Como Agua Para Chocolate

Verbal and Visual Representation of Women: Como agua para chocolate / Like Water for Chocolate By MARIA ELENA DE VALDES Como agua para chocolate is the first novel by Laura Esquivel (b. 1950 ). Published in Spanish in 1989 and in English translation in 1992, followed by the release of the feature film that same year, the novel has thrust this Mexican woman writer into the world of international critical acclaim as well as best-seller popularity.Since Esquivel also wrote the screenplay for director Alfonso Arau, the novel and the film together offer us an excellent opportunity to examine the interplay between the verbal and visual representation of women. Esquivel's previous work had all been as a screenwriter. Her script for Chido Guan, el Tacos de Oro ( 1985 ) was nominated for the Ariel in Mexico, an award she won eight years later for Como agua para chocolate. The study of verbal and visual imagery must begin with the understanding that both the novel and, to a lesser extent, the film work as a parody of a genre.The genre in question is the Mexican version of women's fiction published in monthly installments together with recipes, home remedies, dressmaking patterns, short poems, moral exhortations, ideas on home decoration, and the calendar of church observances. In brief, this genre is the nineteenth-century forerunner of what is known throughout Europe and America as a woman's magazine. 1 Around 1850 these publications in Mexico were called â€Å"calendars for young ladies. Since home and church were the private and public sites of all educated young ladies, these publications represented the written counterpart to women's socialization, and as such, they are documents that conserve and transmit a Mexican female culture in which the social context and cultural space are particularly for women by women. It was in the 1850s that fiction began to take a prominent role. At first the writings were descriptions of places for family excursions, moralizing tales , or detailed narratives on cooking. By 1860 the installment novel grew out of the monthly recipe or recommended excursion.More elaborate love stories by women began to appear regularly by the 1880s. The genre was never considered literature by the literary establishment because of its episodic plots, overt sentimentality, and highly stylized characterization. Nevertheless, by the turn of the century every literate woman in Mexico was or had been an avid reader of the genre. But what has been completely overlooked by the male-dominated literary culture of Mexico is that these novels were highly coded in an authentic women's language of inference and reference to the commonplaces of the kitchen and the home which were completely unknown by any man. Behind the purportedly simple episodic plots there was an infrahistory of life as it was lived, with all its multiple restrictions for women of this social class. The characterization followed the forms of life of these women rather than t heir unique individuality; thus the heroines were the survivors, those who were able to live out a full life in spite of the institution of marriage, which in theory, if not in practice, was a form of indentured slavery for life in which a woman served father and brothers then moved on to serve husband and sons together with her daughters and, of course, the women from the servant class.The women's fiction of this woman's world concentrated on one overwhelming fact of life: how to transcend the conditions of existence and express oneself in love and in creativity. 3 Cooking, sewing, embroidery, and decoration were the usual creative outlets for these women, and of course conversation, storytelling, gossip, and advice, which engulfed every waking day of the Mexican lady of the home. 4 Writing for other women was quite naturally an extension of this infrahistorical conversation and gossip.Therefore, if one has the social codes of these women, one can read these novels as a way of life in nineteenth-century Mexico. Laura Esquivel's recognition of this world and its language comes from her Mexican heritage of fiercely independent women, who created a woman's culture within the social prison of marriage. 5 Como agua para chocolate is a parody of nineteenth-century women's periodical fiction in the same way that Don Quijote is a parody of the novel of chivalry. Both genres were expressions of popular culture that created a unique space for a segment of the population.I am using the term parody in the strict sense in which Ziva Ben-Porat has defined it: â€Å"[Parody is] a representation of a modeled reality, which is itself already a particular representation of an original reality. The parodic representations expose the model's conventions and lay bare its devices through the coexistence of the two codes in the same message† (247). Obviously, for the parody to work at its highest level of dual representation, both the parody and the parodic model must be pre sent in the reading experience.Esquivel creates the duality in several ways. First, she begins with the title of the novel, Like Water for Chocolate, a locution which translates as â€Å"water at the boiling point† and is used as a simile in Mexico to describe any event or relationship that is so tense, hot, and extraordinary that it can only be compared to scalding water on the verge of boiling, as called for in the preparation of that most Mexican of all beverages, dating from at least the thirteenth century: hot chocolate (Soustelle, 153-61).Second, the subtitle is taken directly from the model: â€Å"A