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Traveling and tourism. Hotels: Amenities and facilities.

According to figures complied by the World Travel & Tourism Council, the travel and tourism sector, with around 500 million customers each year, generates an annual gross output of about US$ 3,400 billion - about 10% of the world's total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In fact, travel & tourism today has become a larger giant in terms of employment, investment, output & value. The great tourism phenomenon as we witness today is a result of great waves of technology which have changed the social geography of the world since the late 19^th century. The rapid development of means of transport and communications has made the whole world practically on neighborhood and has made travel an easy affair. Today millions of people seem to enjoy the prospect of moving from one continent to another in a matter of hours.

Traditionally considered a luxury, travel and tourism are now held to be normal, virtually indispensable part of lifestyle and consumption pattern of all but the lowest income groups of the population. The present day traveler comes from a wider social background and his tastes and desires are much more varied. A large number of people are now going abroad to participate in more exiting and exotic activities like mountaineering, water siding, trekking, underwater swimming and the like.

There are a lot of good hotels in big cities. If you don't want to get disappointed, it is advisable to book accommodation beforehand by phone or Internet. Plenty of hotels advertise at airports. If you arrive by train or car, the best thing to do is look in the Yellow pages under Hotel, Motel or Lodging. Accommodation as well as rates vary from hotel to hotel. There are deluxe hotels, the most luxurious are more expensive. There are resort hotels used for entertainment or recreation. There are also a lot of motels which grew up with the development of highways in America. There are hotel chains, consisting of several hotels controlled by one company having its own trademark or logo.

In the lobby of a hotel there is a registration desk where guests check in and out, pick up & deposit keys. The check in procedure takes a few minutes. The guest is given a registration card to fill out: the name and address, the passport number for foreign nationals. The desk clerk enters the guest's room number, the room rate and the arrival and departure dates into the computer. When all formalities are over, the bellman shows the guests to their rooms and assists them with their baggage. You can also ask the hotel receptionist to give you a wake up call in the morning.

Rooms in most of hotels are with all modem conveniences: air conditioning, a private bathroom, a telephone, a TV set & video player. You can take a single room, a double room or a suite, charges varying accordingly. At the hotel you can get various services. If you want to have your suit pressed or dry-cleaned, your shirt ironed, or your laundry done, you should ring for the maid. You will always find soap, towels and linen in hotel and motel rooms.

In the lobby of hotel there are a lot of offices: a booking -office, post and telegraph offices, an information desk. At the information desk you can enquire about the departures and arrivals of flights, about phone numbers of private individuals. In the same building there are also restaurants, bars, cafeterias, beauty parlours, gyms and swimming-pools. Lots of hotels have special facilities for conventions - large and small meeting rooms, banquet rooms, PA (public address) systems.

When leaving the hotel, it is customary to tip the attendants. The safe rule to follow is from 10 to 15 % of the bill. The tip is always given with a word of thanks.

I like hotels which belong to Sofitel Hotel chain. I admire Sofitel Metropol Hanoi. This French colonial-style building has stood proudly in the heart of Hanoi since 1901. The hotel has a rich history and a century-long tradition of welcoming ambassadors, writers, heads of state and businessmen. There are 232 rooms and suites in this hotel. Guests can enjoy excellent French cuisine at the "Le Beaulieu" and refined Hanoi specialties at the "Spices Garden". There arc 3 bars & 5 function rooms, business center, swimming pool and fitness center.

Hospitality is of great importance for a hotel. Hospitality is not an abstraction - it is a clean room, a comfortable bed, a hot shower, a good meal, a courteous doorman and last but not least - a good profit.

PREJUDICES. TOTALITARIAN RELIGIOUS CULTS.

There are a lot of prejudices, such as: sexual, racial or religious prejudices.

Probably, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the brightest representative of struggle against racial prejudices. The 1950s and 60s were years of great struggle for black Americans against segregation. Thanks to Dr. King and the civil rights movement, black Americans and other minorities have won many rights.

As for a sexual prejudice, it is a big problem too. Man's chauvinism is frequently shown on roads. A lot of men behave roughly if they see woman driving the car.

And as for religious prejudices, there are many religions in the world, and every representative of his religion thinks that exactly his religion is true.

There are also many different conflicts between religion's representatives in the world, for example discrimination between Catholics and Protestants.

