Solo Travel As a Business and Lifestyle Phenomenon
“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” – Henry David ThoreauIf the statistics are any indicator, many travelers agree with Thoreau. In increasing numbers, individuals are traveling alone rather than just waiting for others to join them.Solo travelers in the recent past have totaled 21 million in just the US and UK combined. According to a New York Times article in Nov. 2012, Internet searches for “solo travel packages” were up 60% over the prior year. The US Department of Commerce’s Office of Travel & Tourism Industries (“OTTI”) reported that a staggering 42% of U.S. citizens/residents that went abroad in 2011 traveled alone. Of those individual travelers, 38% traveled for leisure or to visit friends & relatives (“VFR”) and 66% for business. Similarly, inbound solo travelers from abroad totaled 36.2%. Of those, 23.6% were on leisure trips and and 62.2% for work. This business and lifestyle phenomenon has been growing exponentially.Who are solo travelers?Solo travelers are a much broader group than just the single population. They may be:• Two-career couples on business travel or “DINK’S” (Dual Income No Kids).• Those with relatives or friends abroad.• Family members pursuing separate sports/hobbies overseas.Abercrombie & Kent’s Jill Fawcett has described their solo travelers as: “often… married or have partners, but the spouses don’t share the same interest… They want to travel with like-minded people and the small group gives them some interaction. Then they go back to the privacy of their own room… 25% of people who opt for our Extreme Adventure series are (also) solo travelers,” she said. “People feel a little more secure in a group if the destination is intimidating or there’s a language barrier.” Solo Travel Is Growing at a Rapid Rate | Phil Hoffman travel blog, 10/25/11.According to Grand Circle Corp chairman Alan Lewis, “Women are a growing force in the solo travel market… where the solo market has grown from about 20% to 25% of [Grand Circle's] overall bookings during the past five years.”Single travelers do still continue to play an active role in solo travel. Their growth is clear in Europe and North America where people are marrying later and may be divorced, widowed or never married. According to a March 19, 2013 article entitled “The Growing Solo Travel Market”, http://tourismintelligence.ca, average single households total as follows:• 35% of all households in developed countries• 40% in Finland and Norway (2011)• 37% in the Netherlands (2011)• 27% in the US (2010), 29% in the UK (2011) and 28% in Canada (2011).How do solos travel?Solo travel may not necessarily mean traveling as a “group of one”. Individuals may choose1. Escorted group tours2. Independent tours3. Travel alone and select their own hotels/toursWhat Issues Confront Those Traveling Alone?There are two main challenges for individual travelers.• Attractive pricing: Lodging, tours and cruises are priced routinely on double occupancy. Most cruises and tours require a single supplement for those traveling alone. Although this is not necessarily 2X, the price differential can be substantial. This is most pronounced in tour packages, particularly cruises that have “2-for-the-price of 1″ early booking promotionals. As a result, those traveling alone may pay 3-4X couples/pairs.• Top quality access and service: In a busy holiday or tourist season, the unaccompanied traveler may be given less desirable accommodations or tables in restaurants. In fact, even 5 star hotels may be unwilling to take a dinner reservation for one even when the individual traveler is a guest of the hotel. This is particularly true on Saturday nights and holidays. The alternative may be sitting at the bar for dinner notwithstanding that the dining room has vacant tables. On cruises/river cruises or other tours with “open seating”, tables are typically set up for even numbers. The result? These travelers are faced with a “standup” buffet or engaging in sleuthing to find an available seat.What is The Business Opportunity?This travel phenomenon is growing exponentially and still represents an underserved niche. The opportunity for the industry is substantial, prioritized as follows:Leisure travelers: They are the largest percentage of industry revenues. However, a smaller percentage go alone for leisure trips. The beneficiaries: airlines, hotels, tours, car and concierge services.Business travelers: Although a small portion of revenues, a greater percentage are on business. Moreover, they may have a larger budget than an individual on vacation. The same industry segments would benefit with the exception of tours except as potential additions to an international trip.VFR: Those visiting friends and relatives may be met at the airport and have access to local transportation. While staying in a private residence, meals may not be taken out as frequently as hotel guests. Accordingly, such travelers will continue to generate new revenue primarily for airlines but are unlikely to augment the existing market for other travel services.This sector represents a largely untapped market. Given the sheer numbers of affluent professionals and business executives, with the right mix of well-priced, top quality offerings, both sides benefit. The travel industry will increase their existing revenues while those traveling alone will achieve more competitive pricing and access to higher quality. It is a market whose time has come.