Novel in Monthly Installments, with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies. † Together the title and subtitle therefore cover both the parody and the model. Third, the reader finds upon opening the book, in place of an epigraph, a traditional Mexican proverb: â€Å"A la mesa y a la cama / Una sola vez se llama† (To the table or to bed / You must come when you ar e bid). â€Å"The woodcut that decorates the page is the typical nineteenth-century cooking stove. The fourth and most explicit dualistic technique is Esquivel's reproduction of the format of her model.Each chapter is prefaced by the title, the subtitle, the month, and the recipe for that month. The narration that follows is a combination of direct address on how to prepare the recipe of the month and interspersed stories about the loves and times of the narrator's great-aunt Tita. The narration moves effortlessly from the first person to the third-person omniscient narrative voice of all storytellers. Each chapter ends with the information that the story will be continued and an announcement of what the next month's–that is, the next chapter's–recipe will be.These elements, taken from the model, are never mere embellishments. The recipes and their preparation, as well as the home remedies and their application, are an intrinsic part of the story. There is therefore a n intricate symbiotic relationship between the novel and its model in the reading experience. Each is feeding on the other. In this study I am concerned with the model of the human subject, specifically the female subject, as it is developed in and through language and visual signification in a situated context of time and place.The verbal imaging of the novel makes use of the elaborate signifying system of language as a dwelling place. The visual imagery that at first expands the narrative in the film soon exacts its own place as a nonlinguistic signifying system drawing upon its own repertoire of referentiality and establishing a different model of the human subject than that elucidated by the verbal imagery alone. I intend to examine the novelistic signifying system and the model thus established and then follow with the cinematic signifying system and its model.The speaking subject or narrative voice in the novel is characterized, as Emile Benveniste has shown, as a living prese nce by speaking. That voice begins in the first person, speaking the conversational Mexican Spanish of a woman from Mexico's north, near the U. S. border. Like all Mexican speech, it is clearly marked with register and sociocultural indicators, in this case of the land-owning middle class, mixing colloquial local usage with standard Spanish. The entry point is always the same: the direct address of one woman telling another how to prepare the recipe she is recommending.As one does the cooking, it is quite natural for the cook to liven the session with some storytelling, prompted by the previous preparation of' the food. As she effortlessly moves from first-person culinary instructor to storyteller, she shifts to the third person and gradually appropriates a time and place and refigures a social world. A verbal image emerges of the model Mexican rural, middle-class woman. She must be strong and far more clever than the men who supposedly protect her. She must be pious, observing all the religious requirements of a virtuous daughter, wife, and mother.She must exercise great care to keep her sentimental relations as private as possible, and, most important of all, she must be in control of life in her house, which means essentially the kitchen and bedroom or food and sex. In Esquivel's novel there are four women who must respond to the model: the mother Elena and the three daughters Rosaura, Gertrudis, and Josefita, known as Tita. The ways of living within the limits of the model are demonstrated first by the mother, who thinks of herself as its very incarnation.She interprets the model in terms of control and domination of her entire household. She is represented through a filter of awe and fear, for the ostensible source is Tita's diary-cookbook, written beginning in 1910, when she was fifteen years old, and now transmitted by her grandniece. Therefore the verbal images that characterize Mama Elena must be understood as those of her youngest daughter, who has b een made into a personal servant from the time the little girl was able to work.Mama Elena is depicted as strong, self-reliant, absolutely tyrannical with her daughters and servants, but especially so with Tita, who from birth has been designated as the one who will not marry because she must care for her mother until she dies. Mama Elena believes in order, her order. Although she observes the strictures of church and society, she has secretly had an adulterous love affair with an African American, and her second daughter, Gertrudis, is the offspring of that relationship.This transgression of the norms of proper behavior remains hidden from public view, although there is gossip, but only after her mother's death does Tita discover that Gertrudis is her half-sister. The tyranny imposed on the three sisters is therefore the rigid, self-designed model of a woman's life pitilessly enforced by Mama Elena, and each of the three responds in her own way to the model. Rosaura never questions her mother's authority and follows her dictates submissively; after she is married she becomes an insignificant imitation of her mother.She lacks the strength, skill, and determination of Mama Elena and tries to compensate by appealing to the mother's model