If you are Protestant you live in a Protestant area and you go to a Protestant school, and if you are Catholic you live in a Catholic area and you go to a Catholic school. There is such prejudice because children are just brought up in that way, they have no contact with each other. When you first meet people, they have to establish very quickly whether you are Catholic or Protestant and there are quite a lot of ways of doing it without directly asking. There are so many little clues, names and surnames. If you've got an Irish surname the chances are that you are Catholic, if you've got a Scottish name than you are probably Protestant. Protestants associate Catholics with some sort of malevolent, despicable characteristic: their eyes are too close together, they don't work hard enough, and they are untrustworthy. There are a lot of cases when parents even don't attend the wedding of their child who marries person of other religion. But it's not only a religious matter; it's political, economical, historical and colonial matters. Protestants are in the majority in Northern Ireland, they are the ruling class. There is a lot of unemployment in Northern Ireland, but most of the good jobs belong to Protestant.

Nowadays there are also such extremist religious cults, as the Moonies or the Unification Church. The Sun Myung Moon is the founder of this cult.

There is a well-detailed system of recruiting of new adepts in the Unification Church. They seldom collect the staff among streetwise people, preferring them to respectable, diffident youngsters. The Moonies subject recruits to consecutive training. They don't leave youngsters even for a moment; they induce them to work, listen to lectures, pray and sing the hymns every day. There are certain rules for the adepts, such as: low-calorie meals, constant lack of the sleep, a collective chanting;

strictness in appearance and behavior; the Moonies also discourage newcomers from talking to other newcomer. They convert recruits into cultists by programming every minute of their waking hours until they are brought under complete mind control and fall into a trance.

Technique of deprogrammer needs a lot of time and efforts, and it is important to keep a good relationship with programmed person and not antagonize him about his Unification Church affiliation. You should induce this person to think for himself again.

YOUR OPINION

Environmental problems

The poisoning of the world's land, air, and water is the fastest-spreading disease of civilization. It's not easy to ignore the depressing pictures that are shown on TV. Every day natural disasters and accidents are shown to the public. Overpopulation, pollution and energy consumption have created such planet-wide problems as massive deforestation, ozone depletion, acid rains and the global warming that is believed to be caused by the greenhouse effect.

More and more opinion polls are administered to find out how people feel about their future. The general public really see nuclear waste as the major problem. One of the problems with radioactive waste is that it's effect doesn't just last our generation, we'll pass on this legacy to our children. So, some couples in the US have decided not to have children; they believe world is no longer a safe place to raise a family. In Canada some families are moving to the distant provinces because they feel that in case of nuclear war they will be safer in these areas.

We are still in a situation where the government is still fishing around for radioactive waste sites. Chernobyl shows there is another problem, the danger of meltdowns. We can observe a tremendous outcry over an increase in leukemia risks around nuclear installations.

Both scientists and politicians agree that some radical steps are not taken, life on our planet may be damaged if not destroyed because the number of air pollutants is constantly growing. Ecological disasters don't happen by chance. Ignorance, lack of planning, greed and criminal neglect nave been responsible for creating ecological distress zones throughout the world.

In Europe and the US deforestation was the inevitable consequence of economic progress. Harvesting beyond sustainable limits has brought some of the tropical forests best hardwoods near extinction. Destroying tropical forests can destabilize the world's climate.

Air pollution is a very serious problem. In Cairo just breathing the air is life threatening, it is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Vehicles produce most of toxic micro-particles which do most harm. Toxic gazes appear in the atmosphere in critical concentration of carbon dioxide which is expected to increase at rates that could change the world's climate.

The seas are in danger. They are filled with poison: industrial and nuclear waste, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The Mediterranean is already nearly dead; the North Sea is following. The Aral Sea is on the brink of extinction. If nothing is done about it, one day nothing will be able to live in the seas.

Every ten minutes one kind of animal, plant or insect dies out forever. If nothing is done about it, one million species that are alive today will become extinct twenty years from now. Today, fewer that 5000 black rhinos have escaped the onslaught. In many parts of Africa the survivors are being herded behind electrified fences for their own protection. Many people endorse the harsh penalties for poaching but it's difficult to collect money for anti-poaching operation.

Industrial enterprises emit tons of harmful substances. These emissions have disastrous consequences for our planet. They are the main reason for the greenhouse effect and acid rains. To avoid green-house effect we should use renewable energy sources - wind power, wave and tide power, solar power, hydroelectric sources. We really need to reduce our energy demand. At the moment we use about a third of our energy heating buildings and 40% of this just goes up the chimney. We need to introduce a lot more conscious efforts to conserve energy, and we also need to introduce cleaner fossil fuel burning. Concern about the preservation of the environment and its protection from pollution and the exhausting natural resources has given rise to a powerful movement throughout the world which has been given name environmentalism.

