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Morocco Kasbahs & Desert
About Morocco
Perfect for travellers looking for a fast-paced trip, this short but sweet adventure offers up a great combination of Morocco's must-see highlights and a little free time to explore on your own. Take to a camel to tour the dunes before really experiencing the Sahara on an overnight camping excursion. Explore high-walled kasbahs and wander the labyrinthine alleys of Fès and Marrakech. Discover the history and rugged natural beauty of mysterious Morocco.
What's Included
Your G for Good Moment: Meknes Community Lunch, Meknès
Your Local Living Moment: Overnight at Berber Desert Camp, Sahara Bedouin Camp. Volubilis guided tour. Fès guided tour. Sahara Desert excursion with camel ride. Todra Gorge stay with walk through local villages. Aït Ben Haddou Kasbah visit. Marrakech medina guided walk. All transport between destinations and to/from included activities.
Wander the winding streets of ancient medinas, sip refreshing mint tea, explore natural gorges and Roman ruins, ride a camel to a desert camp, bargain in exotic souks, enjoy delicious Moroccan fare
Dossier Disclaimer
The information in this trip details document has been compiled with care and is provided in good faith. However it is subject to change, and does not form part of the contract between the client and the operator. The itinerary featured is correct at time of printing. It may differ slightly to the one in the brochure. Occasionally our itineraries change as we make improvements that stem from past travellers, comments and our own research. Sometimes it can be a small change like adding an extra meal along the itinerary. Sometimes the change may result in us altering the tour for the coming year. Ultimately, our goal is to provide you with the most rewarding experience. Please note that our brochure is usually released in November each year. If you have booked from the previous brochure you may find there have been some changes to the itinerary.
VERY IMPORTANT: Please ensure that you print a final copy of your Trip Details to review a couple of days prior to travel, in case there have been changes that affect your plans.
Itinerary Disclaimer
While it is our intention to adhere to the route described below, there is a certain amount of flexibility built into the itinerary and on occasion it may be necessary, or desirable to make alterations. The itinerary is brief, as we never know exactly where our journey will take us. Due to our style of travel and the regions we visit, travel can be unpredictable. The Trip Details document is a general guide to the tour and region and any mention of specific destinations or wildlife is by no means a guarantee that they will be visited or encountered. Aboard expedition trips visits to research stations depend on final permission.
Additionally, any travel times listed are approximations only and subject to vary due to local circumstances.
Important Notes
This is a very fast paced itinerary which covers lots of ground. While this is great as it allows us to see a huge amount in the available time, it also means some early starts, some long drives in the mini van and less free time than many other G Adventures. We feel that if you enter this trip with this knowledge and expectation, you will appreciate even more the variety of locations we are able to include in this itinerary.
We use a 16-seater minivan for this tour. With a full group every seat will be used. The legroom in the minivan is possibly smaller than you may be used to and taller passengers may find space a little cramped. It is important to be aware that as it is not a legal requirement in buses in Morocco, your vehicle may not be equipped with seat belts.
Please note that it is not possible to reach our desert camp by 4WD or any other vehicle. There is the option to walk (can be very hot and tiring) for those who cannot/prefer not to ride a camel.
Please note that the climate in Morocco can be both very hot during the day in summer months (up to 50°C) and cold at night in the mountains in autumn, early spring and winter (down to -6°C). Summer months, from April to September are very hot throughout Morocco. Winter months November to March can be cool to cold, especially in the Atlas Mountains, with high probability of snowfall. Most Moroccan buildings are not equipped with heating, so without proper layers you will be cold at night. Please bring appropriate clothing for the months in which you are travelling and check temperatures before you leave. Bedding is provided in the desert camp and the gîte, but in winter months if you feel the cold you may wish to bring a sleeping bag too.
According to the lunar cycle, Ramadan will fall between May 5th and June 4th, 2019. Please note that Ramadan is a month of fasting observed by Muslims throughout the world, during which time the followers of Islam should not eat or drink between sunrise and sunset. There may be some limitations to services and disruptions to schedules during Ramadan, but generally our tours still operate effectively during this period and food is available to non-Muslims throughout the day. It is very important to display increased cultural sensitivity during Ramadan. Please wear loose fitting clothes, that cover knees and shoulders, and try to avoid eating, drinking or smoking in public out of respect for those who can't at that time.
Group Leader Description
This G Adventures group trip is accompanied by one of our group leaders, otherwise known as a Chief Experience Officer (CEO).
As the group coordinator and manager, the aim of the CEO is to take the hassle out of your travels and to help you have the best trip possible. You can expect them to have a broad general knowledge of Morocco, including historical, cultural, religious and social aspects. They will also offer suggestions for things to do and to see, recommend great local eating venues and introduce you to our local friends.
We also use certified local city guides where we think more specific knowledge will add to the enjoyment of the places we are visiting – we think it's the best of both worlds.
Group Size Notes
Max 14, avg 10.
Meals Included
7 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 1 dinner
Breakfasts on tour
Many breakfasts are included as part of your tour.
Moroccan breakfasts tend to be different from your usual cereal and toast morning fare – most will be very simple – a croissant or sweet roll with jam and instant coffee and some hotels will have buffets where you will have more variety.
While you are experiencing what a Moroccan family would eat, some travellers do find the provided breakfasts a bit "bread heavy" and enjoy buying fruit the day before to supplement their breakfast.
Lunches and dinners
Moroccan cuisine is world famous and your CEO will be taking the chance to show you the best of it.
Staples include cous cous, a type of grain topped with stew, tagine which is actually the name of the pot this tasty dish is cooked in, and brochette, bbq skewers of meat. These meals will generally cost between 45- 70 MAD depending on the type of restaurant and which part of the country you are in.
Other tastes not to be missed include pastilla, a sweet pasty with a savoury filling which is traditionally pigeon and harira, a delicious soup based on chick peas and filling enough when teamed with fresh bread to be a whole lunch. If you are heading to the coast the fresh seafood cooked at one of the local markets is a must eat!
Morocco's fresh orange juice is highly recommended and you should not leave without trying a glass. The brave can try the tiny snails which are perhaps the local's favourite snack but you might prefer a cone of piping hot bite-size fried cake donuts.
Generally meals are not included in the trip price when there is a choice of eating options, to give you the maximum flexibility in deciding where, what and with whom to eat. It also gives you more budgeting flexibility, though generally food is cheap. Our groups tend to eat together to enable you to taste a larger variety of dishes and enjoy each other's company. There is no obligation to do this though. Your CEO will be able to suggest favourite restaurants during your trip. The above information applies to G Adventures group trips. For Independent trips please check the itinerary for details of meals included. For all trips please refer to the meals included and budget information for included meals and meal budgets.
Private air-conditioned van, camels.
About our Transportation
Please note that there is a lot of fast paced travel on this itinerary which necessitates some long travel days in our mini van. We feel that if you enter this trip with this knowledge and expectation, you will appreciate even more the variety of locations we are able to include in this itinerary.
We use a 16-seater minivan and with a full group every seat will be used. The legroom in the minivan is possibly smaller than you may be used to and taller passengers may find space a little cramped. It is important to be aware that as it is not a legal requirement in buses in Morocco, your vehicle may not be equipped with seat belts. The minivans have air conditioning, however please note that summer temperatures in Morocco can easily reach 50 celsius. When the outside temperature is so hot, a minibus air conditioning system will not be able to cool the bus to the temperatures you are used to enjoying at home. Please bear in mind that travelling in Morocco in summer will inevitably involve very hot temperatures and some discomfort may be experienced when travelling.
Solo Travellers
We believe single travellers should not have to pay more to travel so our group trips are designed for shared accommodation and do not involve a single supplement. Single travellers joining group trips are paired in twin or multi-share accommodation with someone of the same sex for the duration of the trip. Some of our Independent trips are designed differently and single travellers on these itineraries must pay the single trip price.