Dangers of Assuming Medicare Covers Everything – Elderly Home Health Care Vs Assisted Living Costs
Elderly home care is and will continue to be much more cost effective now and in the future. When considering the cost of elder home care versus assisted living costs, there are many factors to take into consideration. One consideration is to understand the trends of the health care industry, so that you can financially plan for your future. Many believe that Medicare will cover everything they need as they age. Although many realize that they need to financially prepare for the future, most do not investigate the cost and options of future care needs. Many do not feel that they can afford to invest in long term care insurance.In 2008, Prudential Insurance did a study on long term care. The results, which will be followed up every year, had some alarming information regarding the costs that will pay for care and services as we age. The information from this and other studies is important to assure successful planning for our future care needs.It was noted that elderly assisted living homes have seen the largest increase in costs over a 2 year period. The average daily cost of living in an elderly assisted living facility increased to almost $39,000 per year. This is an average rate of just over $100 per day.There was an astonishing average increase of a 15% in rates for the elderly assisted living facilities that provide care for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients.Elderly home health care has had the smallest rate increase of all the providers. The rate of elderly home health care has had a 5% increase over the past two years and a 17% increase over the last 7 years.The costs to have a certified nursing assistant provide elder home care averages $21 per hour. A certified nursing assistant provides services such as: bathing and dressing. The services of elder home care are ordered by a physician and usually paid for by insurance. These services provided by elderly home health care are intermittent and are offered for a short period of time.Another study, also done in 2008 was preformed by the Genworth Financial Group. This study explored the cost of care that covers the non skilled side of elder home care. This is the largest growing portion of the elder home health care services. This growth, is due in part to many aging seniors desire to remain in their homes as long as possible.The average cost for homemaker services in the elder home care sector is $18 an hour. There has been a rate increase of 4% over the past year. A homemaker provides some housekeeping duties, companionship, and assistance with cooking, if needed. They may also run short errands when required.Elderly home care also provides home health aides. They provide basic assistance with bathing and dressing. A home health aide averages a rate $19 an hour. This shows an increase of 3% in just one year.Met Life Market surveyed adult day services in 2008. The results from this survey show the average daily cost for adult day care services is $64. This shows an increase of 5% in the past year.Adult day care services are a growing trend in the aging health care market. Adult day care is a cost effective way keep an aging senior at homeFor caregivers, utilizing adult day care services permits them to continue to work. Many caregivers take time to do things to they need to take care of and get a break from their care giving duties.The costs of elder home care services will continue to rise. Surveys show that the trends will continue. The largest increases will be in the assisted living and nursing home areas of elderly home health care services.The past five years has seen an increase in elderly assisted living rates jump by 41%. Over the past five years, there has been an increase in nursing homes rates of over 30%. Over half the surveyed facilities expect to increase their rates, again, over the next year. The good news is that one in four elder home care providers plan to increase their rates in the next year.Being aware of the cost of elderly home care and elderly assisted living can assist you in planning for your future needs. Educate yourself on the various options available and how you can utilize those services for future needs. It is important to be proactive and investigate avenues to pay for your future health care needs.
