The returns of effective building blocks
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Mahmudur Rahman
The $2.5 billion dollar bill that stares Thailand in the face following the recent violent unrests is only part of the cost the country will have to bear for putting politics above the nation. These costs are basically divided into three parts -- lost revenue, repairs and clean-ups. It is practically impossible to put a figure to the subsequent losses faced by members of the pubic in terms of future lost revenues, businesses setbacks and personal and physical losses.
However, all careful investments in infrastructure and logistics that have made the country such a cheerful tourist destination is providing a payback of its own beyond mere revenues-they are also generating sympathy. Even though the underlying philosophy is still business, it is nonetheless a lesson for others that partners in progress can assist in the most bizarre of ways. One can therefore, expect a spurt of initiatives to woo-back the tourists. Truth be told, apart from Bangkok, there were very few problems for visitors to other parts of the country.
Travel partners, whose assistance is paramount to the tech savvy new generation tourists-one can book everything from air tickets to taxis on line, are now weighing in with their own brand of promotions. Western nationals have often seen on their television channels the invariable and poignant pleas along the lines of 'x pounds can ensure nutrition for this starving child in y country' and usually do respond. This time at least one travel operator has pledged to join the plea of the Governor of Bangkok to cough up funds for those who have been affected badly enough so as to be actually displaced.
The process is simple enough. Visitors browsing the net for good deals are being assured that for every booking they make in the next week or so $1.0 will be contributed to the Governor's special fund. There's little doubt that the time period will in all probability be extended and the response is likely to be good.
Cast a glance back at those affected by Aila and Sidr and we have a similar predicament but not a similar solution. Journalists who went to the affected areas came back to say that relief activity had been good and efficient. But after the initial hustle-bustle and row of people and organisations lining up to make donations with plastic smiles for the photographers, it all died down. There are people there who still do not get drinking water regularly, people who cannot bathe for days on end and food and shelter still hard to come by. They don't barricade the roads and railways or break up everything in sight. They suffer and endure and try to get on with their lives.
If only there were some partners who would do something beyond the need for headlines and photographic opportunity and as the famous sportswear company Nike suggests "Just do it". (The writer is a former Head of Corporate & Regulatory Affairs of British American Tobacco Bangladesh, former Chief Executive Officer of Bangladesh Cricket Board and specializes in corporate affairs, communications and corporate social responsibility. He can be reached at e-mail: mahmudrahman@gmail.com)
The $2.5 billion dollar bill that stares Thailand in the face following the recent violent unrests is only part of the cost the country will have to bear for putting politics above the nation. These costs are basically divided into three parts -- lost revenue, repairs and clean-ups. It is practically impossible to put a figure to the subsequent losses faced by members of the pubic in terms of future lost revenues, businesses setbacks and personal and physical losses.
However, all careful investments in infrastructure and logistics that have made the country such a cheerful tourist destination is providing a payback of its own beyond mere revenues-they are also generating sympathy. Even though the underlying philosophy is still business, it is nonetheless a lesson for others that partners in progress can assist in the most bizarre of ways. One can therefore, expect a spurt of initiatives to woo-back the tourists. Truth be told, apart from Bangkok, there were very few problems for visitors to other parts of the country.
Travel partners, whose assistance is paramount to the tech savvy new generation tourists-one can book everything from air tickets to taxis on line, are now weighing in with their own brand of promotions. Western nationals have often seen on their television channels the invariable and poignant pleas along the lines of 'x pounds can ensure nutrition for this starving child in y country' and usually do respond. This time at least one travel operator has pledged to join the plea of the Governor of Bangkok to cough up funds for those who have been affected badly enough so as to be actually displaced.
The process is simple enough. Visitors browsing the net for good deals are being assured that for every booking they make in the next week or so $1.0 will be contributed to the Governor's special fund. There's little doubt that the time period will in all probability be extended and the response is likely to be good.
Cast a glance back at those affected by Aila and Sidr and we have a similar predicament but not a similar solution. Journalists who went to the affected areas came back to say that relief activity had been good and efficient. But after the initial hustle-bustle and row of people and organisations lining up to make donations with plastic smiles for the photographers, it all died down. There are people there who still do not get drinking water regularly, people who cannot bathe for days on end and food and shelter still hard to come by. They don't barricade the roads and railways or break up everything in sight. They suffer and endure and try to get on with their lives.
If only there were some partners who would do something beyond the need for headlines and photographic opportunity and as the famous sportswear company Nike suggests "Just do it". (The writer is a former Head of Corporate & Regulatory Affairs of British American Tobacco Bangladesh, former Chief Executive Officer of Bangladesh Cricket Board and specializes in corporate affairs, communications and corporate social responsibility. He can be reached at e-mail: mahmudrahman@gmail.com)