Hotels (6 nts), tented desert camp (1 nt, multi-share).
My Own Room Exceptions
Day 4 (Desert Camp).
About Accommodation
On this trip you can expect to stay in local hotels or pensions (with the exception of the start and finish hotels, which are often larger city hotels), which will vary a little in standard and facilities: some may not have elevators, air-conditioning or English-speaking staff, but most importantly all are locally-run, with some traditional character, and in excellent central locations to give you maximum time for exploring the sights. Where a town has both an ancient medina and a "ville nouvelle" we generally stay in the ville nouvelle, both because the standard of hotels is higher, and because travellers (especially women) often find the medinas at night a little confronting.
Please note that Morocco is a developing country and as such the infrastructure is not as reliable as you would expect at home. Expect quirky plumbing and the odd cold shower!
In the desert we will spend a night at a nomad camp: Facilities at the camp are very basic. Travellers will sleep in multi-share tents (4 per tent). Mattresses and bedding are provided. For those travelling in the winter months (Nov- April), we recommend a sleeping bag for additional warmth. There will be the chance to take a shower after breakfast on our return to Merzouga the following morning.
Joining Hotel
For details of your joining hotel please refer to your tour voucher, G Account, the G Adventures App or contact your travel agent.
Joining Instructions
If you have pre-arranged an arrival transfer, please look for the driver holding a G Adventures sign. The driver will be waiting outside (they are not permitted to enter inside the airport) in front of the cafeteria Tokey's that is located in-between the exit doors of terminal 1 and terminal 2. Please approach them, and ask them who they are supposed to be picking up (do not tell them your name, they should have this information already). Once they give you the correct name, have your passport ready to show them and you will be on your way!
Getting to the Moroccan House Hotel
From the airport:
You can take a taxi from the airport entrance which will take approximately 1hour (35km) to the hotel. Cost is around 300dh.
There is also a train that you can take to Casa Voyager Station. From there, take a 10 minute taxi drive to the Hotel for around 20dh.
Please note that day 1 is an arrival day and no activities have been planned on this day. Upon arrival to the city on day 1 (or earlier if you have booked pre-accommodation with us), please make your way to the joining hotel (note that check-in time will be in the afternoon). Once you arrive at the hotel, look for a note or bulletin board in the reception with a note from your CEO. This note will give the details of your Welcome Meeting on day 1 (usually between 5pm and 7pm), where you will get a chance to meet your CEO and other travellers, as well as learn more about how the tour will run. If you don't see a note, please ask reception for details!
If you are arriving later and will miss the Welcome Meeting, your CEO will leave a note at reception for you with any information you may need, and with morning instructions for the next day.
Arrival Complications
We do not expect any complications and nor should you but the following information is supplied in case of extra ordinary circumstances.
If you have pre-arranged an arrival transfer, please look for the driver holding a G Adventures sign. The driver will be waiting outside (they are not permitted to enter inside the airport) in front of the cafeteria Tokey's that is located in-between the exit doors of terminal 1 and terminal 2. Please approach them, and ask them who they are supposed to be picking up (do not tell them your name, they should have this information already). Once they give you the correct name, have your passport ready to show them and you will be on your way!
If you are unable to locate your G Adventures airport representative, please call our local staff at +212 528 824898 (during office hours Mon-Fri) or +212 661 429700 (after office hours or at any time if you are unable to get through to the office) They will assist you in getting to the joining hotel.
If you have arrived at Casablanca airport, before calling please double-check with the airport staff which terminal you have arrived at. (This may not be the terminal stated on your airline ticket, as Casablanca flight arrivals often experience a change in arrival terminal). Please make your way to the Airport Information Desk in Terminal 1 – a short walk from the other terminals.
If you are not travelling with a telephone, please head to the airport Information booth who will be able to assist you in the purchase of a phone card and direct you to a telephone.
If for any reason you are unable to commence your trip as scheduled, or your flight is delayed, please call the above numbers to inform our staff so we can re-book your transfer.
Emergency Contact
Should you need to contact G Adventures during a situation of dire need, it is best to first call our local G Adventures Morocco operator. If for any reason you do not receive an immediate answer, please leave a detailed message and contact information, so they may return your call and assist you as soon as possible.
G Adventures Operator – Morocco
Open 5 days a week, Monday to Friday 09:00am to 5:30pm local time (GMT).
Tel: +212 (0)528 824898 (during office hours)
Emergency Cell Phone: +212 (0) 661 861950 (after office hours).
If you are unable to contact either of these numbers please phone G Adventures Regional Emergency Cell Phone (Cairo, Egypt): +201222211699
If you are unable for any reason to contact these numbers, please call the numbers listed below, which will connect you directly with our 24 hour Sales team, who will happily assist you.
Toll-free, North America only: 1 888 800 4100
Calls from UK: 0344 272 0000
Calls from Australia: 1 300 796 618
Outside North America, Australia and the UK: +1 416 260 0999
Finishing Point Instructions
We are able to organize extra accommodation post-trip should you require it, as well as departure transfer. Please inquire at the time of booking.
If you'd like to book a departure transfer from Marrakech Hotel to Casablanca International Airport, please choose an 8am shuttle option for flights departing after 14:30, and a 13:30 shuttle option for flights departing after 19:30.
For departure to Marrakech International Airport: a taxi will cost spproximately MAD150. Ask the Hotel staff or your CEO for help in arranging a taxi.
For departure to Casablanca: Take the train from Marrakech to Casablanca. The train service is comfortable and fast (approx 3hrs 10 mins to Casablanca city centre and 4hrs 40 minutes to the airport). It is probably best to go to the Marrakech station and buy your ticket the day before travel. Ask your CEO if you need any advice.
Please note that Casablanca Airport is directly served by train so if you are going to the airport make sure you buy tickets to Casablanca Mohammed V Airport (approx MAD200 first class).
To give you sufficient time to catch your plane, please do not book a flight home which departs before 13:00 at the absolute earliest
Take a petit taxi from the hotel to the Gare (train station) in Marrakech (approx MAD20, may be more with luggage.
What to Take
You will be on the move a lot, so our advice is to pack as lightly as possible. We highly recommend using a backpack or light sports bag, whichever you find easiest to carry, plus a small daypack. Luggage space on public transport is limited. You must be prepared to carry your own bags and be comfortable carrying them between transport and hotels (max. 15-20mins walking), hopping on and off trains and public buses and up and down stairs.
Conservative Dress:
• Modest clothing that covers knees and shoulders (Long pants, long skirts, shirts that cover shoulders)
• Shawl or scarf (for temple visits)
• Flight info (required) (Printouts of e-tickets may be required at the border)
• Insurance info (required) (With photocopies)
• Passport (required) (With photocopies)
• Required visas or vaccination certificates (required) (With photocopies)
• Vouchers and pre-departure information (required)
• Binoculars (optional)
• Camera (With extra memory cards and batteries)
• Cash, credit and debit cards
• Day pack (Used for daily excursions or short overnights)
• Ear plugs
• First-aid kit (should contain lip balm with sunscreen, sunscreen, whistle, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, bandaids/plasters, tape, anti-histamines, antibacterial gel/wipes, antiseptic cream, Imodium or similar tablets for mild cases of diarrhea, rehydration powder, water purification tablets or drops, insect repellent, sewing kit, extra prescription drugs you may be taking)
• Flashlight/torch (Headlamps are ideal)
• Fleece top/sweater
• Footwear
• Hat
• Locks for bags
• Long pants/jeans
• Moneybelt
• Outlet adapter
• Personal entertainment (Reading and writing materials, cards, music player, etc.)
