(Wine tasting party) Vacationing in Spain
By Jim Guerra
About The Country
Spain is famous world wide for its flamenco dancers and bullfights. The architecture reflects the Moroccan style. Cave paintings, renaissance cathedrals, Moorish palaces prove the diversity of the country. Spring, fall and early summer are very pleasant here, though summers are hot.
Culture
Spanish is the regional language of Spain. English is also widely spoken here. Over the period of time, Spanish people have become modern in order to gel with the changing times and are no longer conservative. But that hasn’t changed the values, traditions, manners and customs of the locals. People here have two surnames; the first surname can be used to refer to the person. To greet someone, a handshake will do the job. Take a small gift along when visiting someone’s house. Save the flowers for special occasions. Dinner is generally taken very late in the night. People wear casuals most of the time. Men are expected to wear jackets at some restaurants. Swimsuits should be confined to the pools and beaches. Recently a ban has been applied on smoking in public places.
Shopping
Shops open quite early in the morning and stay open late in the evening. In the afternoon, they are closed for lunch or siesta. Porcelain and leather goods are famous and they will be good gifts for friends and family members back home. Bills are to be paid along with the service charges, so tipping is a matter of gratitude.
Electricity
Voltage is 220 volts and frequency is 50 Hz
Getting There
IBERIA is the national airline of Spain. Many other low-cost airlines offer services in the country. There are nearly thirty international airports in Spain, out of which Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Malaga are famous.
Madrid located at 13km away from the city has a good bus service every fifteen minutes. Underground service also works to transport passengers to their destinations. Other facilities offered at this airport are duty free shops, bank, restaurant, tourism information, and hotel reservations.
Barcelona is very close to the city, situated at a distance of 3 km only. Buses are available every 15 minutes and trains are available every 20 minutes. Taxis are available throughout the day. Duty free shops, restaurants, bank, car hire and tourism information are available here.
There is a good network of roads connecting Spain north to south. Toll booths are installed in some parts of the country. Carrying few Euros will help smooth sailing at the toll booths. If driving one’s private car, it would be better if the travel insurance covers medical costs too. Carrying a medical kit can prove to be of some help.
Duty Free Items
1. 200 cigarettes or 100 cigarillos 50 cigars or 250g tobacco (300 cigarettes, 150 cigarillos, 70 cigars and 400g of tobacco for EU nationals)
2. 1litre of spirits if exceeding 22 per cent volume or 2 litres of alcoholic beverage not exceeding 22 per cent volume and 2 litres of wine (1.5 litre exceeding 22 per cent and 3 litres of up to 22 per cent and 5 litres of wine for EU nationals)
3. 250ml eau de toilette and 50g of perfume
4. 500g of coffee or 200g of coffee extract (1000g of coffee and 4000g of coffee extract for EU nationals)
5. 100g of tea or 40g of tea extract
6. Gifts up to the value of approximately 37.26.
Read about hermit crab habitat, miniature turtles and other information at the Interesting Animals website.
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The Vast Automobile Rental Trade Worldwide -Half 3
By Hang Lekiu
Competitive Rivalry Among Sellers
There are a variety of factors that drive competition at intervals the automobile rental industry. Over the past few years, broadening fleet sizes and increasing profitability has been the main focus of most corporations at intervals the car rental industry. Enterprise, Hertz and Avis among the leaders have been growing each in sales and fleet sizes. In addition, competition intensifies as firms are constantly attempting to boost their current conditions and provide additional to consumers. Enterprise has nearly doubled its fleet size since 1993 to approximately 600,000 cars today. Because the industry operates on such slim profit margins, value competition isn’t a factor; but, most companies are actively involved in making values and providing a vary of amenities from technological gadgets to even free rental to satisfy customers. Hertz, for example, integrates its Never-Lost GPS system inside its cars. Enterprise, on the other hand, uses sophisticated yield management software to manage its fleets.
Finally, Avis uses its OnStar and Skynet system to raised serve the buyer base and offers free weekend rental if a customer rents a car for 5 consecutive days Moreover, the patron base of the rental car trade has relatively low to no switching cost. Conversely, rental agencies face high mounted operating prices together with property rental, insurance and maintenance. Consequently, rental agencies are sensitively pricing there rental cars just to recover operating costs and adequately meet their customers demands. Furthermore, because the trade experienced slow growth in recent times thanks to economic stagnation that resulted during a massive decline in both company travel and therefore the leisure sector, most corporations together with the trade leaders are aggressively making an attempt to reposition their firms by gradually lessening the dependency level on the airline trade and regaining their footing within the leisure competitive arena.
The Potential Entry of recent Competitors
Entering the automobile rental trade puts new comers at a heavy disadvantage. Over the past few years following the economic downturn of 2001, most major rental corporations have started increasing their market shares in the holiday sector of the industry as a approach of insuring stability and lowering the level of dependency between the airline and therefore the car rental industry. Whereas this trend has engendered long term success for the existing firms, it has heightened the competitive landscape for brand spanking new comers. As a result of of the severity of competition, existing corporations such as Enterprise, Hertz and Avis fastidiously monitor their competitive radars to anticipate Sharpe retaliatory strikes against new entrants. Another barrier to entry is made because of the saturation level of the industry.
As an example, Enterprise has taken the primary mover advantage with its 6000 facilities by saturating the leisure section thereby placing not solely high restrictions on the foremost common distribution channels, however also high resource necessities for complete new firms. Today, Enterprise includes a rental location inside fifteen miles of 90 % of the US population. Because of the network of dealers Enterprise has established around the state, it has become relatively stable, a lot of recession proof and most importantly, less reliant on the airline business compared to its competitors. Hertz, on the opposite hand, is utilizing the complete spectrum of its 7200 stores to secure its position in the marketplace. Primarily, the emergence of most of the industry leaders into the leisure market not solely drives rivalry, however conjointly it varies directly with the level of complexity of getting into the automotive rental industry.
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