Developments aimed at increasing the number of tourists going to Miami - Research Paper Example

? RECOMMENDATION REPORT- RESEARCH PAPER IN EDUCATION due Introduction Miami is a located on the Atlantic coast in Southeastern Florida. Because of its location and tropical climate, Miami is a large tourist attraction site in itself. According to the U.S Census Bureau, Miami’s metro area is the eighth most heavily populated and fourth largest urban area in the United States, with a populace of around 5.5 million. The city is known for its famous beaches, sunny weather, luxury hotels, its numerous nightclubs and a number of fun activities that tourists can enjoy. However, there is a lot that can be done to help boost the tourism industry in the city. This paper will focus on two potential developments for the area that will facilitate in tourism attraction. These developments will benefit both local and international tourism in that the developments are essential to the well being of human being. These developments include affordable vacation homes for hire/rent and medical facilities for medical tourism. 2. Affordable vacation homes Accommodation is one of the most expensive necessities when traveling. This is because most tourists have no choice but to stay in hotels during their visit. According to (Simpson 2012: 32), the number of beds in most hotel rooms is two. This is usually not suitable for families or large numbers of friends visiting an area. This results to a lot of money being spent on accommodation, money that could be spent on other fun activities during the visit. He goes on to say that, some disadvantages of staying in hotels like long lines at the reception when getting a room, the remoteness of some hotels and the noise from traffic or the city are some of the reasons why people dislike traveling. This is because people leave their homes to relax on their vacations, but they end up hustling. In the long term, this leads to less people traveling both locally and internationally due to the high cost of accommodation in these hotels per night and the process involved in checking in and out of hotels (Becker 2013:15). The development of affordable vacation housing in Miami will attract more tourists in the area because these will represent their homes away from home. The vacation houses will vary in cost depending on the number of bedrooms i.e. 1 to 4 bedrooms. Tourists will have an opportunity to live as they live back home with their own privacy and space at an affordable price. The housing development will resemble a normal neighborhood the only difference being that the houses will only be rented to tourists and not locals for residence. The cost of this development will be approximately $15 Million according to (Ogershok 2004: 35) for 10 vacation homes that are fully furnished. The homes will also be very close to the beach in a secure location away from other residential houses. This recommendation has been welcomed and criticized by the public. These were the findings from an interview conducted on the views of the public regarding this development. Most people think it is a good because the affordability of the homes will attract more tourists to Miami, and development will be unique in that the project has not been done before in Miami and that aspect will promote more tourists in the area. Other people said that the houses may remain vacant during the low season and that some tourists may not want to have a home setting while they are away from home on vacation. The sustainability of this development will be quite easy and cheap. This is because the houses will only need occasional checkups for plumbing, wiring, gardening and other things that would need to be checked. This will be cheap because what will be required are the occasional repairs, which will not be too many. The tourists hiring the houses will have to sign an agreement that makes them responsible for damages to the houses that they will cause during their stay. This will facilitate the houses durability in their new form for a long time. The houses will only have to be maintained after they have been built to keep attracting tourists for a long period. This is a very sustainable development in that as long as people are traveling and visiting they will always need accommodation. The development will ensure that they have good, affordable and private accommodation that can house any group of people comfortably. 