• Reusable water bottle
• Shirts/t-shirts
• Sleepwear
• Small travel towel
• Sunglasses
• Toiletries (Preferably biodegradable)
• Watch and alarm clock
• Waterproof backpack cover
• Windproof rain jacket
Optional Items:
• Sleeping bag (optional) (Optional, but recommended for winter months)
• Swimwear
Warm Weather:
• Sandals/flip-flops
• Shorts/skirts (Longer shorts/skirts are recommended)
• Sun hat/bandana
• Swimwear
Note: The weather conditions and temperature in Morocco can vary greatly from region to region, especially during the winter months (Nov-March). During these months, we recommend packing layers for insulation, as well as a waterproof layer. We also recommend packing a light sleeping sheet or sleeping bag for the night spent in the desert camp.
Note: For departures from Nov-Feb the weather can be cold, please bring warm clothing.
Laundry facilities are offered by some of our hotels for a charge. There will be times when you may want to or have to do your own laundry so we suggest you bring non-polluting/biodegradable soap.
Visas and Entry Requirements
All countries require a valid passport (with a minimum 6 months validity).
To date, citizens of the UK, EU, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand do not need visas for visits of up to three-months.
Other nationalities may need to organise a visa pre travel- please check the individual requirements of your passport nationality.
Please note this information is given in good faith, is beyond G Adventures's control and subject to change at any time.
Contact your local embassy, or consulate for the most up-to-date visa requirements, or see your travel agent. It is the individual's responsibility to ensure that travel documentation is correct.
Detailed Trip Notes
The climate in Morocco is Mediterranean along the coast, becoming more extreme towards the interior of the country. The winter months are from October to March and are characterized by cold nights and pleasant days. Summer is from April to September and starts off very pleasantly with moderate temperatures until mid-June when temperatures get extremely hot, to return to more moderate heat in late September. Inland, the climate is very dry and high temperatures predominate during the day for most of the year, except in the higher mountain areas. It rains generally only in short bursts in the period from the beginning of November until March.
Morocco uses 220V, 50Hz and plugs are two prong rounded (as for Europe).
Arabic is the official language of Morocco, spoken in the distinctive Moroccan dialect. Approximately 40% of the population (mainly in rural areas) speak Berber in one of its three different dialects (Tarafit, Tashelhiyt and Tamazight). French is Morocco's unofficial second language and is taught universally, serving as the country's primary language in economics and commerce, as well as being widely used in education and government. Many Moroccans in the north of the country speak Spanish and English is widely spoken in tourist areas.
Capital city: Rabat
Principal ethnic groups: 30% Arab, 60% Berber
Religion: Islam is the official state religion with almost the entire population being Sunni Muslim. 1% are Christian and about 0.2% are Jewish.
Spending Money
Every traveller is different and therefore spending money requirements will vary. Some travellers may drink more than others while other travellers like to purchase more souvenirs than most. Please consider your own spending habits when it comes to allowing for drinks, shopping and tipping. Please also remember the following specific recommendations when planning your trip.
Money Exchange
The local currency in Morocco is the Moroccan Dirham (MAD).
ATMs are very common in Morocco with Cirrus and Plus system cards are the most widely accepted debit cards. .While ATMs are commonly available, there are no guarantees that your credit or debit cards will actually work – it is important you check with your bank before departure and advisable to travel with more than one type of card.
Visa cards are the most widely accepted credit cards, but are generally only useful for larger/expensive purchases. You should be aware when purchasing products or services on a credit card, that a fee usually applies.
The foreign currency most commonly accepted in Morocco is the Euro. You will be able to exchange Euros, as well as GBP and USD at money exchange offices in major cities.
Do not rely on credit or debit cards as your only source of money. A combination of cash (Euro/GBP or USD) and cards is best.
As currency exchange rates can fluctuate often we ask that you refer to the following website for daily exchange rates: www.xe.com
Emergency Fund
Please also make sure you have access to at least an additional USD $200 (or equivalent) as an 'emergency' fund, to be used when circumstances outside our control (ex. a natural disaster) require a change to our planned route. This is a rare occurrence!
Departure Tax
Usually included in your ticket, check with your air travel agent.
Morocco has a strong tipping culture – it is customary and even expected to tip small service providers such as restaurant and bar waiters, hotel staff, reception, cleaning personnel, bell boys, taxis and van drivers. Tips are regarded as an essential means of supplementing income for those working in the tourism industry.
Even though this might not be customary to you, nor such common practice in your home country, it is generally expected and of great significance to the people who will be assisting you during your travels.
Depending on your preference and/or that of the group, you may choose to tip individually, organize the tipping with your travelling companions, or, your CEO will offer to collect the tip money at the beginning of your tour and tip as a group with your participation as the tour progresses. A recommendation for tipping small service providers is about $3 USD per day, depending on the quality of the service (this does not include your G Adventures CEO).
Feel free to ask your CEO for the breakdown/distribution of the tips. Note that if you have been very disappointed by a particular service, please inform your CEO right away, and the tip will be adjusted accordingly.
Also, at the end of your trip if you felt your G Adventures CEO did an outstanding job, tipping is also expected and appreciated. The precise amount is entirely a personal preference, however $20-25 USD per person per week can be used as a general guideline.
Optional Activities
Please see the itinerary for information on optional activities, descriptions and estimated pricing.
Please note inoculations may be required for the country visited. It is your responsibility to consult with your travel doctor for up to date medical travel information well before departure.
There are no specific health requirements for this trip. However, you should consult your doctor for up-to-date medical travel information before departure. We recommend that you carry a First Aid kit, hand sanitizers / antibacterial wipes as well as any personal medical requirements . Please be aware that we are in remote areas and away from medical facilities for some time during this trip, and for legal reasons our leaders are prohibited from administering any type of drug including headache tablets, antibiotics, etc.
When selecting your trip please carefully read the G Adventures brochure and itinerary and assess your ability to cope with our style of travel. Please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com should you require any clarification on what is involved on your itinerary. G Adventures reserves the right to exclude any traveller from all or part of a trip without refund if in the reasonable opinion of our CEO they are unable to complete the itinerary without undue risk to themselves and/or the rest of the group.
Safety and Security
Many national governments provide a regularly updated advice service on safety issues involved with international travel. We recommend that you check your government's advice for their latest travel information before departure. We strongly recommend the use of a neck wallet or money belt while travelling, for the safe keeping of your passport, air tickets, travellers' cheques, cash and other valuable items. Leave your valuable jewellery at home – you won't need it while travelling. Many of the hotels we use have safety deposit boxes, which is the most secure way of storing your valuables. A lock is recommended for securing your luggage. When travelling on a group trip, please note that your CEO has the authority to amend or cancel any part of the trip itinerary if it is deemed necessary due to safety concerns. Your CEO will accompany you on all included activities. During your trip you will have some free time to pursue your own interests, relax and take it easy or explore at your leisure. While your CEO will assist you with options available in a given location please note that any optional activities you undertake are not part of your itinerary, and we offer no representations about the safety of the activity or the standard of the operators running them. Please use your own good judgment when selecting an activity in your free time. Although the cities visited on tour are generally safe during the day, there can be risks to wandering throughout any major city at night. It is our recommendation to stay in small groups and to take taxis to and from restaurants, or during night time excursions.
Protests and Demonstrations- Protests and demonstrations, even those that are well intended, have the potential to turn violent with no warning. Counter protests can also turn violent. Action by security forces to disperse demonstrators and protesters may occur at any time. If you are in an area where demonstrators or protesters are gathering, avoid the temptation of staying for a good photo opportunity and leave the area immediately.
Water based activities have an element of danger and excitement built into them. We recommend only participating in water based activities when accompanied by a guide(s). We make every reasonable effort to ensure the fun and adventurous element of any water based activities (in countries with varying degrees of operating standards) have a balanced approach to safety. It is our policy not to allow our CEOs to make arrangements on your behalf for water based activities that are not accompanied by guide(s).
Swimming, including snorkeling, is always at your own risk.
