Comparison paper between Forest Gump the book and Forest Gump the Essay

Comparison paper between Forest Gump the book and Forest Gump the movie - Essay Example Forrest Gump, the protagonist of Groom’s book is born in a family of modest financial background. His father worked at the docks as a longshoreman and his mother was an unassuming wife and mother. However, Gump’s loss of his father at an early age and his development as an individual with an IQ below the accepted levels of average intelligence, did little to add a cheerful backdrop to his growing up years. However, being the â€Å"half-wit† that he believed he was, he â€Å"ran† through every phase of his life, absorbing the opening and closing of events with the passive interest of a by-stander. The movie ‘Forrest Gump’ directed by Robert Zemeckis is a near-adaptation of the book by the same name and brings the character of Forrest to a virtual reality. Released in 1994 in U.S.A, this movie drew the attention of critics by the virtue of its unpretentious story-line and range of historical events that were instrumental in crafting a nation’s character. The movie thus became the peddle-pusher for the book and even though the book had earned a name for itself as a mantle-piece must-read, the film fuelled a collective societal interest in the phenomenon called ‘Gump’ in particular and 20th century American history in general. Even though the movie seems to follow the book’s story line in terms of character development and event sequence; however, there are several discrepancies between the original work and the adaptation. Whether, these dissimilarities occurred owing to the requirements of artistic adaptation or it was the handiwork of an astute director to cater to the masses, remains to be discussed. The main character, Forrest Gump, in the book is described as a six foot six inch strapping young lad at 16 who weighs 242 pounds. However, in the movie, Gump comes across as an individual with average height and a rather scrawny built as a young boy. The young Gump’s leg braces as shown in the movie are never

Chinesse Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Chinesse Culture - Essay Example The aim of this paper is to do just that, as well as discuss several other particular issues, which are: the history of China in the United States, the traditional Chinese perceptions of health and illness, the traditional Chinese healing methods and views on death, and the current healthcare problems of China. By thoroughly addressing and discussing all of these issues, we will be able to come to a much more informed and knowledgeable understanding on the subject matter at hand overall. This is what will be dissertated in the following. The early history of China is rather complicated, primarily by that of the lack of a written language during this period, coupled with the existence of documents from later time periods which attempted to described certain events which occurred several centuries beforehand, thus obviously causing quite a bit of confusion and complexion. However the earliest comprehensive history of China, the Records of the Grand Historian, which were written a Chinese historiographer named Sima Qian in the 2nd century BC, and as well the Bamboo Annuals, are both able to trace and consequently show Chinese history from about 2800 BC, with an account of the Three August Ones and the Five Emperors. It is actually considered as being unknown as to who the first Chinese was to set foot in America, it is thought that more than likely it was a fisherman and that it was in San Diego. In the early 1850s, many Chinese came to California in search of gold, and later on they came as contract laborers to work on the railroads and other construction projects, and as gold mining was increasingly difficult for them and the construction projects were completed, they soon then began to seek other means of livelihood. From San Francisco and Monterey Bays the Chinese then began to go south to San Diego, where they ended up establishing a base to fish the waters all the way to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. "They established a fishing village at Roseville in Pt. Loma and another at the foot of San Diego's New Town, the latter village to become Chinatown. They dominated this industry until 1890, and during its peak built and sailed as many as 18 junks. Besides a wide variety of fish, they had exclusi ve domain in the pursuit of abalone. They were able to supply all the fresh fish requirements of San Diego and to export dried fish products to other Chinese communities worldwide" (Lee, 1996). Then, starting in about the 1880s, the activities that were completed by the Chinese in San Diego increased, including construction of the Californian Southern Railroad between National City and San Bernardino, and as well they were involved with the work that was done on the San Diego Flume, which carried water from the Cuyamaca Reservoir to San Diego for 36 miles on 315 redwood trestles and through 5 tunnels. What's more, is that besides providing labor for large projects in irrigation and flood control, the Chinese were also involved largely in the mining of gold and precious gems in the mountains that centered in Julian. Besides fishing, which was one of the activities th

Reasons For The Merging Of Companies Economics Essay