as absolute. She therefore tries to live the model, invoking her mother's authority because she has none of her own. Gertrudis does not challenge her mother but instead responds to her emotions and passions in a direct manner unbecoming a lady. This physical directness leads her to adopt an androgynous life-style: she leaves home and her mother's authority, escapes from the brothel where she subsequently landed, and becomes a general of the revolutionary army, taking a subordinate as her lover and, later, husband.When she returns to the family hacienda, she dresses like a man, gives orders like a man, and is the dominant sexual partner. Tita, the youngest of the three daughters, speaks out against her mother's arbitrary rule but cannot escape until she temporarily loses her mind. She is able to survive her mother's harsh rule by transferring her love, joy, sadness, and anger into her cooking. Tita's emotions and passions are the impetus for expression and action, not through the normal means of communication but through the food she prepares. She is therefore able to consummate her love with Pedro through the food she serves.Tal parecia que en un extranio fenomeno de alquimia su ser se habia disuelto en la salsa de rosas, en el cuerpo de las codornices, en el vino y en cada uno de los olores de la comida. De esta manera penetraba en el cuerpo de Pedro, voluptuosa, aromatica, calurosa, completamente sensual. (57) It was as if a strange alchemical process had dissolved her entire being in the rose petal sauce, in the tender flesh of the quails, in the wine, in every one of the meal's aromas. That was the way she entered Pedro's body, hot, voluptuous, perfumed, totally sensuous. 52) This clearly is much more than communication through food or a mere aphrodisiac; this is a form of sexual transubstantiation whereby the rose petal sauce and the quail have been turned into the body of Tita. Thus it is that the reader gets to know these women as persons but, above all, becomes involved with the embodied speaking subject from the past, Tita, represented by her grand-niece (who transmits her story) and her cooking. The reader receives verbal food for the imaginative refiguration of one woman's response to the model that was imposed on her by accident of birth. The body of these women is the place of living.It is the dwelling place of the human subject. The essential questions of health, illness, pregnancy, childbirth, and sexuality are tied very directly in this novel to the physical and emotional needs of the body. The preparation and eating of food is thus a symbolic representation of living, and Tita's cookbook bequeaths to Esperanza and to Esperanza's daughter, her grandniece, a woman's cr eation of space that is hers in a hostile world. Not only was the film adaptation of Como agua para chocolate written by the novelist herself, but in this case the screenplay represents a return to her original discipline.There are many cinematographic elements in the novel, primarily the numerous cuts and fade-outs of the story in order to feature the cooking. The camera is intrusive and can engulf its subject in a visual language that is unique to the voyeur or can replace verbal referentiality by overwhelming the viewer. For example, the opening shot of the film, filling the entire screen with an onion that is being sliced, plunges the viewer into food preparation in a way that no spoken word could parallel for its immediate effect.Similarly, the numerous close-ups of food being prepared, served, and eaten heighten the dominance of the performance of cooking and eating as both sustenance and social ritual. Contrast these images and this emphasis on the joy, sensuality, and even l ust of eating the Mexican cuisine of Tita's kitchen with the scenes of the monks eating in Jean-Jacques Annaud screen version of The Name of the Rose or the raw meat displayed in the monastery's refractory, where the emphasis is on the denial of the flesh through mortification. Gabriel Axel film Babette's Feast, on the other hand, contains both poles of this opposition between gratification and mortification of the body. The minister's two daughters, who substitute religious practice for living and who eat as punishment for having a body, are suddenly exposed to the refinement of food as art, pleasure, and gratification. ) In the film Como agua para chocolate the preparation of food is expressed visually, and the consummation of eating is seen in the faces of the diners; but it must be also emphasized that there is a full spectrum of effects here, ranging from ecstasy to nausea.Perhaps the major difference between Esquivel's novel and the film version is that there is a visual inter text in the latter that evokes the Cinderella fairy tale by using the ghostly appearance of the mother and making her death the result of an attack on the hacienda by outlaws. In the novel Mama Elena does not die until long after the attack and lingers on in partial madness, convinced that Tita is trying to poison her. By cutting short her death to one sudden violent episode and having her visage return to taunt Tita until the latter is able to renounce her heritage, the film makes Tita the Cinderella-like victim of personal abuse.In the novel the rigidity and harshness of Mama Elena is overwhelmingly sociocultural and not peculiar to Tita as victim. The visual intertext of fairy-tale language creates an effective subtext in the film, bringing out the oppression of the protagonist and her magical transcendence. Instead of a fairy godmother, Tita has the voice of her