We take all prudent measures in relation to your safety. For ways to further enhance your personal safety while traveling, please visit:
Trip Specific Safety
Like anywhere in the world, major cities have areas safer than others, use common sense, be aware of your surroundings and mind your personal belongings.
It is important to note that as it is not a legal requirement in buses in Morocco, your vehicle may not be equipped with seat belts.
A Couple of Rules
Illegal drugs will not be tolerated on any trips. Possessing or using drugs not only contravenes the laws of the land but also puts the rest of the group at risk. Smoking marijuana and opium is a part of local culture in some parts of the world but is not acceptable for our travellers. Our philosophy of travel is one of respect towards everyone we encounter, and in particular the local people who make the world the special place it is. The exploitation of prostitutes is completely contrary to this philosophy. Our CEOs have the right to expel any member of the group if drugs are found in their possession or if they use prostitutes.
Travel Insurance
Travel Insurance: Travel insurance is compulsory in order to participate on any of our trips. When travelling on a group trip, you will not be permitted to join the group until evidence of travel insurance has been sighted by your CEO, who will take note of your insurance details. When selecting a travel insurance policy please bear in mind that all clients must have medical coverage and that we require a minimum coverage of USD 200,000 for repatriation and emergency rescue. We strongly recommend that the policy also covers personal liability, cancellation, curtailment and loss of luggage and personal effects. If you have credit card insurance we require proof of purchase of the trip (a receipt of credit card statement) with a credit card in your name. Contact your bank for details of their participating insurer, the level of coverage and emergency contact telephone number.
Planeterra-The G Adventures Foundation
The Planeterra Foundation planeterra.org is a Canadian non-profit organization that helps empower local people to develop their communities, conserve their cultures, and create humane and supportive systems for their endeavours. Planeterra provides capacity building and catalyst grants to get community social enterprises off the ground. These businesses address local challenges by providing benefits for indigenous people, empowering marginalized women, and granting disadvantaged youth access to education, employment, and brighter futures. Planeterra also works to ensure these businesses have a thriving customer base by integrating programs into G Adventures' itineraries globally.
G Adventures is Planeterra's largest corporate donor, covering all operating costs so 100% of your donation will bring opportunity to people in need.
Dollar-a-Day Program
G Adventures' Dollar-a-Day Program provides travellers with the opportunity to give back to the people and places visited on our tours by donating one dollar for every day you are on trip. 100% of these donations go directly to support community development projects worldwide that are implemented by Planeterra.
Local Dress
While visiting mosques and other religious monuments you should dress modestly, cover your shoulders and you shouldn't wear short shorts or skirts. Outside of capital cities and the more touristic centres, local dress is often more conservative and as a matter of respect we ask that both men and women are aware of this and recommend loose-fitting clothes with your shoulders covered. Ask your CEO for more specific advice.
After your travels, we want to hear from you! Your feedback information is so important to us that we'll give you 5% off the price of your next G Adventures trip if your feedback is completed on-line within 30 days of finishing your trip. Your tour evaluation will be e-mailed to you 24 hours after the conclusion of your trip. If you do not receive the tour evaluation link in the days after your tour has finished, please drop us a line at firstname.lastname@example.com and we will send it on to you.
Our adventure travel e-newsletter is full of travel news, trip information, interesting stories and contests. To avoid missing out on special offers and updates from G Adventures, subscribe at www.gadventures.com/newsletters/
Stay current on how our company invests in our global community through our foundation – Planeterra. Sign up for Planeterra's monthly news to learn more about how to give back and support the people and places we love to visit.
Minimum Age
You must be 18 to travel unaccompanied on a G Adventures tour. For minors travelling with a guardian over 21 years old, the minimum age is 12.
International Flights
Check-in times and baggage allowances/restrictions vary by airline and can change at any time. For the most up-to-date information for your flight, please contact your airline. We recommend checking in online in advance to avoid potential delays at the airport.
Max Pax
Group Leader
Chief Experience Officer (CEO) throughout, driver, local guides.
Day 1 Casablanca
Please note that this tour does not spend any time in Casablanca.
You may wish to come a day early in order to explore Casablanca, and take some time to see its medina, beachfront, and classic examples of Art Deco architecture.
Be sure to also visit the spectacular Hassan II Mosque. Entrance is only permitted via guided tours, which operate from Saturday to Thursday (closed Fridays) at 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, and 14:00. These times are subject to change (particularly around Ramadan), please double check times with your hotel. Tickets can be purchased at the mosque.
Additional Notes:
A general note about this tour: it has a very fast-paced itinerary, which covers a lot of ground. This is great as it allows us to see a huge amount in the time available, but it also means some early starts, some long drives in the minivan, and less free time than many other G Adventures tours.
Included Activities:
Arrival Day and Welcome Meeting
Day 2 Casablanca/Fès (1B, 1L)
Start early and drive through the rolling hills to the Roman ruins of Volubilis. Take a guided tour of the best-preserved Roman ruins in this part of Northern Africa, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
After, continue to Fès, one of Morocco's most interesting cities. Take some free time to explore upon arrival. Opt to experience a traditional hammam and get to know the locals.
Additional Notes:
We will be staying in the the new city of Fès, built by the French during their Protectorate of Morocco. This area has the feel of a French provincial town, with its cafés, restaurants, and wide boulevards. Head off for a Moroccan feast at one of the many restaurants and finish off the night with some famous Moroccan mint tea.
Included Activities:
Meknes Community Lunch
Volubilis Guided Tour
Private Vehicle (4.00 hour(s))
Private Vehicle (2.00 hour(s))
Day 3 Fès (1B)
Enjoy a half-day medina walking tour, with free time in the afternoon to explore more of the city.
The Fès medina is the world's largest living medieval medina and a UNESCO site. Explore the artisan quarters, sample treats from the carts, and view Fès' famous leather tannery from above.
Included Activities:
Fès Medina Guided Tour
Day 4 Fès/Merzouga (1B, 1D)
Start early today for a drive through the Middle Atlas Mountains to reach the edge of the Sahara.
In late afternoon, set off by camel to a desert camp deep in the dunes. Learn to tie a turban to keep the desert sun off your face and add a little flare to your photos.
Enjoy a warm welcome (with mint tea). A traditional dinner under the stars, cooked by our hosts, awaits. In the evening, listen to stories about life in this region and, perhaps, some traditional music on the drums.
Additional Notes:
Notes for the Sahara Desert tented camp stay:
There will be a chance to repack and take only overnight bags out to the desert. The accommodations are basic, with four people per tent (though feel free to sleep out under the stars). Bathroom facilities are basic and shared.
Mattresses with sheet and blanket are provided. For winter months (Nov- April), we recommend bringing a sleeping bag for additional warmth.
There will be the chance to shower upon arrival in Merzouga the following morning.
Included Activities:
Overnight at Berber Desert Camp
Private Vehicle (10.00-11.00 hours)
Ride out to the tented camp for the night. Local guides will teach you how to mount and dismount and other handy camel-related safety tips.
Camel (1.50 hour(s))
Day 5 Merzouga/Todra Gorge (1B)
Rise early to get on our trusty camels. Watch the sunrise before returning to Merzouga.
Continue through a stone desert to the stunning Todra Gorge. Wedged between massive cliff walls, the gorge is filled with a green oasis of palm trees. This serene spot is great for hiking, relaxing on the edge of the river or sampling some local Berber delicacies.
Head back to Merzouga and wave goodbye to your new humpback friend.
Camel (1.50 hour(s))
Private Vehicle (3.50 hour(s))
Day 6 Todra Gorge/Ait Benhaddou (1B)
Travel along the "Route of 1000 Kasbahs" to the thriving town of Ouarzazate for a lunch stop. This town is home to Atlas Film Studios, where many films have been shot over the years, including Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator.
