaurant in the state of Arizona. The Chandler Fashion Center is a great day activity with a Harkins movie theater on property also. Downtown Chandler is also enhancing the experience of Chandler with the local restaurants, art galleries and The Chandler Center for the Arts just catty corner from the San Marcos Resort.

 

Visit Chandler. Retrieved from  http://www.visitchandler.com  

------------------------

Arizona Office of Tourism

 

Strengths – A great website to access for people who want to do research on Arizona Tourism. The website offers a variety of information from the annual report to the marketing plan and programs guide for the state.

 

Weaknesses – What a boring homepage… The website lacked photos and images. The color is very bland and does not do well in representing the many different colors that can be found in Arizona nature.

 

Opportunities – The website can enhance the aesthetic appeal to the website with using more pictures and color. Something to make the website more attractive to visitors and people who are interested in traveling to Arizona.

 

Threats – This website is developed more for the state of Arizona tourism companies, not for the traveler. The website has a lot of great information for different tourism entities within the state however lacks the information for the actual traveler. The third link on the page is “travel deals”, I was expecting to find travel deals for all different locations in Arizona but only found instructions for companies to register to become an official provider of Travel Deals, and found the website arizonaguide.com that was created for companies to list their travel deals. The AZOT website can confuse the interested traveler and maybe unaware of the arizonaguide.com website.

 

Arizona office of tourism. Retrieved from http://www.azot.gov/default.aspx

------------------

Arizona Travel and Vacation Guide from the Arizona Office of Tourism

 

Strengths – Very well organized website, user friendly and great use of images and photos. The slide show of photos on the homepage of the website has a great mix of representation of dining, culture, art and recreation in Arizona, reaching out to many different tourism markets. There is also a link for planning your itinerary while visiting Arizona and up-to-date events for a convenient experience for the traveler.

 

Weaknesses – This is me being picky on the weaknesses of the AZOT travel and vacation guide but there is a lot of empty space, the text is a little small in the portions that provide information and for some reason the time that they have posted on the bottom of the screen does not update on my computer.

 

Opportunities – The website has a Trip Advisor link on the homepage, Trip Advisor is widely used resource for travels to honestly rank and comment about their various trips. Having the positive comments listed on the homepage can provide additional information and plans for the traveler. It may create a trip that the traveler never considered taking while in Arizona but the reviews sound like a trip of a lifetime. The website also has the opportunity for viewers and interested travelers to become fans of AZOT on Facebook and to follow them on Twitter. The website also provides the option for the view to read the pages in Spanish or French.

 

Threats – When I click on the “where to go” tab, it looks like the page does not load or is empty, however when I scroll down to the bottom of the page the locations are in fact listed. People may think that there is not any information and leave the page unseen. The same thing happens when I choose the “where to stay” tab, maybe it is just the computer that I am using and the website is not as compatible with Macs however this can be a threat to the website if people are not seeing the information they are seeking.

 

Arizona Travel and Vacation Guide from the Arizona Office of Tourism. Retrieved from             http://arizonaguide.com/Default.aspx

 ---------------------

France Travel - (worst) 

 

Strengths – With this website I like colors and the picture of the Eiffel Tower as the main focus. I also like the top France destinations listed on the side of the homepage. This makes the search more specific for the traveler to access information. There is section under “France Guide” labeled “Best of France” I think this is great for people who really have no clue what to do in France and really want to experience the best of it when they are there, like visiting the province of Champagne!

 

Weaknesses – Holy information! When I visited this website I had no idea where to start. There is information listed for just about everything. Everything from MBA programs in France to France Festivals like the Cannes Film Festival. Surprisingly the same information is listed twice but in different sections of the website, very confusing, I thought I was finding more information when in fact I found the same information just a new place where it was listed.

 

Opportunities – More pictures please. France is so beautiful why not show more pictures of it? Another opportunity is to take some of the ads off of the pages; I was getting confused that the ads were part of the information I was searching for. The website could make the “Hotels in France” section more obvious, lodging is a very important part of travel and this website stuck the information in the upper right hand corner.

 

Threats – Ads, ads and more ads! There are ads all over this website. It makes the website appear very disorganized and messy. Some ads are not even relevant to the topic, like an ad for which hearing aid is the best? Again there are not very many pictures and when a picture is present the website does not label what/ where the picture is in France.

 

France Travel – Your Guide to France. Retrieved from http://www.justfrance.org/

---------------

Lonely Planet - (Best)

 

Strengths – I love this website. It is the current events website for the tourism industry. There are so many interesting stories and photos of different places around the world in one website. Great use of photos and web page space, it is very eye catching and leaves me wanting to read more. The website is also very well organized and easy to navigate around. Under the destinations link, a map of the world comes up and a viewer can pick any location on the map they are interested in visiting or learning about. Then when a location is chosen the website lists its top picks of things to do or visit in the country. The slide shows and videos of destinations are put together wonderfully; the pictures are professional and informational.

 

Weaknesses – A viewer must register with the website in order to comment on posted stories, the website does not have the opportunity of the viewer to comment as a “guest” of the website. The website reaches a broad range of information and a viewer may have to switch to another website to find out more personal answers to questions.

 

Opportunities – The chance to clean up the Lonely Planet shop may increase product sales. The page is messy and full of random items and the font is very generic and boring.  Another opportunity is to have a link for a specific destination with a question and answer forum for interested travelers. This would provide a quick and easy way to get a question or concern answered by a professional in the industry.

 

Threats – Where is the Facebook? There is not any information on becoming a fan of Lonely Planet on Facebook, which is a huge social market that are missing out on. There is also a lack of a rating system on the website when searching for a specific destination’s lodging, restaurants and places to visit. Word of mouth is a big factor in the tourism industry; every little comment can help make a decision.

 

Lonely Planet travel guides and travel information. Retrieved from             http://www.lonelyplanet.com/   

----------

Other websites visited:

Scottsdale, AZ: the official web site of the city of Scottsdale, Arizona. Retrieved from  http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/ 

Visit Glendale. Retrieved from http://www.visitglendale.com/ 

Phoenix convention center and venues. Retrieved from http://www.phoenix.gov/phxpccd.html 

1st Post for TDM 401

I hope everyone had a great summer! See ya in class on Thursday!