Nacha, the family cook who raised her from infancy amid the smells and sounds of the kitchen. Instead of a magical tra nsformation of dress and carriage to go to the prince's ball, Tita is able to make love through the food she prepares; she is also able to induce sadness and acute physical discomfort.She is therefore able to keep Pedro from having sexual relations with Rosaura by making certain that Rosaura is fat, foul of breath, and given to breaking wind in the most nauseating manner. Mama Elena's ghost first appears one hour into the film and quietly gains the upper hand, since she threatens to curse the child Tita is presumably carrying. The final confrontation between Tita and the ghost comes ten minutes later: Tita defeats the ghost by revealing that she knows Gertrudis is illegitimate and that she hates Elena for everything she has never been to her.The film's visual language is able to evoke images of provocation, contempt, and abuse that are not in the novel. From the fortieth to the forty-fifth minute of the film, part of Tita's immensurably Cinderellalike duties are enacted. Tita is the only one permitted to assist Mama Elena in her bath and with her dressing. The despotic abuse of Tita by Mama Elena clearly borrows the visual images of the cruel stepmother. The magical intermediary is not a beautiful woman in a ball dress, but rather a wrinkled old woman, the cook Nacha, who had given Tita the love Mama Elena denied her.Nacha's voice and face guide Tita. It is Nacha who tells her to use the roses Pedro gave her for the preparation of quail in rose petal sauce, and it is Nacha who prepares the bedroom for the final consummation of love between Tita and Pedro at the end of the film. Tita's magical powers are all related to food, with the exception of the kilometer-long bedspread she knits during her lengthy nights of insomnia. Tita's cooking controls the pattern of living of those in her household because the food she prepares becomes an extension of herself.The culmination of this process of food as art and communication is food as communion. The transubstantiatio n of Tita's quail in rose petal sauce into Tita's body recalls the Roman Catholic doctrine of the communion wafer's becoming the body and blood of Christ, but on a deeper level it is the psychological reality of all women who have nursed an infant. When the baby Roberto loses his wet nurse, Tita is able to take the infant and nurse him in spite of the fact that she has not given birth.Her breasts are filled with milk not because she wishes she were the mother of the child, but because the child needs to eat and she is the provider of food. The viewer of the film Como agua para chocolate must develop her expressive capacity as she broadens her affective experience. Mexican women–and to some extent Latin American women–seeing the film relive their family history, and this is so not only because of the strong and open cultural links between Latin American women in this century, on which both the novel and film draw, but also and perhaps primarily because of the skillful u se of the parodic model.The intertext of women's magazines and the loves, trials, and tribulations featured in the stories they published is used by Esquivel as a discursive code that transcends whatever regional differences may exist. The social registers, the forms of address, the language of the female domain are somewhat lost in translation, because as in cooking, the substitution of ingredients changes the taste.The representation of women in Esquivel's novel and in the film touches on that deepest reservoir of meaning which is the human body as described, seen, and, on the deeper level, understood as the origin of identity. Women from other cultures and other languages can develop an empathetic relationship with Tita, her cooking, her love, and her life. Men of any culture, but especially Mexican men and Latin American men, have the greatest deficiency in experiencing this film and therefore have the most to learn.They must gain access to some fragment of the expressive code o f visual and verbal images that are the infrahistoric codes of their mothers, wives, and daughters. If they cannot gain access to the expressive system, they will not have access to the affective experience of these lives. The imagery of nourishing the body in both the novel and the film provides us with the means for articulating the experiences of cooking, eating, making love, and giving birth in previously unsuspected ways, and thus allows the male intruder a peek into reality.Women's recuperation of artistic creativity within the confinement of the house, and especially the kitchen and the bedroom, is presented by Esquivel not in an ideological argument but rather by means of an intertextual palimpsest which is the hallmark of postmodern art. 6 I want to conclude with three observations on feminist art in this context. 1) This is not a protest movement; it is a celebration of the space of one's own which may have been hidden from view in the past but is now open to all. ) At the center of postmodernism there is the vesting of creative weight on the reader, and this makes intertextuality a means of providing an interpretive context; in the case of Esquivel that context is our grandmother's kitchen and bedroom. 3) The maturity of feminist criticism has moved beyond the need to go headhunting among the misogynist hordes of patriarchy; the challenge today is to celebrate women's creativity in the full domain of the human adventure, from the so-called decorative arts to the fine arts and science.