Reasons For The Merging Of Companies Economics Essay There is no doubt that mergers play a great role in the development of an economy. In this essay, a merger will be defined as a combination of two corporations in which only one corporation survives and the merged corporation goes out existence (Gaughan, 2007, p. 12). After a merger, the newly-established company will hold two merged companies assets. In this way, mergers offer more chances for companies to become bigger and stronger. At the same time, customers may receive better services than those before a merger. However, the topic of mergers motives has long been the subject of debate, as different companies put forward different reasons to merge. Some of them are economically sound, while some of them are not. In fact, from the current studies, it can be seen that there are two big types of motives, one is economic motives and the other is non-economic motives. Although some people argue that motives of mergers lie in some non-economic reasons, such as the political reasons, the managers reasons, and so on, others take a different view and emphasize that because of that the raison dà ªtre of a company is to make profits, most motives of mergers are for sound economic reasons. Thus, this essay is an attempt to argue that the main motives for mergers are economically sound reasons. It also aims to show the importance of different economic motives, even though some people claim that there are many failures that resulted from those motives. In addition, the ineffectiveness of non-economic motives will also be checked to support the main argument. In order to demonstrate this, this essay will first focus on the growth motive of mergers. The case of PO and Stena will also be added into the discussion. Second, different types of synergy will be illustrated to explain how valid this motive is to help companies to become stronger. Third, the electronic giant General Electronic (GE) will be given as a good example to discuss the significance of the diversification motive. Fourth, the example of the Exxon-Mobil Oil Company will be used to show some other economic motives. Finally, there will be discussion about some non-economic motives such as power motives, achievement motives, and political motives and so on, though these are some less common motives for mergers. 2.0 Economic Motives 2.1 Faster Growth If a company seeks to make a merger with other firms, the most popular motive may be growth. As Denzil (2001) points out, one of the most successful types of merger may be a merger with a growth motive, because it is easy and quick to beat competitors and take the lead in markets. When a company wants to expand, there are several choices: internal growth or growth through mergers. Internal growth means companies go to buy land and build more factories, employ new staff, or search for a market to sell products and so on. This is a long way to go. However, if companies use the method of merging, it will save them much time to do other things such as research and development or market promotion. Moreover, through merging, companies may easily occupy the market, enlarge the market share, and beat the competitors (DePamphilis, 2003). If mergers occur in different regions, this means companies are improving its fame and becoming more globalised, this means more customers may know about the company, in other words, more potential benefits will move to the company. Although there are a great number of obvious benefits that companies will face, others disagree with the motive of growth. In their opinion, growth is a difficult goal to achieve and is not a sound economic reason. As Gaughan (2007) indicates, when a company has already accomplished growth in the past, it is difficult for corporate managers to keep growing. However, after achieving growth in the past, managers will look for some other ways to keep growing. Among those ways, Mergers could be the fastest and the most efficient way. Companies do not need to take couples of year to build workshop, and recruit new employees. In addition, with less time to spend, growth via mergers can be gain through the lowest-risk way (DePamphilis, 2003, p. 356). Long time means more uncertainties, which are more risks. How to avoid those risks? It is better to spend less time, and complete mergers quickly. As a good example of growth motive, the case of Johnson Johnson should be introduced. Johnson Johnson is one of the biggest manufacturers of health care industry in the world. It was established by Johnson and his two brothers in 1986 in New Jersey of United States. At that time, it was a company which only had fourteen workers. In the early 1920s, with the development of businesses, Johnson Johnson began to build branches in other places such as America, Europe, Asia and Africa. However, over the period 1995 to 2005, Johnson Johnson took a series of mergers. Through those mergers, Johnson Johnson have gained a greatly fast growth. So far, Johnson Johnson have owned more than 250 subsidiaries in 57 different countries and 115 thousand employees. Its products are available in nearly 175 countries (Stock Johnson Johnson, 2010). The global revenue of Johnson Johnson in 2008 was 63.7 billion US dollars (JNJ Income Statement, 2009). From the example of Johnson Johnson, we can see, with the development of an increasingly globalized world, growth can be one of the most efficient and fundamental motives of mergers. 