Continue on to the fascinating and beautiful Aït Ben Haddou, a wonderful example of a kasbah.
Included Activities:
Aït Ben Haddou Kasbah Guided Tour
Private Vehicle (4.00 hour(s))
Day 7 Ait Benhaddou/Marrakech (1B)
The journey to Marrakech includes breathtaking views throughout the High Atlas Mountains via the Tizi n'Tichka Pass (2260m).
Arrive in Marrakech in time for lunch with the rest of the day free to wander the city.
Included Activities:
Marrakech Medina Guided Walk
Private Vehicle (4.50 hour(s))
Day 8 Marrakech (1B)
Depart at any time.
Additional Notes:
Not ready to leave? Your CEO can help you book extended accommodation.


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build admin panel
Budget $250-750 USD
i want to create an admin panel for an movie app to control the movie in the app and track the comments and there's some more features to manage the app
- the developer he should fix all the bugs on the app that's discovered.
- the developer he should send the full source code after he gets any payment.
- each task on the app will be a milestone when the developer has done the task and send us a test version then when we give him the approve we will do the payment and he send us the source code.
- Each day late will deduct 25$/Per day.
- if the developer have deliver an low quality than in the report we will deduct money after we give him a caution.
75 freelancers are bidding on average $632 for this job
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Skip hire Ashton
UNFORTUNATELY WE DON'T CURRENTLY OFFER SKIP HIRE IN Ashton.
If you wish to be notified of new skip hire services in Ashton when they become available, please fill out the 'register for area alert' form.
Newark Skip Hire PE1 Water Newton Skip Hire PE8 Brampton Skip Hire PE28 King's Lynn Skip Hire PE30 Graveley Skip Hire PE19
Proskips is a leading skip hire company. We offer skip hire to both private customers and businesses across much of the UK, but focus on the East Anglia area.
Based in Raynes Park, London, we have depots in and around the PE8 area, which gives us unrivalled coverage for all your skip hire needs.
We have a range of skip sizes available for hire, from four yards to 16 yards. For further information about the size and capacity of skip you need, please get in touch.
Our competitively-priced skip hire service and experienced team have made us the skip hire company of choice in the UK. Working with homeowners, small builders and larger construction firms, our aim is always to meet and exceed your service expectations.
In addition to skip hire, we offer a waste management and recycling service. Our work in this sector led to us being named 'Construction Recycler of The Year 2009-2010' at the National Recycling Awards. Proskips is part of Prowaste Management Services, and we adhere to the recycling standards set out by the company. We are also a proud supporter of the Halving Waste to Landfill scheme. Our commitment to recycling and safe waste disposal gives our customers peace of mind that all waste will be dealt with responsibly.
Our Ashton waste recycling and skip hire service secured investment from Deborah Meaden and Duncan Bannatyne of BBC Two's Dragons' Den.
Even though we don't currently offer skip hire in Ashton, we do operate a skip hire service in the nearby areas of Newark, Water Newton, Brampton, King's Lynn and Graveley.
Read more in our blog
2016 Budget benefits construction industry
From small business rate relief to a commitment to invest in infrastructure, The construction industry has given a cautious thumbs-up to Chancellor George Osborne's business-friendly 2016 Budget. During his speech to MPs, the Chancellor announced that the threshold for small business rate relief will rise from £6000 to a maximum of £15,000 and higher rate relief will increase from £18,000 to £51,000. This will take around 600,000 small and medium-sized firms out of the business rate tax bracket completely, while a further 250,000 SMEs will pay reduced rates from A…
Mobile Phone Recycling
Ok be honest, how many of you have an old phone sitting at home in the back of the drawer, or even a few of them? Well, we have found this infographic which looks at the environmental problems those mobiles can be cause if they're not recycled. Go on, do your bit for the environment and donate those phones! Explore more infographics like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.
Skip Hire South Sutton - Cavendish Road
Proskips just provided Jill and Adam skip hire in sutton. The couple are re doing there kitchen before christmas and needed to dispose of the old units. They did not want to purchase a sutton skip hire permit because of the additional cost and so booked a wait and load service with proskips. The cost of the wait and load is the same as any skip hire in sutton. They paid for an 8 Yard skip and the dirver turned up, they threw the waste units into the skip and the driver drove of thirty minutes later.


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Hi Dr.Pivonka,I'm a school nurse/health educator who is also committed to sharing the importance of daily including fresh vegetable and fruit in our diets.I need to find 4 or 5 large colorful fruit and veggie posters. Can you help locate any? I've spent a long time looking on the web with no results for free fruit and vetable posters. Anything I receive will be used as a part of my health education presentation about the importance of fresh veggies and fruit. I work for the 2nd largest school district in California, San Diego Unified. Thank you for your time,Kelly Ouellette R.N., M.Ed
We have many inexpensive fruit and vegetable posters in our catalog. You can find them here. Thanks for sharing the very important fruit and vegetable message.


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At the mouth of the Amazon River in Belem, Brazil, a murder trial is taking place. The victim was Sister Dorothy Stang, a 73-year old Catholic nun from Dayton, Ohio who was shot six times at point blank range. The events that led to her death and the trials that follow reveal a larger battle currently being fought for the future of the rainforest.
Just Media and HBO present THEY KILLED SISTER DOROTHY, a gripping documentary and real-life courtroom drama that reveals the true story behind the scenes of this incredible story.
For 30 years, Sister Dorothy Stang, a Catholic nun from Dayton Ohio, worked in the Brazilian Amazon, trying to improve the lives of the region's huge underclass. But in the final years of her life, her attention turned to the rampant destruction of the Amazon a fifth of which is already destroyed. Her answer to the problems of deforestation and poverty was the Sustainable Development Project, or PDS in which landless workers could farm sustainably while keeping the rainforest intact. But the program received violent opposition from the region's powerful loggers and ranchers resulting in numerous death threats. . . Were they responsible for her murder?
Within days of her brutal murder, Dorothy's younger brother David Stang (a former missionary himself) flew to the Brazilian Amazon to learn the truth behind her murder. The filmmakers of THEY KILLED SISTER DOROTHY traveled with him, discovering an incredible cast of characters and a chain of events that would be unbelievable if it weren't all true.
Three pistolieros were quickly arrested and admitted to the murder. But soon the accused gunmen reveal information which leads to the arrest of a powerful rancher and wealthy landowner. Meanwhile, Dorothy's fellow nuns and the farmers of the PDS continue to struggle to carry out Dorothy's mission. Justice in Dorothy's case will help ensure their survival, but the region's justice system has a history of impunity will in any of that change with this high-profile case?
With unprecedented access to both sides of the conflict and to the courtroom, THEY KILLED SISTER DOROTHY follows the dramatic twists and turns of the murder case, while exploring the complex factors which led to this violent confrontation in the Amazon. The result is not only a poignant investigation of one of the planet's critical environmental problems and its innovative potential answer, but a dramatic story worthy of Hollywood blockbusters.
THEY KILLED SISTER DOROTHY is produced by Academy Award® winner Nigel Nobel and narrated by Martin Sheen. Producer Henry Ansbacher and director Daniel Junge also have a number of awards to their credit. The crew also includes a contingent of talented Brazilian filmmakers. THEY KILLED SISTER DOROTHY features a new original song, "Forever," by Grammy-nominated Brazilian singer/songwriter Bebel Gilberto.
THEY KILLED SISTER DOROTHY premiered at the 2008 South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for Best Documentary. It has subsequently played in a number of prestigious festivals, including Seattle, Chicago, and Rio de Janeiro. THEY KILLED SISTER DOROTHY premieres in early 2009 on HBO.


