Showing posts with label International. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International. Show all posts
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Kenya Lures Back Tourists Following Political Unrest
By Nicholas Luckenbaugh
In the wake of Kenya’s post-election conflict, the Kenya Tourist Board launched the first phase of its campaign to bolster the country’s injured economy last month, flying over 200 foreign journalists into Kenya.
The journalists’ itineraries showcased the beauty spots across Kenya, emphasizing the nation’s attractions. Board officials hope that this endeavor will help counter the negative publicity that the country has received in the global media since outbreaks of violence following the December election.
“We wanted them to touch Kenya. We wanted them to smell Kenya. We wanted them to feel Kenya,” said Rose Kwena, public relations manager at the Kenya Tourist Board office in Nairobi.
Kwena stressed the positive experiences had by the invited media, hoping that they would “go out and testify” against the unsafe image Kenya has acquired during the past four months.
Last month’s media itineraries took journalists across Kenya, including areas that have been considered dangerous, said Fred Okeyo, North American regional manager of the Kenya Tourist Board.
“The world has only received a portion of the story of Kenya since the election last year,” said Okeyo.
Following the announcement of the presidential election results on December 30, 2007, media outlets around the world reported outbreaks of violence in Kenya relating to the election’s disputed results.
“The crisis brought Kenya right into the living rooms of America,” said Kwena.
“People are scared to go [to Kenya] because of what happened, and understandably so,” said Peace Corps volunteer Katie Moore, 24.
Moore was stationed as a deaf education volunteer in Litein, a small town outside of Nairobi, when the violence began.
“The day after the results, I started hearing gun shots and people rioting,” said Moore. For a week, Moore went into hiding until she could be evacuated from the country via helicopter. Since the post-election conflict, the Peace Corps program in Kenya has been temporarily disbanded.
Despite the violence, Kenya Ambassador Peter N.R.O. Ogego insists that the country is “back on the path to peace.”
“We are well on our way to resolving our post-election controversies,” said Ogego.
Ogego stressed Kenya’s reliance on tourism, saying that the decline of tourists following the eruption of violence has hurt the country’s economy immeasurably.
Tourism, Kenya’s largest industry, was on a record-breaking high in late December, surpassing the million-arrivals mark for 2007. The largest challenge Kenyan tourism faced in December was trying to improve and grow its infrastructure without putting its renowned wildlife and culture at risk.
But since strife broke out for the first few weeks of 2008 over claims that the presidential election was rigged from both sides, tourism to Kenya has suffered a severe blow. During the four months following the post-election crisis, the number of tourists has declined 73 percent compared to 2007 figures, costing the country one billion dollars in revenue each month.
“When the economy went to a standstill, the entire country went on its knees,” said Kwena.
Following its April outreach to media outlets worldwide, the Kenya Tourist Board launched the second phase of its recovery campaign. Beginning mid-April, the Board initiated a series of U.S. press conferences, alerting the media and travel agencies to the nation’s effort to promote tourism while marketing Kenya as a major world destination.
“We need to educate everyone who is traveling in Africa,” said Maisa Fernandez, public relations manager of the Kenya Tourist Board. “It is our job. We’re not going to sleep until this is over and those numbers are up.”
At its press conference in New York on April 21, the Kenya Tourist Board reaffirmed its continuing efforts to bolster tourism. The Board announced that it would sponsor a Travel Agent Familiarization Tour, hosting U.S. and Canadian travel agents in Kenya throughout the summer months, the nation’s peak travel time.
“Word of mouth is huge for us,” said Fernandez, hoping that the press conferences would generate a “buzz across the country.”
The recovery plan will culminate in a massive consumer promotion campaign, including a North American fall road show and various partnerships with non-tourism industries in the United States.
“We are hoping to work with you to present this beautiful destination,” said Okeyo. “We are getting there, we are committed and we are on the move.”
Despite these efforts to improve Kenyan tourism, some travel agents invested in the industry, like Hema Shah, are skeptical of the Kenya Tourist Board’s approach. Shah works with United Travel Group, a travel agency that specializes in safaris.
“It’s definitely possible to bounce back from this, but they’re focusing too much on the wrong things,” said Shah. She wishes that the Kenya Tourist Board would address the travel advisory that the United States has placed on international travel to Kenya.
After a 2002 terrorist attack in Kenya, the U.S. Department of State has maintained a travel advisory for the country. In spite of the warning, tourist numbers have climbed since then.
“People got used to it,” said Shah.
In January, the United States placed a heightened travel warning on Kenyan travel in response to the post-election conflict. Although Department of State officials lightened the language of the warning after the political situation improved in March, the travel advisory still remains in effect.
“We can’t sort of shove it off and say its just another sort of advisory,” said Shah. “We need to address it and make it go away.”