2.2 Different Types of Synergy As another important motive, synergy is the popular choice for companies to make a merger. Synergy means the extra energy or effectiveness that people or businesses create when they combine their efforts. In mergers, according to DePamphilis (2003), synergy refers to corporate combination will produce more profits than that the sum of their separate status. Therefore, synergy is often used to explain the phenomenon of 1+1=3. In mergers, this means the combination of two companies may generate three companies effect. Just because of this, many companies try their best to seek the opportunities to combine with other corporations. If synergy occurs in mergers, it focuses on two sides to raise the profitable ability of companies: revenue enhancements and cost reductions (Gaughan, 2007, p. 133). For example, if Coca Cola make a merger with a fruit producer, as a result, it will save more spending to buy raw material for its soft drinks. This is called cost reductions. When Coca Cola have gained a lower price of raw material, it can reduce some prices of its drinks. In this way, lower price will make a promotion of its drinks. This is named revenue enhancements. Though the actual fact is more complex than this example, the truth is the related theory would be basically the same. Although synergy has enhanced the profitability from revenues and costs, some people do not agree synergy should be a good economic reason for mergers (Gaughan, 2007). From their point of view, the synergy effect can only be described the mergers of companies in the same industry or seller-buyer relationship, and it is not suitable to other diversified mergers. In order to respond this, economies of scope should be introduced as a concept that is confused with economies of scale. Economies of scope can be defined as the ability of a firm to utilize one of set of inputs to provide a broader range of products and services (Gaughan, 2007, p. 129). If a company is able to utilize its workforce, and facilities, synergy also can be achieved. Most failures of mergers with synergy purpose are because of their leaders inefficient management ability and not the motive of synergy. Several examples of mergers motivated by the pursuit of synergy have achieved the success. After the 1994 merger between Radisson Diamond Cruises and Seven Seas Cruises, the combined cruise lines began to provide cheaper price of beds and itineraries. This is because, as a result of merger, fewer managers will be needed to maintain the relationship with the same districts travel agencies. Hence, costs reductions are gained. Moreover, with the larger size of company, the fame of company is improving. This enables sales force to make a promotion more easily. As a result, more customers will come to enjoy their trips. Therefore, revenue is enhanced by this way (Gaughan, 2007, pp. 127-128). With motive of synergy, companies are not only able to increase its revenue, but also decline its cost. Thus, we may see how valid the synergy motive is. 2.3 Diversification When a company has already been the bellwether of one industry, managers of the company may consider some diversified merger to expand its size and make more profits. Diversification provides conditions of expansion by applying companies goodwill in former industry to other different product field, and it can also provide conditions of forming scale effect (DePamphilis, 2003, p. 20). Through diversification, it is foreseeable that companies may have the chance to gain significant earnings, because a new industry means a new opportunity. Opportunity should be the best thing for companies managers. Another side about diversification, as Gaughan (2007) pointed out, is that companies may obtain continuous competitive advantage. This is because if General Electronic can hardly sell its military products to armies in a peaceful time, but it can also seek profitable opportunities in other field such as insurance, healthcare, plastics, energy, and so on. This is the theory about continuous c ompetitive advantages. As long as a company becomes a diversified one, it will acquire the privilege of enjoying continuous competitive advantage. Compared with its positives, one accusation for diversification as not a valid economic reason is that there are some potential risks when companies expand into another industry. If companies cant handle the risks well, it may bring damages to them. A study carried out by Berger and Ofek (1995), using a large sample of firms over the 1986-1991 sample periods, found that diversification caused an average 13% to 15%s loss of firm value. The study also found that the loss of firm value was less than that of when the diversification occurred, and it was not affected by firm size. However, some evidence suggest diversification do not directly lessen firms value. One finance researcher, Villalonga, believes that the diversification discount is because of incorrect use of data of several researchers (Villalonga, 2004, cited in Gaughan, 2007, p143). As Gaughan (2007) points out: The data used by those researchers were artificially restricted by Financial Accounting Standards Board definition of segments as well as requirements that only segments that constitute 10% or more of a companys business are required to be reported. Using a data source that is not affected by this problem, Villalonga finds a diversification premium, as opposed to a discount (Gaughan, 2007, p143). Although there are many companies that have suffered failures at diversification, others argue that they have achieved great success with mergers at diversification. The most successful example is General Electric (GE). Unlike its name, now GE is no longer an electric company. Through a series of mergers at diversification, GE has become a diversified giant with operations insurance, television stations, plastics, medical equipment, and so on. Especially during the 1980s and 1990s, during the fourth merger wave, GE had made a great number of Mergers with various companies, and it has benefited significantly from those combinations (Gaughan, 2007, p. 137). In short, although mergers with diversification might have potential risks to the newly combined company, more diversified mergers may provide a bigger market for companies to make profits as what GE have gained. 