People are beginning to realize that environmental problems are not somebody else's. They join and support various international organization and green parties. The conservation movement - the protection of natural resources and wildlife - was first formulated and implemented as a political program in the US. Starting in the early 1960s Americans finally realized that the US was in danger of destroying many other national treasures. The surge of attention led to a substantial number of laws - throw-away bottles and cans were banned, the use of phosphates in soaps was forbidden, strong laws were passed against the industrial dumping of wastes. All the nations have the same environmental problems. That is why many ecological problems can generally be solved only on the world community level. As nations we all share single ecological space. If we want to climb out of ecological pit we should do our best to protect our environment.

Sports & Fitness

The fitness boom of the past decades led to a big rise in the numbers of people participating in sports and activities. Those who pursue the latest fitness fashion are convinced that staying in good physical shape requires much more than regular exercise and balanced meals. For anyone who really wants to be healthy, fitness has become an integral part of their lives. A lot of health and fitness club, and public leisure centers indicate the popularity of sports during the past thirty years.

There are many opportunities for keeping fit. First of all it's necessary to do exercises-Running, jumping, swimming, bending and stretching are among the most popular exercises. Many people prefer jogging, which is the cheapest and the most accessible sport. Popular running competitions are now held everywhere. The big city marathons have become sporting events. A healthy body becomes a fashion, an ideal of the modem life. Many sports activities have become part of daily Russian life.

Football has always been the most popular sport among boys. Playing football is healthy, football also brings people close because in order to win people have to work as a team. This game is played in all the countries of the world .The most popular outdoor winter sports are shooting, hunting, hockey and in the countries where the weather is frosty and there is much snow-skating, skiing and tobogganing. Some people greatly enjoy figure-skating and ski-jumping.

Summer affords excellent opportunities for swimming, boating, yachting, cycling, gliding and many other sport. The other favorite games in different countries are golf, tennis, cricket, volleyball, basketball and so on. Badminton is also very popular. AIl the year round many people indulge in boxing, wrestling, athletics, gymnastics and track and field events. A lot of girls and women go in for calisthenics.

Among indoor games the most popular are billiards, table tennis, draughts and some others, but the great international game is chess of course. The results of chess tournaments are studied and discussed by thousands of enthusiasts in different countries.

The best way to avoid depression caused by the city life is doing exercises. Taking exercise is only one part of keeping fit. It's important to get slim. Some people eat nothing but fruit for several days. But it won't be of any use without proper exercises. Besides to avoid serious disease one should give up smoking. Smoking should be banned in all public places.

The English are great lovers of competitive sports. At the top of the list is Association Football or "soccer". Rugby football is also very popular. It is played with an oval ball, which is carried rather than kicked, and the player try to stop the man with the ball by throwing him bodily to the ground. Although the British are so fond of watching horses and dog racing, they are not particularly interested in being spectators at occasions when human beings compete. The more social games of golf and tennis are played by great numbers of people. Golf, which comes from Scotland, is played by striking a ball with a special golf club round a golf course with 18 holes, the object being to get the ball into the holes with as few strokes as possible. For the elderly bowls is an attractive game. It is a peaceful game yet one demanding considerable judgment, since the heavy wooden bowls are weighted so as to roll in a slight curve.

As for me, I'm interested in different kinds of sport. I do aerobics 3 times a week. In summer I like to swim & also do some cycling. I'm very fond of soccer. I also like to watch Olympic games on TV. They began in 776 BC and took place every 4 years for nearly 1200 years in Olympia. The Olympic motto is "Faster, higher, stronger". The Olympic symbol is 5 interlocking circles representing 5 continents on a white background. The blue ring is for Europe, the yellow one is for Asia , the black one is for Africa, the green one is for Australia, and the red one is for America.

People all over the world are very fond of sports and games. That is one thing in which people of every nationality and class are united. Baron Pierre de Coubertin emphasized the importance of sports in uniting peoples of the world and serving the cause of peace as in ancient times. In 2000, in Sydney, the two Koreas made history by marching into the Olympic stadium together.

At a Meeting

Meetings are necessary. No organization of any size can proceed for long with each member acting independently. Meetings are held to discuss business, to explore ideas and to convey information.