Improving the Quality of Education: A 360 Degree Perspective on Education CSR in India
Education is the most important lever for social, economic and political transformation. It is well acknowledged that education can break the intergenerational cycle of poverty within the lifetime of one generation by equipping people with relevant knowledge, attitudes and skills that are essential for economic and social development. In India, Education is also the most potent tool for socio-economic mobility and a key instrument for building an equitable and just society.India has taken significant strides towards realizing its vision of providing access to education for all its children. In 2001, India launched the SarvaShikshaAbhiyan (SSA or Education for All) to achieve universal elementary universal lower secondary enrollment (grades 9-10) by 2018. The Right to Education (RTE) Act, mandates free and compulsory education for all children ages 6-14 years through setting minimum school infrastructure standards (e.g., building, library, toilets), pupil-teacher ratios (PTRs), avenues for private schools and teacher hours. In the years since RTE was introduced, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has introduced several schemes and programmes in order to impart education for all.Reduction of un-enrolled childrenSSA has been largely responsible for a dramatic increase in school participation across the country through building a large number of schools, school incentives, food, an increase in the number of teachers in school, to name a few. As the ASER Report 2014 points out, 96.7% of children (in the age group 6- 14 years) were enrolled in school in rural India in 2014, which was the 6th consecutive year that enrollment rates stood above 96%.In 2009, the Government launched the RashtriyaMadhyamikShikshaAbhiyan (RMSA or Program for Universalization of Secondary Education) to expand the number of secondary schools in order to achieve universal lower secondary enrollment (grades 9-10) by 2018.The Right to Education (RTE) Act, mandates free and compulsory education for all children ages 6-14 years through setting minimum school infrastructure standards (e.g., building, library, toilets), pupil-teacher ratios (PTRs), avenues for private schools and teacher hours. In the years since RTE was introduced, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has introduced several schemes and programs in order to impart education for all.School Infrastructure
India today has around 1.45 million elementary schools in 662 districts with 191.3 million children enrolled (94.8 million boys and 99.2 million girls) and 7.96 million teachers. The PTR in Government schools is 24, private-aided schools is 23 and Private Unaided schools is 24. ASER 2014 records that on any given day, over 70% of the children are actually attending schools, though this ratio goes anywhere from 90% to 50% based on data from different States.India has also aimed to align with international policy initiatives to improve the state of education on par with the rest of the world. In 2000, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) met at the World Education Forum in Dakar and proposed the “Education for All” (EFA) goals – six strategic targets framed as a movement, to be achieved by the year 2015. By these measures, India had achieved the universalisation of primary education in 2014.The biggest challenge that India’s public education system faces today is that the tremendous success in achieving nearly 100% access to schooling has not translated to quality learning.In its first comprehensive report on measuring the performance of South Asian education systems on learning, the World Bank South Asian Report 2014 said that poor education quality was the one thing holding India back. “Going to school is not enough. There has to be a significant gain in skills that requires an improvement in the quality of education,” said Philippe Le Houérou, World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region.The ASER Reports have consistently pointed to this – the 10th Report released in 2015 shows that every second Class 5 student in rural India cannot read the text of a class three levels below. Basic arithmetic skills continue to be a challenge – only 44.1% of Class 8 students in rural India managed to do a division in 2014.In 2013, India was ranked by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted by the OECD, as 63 out of 64 countries in terms of education.
India has over half of its population under the age of 25, a statistic that has often been touted as its strength in taking on workers across the globe, yet, if it has to reap the demographic dividend, India has to first stem its learning crisis.Low learning levels point to several gaps entrenched deeply within the system of education – retention rates after primary school are low; children often do not continue till secondary education. Several historically marginalized groups are left without access to quality education. Teachers are often under-trained and over- worked. Rote-learning and language barriers lead to schools becoming an unattractive place for children to continue. Education awareness programmers do not reach everyone, and the community is left uninformed.The emerging data about the quality, access and equity of education in India point towards a crucial space where companies can intercede to create great impact through Corporate Social Responsibility.Conclusion
Improving school inputs is just the starting point in improving educational quality. A more comprehensive view for building a strong, systemic focus on teacher capacity, improving school leadership/ management, strengthening academic support system, better community and parents’ participation, measuring and improving learning outcomes in a continuous manner is the key towards improving education in India. In this respect, education CSR can play a huge role in speeding up this process.
What Type Of Mortgage Loan Is Right For You?