2.4 Other Economic Motives There are two sound other types of economic motives for mergers: horizontal integration and vertical integration. Generally, in horizontal integration, market power and market share are raised through mergers. While in vertical integration, both merged firms have a buyer-seller relationship, hence, the combination may provide a dependable source of supply and lower costs advantage (Gaughan, 2007, pp. 145-155). In horizontal integration, market power stands for the leadership of a market (DePamphilis, 2003, p. 69). Sometimes, market power may gain from market share, and it is well-known that market share may easily gain as a consequence of horizontal integration. Once market power is achieved by one company, all the other rivals in the same market will probably be affected. Their pricing strategy, promotion plan, product research and development and so on will probably all follow with the leader of the market. This is similar to the situation of Nokia in the Mobile Phone industry. However, in a vertical integration, both merged companies will benefit from the integration. One company will not worried about the sales of its products, and the other will not be concerned with the source of its raw materials. However, there has been a debate that both horizontal integration and vertical integration may bring several negatives to the market and consumers. One of the most being criticized is monopoly competition (DePamphilis, 2003, p. 24). After mergers, the power of merged companies will get bigger. Thus, the structure of the industry will tend to monopoly, which means merged companies may beat others using pricing strategy and the public will pay significantly for this. Although, sometimes, when this situation happens, government will release various policies to prevent this situation from continuing. This is the reason why Coca Cola failed to merge with one of Chinas biggest juice companies, Huiyuan Juice Group. In 2009, Coca Cola planed to purchase Huiyuan Juice with 2.4 billion US dollars. This deal was blocked by Chinas ministry of commerce with the reason that Coke might abuse its dominant position in Chinas soft drinks industry (Sundeep Tucker, 2009). However, most of the time, as long as companies will not affect markets and customers by means of some illegal ways, government wont stop these mergers. In fact, the worlds largest Oil Company, Exxon-Mobil Oil Company, comes from a merger. In 1998, there was a megamerger in the Oil industry. Exxon announced its merger with the Mobil Oil Company. At that time, both two companies were the leading companies in the Oil industry. After merging, in order to achieve the synergistic gains, the companies need to successfully integrate its resources. As a result, this merger was extremely successful. Two years later, the combined Exxon-Mobil announced that the merger saved them approximately $4.8 billion which is higher than the estimated $3.8 billion. With successful operation of the following years, in 2006, Exxon-Mobil announced its highest annual profits that the firms annual profits in 2005 were $36 billion and its sales were $371 billion. Exxon-Mobil became the largest company in the world (Gaughan, 2007, p. 146). From the example of Exxon-Mobil and discussion above, we could see that no matter horizontal integration or vertical integration, those economic motives will be beneficial to merged companies. Therefore, these economic motives are the sound motives for mergers. 3.0 Non-economic Motives There are several non-economic motives which exist in mergers such as power motives, achievement motives, and political motives and so on. Most of the time, these motives only exist in the mind of managers of merged companies. Therefore, it is less sound for researchers to pay attention to them as motives for mergers. 3.1 Power Motives and Achievement Motives Power motives refer to the peoples pursuit of control over others by means of increasing source of power, and this is particularly serious in some top managers in merged companies (Schmalt, 1987, cited in Carsten Lausberg and Teresa Stahl, 2008, p.6). With the possibility of a higher position through mergers, it is no wonder that these managers will often support the proposal of mergers. Usually, after mergers, these newly combined companies will have a bigger size. More workers will add into different teams or departments for mangers to supervise. These things are what the managers seek for. Through this way, they have got a continuous increase of power. It is common to see that a person will be judged successful or unsuccessful by various criterions. Hence, achievements become the most vital thing for some managers. Since it may be the fastest and most efficient way to enlarge companies size and improve companies value though mergers, most managers who have the achievement motive will