45 resultados para travel agencies


Relevância:

20.00% 20.00%

Publicador:

Relevância:

20.00% 20.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

The context in which society develops has changed. The principles of democracy and human rights, in addition to the explosive development of communications, have encouraged citizens' desire for involvement in many areas which formerly had been the preserve of the State. This is also reflected in the attitudes of public utility customers, who are no longer prepared to accept mediocre service from the bodies responsible; on the contrary, they are increasingly putting pressure on those bodies, demanding better service in return for the charges they pay. Road agencies are no exception. They can no longer maintain their traditional isolation from the public and from users in areas such as decision-making or accountability for results achieved. Furthermore, it is no longer enough to provide road networks; these must be managed in such a way as to ensure improved levels of service, acceptable to users who are more and more demanding. This is why conventional styles of highway management have become unsatisfactory and new approaches are developing. There is a gradual increase in openness to the interests and views of users, who are increasingly considered as partners and participants in management. There are numerous examples in various countries, including those of Latin America, of this significant change; it is likely to cause a major transformation in the way in which public highways are managed. The innovations are recent, many of them still at the embryonic stage. A wide variety of concrete measures have been proposed or tried out. It is not yet possible to predict the size or scope of these changes, or which of them will ultimately become normal practice, but the changes have begun. The purpose of this article is to outline the principal changes which are being observed and the new outlook for road users.

Relevância:

20.00% 20.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

The focus of the activities of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean/Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (ECLAC/CDCC) secretariat during the 2006-2007 biennium continued to be on assistance to member governments of the subregion with policy-making and development strategies, especially on issues relevant to the promotion of the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of development in the Caribbean. The Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean worked closely with member countries of the CDCC in an effort to ensure the relevance of outputs which would inform policy options. This involved the strengthening of partnerships with both regional and subregional institutions and relevant agencies of the United Nations system working in the Caribbean. A major decision was taken to refocus the operational aspects of the secretariat to ensure that they were relevant to the development goals of its members. This involved the introduction of a thematic approach to the work of the office. One of the changes resulting from this was the restructuring and renaming of the Caribbean Documentation Centre. The Caribbean Knowledge Management Centre (CKMC), as it is now known, has changed its emphasis from organizing and disseminating documents, and is now a more proactive partner in the research undertaken by staff and other users of the service. The CKMC manages the ECLAC website, the public face of the organization. Newsletters and all other documents, including Information and Communications Technology (ICT) profiles of selected countries, prepared by the secretariat, are now available online at the ECLAC/CDCC website www.eclacpos.org . The Caribbean Knowledge Management Portal was launched at a meeting of information specialists in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2007. In addition to reaching a wider public, this measure was introduced as a means of reducing the cost of printing or disseminating publications. In spite of the unusually high vacancy rate, at both the international and local levels, during the biennium, the subregional headquarters accomplished 98 per cent of the 119 outputs earmarked for the period. Using vacant positions to carry out the assignments was not an easy task, given the complexity in recruiting qualified and experienced persons for short periods. Nevertheless, consultancy services and short-term replacement staff greatly aided the delivery of these outputs. All the same, 35 work months remained unused during the biennium, leaving 301 work months to complete the outputs. In addition to the unoccupied positions, the work of the subprogramme was severely affected by the rising cost of regional and subregional travel which limited the ability of staff to network and interact with colleagues of member countries. This also hampered the outreach programme carried out mainly through ad hoc expert group meetings. In spite of these shortcomings, the period proved to be successful for the subprogramme as it engaged the attention of member countries in its work either through direct or indirect participation. Staff members completed 36 technical papers plus the reports of the meetings and workshops. A total of 523 persons, representing member countries, participated in the 18 intergovernmental and expert meetings convened by the secretariat in the 24-month period. In its effort to build technical capacity, the subprogramme convened 15 workshops/seminars which offered training for 446 persons.