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Why The "Copy Protection Is Necessary" Argument Doesn't Make Sense
from the breaking-it-down deptWe've noted multiple times in the past how the Progress and Freedom Foundation (a DC-based think tank) seems to keep taking positions that make no sense when you actually look at them. This includes things like saying that open spectrum discourages innovation, net neutrality equals theft and that fair use slows innovation. Each of these is pretty easily picked apart, and are based on both ignoring facts and making provably false assumptions. This was seen repeatedly last month at the CATO conference on copyrights, which included three separate PFF speakers -- all of whom ignored facts and made false assumptions. One of them, Solveig Singleton, has now released a paper based on her discredited talk at the event about how the DMCA isn't so bad. At the same time, she has posted a rebuttal to Tim Lee's paper on how the DMCA has harmed competition. You can read the various arguments back and forth if you want to dig into things, but Tim Lee has written a response that hits on an important hidden issue that is worth talking about in more detail.
What Lee points out, is that the defenders of the DMCA tend to defend it on one of two points, and shift back and forth between them when convenient (that is, when the other point is shown to not hold). However, when you look at the two separately, you realize how the entire argument falls apart. The two arguments are basically: "copy protection acts as a necessary speed bump" and "the internet has changed everything." What Tim Lee notices is that the speed bump argument only refers to people copying content from someone you know (i.e., ripping their CD or having them send you files directly). Because, as pretty much everyone knows, no copy protection works, and any file is available online (which the EFF points out in their own rebuttal to Singleton). So, there's no such thing as a speedbump for infringement if you're just downloading files online. They're already available -- so adding copy protection to the files that are sold makes no difference to internet distribution. That leads to the second issue. It may be true that "the internet changes everything" as a means of distribution -- but since copy protection has had no effect, whatsoever, on the availability of content online, then it's clear that the claim that DRM is needed because the internet changes everything makes no sense. It's had no effect, so how could it be needed?
The only area where they could claim it does make any sense is in the realm of personal copying (what Lee refers to as "meatspace copying") among people who know each other. And, of course, that has been possible (and, in some cases, encouraged) since well before any copy protection ever existed. That kind of personal copying has its own "speedbumps" built in -- in that people have to find someone who has a copy, figure out how to make the copy themselves, and provide whatever form of storage media the copy will be made to. If anything, those speedbumps simply push people to go online where they can download the content (which, you'll remember, is not impacted by DRM at all). In other words, the only part of the argument that even remotely makes sense is the same issue that has always been around, and which most agree is a very minor issue compared to internet-based file sharing. In fact, every time in the past that the entertainment industry has raised this issue of new technology allowing unfettered copies (piano rolls, radio, cassette tapes, VCRs, CD players, MP3 players) rather than harm the industry, these changes have helped it grow. So, by pushing DRM about the only thing the industry seems to be doing is holding back the latest innovation that should be helping the industry grow. Either way, the next time PFF or anyone tells you the DMCA and copy protection are necessary, dig deeper into exactly why that is -- and make sure to distinguish between "meatspace copying" and internet distribution, because their argument pretty much falls apart when you split them up.


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Contaduría y administración
versão impressa ISSN 0186-1042
Contad. Adm vol.57 no.2 México Abr./Jun. 2012
The effects of critics reviews on movie demand
Impacto de la crítica cinematográfica sobre la demanda de cine
José Ignacio Azuela-Flores*, Víctor Fernández-Blanco** y María José Sanzo-Pérez***
* Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas email@example.com
** Universidad de Oviedo email@example.com
*** Universidad de Oviedo email@example.com
Fecha de recepción: 21.09.2010
Fecha de aceptación: 17.01.2011
Most research on the impact of critics on movie attendance behavior has examined aggregated data but the effect on the behavior has not been observed. Our aim is to fll this gap by analyzing if movie reviews increase movie attendance at the individual level. In order to achieve this goal, the cultural demand model of learning-by-consuming-process was extended to incorporate the effects of the movie reviews. Using the information contained in the Survey of Cultural Practice and Habits in Spain, we estimated an ordered probit model. Our empirical results show that reading reviews strongly increases movie attendance frequency. Moreover, it can be seen that no matter whether the review is positive or negative, the frequency of movie attendance always increases. Accordingly with our results, the worst review it is the one that is never made, so we conclude as the popular saying "very bad reviews are the next best thing to good reviews".
Keywords: critics, film reviews, consumer behavior, taste formation, movie demand.
La mayoría de las investigaciones que analizan los efectos de la información sobre la demanda de cine se han realizado a través de datos agregados; esto es, analizan una serie de películas y su recaudación en taquilla. Sin embargo, desde este análisis, no se observa el comportamiento individual frente a la información especializada. El objetivo de este trabajo consiste precisamente en cubrir este hueco metodológico mediante el análisis de los efectos de las fuentes de información, concretamente de la crítica cinematográfica sobre la asistencia al cine. Para lograrlo, el modelo de la demanda del aprendizaje a través del consumo fue extendido, incorporando los efectos de las críticas cinematográficas. Usando la información contenida en la encuesta de hábitos y prácticas culturales en España, hemos estimado un modelo probit ordenado. Los resultados muestran que la lectura de críticas incrementa la frecuencia de asistencia al cine, no importa si la crítica es positiva o negativa. Según nuestro resultados, concluimos que la peor crítica es la que no se hace y que una mala crítica es lo mejor después de una buena crítica.
Palabras clave: demanda cultural, formación del gusto, demanda de cine, critica de cine, consumidor cultural.
The study of film critique has been very productive, providing alternative interpretation for the determinants of movie success. In this field, research has provided controverted opinions. On the one hand, those who say that reviews have a positive relationship with box office performance (Litman & Kohl, 1989; Wyatt, 1991; Wallace et al. 1993; Sochay, 1994); on the other hand, some authors find no relationship between film reviews and box office performance (Ravid, 1999; Zufryden, 2000). Finally, and following Eliashberg & Shugan's (1997) proposal, reviewers have been observed sometimes as influencers (Basuroy et al. 2003) and other times as predictors of movie success (Eliashberg & Shugan, 1997; Basuroy, Chatterjee & Ravid, 2003; Reinstein & Snyder, 2005). In any case, critics' impact is an interesting research field but always focused on an aggregate level because the empirical analysis has been oriented to the effects on box office movie performance. Under these circumstances, analysing how reviews influence the moviegoer's decision process is a key point, and this is just the objective of our paper.
We establish this reviews influence on movie attendance in two ways: by reducing the risk associated with watching the movie and by increasing the ability to enjoy the movie consumption. To achieve our aims, we have enlarged the Lévy-Garboua & Montmarquette's (1996) theoretical demand model based on a learning-by-consuming-approach. In concrete, we have added the effect of an external source of information, film reviews in our case, and we test their influence empirically using Spanish data on individual.
The paper has the following structure: first includes a review of the existing literature about the role of film critique and our main hypothesis is formulated. Inmediately presents our theoretical model of demand for cultural goods and their econometric specification. After a brief description of our database. Subsequently, discusses the main results of our empirical analyses. Finally, offers some concluding remarks and managerial implications.
Literature Review
The ability of critics to influence the decision process of individuals through their opinions or critical reviews has been analysed in many different cultural markets, from the gastronomic market (Chossat & Gergaud, 2003), the wine market (Ashen-felter & Jones, 2000) to the performing arts and cultural industries (Verdaasdonk, 1987). But undoubtedly, it has been in the movie market where the effect of critics has been more deeply studied and it is precisely here where our research is focused.
Probably, the first interest of the studies on film critique was trying to determine their impact on the box office revenues. The results of these studies are not conclusive. On the one hand, Litman & Kohl (1989); Wyatt (1991), Wallace et al. (1993) and Sochay (1994) found a significant relationship between positive reviews and box-office revenues. On the other hand, Ravid (1999) and King (2007) showed that no correlation exists between the critical ratings of films and gross box office earnings. King (2007) attributes this lack of correlation to a difference in taste between critic and consumers. Finally, Hirschman & Pieros (1985) found evidence of positive reviews having a negative influence on box office performance.