Moore is also wary of the travel advisory.
“I’m hopeful that people will start going back soon, but I have my doubts,” said Moore.
But the advisory is little more than an “irritant” to Ambassador Ogego.
“We are back on our feet,” said Ogego.
Ogego and the Kenya Tourist Board plan to continue with the recovery campaign throughout the year, confident that it will bring tourists to Kenya.
“We need your support to get people to come back to Kenya,” said Kwena. “Forget Disney World. Kenya is the original home of the safari.”
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Mind the Cultural Gap: Stereotyping International Students
By Michael Ronan
As one student from India said, “People don’t realize India is not a land of snake charmers anymore.”
Even so, many people in NYU can still be surprised by what real Indian and Pakistani international students are like.
NYU has nearly 6400 international students. Despite these large numbers, international students can still encounter cultural friction. These students say they are sometimes offended when asked questions like how they learned English so well. Students from regions in and around India and Pakistan can be subjected to stereotypes even though the reality of who they are points otherwise.
While there can be ignorance from people outside the culture some of the most culturally ignorant can be NYU’s American-born ethnic students. When these students are from the India/Pakistan region they are referred to as ABCDs. ABCD is an acronym standing for American-born confused Desi, used to denote minority students with misconceptions on their own culture.
Aditi Khandelwal, a student from India, talked about the stereotyping that goes on from American-Indian students. She said that international students have the reputation of being rich white wannabes. “ABCDs say we watch English movies or listen to English music because we are trying to fit in,” she said.
Anvi Byani, another student from India, explained that ABCDs “have a preconceived notion of how Indians are…Some call us wannabe-whites…Just because I have Indian roots doesn’t mean I’m not modern.”
Similar stigmas can also be held against Pakistani students who do not fit in with stereotypes. Pakistani student Anum Shahnawaz explained that the two most common points of ignorance are clothing and language. “People think they understand us before we come but they really don’t know,” she said. “People back home wear what people here wear. It is not your dress that makes you a good girl; it’s how you project yourself.”
Bisma Ahmad, an international student from Pakistan, explained how clothing fit in with her religious views. “People see me wearing jeans and shirts without sleeves and, yeah, I know my religion is against it, but I pay attention to the more important aspects of being Muslim like how to be a better person. I don’t pay attention to the trivial things.”
Internationals students speaking English is another issue that American students can sometimes fail to grasp. In many countries like India and Pakistan, English is taught alongside of their native language. Because of this, international students come to NYU already knowing how to speak English fluently. Many American born students, however, are unaware of this fact. Students interviewed stated that how they learned English so well was one of the more frequently asked questions about their country.
Byani found this out when a friend of hers asked her this same question. Reflecting on the incident she said “People here don’t realize that English is like the second language of India. You get taught it all your life along with Hindi,” the native language of India.
Even though she knew English fluently, Khandelwal about how Indian accents are sometimes made fun of. She recalled being mocked of in NYU’s Bobst library because of her accent. According to her, an ABCD and his friend started making fun of the way she spoke, imitating her in a mock Indian accent.
Besides dealing with cultural friction, International students have also needed to make transitions to fit into American culture. One of these transitions was the relative acceptance of homosexuality. Homosexuality is a taboo subject in other countries. In countries like India, it is even outlawed as being unnatural. Coming to America, where homosexuals are more free to express themselves, many international students were forced to take a new look at being gay or lesbian. As one Pakistani student said, back home “if someone was to tell me he was gay I would be shocked. Here it is not such a big deal. I’m immune to it.”
Another transition was in understanding American religiousness. Byani said that before coming to NYU, she generally believed that Americans were not religious people. This changed, however, in meeting several devout Christians and Jews who keep up with their religious obligations.
Dr. David Benton Austell said it is this learning process on both sides that makes it important for international students to come to America. Dr. Austell is the Director of The Office of International Students and Scholars, OSIS. Besides returning home with the prestige of a degree, Dr. Austell mentioned the importance of learning about American culture. “It is important for nationals to learn about the culture of this country in this governmental experiment of democracy,” he said. Dr. Austell also mentioned how this learning process breaks down stereotypes on both sides. He said, “America is still seen as the land of opportunity but the downside is it is seen as godless, unethical and immoral.”
This images foreign nationals have, they can compare to what they see here and figure out what is stereotype and what is true.” The same went for American students learning about other cultures, he said. Dr. Austell explained that Americans are in many way isolated from the rest of the world. It is through bringing international students here that Americans can understand other cultures more fully.