let companies go to merge. Furthermore, merger is a highly complex and energy consuming thing and people will recognize the managers of successful mergers. Therefore, a person with a strong achievement motive will take the risk of pushing companies to merge (Carsten Lausberg and Teresa Stahl, 2008, p.7). However, the reason why these two motives and motives like that are not main reasons for companies mergers is that, in nowadays companies, decisions are made by the whole members of the Board. Any single man could hardly affect the entire Board of directors opinions about decisions except for family firms or totally private companies. In addition, according to Gaughan (2007), mergers often take place in companies that have a good corporate governance structure and a clear responsibilities right of shareholders, board of directors, board of supervisors, managers. Hence, it is less common to see mergers with these personal motives. 3.2 Political Motives It is difficult to find one accurate definition for political motives. In general, however, people regards political motive as a motive which aims to serve for politics. Sometimes, politicians need more economic successes to earn more votes. For instance, in order to enable the Chinese people to enjoy more about the telecom service, in 2008 the Chinese government decided to make several mergers among the six largest state-owned telecom companies including China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, China Netcom, China Tietong, and China Satcom (Xinhua News Agency, 2008). However, it is hard to see mergers with political motives. This is because, primarily, political motives mergers often occur in the countries which have a similar political system like China. There are less of them in the world. Secondly, even though this situation happens, the core of a merger with a political motive is also the economic success. Hence, the political motive is, actually, an economic motive. Non-economic motives can either be some personal motives or the alias of economic motives, thus, they will not be seen as the sound motives. 4.0 Conclusion In conclusion, this essay has attempted to demonstrate that economic motives are the main reasons for different companies mergers. Despite the fact that some people argue that there are some potential risks among these economic reasons, focusing on negatives, the positives of these economic motives stand out. Furthermore, it is also true that various successful examples have shown the importance of these economic motives that have been discussed above. This is why, in recent years, more and more researchers have put their effort to study the topic of MA. Economic motives are not only the first step of merging, but the root of mergers, although, in the process of a merger, there will a great amount of works to be done in future. Currently, after the global financial crisis, there is another trend for companies seeking for mergers. How to avoid the potential risks of these economic motives and transfer them to the real profits is an issue that is open to question.

Essay --

The Shaping’s of Jane Eyre Zucaru Ruth 2/21/2014 2nd period In life the people around Jane Eyre has a way of shaping her as a person. As a person grows older, weather very negative or positive it makes a stronger person out of a person or it affects that person in some way in life. Unfortunately and sadly for Jane she had horrible and wicked people in her life as she grew to be a young woman. Luckily for Jane, down the line of life she was able to meet those whom was respectful to her and appreciated her help and servant abilities. Multiple people had an effect on shaping Jane as a person. By the end of this essay it will be proven that the person in Jane’s life has shaped her Social drive and development as a young woman succeeding its also will be proven on the affects of Jane Eyre and bildungsroman life and early figures in feminist movement, with the affects of Jane’s life and thoughts. â€Å"The night as Jane lays there thinking about everything Mr. Rochester has told her, when she thinks she hears a â€Å"demoniac† laugh. When she leaves her room she then finds a candle burning in the hallway. Jane sees Mr. Rochester’s door open and finds his curtains on fire. He is stupefied by Smokey air, but she wakes him by extinguishing the flames and dousing him with water†, chap 15. Then the actions that took place puts Mr. Rochester in a position of vulnerability as Jane douses water in Mr. Rochester’s room. The situation allows to show her growth as a grown woman in control and independent. The situation brings Mr. Rochest... ...eople in her life has also shaped her to feel extreme tension for the characters around her. Although it’s very fortunate that an orphan like Jane her self is able to achieve wealth and power without having education or social motivation , Jane also has manners and shows sophistication while remaining penniless and powerless. A person cannot always makes choices for themselves in life, some people are put into a life or a situation that has to be shaped its self, negatively or positively. The drive and motivation a person takes from certain situations weather negative or positive in life it shapes a persons character and focus. This essay has proven that the people in life can shape aspects of a person’s future and drive as well as motivation. It has also has proven on the effects of early figures in feminist movement ,with the affects of Jane’s life and thoughts.