Some papers have compared critics and moviegoers preferences. Holbrook (1999) confirms that both have different ways of valuating movies although also share some preferences; he also establishes that not all the movies positively valuated by the consumers lack artistic value and vice versa. Ginsburgh y Weyers (1999) point out that critics' opinion is not time consistent. Finally, Ravid et al. (2006) say that some critics, especially the most famous and reputed, show a statistical bias towards movies from some specifc studios.
Former studies have raised some questions: ¿do critics and consumers have different judgment and values? This question, in turn, raises another new question: do critics and consumers share the same tastes? The author concludes that these differences and similarities can not be affirmed definitively, not all movies that have been positively valuated by the consumers lack artistic value and vice versa.
When studying the critics influence on consumer's behaviour, Eliashberg & Shugan (1997) can be considered a starting point. They define critics as influencers or predictors. The infuencer perspective implies that film reviews directly affect the consumer's decision making process. The predictor perspective suggests that reviews only predict consumer's decisions. To determine which one is the most likely perspective, the authors examine whether the impact of a review is refected in early box office revenue or total revenue. Their results show that reviews correlate positively with the total box office revenue and, therefore, the authors say that critics act as predictors.
After this work, many authors have applied Eliashberg and Shugan's classification for different goals. Basuroy et al. (2003) find that positive and negative reviews affect the weekly box office incomes through an eight week period, therefore, critics can be both influencers and predictors. Measuring the impact of positive and negative reviews, they confirm their hypothesis: there is not a symmetrical effect. Negative reviews hurt deeper the box office than the positives can beneft them. Finally, they prove that superstars and big budgets partially compensate the effect of negatives reviews, "big budgets and stars can moderate the blow and perhaps save the executive's job" (p. 116).
Reinstein and Snyder (2005) suggest that the critic effect can be different whether the the movie has got a wide or narrow releasing strategy. They focus on the opinion of two specifc critics to deal with the endogeneity between reviews and the intrinsic quality of the movie to conclude that the reviewers play the role of predictors.
Gemser et al. (2007) find a different effect of the reviews on art house movies and mainstream movies. In the latter, the review act as predictor, while in former as infuencer. Perhaps this happens because these are low budget films and therefore offer less qualitative information to the consumers. In the case of art house movies, they also found that the positive or negative nature of the review is not important, as Shrum (1991) has pointed out "...even mediocre or negative review are better than no review at all" (p.368).
Finally, Boatwright et al. (2007) analyze the relationship between reviews and the intrinsic quality of movies. They discuss if movie success (in terms of large audiences) is due to its quality or to reviewers' opinions. They point out that reviewers, as opinions leaders, can affect the diffusion movie process, that is, how fast a movie is received and seen.
Nevertheless, all these researches has concentrated in the aggregate analysis of film critique, in others words, how reviews impact on box office revenues. This approach deals with the presence of endogenity problem with the intrinsic quality of movies, as it was already pointed out. In this paper we develop a different approach focused on individual consumer's preferences and choices. We consider film reviews as a relevant source of information and analyse their impact on the individual frequency of movie attendance, together with the study of the individual socioeconomic characteristics and his/her cultural capital.
Our hypothesis is that reading film reviews increases the frequency of movie attendance, because they give us information and reduce the movie associated risk (Shrum, 1991).
Film reviews and movie attendance: Theoretical Approach and Empirical Specification
To describe moviegoers behaviour and find out if critics have a real influence on movie attendance, our paper extends the Lévy-Garboua & Montmarquette (1996) demand to incorporate the effect of exogenous sources of information, in particular movie reviews. Lévy-Garboua & Montmarquette (1996) describe demand for cultural goods in a learning-by-consuming process, based on previous consumption experiences, including pleasant and unpleasant surprises. We suggest that this learning-by-consuming process depends as well on the information the consumer collects beforehand.
Gathering information and discovering how to use it accurately and proftably along the consumer's decision process, is a slow process that requires a lot of time and money (it involves formal education and cultural background including previous cultural experiences) and obtains its benefts in the long run. Since cultural commodities (including movies) are experience goods, the consumer's choice is always a risky decision. From our point of view, film critique offers new and low cost information that, in the short run, will reduce risk, and in the long run will increase individual's cultural capital and influence his/her taste formation process.
Following the Lévy-Garboua and Montmarquette (1996) discrete choice model, in a context of utility maximization, the first-order condition of consuming i for individual k is
Hence, the consumption of a given cultural good i depends positively on his/her marginal utility for zero consumption (UMik) and his/her subjective valuation of this good (sik). It also depends negatively on its price (Πi) and his/her marginal utility of income (λk). This marginal utility can be linked to some socioeconomic variables (gender, age, etc.) but also to risk. From our point of view, film critique reduces risk and therefore reduces this marginal utility, so they stimulate cultural (movie) consumption.
In this context, where the individual chooses between consuming (T=1) or not consuming (T=0), the probability of consuming the good T (movies) will be expressed by the next equation:
Prob (T = 1) = Prob (uk> -βXk)
where β is the vector of parameters to be estimated, Xk is the vector of explanatory variables that include the attention that consumers pay to the critics, and uk is a random disturbance that follows a normal distribution.
Our interest is to analyze the effect of film critique on the frequency of movie attendance, that is, whether or not film reviews increase the movie attendance. Since our survey measures movie attendance by a hierarchical and discrete variable, the empirical model to be estimated is an ordered probabilistic1 one whose general specification is:
y* = βX+ε
where y* represent the individual's attendance according to their preferences, X is a vector of explanatory variables and ε is a random disturbance that follows a normal distribution with zero means, variance equals one.
For movie attendance, the structure of the answers that we can observe in the Survey (our dependent variable) and their relationship with the unobserved preferences are:
The µ parameters are unknown and most be estimated joint a vector of 2 parameters. If µ parameters are statistical significant, the groups that define differ to each other.
The vector of explanatory variables X is composed by the information provided by the critics, the socioeconomic characteristics, the cultural capital of the individuals, the consume of the audiovisual goods (like dvds and TV), and finally by the consumption of cultural goods.
We propose that the socioeconomic characteristics could explain, on the one hand, the formation of cultural tastes and, on the other hand, show the free time availability. About the consumer's cultural capital and background we consider it contributes to extend available information and then reduce risks, increasing the probability of movie attendance.
At the same time, we consider that both the consumption of audiovisual goods and the cultural consumption in general (attendance to popular music and events such as theatre plays, ballet, opera, zarzuela and classical music concerts) act as additives to the cultural capital and, therefore, we consider that they increase movie attendance.
Data. Survey of Cultural Practice and Habits in Spain
Data were obtained from the 2002-2003. The survey sampled 12,180 individuals older than 15. Information was collected about leisure habits and cultural consumption involving films, performing arts, recorded or live music, lectures and museums, among others things. The survey also provided information about socioeconomic characteristics of the interviewee, such as gender and age.
Empirical Results
In this section, we explain the profle of movie consumers in Spain and how it is affected by information sources, especially by the movie critics. The results of the ordered probabilistic model are shown in Table 12.
We now discuss the effect of socioeconomic variables (such as gender, age, marital status, city size or relationship with the economic activity) on the frequency of movie consumption.
The first impression is that the socioeconomic profle of the Spanish movie consumer resembles that in an earlier study (Fernández-Blanco et al., 2002). Most Spanish moviegoers are young people, with no family dependants and with higher education.
Our model also includes some variables whose aim is capturing the effect of the occupational level. These variables can refect various effects. First, they can be useful as a proxy for income (Towse, 1994). Second, they can be useful to indicate the taste formation process (Prieto-Rodriguez & Fernández-Blanco, 2000). Finally, these variables can also indicate the individual's time availability. Our results show that employees are more probable to go to the movies than any other of the alternatives (retired, unemployed, students and housewife/househusband).