Free Essays on Megans Law

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Who originally crafted the Declaration of Independence? With this, what is the significance of ‘Congress’ in its title? Who further altered and ratified the document? – Committee of 5 (Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Sherman, Robert Livingston) – It’s a split, severing connections with Britain – Continental congress 2. What is the significance of the Declaration of Independence relative to the American Constitutional Order and System? It was a legal charter for the USA 3. Be able to identify the civil principle clearly enunciated in the Declaration of Independence known as the â€Å"Doctrine of the Lower Magistrate. † In this regard, you will need to refresh yourself on the role of the Continental Congresses. Lower magistrate corrects Upper magistrate 4. What is meant by the phrase â€Å"Laws of Nature and Nature’s God,† as America’s legal claim for separation from Great Britain and located in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence? – Their philosophical region for separating from great Britain. God endowed us with certain rights and if they are violated we are allowed to separate from whomever is violating them. 5. You will be required to read certain portions of the Declaration of Independence to tease out its civil principles. In this regard, be able to identify the ‘justification for legal authority’ to separate from Britain, which represents the legal claim made by the representatives. With this, how can we be certain that the Declaration of Independence is not a â€Å"deistic document† textually? Long train of abuses and user patience / they call on God as a witness 6. Three-fourths of the Declaration of Independence is devoted to enumerating twenty-eight charges against King George III. Twenty-four of these charges were originally located in State Constitutions. These grievances also depict violations in relation to what? 7. Does the Declaration of Independence delineate of express a structure of government, or a prerogative of power, and hence, representative of a Constitution? NO 8. What is the difference between the engrossment of the Declaration of Independence and the Dunlop Edition? Engrossment It was handwritten and then signed Dunlop was printed and handed out 9. When did the United States become a sovereign nation? July 4th 1776 10. Where is the engrossment of the Declaration of Independence housed? NARA Articles of Confederation 1781-1789: A System of Confederalism and State Sovereignty and the U. S. Constitutional Convention (May 25 – September 1787): Steps Towards a More Perfect Union 1. What was the nature of the civil arrangement of the Articles government? In other words, was it national, confederal, or federal? – Confederal Government 2. What led to the move towards the Constitutional Convention of 1787? The weakness of the articles of Confederation 3. Make certain you are able to identify the correct dates relative to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence as well as the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, and the adoption of the U. S. Constitution by the Constitutional Convention. Declaration – July 4th 1776 Articles of Confed. – November 15th 1777 US Constitution – September 17, 1787 4. Be able to identify the nature of the deliberations during the constitutional convention. In other words, what was the main concern in regards to forming a new national civil structure? 5. What is the nature of the civil arrangement of the U. S. Constitution? In other words, was it national, confederal, or federal? Confederal What is the nature of federalism? Nature of Federalism – Abuse Power 6. Who drafted the U. S. Constitution? – Committee of 5 (Oliver Ellsworth, James Wilson, Edmund Randolph, Nathaniel Gorhand) 7. Who ratified the U. S. Constitution? – The states The United States Constitution: A Civil Covenant 1. What is the significance of the Federalist Papers (1787-1788)? Be prepared to read excerpts from some of these editorials to tease out the basic ideas. 2. What is the significance of Elliot’s Debates? – The record of the debates of the states on whether they would ratify the constitution or not. 3. What represents the philosophical nature of the U. S. Constitution? – Limited civil government to ensure ordered Liberty 4. Be able to identify the definition of a republic which the U. S. Constitution embodies. – PowerPoint 18 5. Be able to identify the proper definition of federalism. – Divided authority and diffuse power to a tri part system with checks and balances within a constitutional framework for the sake of ordered liberty. (Sovereignty lies no where, its spread out through the entire system. ) Slide 4 6. Why are people best governed by a diversity of power as opposed to a unity of power? Diversity of power makes tyranny harder to achieve 7. What is the law of the nature of the power of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, which the U. S. Constitution assumes to be true? In other words, what is the function of each of these branches? What Constitutional Articles identify the nature of these powers? – Articles 1-3 slide 9 8. Be able to identify the federal nature of the US Constitution. In this regard, you will be expected to identify the mechanics and structure of Federalism. With this, do not neglect the place of checks and balances and separation of powers as part of Federalism know these categories as well. – Federal in nature, republican in form 9. Be able to identify some of the principal instruments of checking and balancing outlined in the U. S. Constitution. – Veto powers in terms of office. All are located in lecture 18 10. What are the four kinds of power associated with the U. S. Constitution? What is the definition of each? – Enumerated – The power that is expressly given, Implied – Powers that are not expressly given but are implied, Concurrent – Powers possessed by the national and the state governments, Residual – Powers preserved for the states and for the people 11. What is the significance of Amendments IX and X of the Bill of Rights to the U. S. Constitution? – Residual Powers Principles of Economics: Hazlitt Hazlitt Text: Be prepared for one question related to each of the following chapters: Title is the answer 1. Chp. 4: â€Å"Public Works Mean Taxes† – Public works arnt the best idea in the world because it taxes the people more 2. Chap. 5: â€Å"Taxes Discourage Production† 3. Chap. 6: â€Å"Credit Divers Production. † 4. Chap. 11: â€Å"Who’s ‘Protected’ by Tarriffs? † – The governments own interests 5. Chap. 12: â€Å"The Drive for Exports† – To get income a different way than taxing people 6. Chap. 13: ‘â€Å"Parity† Prices’ 7. Chap. 15: â€Å"How the Price System Works† Your Exam will also contain five extra credit questions. With this, your extra credit option presented in Blackboard must be submitted along with your Final Exam.