Comparison of Little Red Riding Hood from Different Countries Essay

Every so often, there comes a story so popular that it survives many decades and is common in many cultures. Growing up here in America, I was always told the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Because of the way American structure is set up, the story in this culture teaches the people told the story a lesson as well as has a happy ending. The American story of â€Å"Little Red Riding Hood† isn’t the only version of this story. As previously mentioned, there are stories that survive many decades and last through many cultures; this is one of them. However, they all have different names. There are also: Little Red Cap, Little Red Hood, The Grandmother, The True History of Little Golden Hood, Grandmother’s Nose, and Little Red Hat. These stories come from many different areas such as Germany, Poland, Italy, Austria, and France, and they have many different authors. There are two things that do stay the same throughout every retelling of this story, the characters and idea. There is always a little girl, her grandmother, her mother, and the wolf. Additionally, in every retelling, it involves the little girl having to go to her grandmother’s house to deliver something to her. However, the actions taken by the characters and their personalities change in every telling of the story. Although every version of Little Red Riding Hood has a similar idea, the characterization and moral of the story alters based upon what time period and location it was written in because of the influences of the country of origin’s stereotypes, ideals, and events.

Discuss the Means by Which Gastronomy

Principles of Gastronomy Topic: Discuss the means by which gastronomy can be understood as a tourism product. Introduction The emergence of gastronomic tourism is observed when a number of tourism organizations have incorporated gastronomy gastronomic elements into tourism as part of an marketing strategy, giving rise to the gastronomic tourism. (Hjalager and Richards, 2000). In first place, the essay is going to explain the respective concepts of gastronomy and tourism, following by description of gastronomic tourism with reference to the typology suggested by Hjalager AM (2002).Typical examples of tourism products with gastronomy focus range from food events, cooking class and workshops; food fairs featuring local products, visits to markets and producers, museums to souvenirs. In the later session there will be explanation on how gastronomy is understood as a tourism product, by fulfilling different motivations of tourists. Tourism and tourists motivation In a simple context, tour ism refers to traveling and visiting new destinations away from their usual place of residence.By definition, tourism product includes the total tourist experience that meet its expectations, including experience with housing, natural and cultural attractions, entertainment, transportation, catering. Tourists seek for travelling experience that fulfills their motivations. According to Fields (2002) and McIntosh RW, Goeldner CR & Ritchie, J. R. (1995) , , tourists’ motivation for traveling can be categorized into physical motivators, which include thrill seeking, escape from routine , sensory seeking, health concern.Also, there are cultural motivators, interpersonal motivators and status and prestige motivators. Gastronomy as a tourism product The study of gastronomy was first undertaken by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1994). The word gastronomy is derived from Greek word gastros, meaning stomach, and gnomos, knowledge or law. According to Kivela J & Crotts JC, gastronomy is understood as the study of the relationship between food and culture. This includes the tasting, preparing, experiencing, experimenting and researching, discovering , understanding and even writing about food and wine .Embodying the idea of art of living, gastronomy has become an indispensable element in order to get to know the culture and lifestyle of a territory. Being regarded as a new trend in tourism, gastronomy can be understood as a tourism product by the means that it fulfill several tourists’ values and expectations: seeking knowledge and appreciation in food and beverage, understanding the culture and heritage of a place, searching for healthy lifestyle, experiencing authenticity or enjoying retreats from urban lifestyle, seeking for prestige and status, and lastly pursuing sustainability.Moreover, active promotions by marketers contribute to the understanding of gastronomy as a tourism product. The following sessions will explain the concepts in details. Gastrono my – enhancing knowledge and appreciation of food and beverage A formal dining experience in foreign countries is an example of gastronomy tourism product. Apart from the atmosphere and leisure experience enjoyed, formal meal experience provides