3. Medical facilities Medical tourism is the movement people from highly developed countries to other areas of the world for medical care, usually to find treatment at a lower cost. According to (Connell 2011: 44), Medical tourism is different from the traditional mode of international medical travel where patients travel/journey from less developed nations to main medical centers in highly developed countries for medical attention that is unavailable in their countries. There are several medical services that are typically sought out by travelers, and these include elective procedures as well as complex specialized surgeries. According to (Parekh 2009: 56), these surgeries include; joint replacement for the knee and hip, cardiac surgery, dental surgery and cosmetic surgery. Individuals with rare genetic disorders also travel to countries where treatment of these conditions is better understood. (Gahlinger 2008: 41) Says that over 50 countries around the world have identified medical tourism as a national industry, and this number may increase in a few years. There are many factors that may lead to medical tourism but the major ones include; the high cost of health care, long wait times for certain procedures, the ease and affordability of international travel and the improvement in both technology and standards of care in many countries (Goering 2008: 32). For many surgery procedures performed in medical tourism destinations cost a fraction of the price they do in the first world. For example, a liver transplant that cost $300,000 USD in America cost about $91,000 USD in Taiwan according to (Tung 2010: 35). Medical tourism centers are not only cheap but also fast in that there are no long if any waiting times. Using Canada as an example, an estimated 782, 936 Canadians spend time on medical waiting lists in the year 2005waiting an average of 9.4 weeks. Canada has set waiting time benchmarks, for example, 26 weeks for a hip substitute and 16 weeks for cataract surgery, for non-critical medical procedures (Thompson 2008: 40). The benefits brought about by medical centers and medical facilities that enable medical tourism in Miami will increase the number of tourists coming in the city to seek these fast and affordable medical services. These medical facilities can be government owned or private practice. The cost is minimal in that an office space can be rented monthly for a low rate of $50. Two or three office spaces would be enough to set up a medical practice for surgeries or other medical services for tourists. To sustain a medical practice means paying the required rent and other bills. The services provided should also be of good quality to ensure that the business has a sustainable number of clients. Medical centers are usually welcome in most communities regardless of the services being offered. In an interview that was meant to get the public opinion on the setting up of a medical facility to promote medical tourism shows that the majority of people like the idea. 4. Comparison and conclusion The two developments are aimed at increasing the number of tourists going to Miami. They are both very beneficial to tourist and the economy. Medical tourism is bound to do well because the number of people having cosmetic surgery is increasing. According to (Bates 2013: 25) the number of people who had cosmetic surgery was 15 Million in the year 2011most of them being South Koreans. This number is bound to increase in the future, and the set up of this development in Miami will increase the number of tourist coming in for the services. The housing development will also come in handy when the tourists increase. Both developments will serve the purpose of attracting more tourists in Miami. Bibliography BATES, C. (2013). 15 million people worldwide had plastic surgery in 2012.. But why are South Koreans so much likely to go under the knife? The Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2271134/15million-peole-plastic-surgery-world-just-year--SOUTH-KOREA-leading-way.html BECKER, E. (2013). Overbooked: the exploding business of travel and tourism. CONNELL. J. (2011). Medical tourism. Wallingford, oxfordshire, CABL. http://www.cabi.org/cabdirect/showpdf.aspx?PAN=20113100495. GAHLINGER, P.M. (2008). The medical tourism travel guide: your competence reference to top-quality, low-cost dental, cosmetic, medical care & surgery overseas. Sunrise River Press. GOERING, L. (2008). The big surgery, Delhi is dealing. Journal of the Chicago Tribute. 8 (40) 32-44. OGERSHOK, D. (2004). 2005 national building cost manual. Carlsbad, CA, Craftsman’s Book Co. PAREKH, R.L. (2009). Medical tourism. New Delhi, India, Alfa Publications. SIMPSON, C. (2012). The disadvantages of large hotels. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/list_6893644-disadvantages-large-hotels.html. THOMPSON, N. (2011). Medical tourism. New Delhi, Discovery Pub. House. TUNG, S. (2010). Is Taiwan Asia’s next one-stop plastic-surgery shop? Time. Appendices Appendix a: profile of interviewees The interviewees are adult members of the public who will give their opinion on the development of affordable houses for tourists. Appendix b: interview guide Introduction I would like to thank you for taking the time to meet with me today. My name is……….. and I would like to talk to you about your opinion on the recommendation to develop affordable houses for tourists here in Miami. This interview will be recorded for quality data collection. The interview will take only thirty minutes. All your responses and personal information will remain confidential after the interview. Questions 1. Have you ever travelled to another country? Please give the name of the country(s). 