Cultural friction can be seen as just the growing pains of a generation being exposed to the outside world. By allowing international students to study at NYU, both the international and American-born students partake in a learning experience that you will not see in a classroom. Even with the occasional bad experience, all international students interviewed said they were still happy with her decision to study in a different country. It is thanks to international students that NYU has such a high number of groups geared toward minorities. These groups can help build ties among students of similar backgrounds. So while NYU may not be completely tolerant, thanks to international students breaking down American isolation, perhaps it will be soon.
For Audio of This Article Click Here
As one student from India said, “People don’t realize India is not a land of snake charmers anymore.”
Even so, many people in NYU can still be surprised by what real Indian and Pakistani international students are like.
NYU has nearly 6400 international students. Despite these large numbers, international students can still encounter cultural friction. These students say they are sometimes offended when asked questions like how they learned English so well. Students from regions in and around India and Pakistan can be subjected to stereotypes even though the reality of who they are points otherwise.
While there can be ignorance from people outside the culture some of the most culturally ignorant can be NYU’s American-born ethnic students. When these students are from the India/Pakistan region they are referred to as ABCDs. ABCD is an acronym standing for American-born confused Desi, used to denote minority students with misconceptions on their own culture.
Aditi Khandelwal, a student from India, talked about the stereotyping that goes on from American-Indian students. She said that international students have the reputation of being rich white wannabes. “ABCDs say we watch English movies or listen to English music because we are trying to fit in,” she said.
Anvi Byani, another student from India, explained that ABCDs “have a preconceived notion of how Indians are…Some call us wannabe-whites…Just because I have Indian roots doesn’t mean I’m not modern.”
Similar stigmas can also be held against Pakistani students who do not fit in with stereotypes. Pakistani student Anum Shahnawaz explained that the two most common points of ignorance are clothing and language. “People think they understand us before we come but they really don’t know,” she said. “People back home wear what people here wear. It is not your dress that makes you a good girl; it’s how you project yourself.”
Bisma Ahmad, an international student from Pakistan, explained how clothing fit in with her religious views. “People see me wearing jeans and shirts without sleeves and, yeah, I know my religion is against it, but I pay attention to the more important aspects of being Muslim like how to be a better person. I don’t pay attention to the trivial things.”
Internationals students speaking English is another issue that American students can sometimes fail to grasp. In many countries like India and Pakistan, English is taught alongside of their native language. Because of this, international students come to NYU already knowing how to speak English fluently. Many American born students, however, are unaware of this fact. Students interviewed stated that how they learned English so well was one of the more frequently asked questions about their country.
Byani found this out when a friend of hers asked her this same question. Reflecting on the incident she said “People here don’t realize that English is like the second language of India. You get taught it all your life along with Hindi,” the native language of India.
Even though she knew English fluently, Khandelwal about how Indian accents are sometimes made fun of. She recalled being mocked of in NYU’s Bobst library because of her accent. According to her, an ABCD and his friend started making fun of the way she spoke, imitating her in a mock Indian accent.
Besides dealing with cultural friction, International students have also needed to make transitions to fit into American culture. One of these transitions was the relative acceptance of homosexuality. Homosexuality is a taboo subject in other countries. In countries like India, it is even outlawed as being unnatural. Coming to America, where homosexuals are more free to express themselves, many international students were forced to take a new look at being gay or lesbian. As one Pakistani student said, back home “if someone was to tell me he was gay I would be shocked. Here it is not such a big deal. I’m immune to it.”
Another transition was in understanding American religiousness. Byani said that before coming to NYU, she generally believed that Americans were not religious people. This changed, however, in meeting several devout Christians and Jews who keep up with their religious obligations.
Dr. David Benton Austell said it is this learning process on both sides that makes it important for international students to come to America. Dr. Austell is the Director of The Office of International Students and Scholars, OSIS. Besides returning home with the prestige of a degree, Dr. Austell mentioned the importance of learning about American culture. “It is important for nationals to learn about the culture of this country in this governmental experiment of democracy,” he said. Dr. Austell also mentioned how this learning process breaks down stereotypes on both sides. He said, “America is still seen as the land of opportunity but the downside is it is seen as godless, unethical and immoral.”
This images foreign nationals have, they can compare to what they see here and figure out what is stereotype and what is true.” The same went for American students learning about other cultures, he said. Dr. Austell explained that Americans are in many way isolated from the rest of the world. It is through bringing international students here that Americans can understand other cultures more fully.
Cultural friction can be seen as just the growing pains of a generation being exposed to the outside world. By allowing international students to study at NYU, both the international and American-born students partake in a learning experience that you will not see in a classroom. Even with the occasional bad experience, all international students interviewed said they were still happy with her decision to study in a different country. It is thanks to international students that NYU has such a high number of groups geared toward minorities. These groups can help build ties among students of similar backgrounds. So while NYU may not be completely tolerant, thanks to international students breaking down American isolation, perhaps it will be soon.
For Audio of This Article Click Here
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