tourists with the opportunity to learn local culture, such as exploring table manners and gain knowledge about local food.In particular, the differences in use of ingredients and methods of preparing, cooking, and preserving food between countries can be considered as authentic or traditional culture (Fields 2002). Therefore, displaying authentic, and local cultures is a way that gastronomy can be understood as a tourism product. Cooking classes in famous culinary destinations is another way in which tourists can explore deeper about the gastronomic world. Vacationing and cooking classes is increasing in popularity because tourists can learn to cook amazing food instead of merely tasting good food.Classic culinary destination includes Burgundy and Loire Valley in France . Furthermore, Biltmore Culinary Academy (2012) , at the Biltmore Hotel is a recreational  cooking School that has a dedicated learning area and fully equipped professional kitchen offering a variety of classes, workshops, team-building events. Special foreign cooking techniques can be acquired through the learning process. Such tourism experience is far reaching and bringing long lasting benefits to travellers. Understanding culture and heritage by gastronomic tourism product Fields 2002) pointed out that local food and beverages can be included amongst cultural motivators because when tourists are experiencing new local cuisines, they are also experiencing a new culture. Tasting local food can be one of the ways to understand and experience local culture. According Leigh (2000), there is a strong relationship between types of food consumed and certain locations. Types of food consumed varies among different locations . For example . it is nor mal for French to eat eat frogs and snails, horse in their meals; Arabs eat camel meat and drink camel milk while?Australian eat Kangaroo and Emu. Different places have very distinctive food cultures. Such differences serve as uniqueness of each location and provide reasons for tourists to travel away from home. Moreover, regional gastronomic routes contribute to the understanding of local culture and enhance of agricultural knowledge (Munster 1994). In Benelux, there are seasonal routes that reflect links between agricultural cycles and local food production such as asparagus route, a mussel route, a hops route and a gin route.Seasonality of these routes coincides with the main tourist season to cater their needs. As these routes showcase specific products of a particular location in particular season, gastronomy can be understood as tourism product by its relevance to agricultural knowledge. Gastronomy in searching for healthy lifestyle as a tourism product Gastronomy can be under stood as a tourism product through the emphasis on health concerns (Richards G, 2002). Tourists from the developed countries are increasingly cautious about their health.For example, some health farms offer food products which have positive impacts on health and physical condition; The ‘Mediterranean Diet’ in Greece and Italy, or the ‘Atlantic Diet’ in Portugal also emphasizes the health benefits of their food. Western tourists who are burdened by obesity or high cholesterol level are particularly attracted to pay a visit. Gastronomy can therefore be a tourism product by fulfilling tourists physical needs of improving health conditions.Experiencing authenticity or enjoying retreats from urban lifestyle In working farms, tourists can get a touch with simple and unsophisticated peasant food and beverage that is prepared with care and respect to tradition. The authentic experience is particularly treasurable for tourists who seek for retreats from tourists spo ts with extravagant decor and service. In a vineyard, tourists can participate in harvesting of grapes and fruits. These experience enable tourists, who are mainly city dwellers to try something new and enrich their personal experience.Gastronomy can be understood as a tourism product by allowing city dwellers to visit farmers’ market. Visitors can obtain country experience outside city and gain knowledge outside school textbooks. For example, interactive farm experiences offered in Collingwood Children’s Farm (2012) include fun activities such as bottle-feeding lambs, milking the cow. Trained staff will teach visitors how to approach and handle farm animals correctly. The Farmers’ market also brings about real and fresh produce from over 70 farmers in the region.Products such as seasonal fruit, regional olive oil, smoked meat & fish, artisan cheeses, home made condiments, and artisan cheeses are examples. A wine tour experience in the relaxing suburb is also po pular gastronomic tourist activity. Wine tours typically include session of wine tasting, with adorable cheese or chocolate. Visitors can also walk through a heritage trail from the picturesque vineyards to the historic settlement; tourists can