Utilizing geocaching to reduce obesity and increase tourism
- Authors: Von Solms, Woudi
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Sports and tourism , Obesity
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:9291 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011157 , Sports and tourism , Obesity
- Description: Tourism has social and economic benefits. Economic benefits are received through tourists visiting tourist attractions. Social benefits related to benefits tourists receive personally when visiting tourist attractions. The number of individuals that are obese are constantly increasing and leads to hazardous medical conditions. The aim of this research study was to determine the extent to which geocaching can be used to increase tourism and decrease obesity. Geocaching is similar to a treasure hunt where participant use clues and a Global Positioning System device to find a treasure that are called a cache. The cache is filled with trinkets that are exchanged by participants that find the cache. Students of the second avenue campus of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University were used as respondents and given information on what geocaching involve. Three geocaches were hidden in The Boardwalk Casino and Entertainment World in Summerstrand, Port Elizabeth. The respondents met at The Boardwalk Casino and Entertainment World where a clue and map was provided. After finding the cache the respondents was asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire. The results were calculated and conclusions and recommendations were made. The primary research process was conducted over too short a period of time to conclude whether it can lead to a reduction in obesity. However geocaching experience by respondents did show that the process of geocaching involves physical exercise, which is needed for losing weight. Research also indicated that respondents would like to geocache with family and friends. Geocaching with family and friends involves support which secondary research have also proven is important to losing weight and decreasing obesity. Respondents indicated that they enjoyed geocaching and would like to geocache in their free time. The indication of enjoying geocaching, participating in geocaching during free time allows travelling for leisure purposes as to geocache travelling is necessary and the majority of geocaches is hidden at tourist attractions. The combination of travelling to tourist attractions, enjoying the experience and partaking in physical exercise with family and friends involve two of the three main aspects seen as helping to reduce obesity: enjoyable physical activity and support from family and friends. The conclusion is therefore that geocaching can be utilised to increase tourism and reduce obesity.
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- Date Issued: 2011
Volatility transmission across South African financial markets: does the bull – bear distinction matter?
- Authors: Jaramba, Toddy
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Finance -- South Africa , Financial institutions -- South Africa , Monetary policy -- South Africa , Portfolio management -- South Africa , Stock exchanges -- South Africa , Foreign exchange -- Mathematical models , Bond market -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1106 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013396
- Description: The volatility transmission in financial markets has important implications for investment decision making, portfolio diversification and overall macroeconomic stability. This paper analyses volatility transmission across four South African financial markets that is the stock, bond, money and foreign exchange markets, using daily data for the period 2000-2010. It also shows whether the volatilities in the SA financial markets present a different behaviour in bull and bear market phases. The effects of the international markets volatility to the local markets volatility was also looked at in this study. To obtain estimates of market volatility, the study experimented with various volatility models that include the GARCH, EGARCH and TARCH. To examine volatility interaction and the transmission of volatility shocks, a VAR model was estimated together with block exogeneity, impulse response and variance decomposition. The study found that there is limited volatility transmission across the SA financial markets. The study also found that the money market is the most exogenous of all markets since the other three financial markets volatility is insignificant to the money market (see impulse response results). For the bond market, volatility transmission was characterized with a decreasing trend. With regard to international markets volatility, it concluded that, the shocks in the international markets will eventually affect the movement in the local markets. The results also highlighted that, world and local markets are important in accelerating the volatility transmission in SA financial markets depending on whether they are in their bull or bear phases. In the case of South Africa, the study found that volatility transmission across markets is higher during bear market periods than bull market periods. Basing on the study results which show that the volatility transmission is limited across SA financial markets, the implication to local and international investors is that there is a greater potential for diversifying risk by investing in different South African financial markets.
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- Date Issued: 2011
Willingness to pay for water quality changes in the Swartkops Estuary
- Authors: Magobiane, Siyathemba Emmanuel
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Water quality -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Swartkops Estuary , Water quality -- Management , Estuaries -- South Africa -- Swartkops River
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:9000 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011505 , Water quality -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Swartkops Estuary , Water quality -- Management , Estuaries -- South Africa -- Swartkops River
- Description: South Africa, like the rest of the world, is vulnerable to the impact of climate change and loss of biodiversity. Water pollution is one of the six global threats to freshwater biodiversity. The future health status and productivity of South Africa’s estuaries is dependent on two main factors: management and quality and quantity of freshwater inputs. South Africa has around 250 functioning estuaries along its 3000 km coastline (Hosking 2004). They play an invaluable role in ecosystem functioning and biodiversity conservation. Estuaries are amongst the richest and most productive parts of the marine environment and as such call for careful management. Some of these ecosystems are focus areas for urban an industrial development. Urbanization and industrialization pose a serious threat to these sensitive systems. Increased water pollution from domestic use, industry and agriculture affect the ecology of these estuarine, river and lake systems. A large number of South African estuaries are still in excellent or good condition, but these are mainly the very small systems. The larger systems, like the Swartkops estuary, often very important in terms of conservation value, are also often compromised in some way or other. The reasons why they are compromised include habitat destruction, artificial breaching and pollution, especially those close to urban areas. This situation is aggravated by outdated and inadequate sewage treatment plant infrastructure and unskilled operators that dispose untreated waste into these systems. Pollution into estuaries can result in the partial loss of the environmental service flows supplied by them. The result of lost environmental service flows has adverse consequences, such as diminished residential and holiday recreational appeal, as well as reduced capacity to support subsistence livelihoods. Poor water quality not only limits its utilisation value, but is also places added economic burden on society, through both the primary treatment costs and the secondary impacts on the economy. Healthy estuarine ecosystems are essential for the maintenance of biodiversity and a wide range of environmental goods and services. Without a drastic improvement in water quality management approaches and treatment technologies, the continuous deterioration in water quality will decrease benefits and increase costs affiliated with use of these water resources.The market-based system of the South African economy has to a large extent failed to account for the value of the “free” goods and services provided by the natural environment. When the true value of the natural resources is unknown, there is a risk that less financial resources and capacity are made available to manage and protect these natural resources than is efficient. To ensure that these goods are properly taken into account, they must be valued and these values incorporated in social decision making. This study uses the contingent valuation method (CVM) to establish the value of the Swartkops estuary for changes to water quality. The CVM is a non-market valuation method that is widely used in cost-benefit analysis and environmental impact assessment. The CVM establishes the economic value of the good by asking the users of an environmental good to state their willingness to pay for a hypothetical scenario to prevent, or bring about, certain changes in the current condition of the environmental good. This method is subjected to some criticism. This criticism revolves around the validity and the reliability of estimated results and the effects of various biases and errors on them. The North Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Blue-Ribbon panel investigating the validity of the CVM resolved that the CVM can be used to guide social decision making, if a series of guidelines are followed. The Swartkops contingent valuation (CV) was conducted with these guidelines in mind. The results of the Swartkops CV indicate that the user population has a total willingness to pay (TWTP) of R68848 (median bid) and R203632 (mean bid) annually for the implementation of a project to improve the water quality in the Swartkops estuary. User population is an important determinant of the TWTP value. As a result, using a more broadly defined user population, TWTP per annum was calculated to be R3481987 (median bid) and R10298688 (mean bid). Management of natural resources should be informed by values that reflect efficient balances, so as to obtain the most efficient use of them (Trupie 2008). Polluted water inflows into South Africa’s estuaries are a threat to their biodiversity. Healthy estuarine ecosystems are essential for the maintenance of biodiversity and human well-being (Water Assessment Programme Report 2006: 15). As a result, this study recommends that a project be implemented by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to improve water quality in the Swartkops estuary.
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- Date Issued: 2011