2. Who did you travel with? 3. Where did you stay during your visit and for how long? 4. Did you enjoy your accommodation? 5. Is there anything you would have changed to make your accommodation more comfortable? Please elaborate. 6. Do you think you could have had a better time in a more homely setting like in a tourist house? 7. Do you think it is a good idea to develop tourist houses here in Miami? 8. Is there anything else you would like to add? Close the interview Thank you all for your time and cooperation. Enjoy the rest of your day. Appendix c: interview transcripts Interviewer: student Interviewee: resident of Miami Affiliation to interviewee: the interviewee is a resident of Miami who will benefit me by providing their thought on the benefit and opinion on the development of affordable houses for tourists in Miami. Start of interview Interviewer: have you ever travelled to another country? Please give the name of the country(s). Interviewee: yes. I have been to Australia. Interviewer: who did you travel with? Interviewee: I am married and I have two children so I went with my whole family. My wife and two children. Interviewer: where did you stay during your visit and for how long? Interviewee: we stayed in a hotel for a week. Interviewer: did you enjoy your accommodation? Interviewee: well, yes we did. The services were great. However they were a bit expensive. Interviewer: is there anything you would have changed to make your accommodation more comfortable? Please elaborate. Interviewee: yeah, there was some noise from the traffic outside and of course the amount I spent on accommodation for a week. Interviewer: do you think you could have had a better time in a more homely setting like in a tourist house? Interviewee: yes. I would have preferred that to hotel rooms for me and my family. That way we would have saved a lot and spent more quality time cooking doing other things together in the house. Interviewer: is there anything else you would like to add? Interviewee: yes, I would like to say that tourism houses will be a good idea and a more intimate experience for families travelling together. Their affordability will see more tourists coming in and wanting to stay in them. Interview two Appendix a: profile of interviewees The interviewees are adult residents of Miami whose opinion will matter in the development of a medical center that will promote medical tourism in Miami. Appendix b: interview guide Introduction I would like to thank you all for taking the time to meet with me today. My name is……………. And I would like to talk about your opinion on the recommendation of developing a medical center to promote medical tourism in Miami. The interview will only take 30 minutes. The interview will be recorded for better data collection. All your personal information and responses will remain private after the interview. Questions 1. Are you familiar with the term Medical tourism? Please explain 2. Have you ever been a medical tourist? Please give more details. 3. Would you advice someone to try medical tourism and why? 4. Do you think that setting up a medical facility for medical tourists will increase the number of tourists here in Miami? Please explain. 5. In your opinion what services do people travel to get when travelling for medical purposes 6. Is there anything that you would like to add? Close of interview I would like to thank you all for your time and cooperation, enjoy the rest of your day. Appendix c: interview transcripts Interviewer: student Interviewee: Miami resident Affiliation with interviewee: the interviewee is a Miami resident whose opinion on the development of a medical facility for medical tourists will be greatly considered in the actual implementation of the development. Start of interview. Interviewer: are you familiar with term medical tourism? Please explain. Interviewee: yes, this is where people travel to places where there is more affordable medical care than their own countries. Interviewer: have you ever been a medical tourist? Please give more details. Interviewee: no, I have never been a medical tourist. Interviewer: would you advice someone to try out medical tourism and why? Interviewee: yes I would. Some procedures can be quite expensive have long waiting times so if the procedure can be done more quickly and less expensively elsewhere they I would advise them to travel. Interviewer: Do you think that setting up a medical facility for medical tourists here in Miami will boost tourism? Please elaborate. Interviewee: yes. I think it is a good way of attracting tourists in to the city. I will definitely work. Interviewer: in your opinion, what services do people travel to get when travel for medical purposes? Interviewee: I think that most travel for faster and better surgeries like tumor removal and cosmetic surgeries. Interviewer: Is there anything else that you would like to add? Interviewee: only that the medical tourism idea is growing and we should also venture in to it. Read More