also meet the winemaker who will share their experience in winemaking process, and have a gourmet lunch experience paired with high quality wines ( Wyndham Estate 2012 ) .Gastronomy as a tourism product to express prestige and status One of the motivators for tourism is seeking of status and prestige. Gastronomy can be understood as a tourism product as it fulfills requirement in this aspect. According to Fields (2002) , eating nice food in a luxury place or attending special occasions can be regarded as a means to be distinguished from others. Moreover, tourist can express their prestige by tasting unique local food.Reynolds (2002) further pointed out that eating food in a nice restaurant and being seen to eat there can be considered as a to ol of drawing status distinctions. Gastronomy in form of souvenirs can also be tourism product that fulfills ones’ motivation of seeking prestige. Distinctive food and beverage products that is not available at home place are popular among tourist. Examples are authentic ingredients, designer glassware, porcelain, cutlery, and kitchen gadgets souvenirs, which can highlight the local culture of a place.Souvenirs can serve as a status symbol that allows tourists to share their prestigious and unique memories with family and friends. Large-scale events such as food and wine festivals are the most popular tourism product in gastronomy context. For example, the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by FOOD & WINE is a national, star-studded, four-day destination annual event showcasing the talents of the world’s most renowned wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities (SOBEFEST 2012).Tourists can have a chance to meet the culinary celebri ties such as Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, Rachel Ray and so on. Events such as tribute dinner are rare opportunity for tourists to have a touch with featured dishes of some of the world’s most renowned chefs. Moreover, smartest designer cafes and restaurants that serve innovative menus and offer equally chic service are equally attractive to tourists who enjoy indulging themselves in trendy foods and wines. The Fat Duck restaurant in England is an excellent example.The restaurant is known for its menu of unusual dishes, created following the principles of molecular gastronomy including egg and bacon ice cream. Luxurious food and wine styles and cuisines with the extravagant uses of ingredients often form a part of their image and prestige Gastronomy as a tourism product by achieving sustainability With the emphasis on achieving sustainability, gastronomy can be understood as tourism products that boost the economies and reputation of a destination.For instance, as supported by FEHGRA, a gastronomic association in Argentina, a great diversity of high-end culinary offerings can be found throughout the country that use creative regional ingredients of the highest ancestral grains and tubers in the north and meat and dairy in the center. By using local ingredients, the place of origin and production of each ingredient are respected instead of travelling ingredients from a long way. Tourists’ destinations are also given a boost through their cuisine, as people travel to consume these excellent foods searching for balanced and healthy dishes with least possible wastage in heir preparation. * Marketing promotions to merge gastronomy with tourism product Apart from linking gastronomic experiences to tourist needs, active promotion and marketing strategies of tourism organizations is equally important. With more promotions tactics, gastronomy is much easier to be understood as a tourism product. According to the World Tourism Organization (2012), common ma rketing techniques used are organized events , and print brochures or websites. A sound illustration will be the Prove Portugal programme (2010) held in Portugal. It aims to communicate the national brand through the recognition of Portuguese cuisine.A website dedicated to Portuguese food and wine is established along with other communication tactics to further promote International culinary tours, books, training in the Schools of Hospitality and Tourism, and the fundamentals of Portuguese regional cuisine and chefs. Great efforts are put to make the place a strong- branded culinary destination for tourists. Conclusion In a nutshell, the rocketed development of gastronomy tourism proves that food is no longer a basic necessities for human, but a cultural element that associated with leisure and relaxation.Gastronomy can be understood as a tourism product in many ways such as food events, cooking class and workshops; food fairs featuring local products, visits to markets and produce rs, museums to souvenirs. Its vital role in tourism is further enhanced through the promotions and marketing efforts by tourism organizations. 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