Homebuyers and homeowners need to decide which home Mortgage loan is right for them. Then, the next step in getting a mortgage loan is to submit an application ( Uniform Residential Loan Application ). Although we try to make the loan simple and easy for you, getting a mortgage loan is not an insignificant process.Below is a short synopsis of some loan types that are currently available.CONVENTIONAL OR CONFORMING MORTGAGE Loans are the most common types of mortgages. These include a fixed rate mortgage loan which is the most commonly sought of the various loan programs. If your mortgage loan is conforming, you will likely have an easier time finding a lender than if the loan is non-conforming. For conforming mortgage loans, it does not matter whether the mortgage loan is an adjustable rate mortgage or a fixed-rate loan. We find that more borrowers are choosing fixed mortgage rate than other loan products.Conventional mortgage loans come with several lives. The most common life or term of a
mortgage loan is 30 years. The one major benefit of a 30 year home mortgage loan is that one pays lower monthly payments over its life. 30 year mortgage loans are available for Conventional, Jumbo, FHA and VA Loans. A 15 year mortgage loan is usually the least expensive way to go, but only for those who can afford the larger monthly payments. 15 year mortgage loans are available for Conventional, Jumbo, FHA and VA Loans. Remember that you will pay more interest on a 30 year loan, but your monthly payments are lower. For 15 year mortgage loans your monthly payments are higher, but you pay more principal and less interest. New 40 year mortgage loans are available and are some of the the newest programs used to finance a residential purchase. 40 year mortgage loans are available in both Conventional and Jumbo. If you are a 40 year mortgage borrower, you can expect to pay more interest over the life of the loan.A Fixed Rate Mortgage Loan is a type of loan where the interest rate remains fixed
over life of the loan. Whereas a Variable Rate Mortgage will fluctuate over the life
of the loan. More specifically the Adjustable-Rate Mortgage loan is a loan that has a
fluctuating interest rate. First time homebuyers may take a risk on a variable rate for qualification purposes, but this should be refinanced to a fixed rate as soon as possible.A Balloon Mortgage loan is a short-term loan that contains some risk for the borrower. Balloon mortgages can help you get into a mortgage loan, but again should be financed into a more reliable or stable payment product as soon as financially feasible. The Balloon Mortgage should be well thought out with a plan in place when getting this product. For example, you may plan on being in the home for only three years.Despite the bad rap Sub-Prime Mortgage loans are getting as of late, the market for this kind of mortgage loan is still active, viable and necessary. Subprime loans will be here for the duration, but because they are not government backed, stricter approval requirements will most likely occur.Refinance Mortgage loans are popular and can help to increase your monthly disposable income. But more importantly, you should refinance only when you are looking to lower the interest rate of your mortgage. The loan process for refinancing your mortgage loan is easier and faster then when you received the first loan to purchase your home. Because closing costs and points are collected each and every time a mortgage loan is closed, it is generally not a good idea to refinance often. Wait, but stay regularly informed on the interest rates and when they are attractive enough, do it and act fast to lock the rate.A Fixed Rate Second Mortgage loan is perfect for those financial moments such as home improvements, college tuition, or other large expenses. A Second Mortgage loan is a mortgage granted only when there is a first mortgage registered against the property. This Second Mortgage loan is one that is secured by the equity in your home. Typically, you can expect the interest rate on the second mortgage loan to be higher than the interest rate of the first loan.An Interest Only Mortgage loan is not the right choice for everyone, but it can be very effective choice for some individuals. This is yet another loan that must be thought out carefully. Consider the amount of time that you will be in the home. You take a calculated risk that property values will increase by the time you sell and this is your monies or capital gain for your next home purchase. If plans change and you end up staying in the home longer, consider a strategy that includes a new mortgage. Again pay attention to the rates.A Reverse mortgage loan is designed for people that are 62 years of age or older and already have a mortgage. The reverse mortgage loan is based mostly on the equity in the home. This loan type provides you a monthly income, but you are reducing your equity ownership. This is a very attractive loan product and should be seriously considered by all who qualify. It can make the twilight years more manageable.The easiest way to qualify for a Poor Credit Mortgage loan or Bad Credit Mortgage loan is to fill out a two minute loan application. By far the easiest way to qualify for any home mortgage loan is by establishing a good credit history. Another loan vehicle available is a Bad Credit Re-Mortgage loan product and basically it’s for refinancing your current loan.Another factor when considering applying for a mortgage loan is the rate lock-in. We discuss this at length in our mortgage loan primer. Remember that getting the right mortgage loan is getting the keys to your new home. It can sometimes be difficult to determine which mortgage loan is applicable to you. How do you know which mortgage loan is right for you? In short, when considering what mortgage loan is right for you, your personal financial situation needs to be considered in full detail. Complete that first step, fill out an application, and you are on your way!