Creating Tourism Uniqueness To Hua Hin Tourism Essay

Creating Tourism Uniqueness To Hua Hin Tourism Essay Assignment Details: how a specific destination can conduct market research to develop a new brand for itself. Consideration the subjects of market segmentation and product differentiation strategies. Based on your discussion, you can provide suggestions about what this destination business should do in order to develop a product. Please use proper referencing. Following questions should be answered: Give a short account of the history of the destination. State its mission, vision and major goals. Analyze challenges and developments in relation to its marketing. Situation Analysis Competitive analysis Customer analysis SWOT analysis Destinations marketing strategies. Recommendations for this destination to pursue in the future. History of Hua Hin Hua Hin is one of the most well-known tourist destinations for decades, and currently, the island has been transformed to a major tourism hub with the well-prepared infrastructure and services to accommodate millions of tourists around the world every year. Hua Hin now can provide highest standards of wellness care, blended with Thai hospitality. The ingredient of world-class wellness service with the charming warm hospitality makes Hua Hin the favorable health wellness destination of the world. There is more to Hua Hin than its white sandy beaches, fantastic bargain shopping, water and land sport activities and entertainment. Furthermore, Thailand is one of leading tourism destinations for decades. Many cities have been transformed to a major tourism hub with well-prepared infrastructure and service to accommodate tourists around the world every year. With the number of tourists has been increasing every year, tourism related infrastructures have been developed. One of the infrastructures we really put our effort to medical infrastructure, originally to ensure all of the tourists for any emergency health incidents during their holidays. Thailand is leading Asia as a medical tourism destination. Major reasons that enabled Thailand to dominate this growing market are the low cost of medical treatments, the quality of treatments provided by hospitals and private clinics, and the highly developed tourism industry. As the population in the potential tourists searching for better life continues to grow, the demand for health and wellness trips tend to increase. Health and wellness tourism represents the recent trend to converge two of the worlds largest industries, healthcare and tourism. Hua Hin has been acknowledged as the healthiest city in Thailand. The combination of health tourism hub is between beautiful and natural tourism destination, with the international standard of healthcare perspectives. It has no doubt on the beauty of Phuket Island, together with various supporting factors; pristine beaches, delicious Thai seafood, varieties of entertainment, fun shopping and tropical luxurious spa. Those combinations have made Phuket to the outstanding tourism destination in world map. Location Hua Hin is a coastal town in Prachuab Kirikhan Province, 200 kilometers south of Bangkok. It can easily be reached by car. Hua Hin has an airport which links the seaside resort by daily flights to Bangkok, Phuket and Samui. Regular buses leave Bangkoks Southern Bus Terminal for Hua Hin and Prachuap Khiri Khan many times daily. Trains leave Bangkok Central Railway Station for Hua Hin 12 times daily. Climate Hua Hin is located in the hot zone, but refreshed by a cooling sea breeze. The average temperature is 24C to 32C. It has one of the lowest rainfalls of any beach area in Thailand. Therefore, tourists can visit the town all year round. Due to the excellent weather and climate, there are a large number of the retire staying permanently there. One of facilities plays important roles to non-residents and local people is the medical and health services. Vision Hua Hin is a world source of health tourism. It will be broadly recognized as a magic place to healing and become the destination of choice for visitors whose primary intention is to enjoy health and wellness experiences. Its products and services will be delivered with a world class standard to fulfill customer needs. Mission Statement Hua hin welcomes all local and international visitors with top class of health and wellness facilities which are rare to find elsewhere. Unique identity of historical city together with natural resource and splendid long beach are attractive and draw health seekers from around the world and known as the best of destination for wellness. Objectives To create tourism uniqueness to Hua hin. Strengthen Hua hin reputation in term of wellness and health destination. Increase standard of hotel and resort in Hua hin to average of 4 stars in 5 years of implementation. Create commitment of city owner to local people and educate the sustainable benefit of following destination strategic marketing. Situation Analysis Market analysis Growth rates within the health and wellness tourism market are significance. Based on research, the global market size of health and wellness tourism is estimated at 5 million trips annually. As the population in the potential tourists searching for better life continues to grow, the demand for health and wellness trips will increase. However, even though in Thailand, wellness tourism is just in an early phase of growth, it is growing. The promise of low-cost, high quality healthcare is attracting more than tourists a year to key locations. Based on Bangkok Post 2004 Mid-Year Review, a health and wellness tourist spends an average of USD 362 a day, compared with the average travelers spending of USD 144 and 50 % cheaper than in Singapore, three times cheaper than in Hong Kong, and five to ten times cheaper than in Europe and the USA. Competitor Analysis Domestic Competitive Environment Phuket has been discovered only recently as one of the most well-known tourist destinations and has undergone rapid. Strength: with the investment of international healthcare facilities, Phuket now can provide highest standards of wellness and medical care, blended with Thai hospitality. The ingredient of world-class