Meetings are usually seen as a waste of time but they are in fact one of the manager's most useful means of communication, whether with subordinates or colleagues - provided they are conducted effectively.

We should begin the meeting by stating its purpose. We should try to keep the discussion relevant. We should watch out for speakers going off on tangents and for people talking at cross-purposes. Begin the meeting on time. Don't wait for the newcomers. When they arrive briefly tell them what conclusions have been reached. This will bring them up to date and may encourage them to be more punctual in future.

As the meeting progresses, we must make sure that everyone understands what is being talked about. After each item we should summarize the conclusions that have been reached. We should encourage the silent and control the over-talkative. Respond positively to suggestions. These are easier to dismiss than facts or opinions but they are essential if new ideas are to be generated. Those who dismiss them should be invited to put forward new suggestions.

The chairperson must avoid answering questions. It's better to pass them on to others. If disagreement becomes heated and it becomes a clash of personalities rather than ideas then we refuse it or draw a neutral participant into the discussion. We also should finish the meeting on time.

An agenda informs people attending a meeting of the meeting's purpose and the business to be covered. An agenda is designed to make sure the topics that need to be discussed are discussed and any extraneous business is left for another time. By following the agenda closely, the chairperson of a meeting can ensure that the meeting is purposeful and productive. Any agenda must include the date of the meeting. The agenda for sales conference or stockholder's meeting may be broken down into days and hours and include sites for individual sessions.

The minutes of the meeting are a written record of the business discussed and transacted at the meeting. Some companies tape record their meetings, and the tapes are subscribed and summarized. The person who records all events and decisions (secretary) must follow next rules:

1) to read the agenda before the meeting and keep it as a guide

2) to know the names of all people who might speak

3) to use outline form of number of headings, mark up notes with arrows and underlines

4) to record major decisions or resolutions made by the attendees. Formal resolutions must be recorded word for word

Soon after the meeting adjourns, secretary transcribes notes into a first draft. We organize the draft by topic or time sequence, whichever seems more logical. A final draft must be given to a chairperson or supervisor for signing. We keep a copy of the minutes on file, clipped to the agenda and handouts for the meeting.

e.g. company may gather to discuss a number of issues concerning the well being and the health or safety of employees. Here is an example of such meeting. There were representatives of the various departments in the company at that meeting. Chairman declared the meeting open, proposed an agenda and asked for additions or amendments. The attendees adopted the agenda as it stood. One of the clerks offered to fix the time limit for the report at 10 minutes and allowed each speaker 5 minutes for discussion in debate. The majority seconded this motion. The first reporter took the floor. After she had finished, some of those present had a number of questions to ask. Another reporter proposed that the meeting adopt a resolution which outlined a number of measures to improve the situation with the canteen as there were some complaints. The resolution met with stiff opposition and many amendments were proposed. Then the chairman proposed that the committee work out a resolution later and adjourned the meeting due to the official opening of the new factory extension. But the Committee met later and drew up a new resolution that incorporated all the questions discussed and all the motions made.

At the meetings attendees may vote, take the floor, second smb's motion or reject motions, to nominate or to take a ballot.

Mass media

The information revolution which made its humble start in the middle of the 15^th century, with Gutenberg's invention of printing, has now moved, with the help of technology, into the era of satellite communications & computer networking. The first step in information exchange and mass communication was made through the print media. Newspapers & periodicals, as the major forms of the print media, not only publish information about current events, but also help people to develop their own thoughts and opinions.

Mass media play an important role in the life of society. They inform, educate and entertain people. They also influence the way people look at the world and make them change their views. Mass media mould public opinion. Millions of people in their spare time watch TV and read newspapers. On the radio one can hear music, plays, news and various discussions or commentaries of current events. Different types of TV programs can be seen on TV: newscasts, weather forecasts, soap operas, quizzes, chat shows, game shows and music programs. Today television with its system of numerous channels has developed into a practically indispensable amenity of everyday life.

These days, 50% of homes have a VCR (video-cassette recorder) and millions more are being sold every year. Thanks to DBS (direst broadcast satellites), dozens of new channels are now available to anyone who buys a receiving "dish". Many of this new channels specialize in one kind of program - news, sport, cartoons, music and movies. The third development is cable - a system of hi-tech wires, which provides even more channels at a price. Fourthly, there is HDTV (high definition television), which now offers a much clearer and more realistic picture than was possible even a few years ago.