healthcare service with the charming and warm hospitality makes Phuket the favorable health and wellness destination of the world. There is more to Phuket than its white sandy beaches, fantastic bargain shopping, water and land sport activities and entertainment. Phukets hospitals provide patients with access of highly qualified medical personal. We emphasize that such international accreditation is the key successful factors and is a guarantee of our commitment for best medical services. The rapid changes of our planet today bring us to more challenging era. The world has been changed, both in positive and negative ways, and the most worried development to our mankind is the development of the sickness. In another word, may I say, sickness has no barriers, anyone living in anywhere in this world would have chance to experience any kind of sickness or diseases. And most of the time, sickness can be cured only for the permission time. With this believe, Phuket is the best place for medical treatment, as we possess the edge when it comes to the availability of services. And you will found that there is no queue or much waiting time for medical treatment in Phuket. International Competitive Environment Many countries now actively market themselves as health and wellness destinations. This further expansion of health and wellness tourism has positively impacted incoming tourist receipts by boosting average spend per visitor and reversed the general trend towards shorter, more frequent breaks. It has also provided an element of stability to the travel and tourism market, as activities are generally in-door thus avoiding the problems and fluctuations of seasonality. Source Market Region General Competitive Environment Competitive Strengths India Long history of wellness from folk know-how, such as Yoga, Ayurveda and Unani. Fast-paced life style increases demand for wellness tourism and alternative cures. Diversity of tourism destinations and experiences. Unique experience in heritage place and hotel. A very wide variety of hotels is present in the country that can fulfill the demand of the tourists. There are international players in the market such as Taj and Oberoi International Chains. Thus, the needs of the international tourist travelers are met while they are on a visit to India. India offers a readymade tourist destination with the resources it has. Thus the magnet to pull customers already exists and has potential grow. Quality and Range of Services. Affordable costs. Singapore Strengths as a tourist destination. Singapores land use planning, zoning controls and environmental regulations in destination management. Innovation, ICT and Singapores business sophistication factors. Implementation of the VICE model by Singapore to maintain sustainable tourism (Visitor, Industry, Community, Environmental). Achieving international-standard training and acquiring improved Knowledge skills in the hospitality tourism industry, to strengthen Singapores position as a top Human Capital Excellence destination. The significance of Singapores destination brand values. Partnering of tourism and hospitality industries to support Singapores tourism development. Partnering of tourism and hospitality industries to support Singapores tourism development. Source: http://www.gourkanjilal.com/tourism-s-w-o-t-analysis-india/index.htm, 31 Aug 2010 Conference on Tourism in India Challenges Ahead, 15-17 May 2008, IIMK http://discoversvg.com/index.php/en/home/latest-news/425-competitive-tourism-destination-lessons-learnt-from-singapore India India is one of the worlds oldest civilizations, which is mysterious to tourists. It is considered a land of contrast of ancient farming and agricultural techniques in one area to bustling, cosmopolitan cities in another. While much of the country is poorly developed, a medical tourist can rest assured that their hospital and, for a price, their hotel will be extremely modern and pristine. Venturing beyond these, however, a traveler is virtually guaranteed to suffer from diarrhea and intestinal parasites are common even for cautious eaters. Likewise, the odds of contracting a serious disease are low, however several additional vaccinations are strongly recommended that are not necessary in the other hubs. India is positioning itself as a primary global destination for the most-complex medical procedures, and is committed to delivering these services by obtaining US Joint Commission International Accreditation to help in increasing US market share. India deals with a higher proportion of major surgery tourists than minor surgery and check-up tourists than the other major hubs, which has given rise to specialist hospitals across India. It is the cheapest destination. Most estimates claim treatment costs in India start at around a tenth of the price of comparable treatment in America or Britain. These hospitals are far out of the reach of most Indians and cater specifically to foreign tourists for very specific needs for example some centers will focus strongly on heart surgery while others will deal with joint replacements. These specialist hospitals are very new with top rate medical teams, high volume and experience in their specialty and the best equipment available. High volume of heart surgeries does not translate into high volumes overall, however, and these hospitals rely heavily on agents, especially on the internet, to recruit prospective patients. These facilities also offer procedures that are rare or unavailable in the United States, such as hip polishing or resurfacing, which is a popular surgery for medical tourists. The most popular treatments sought in India by medical tourists are alternative medicine, bone-marrow transplant, cardiac bypass surgery, eye surgery and orthopedic surgery. India is known in particular for heart surgery, hip resurfacing and other areas of advanced medicine. The south Indian city of Chennai has been declared Indias Health Capital, as it nets in 45% of health tourists from abroad and 30-40% of domestic health tourists.[77] Other major cities where medical tourists are catered to include New Delhi and Mangalore. By 2015, Indias medical tourism sector is expected to experience an annual growth rate of 30%. Estimates of the value of medical tourism to India go as high as $2 billion a year by 2012. Advantages for medical tourists include reduced costs, the availability of latest medical technologies and a growing compliance on international quality standards, as well as the fact that foreigners are likely to face a language barrier in India. The Indian government is taking steps to address infrastructure issues that hinder the countrys growth in medical tourism. Ministry of Tourism India (MoT) is planning to extend its Market Development Assistance (MDA) scheme to cover Joint Commission International (JCI) and National Accreditation Board of Hospitals (NABH) certified hospitals. A policy announcement of this effect is likely soon. However, tourism in India can be impressive and at the same time quite uncomfortable. Its infrastructure is very poor. Although excellent hotels and western restaurants are available, they are extremely expensive. India has magnificent sights to see, however, from Hindu shrines to Islamic monuments and palaces and a vibrant modern culture. Conclusion: India is a good choice for major surgery, but it is necessary to make sure you are going to a hospital with a strong track record in your particular condition. Tourism options after treatment are not as comfortable as the other hubs but are among the most interesting. Singapore Singapore has a world-renowned and well-established healthcare and medical system. Based on the WTO (2007) Singapore was voted the Best Medical/Wellness Tourism Destination by TravelWeekly (Asia) Industry Awards 2007. There are a dozen hospitals and health centers with JCI accreditation.[91] In 1997 (published 2000), the World Health Organization ranked Singapores health care system sixth best in the world and the highest ranked system in Asia.[92] Patients from developed countries such as the United States and the UK are also beginning to choose Singapore as their medical travel destination for relatively affordable health care services in a clean cosmopolitan city. Pros The WHO ranked the quality of healthcare in Singapore as 6th in the world. Singapore is a highly urbanized, orderly and spotless country so medical tourists should not expect the same chaotic environment that are typical in other Asian destinations There are several JCI-certified hospitals and healthcare facilities in Singapore. English is one of Singapores official languages and is spoken by all doctors and medical staff Although the cost for medical procedures in Singapore is not as low compared to India or Thailand, the prices are still lower then Western Europe and the USA. Cons Medical procedures and treatments done in Singapore are more expensive compared to other Asian medical tourism destinations such as Thailand, India and Malaysia. The climate in Singapore is hot and humid, which may be uncomfortable to most westerners particularly during the post-procedure and recovery stages Prices of goods, transportation and accommodation in Singapore are relatively more expensive than other Asian countries For US and Canadian medical tourists, travel times to Singapore are very long 3.4 SWOT Analysis The following SWOT points have been identified based on secondary-qualitative research. Strengths Hua Hins current position as a desirable tourist Affordable cost Not far from Bangkok Low cost of wellness products and services with high quality Accessibility: by car, air shutter Reputation and Marketing Reputation Weaknesses Lack of consumer awareness Some doctors are employed part time Language and Culture Barrier Unskilled Workforce Opportunities Many factors have contributed to the increased public awareness of health and wellness. Higher rates of heart disease. Wellness tourism market is large and increasing. Tourism policies from government, tourism industry will be strategically supported from government. Provincial strategy group will create more obvious tourism development roadmap. The continued growth of the Thai economy, resulting in growth of domestic tourism and raise opportunities to local tourism development. Information technology and internet allow the distribution of travel information to be more convenient and faster. Global trend towards health conscious. Fund flow from local and foreign are key for development in tourist destination province like Hua Hin. Threats Travel understands how to package but healthcare facilities do not. Unstable political situation in Thailand. Global economic situation is difficult to expect, may impact spending of target market especially if problem occurred in target country. Speaking about medical factors, for the definition, which comes from the research in preparation stage, we have found that there are four factors to make destination ready for international medical services. Destination marketing strategies The experience of Hua Hin thus serves to illustrate factors that are critical to destination development, raising two pertinent questions: 1. What are the best models of tourism marketing that focus on total customer needs, wants and experiences, and which recognize the essential nature of fun, high quality and diversity of choices at the destination? 2. Is it necessary for a destination / country to have a marketing strategy for attracting tourism? If the destination aims to host tourists in a way that leads to economic growth while balancing the needs of the citizens, then a structured and coordinated approach, a marketing strategy is the optimal approach to achieving these goals. Recommendation The findings revealed several strengths of Hua Hin tourism in terms of destination marketing. These included: effective tourism organizations, continuing tourism product development, a unique variety of activities and culture, variety of accommodations and hospitality programs, thorough overseas market segmentation, targeting, and positioning activities. Stability of economic, politic and social in Thailand is major factor of developing through strategies. However, if current government can sustain itself in medium term and serious implement of tourism destination development, Hua Hin is one of the most potential to famous globally likes others destination in Thailand.