Cultural Capital
In this paper we include variables related to the individual's specific cultural capital. This kind of capital was measured by the practice (ARTPRACTICE) and/or study (ARTFORMATION) of artistic activities. We observe a positive and significant relationship between practicing those artistic activities (i.e. music, photography, drama, performing arts) and movie attendance.
We introduce the consumption of other audiovisual products such as DVDs and television in order to test complementary or substituibility relationships. The effects of television were measured in two ways: how many hours the interviewee watches TV, and the consumption of movies on television. We observe that the consumption of television in general acts as a substitutive for movie attendance; this result has been observed in previous research (Fernández Blanco, 1996; 1998; Fernández Blanco & Baños Pino, 1997; Fernández Blanco et al., 2002). However, when we examine the effect of movie consumption on television, the effects are inverse so this kind of consumption appears as a complementary good to movie attendance.
The relationship between movie attendance and videos is a priori ambiguous because they are considered a substitute by some opinions and a complementary by others (Fernández Blanco & Baños Pino, 1997; Fernández Blanco et al., 2002). The effects of videos were introduced under three variables: the use of VCR or DVD players, the renting and the bought of videos. All of them are significant and positively related to movie attendance. People who watch, rent and buy videos are the ones who go to movie theatres. To summarize, moviegoers transcends the consumption channel.
Finally, new technologies have opened the window of opportunity for entertainment and they may change people's leisure practices, especially among those who are the most frequent movie consumers: young people. For this reason, we introduced some variables measuring new technologies and their role as substitute or complementary of movies. The results were diverse: downloading and listening music on the Web (DOWNMUSIC and LISTEN-E-MUSIC) act as leisure alternatives that compete directly with movie attendance; however, software on videogames (SOFTWAREGAME), a proxy variable for other visual options, has a positive correlation with movie attendance. From these results it is diffcult to get a definite conclusion about the substitutive or complementary effect of new technologies.
Cultural Goods
We also wanted to know if the cultural consumption, in general, increases the probability of going to the cinema. The results show a positive and significant relationship between movie attendance and the consumption of performing arts such as theatre (THEATRE) and popular and classical music (CLASICMUSIC and POPMUSIC). Analysis of marginal effects suggests that cultural consumption, in general, increases the probability of going to the cinema more often. Theatre attendance (THEATRE) reduces the probability of not going to the cinema up to 18.2%, while it increases 6.5% the probability of going two or three times per month. In summary, the great movie consumers are omnivorous, they consume not only movies, but also art and culture in general.
Critics and Other Sources Information
The effects of movie critics confirm our assumption: the critic has a great influence on movie attendance, and this is also suggested by the coefficient about reading movies critique (CRITICREAD) which outstands among the highest of the model. In terms of marginal effects we can see that reading film critique in the newspapers affect notably reducing by 10% the probability of not going to the cinemas and increases 3% the probability of monthly attendance. Then critics encourage movie consumption not only increasing its frequency but also reducing the possibility of deserting the cinemas.
It is important to highlight that we could not identify the kind of review, and if it was positive or negative. Anyway, the consumers responses in relation to the reviews were always positive. These results suggest that regardless of the kind of review, positive or negative, the more the spectator reads critique, the more they go to the cinema. This indicates that in some or other way, spectators have the critics into account.
Our results report that film reviews are an important consume engine for the Spanish people, not only promoting the increase of frequency consumption, but reducing the possibility of deserting the cinemas.
Summarizing, the movie-goers are good readers of film critics, which confirms our hypothesis that the critic increase the probability of movie consumption, because helps to reduce the risk, and facilitate the search cost, providing detail and relevant information about the non available characteristics of the movies before their consumption.
Our empirical approach is the first approach which tries to explain the effect of critics on movie attendance. In addition to this, in this work we have added the effects of the cultural capital over the movie attendance.
Related to these mentioned contributions and from this work results some conclusions which can be considered a contribution to the empirical study of the critic.
Regarding other additional sources of cultural information, we have observed that, generally speaking, they keep a positive effect on movie attendance. These sources of cultural information, in general, reduce the probability of absence to the cinemas. In conclusion, the consumption of culture in general helps to reduce the risk associated to movie attendance and, at the same time, and due to the same principle as education, the consumption of cultural information reduces the risk associated to the consumption of culture and art in general.
One of the main resources to encourage the consumption of experience goods is to increase information and reduce risk. Education, both generic and specifc, and past experiences are commonly considered the main instruments to achieve these goals, but our paper states that access to cultural information in general also plays the same role. In this sense, we have paid attention to movie reviews under the hypothesis that they can help to reduce the associate risk because they show characteristics of the experience before its consumption. We have confirmed the expected positive and significant relation with the attendance: movie reviews not only reduce 10.5% the probability of deserting the movie theatres, but also increase 1.4% the probability of attendance at least once in a week.
Taking into account the size of the corresponding coefficients, it can be seen that only education and cultural consumption have stronger impact than reviews. These results were as expected because cultural interest and the taste of arts come mainly from education, the instrument in cultural capital by excellence. Likewise the consumption of another cultural products (theatre plays, "zarzuela", classical and popular music concerts) increases the individual's cultural capital and his/her capacity to appreciate and enjoy any cultural product.
Finally, considering simultaneously the effects of reviews, education and other cultural commodities, we conclude that cultural capital is the key point to understand cultural consumption in general and movie attendance in particular. From this point of view, it can be said that the same movie is different for each consumer as they have different cultural background. Cultural capital allows the consumers to have different opinions of the same movie. In this context, any addition to the cultural capital through the reviews not only reduce the risk, but will also increase the capacity to enjoy the movie experience.
Every research is likely to be improved. This feature generates limitations of its findings and this work is not an exception. Perhaps, from our point of view, the greatest limitation of our work is the way we approached the cultural capital. In this article cultural capital has been measured through education in arts and arts practice (this abstract measure of cultural capital is not only due to lack of data, but also the result of a fairly generic definition of this concept, which makes it diffcult to treat empirically). In future research, cultural capital could be approximated in different ways and observe their effects on film demand and if it moderates the effects of criticism. Similarly, this work could be improved if it included information that distinguished the effects of positive reviews compared to the negative reviews.
Managerial implication
The former conclusions allows us to make some suggestions to the different movie industry participants, especially regarding policy and commercial strategies.
First of all, our research provides a extensive profile of Spanish moviegoers that can be useful to the industry in order to focus on the preferences and necessities of the consumers.
On the other hand, it has been proved that the critics' opinions, no matter if positive or negative, interest the audience. The movie industry must take this into account in their promotional and communication campaigns. Nevertheless, some movie studies penalize those critics with negative reviews of their movies, however, this is a bad strategy from our point of view. According to our results, the worst review is that which is never made: indifference towards the movie is worse that a negative review. We do not recommend to penalize critics for their reviews, quite opposite our recommendation is fomenting the fow of information, talking about a movie. Maybe in the short term it can be bad for a movie but, negative review can better than no one. So we conclude like the popular saying "very bad reviews are the next best thing to good reviews".
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** El autor agradece la financiación del proyecto MCINN-08-ECO2008-04659, del Ministerio de Ciencia e Inovación de España
1 To carry out the econometric specification, the 10th version of the statistical package STATA was used.
2 Table 1 presents three estimates. In the first one (estimate 1) it is compared the theoretical proposal presented in this work, which means that the movie demand is explained by the sociodemographic characteristics of individuals, the supply of films measured by the size of locality, cultural consumption, audiovisual consumption, cultural capital, the use of new technologies and the consumption of information (specifically for film reviews). In the following model (estimate 2), it is assumed that new technologies do not change the movie demand, excluding the variables related to the use of new technologies. Finally, the third model (estimate 3) includes only the significant variables in the estimate 1. This paper uses the results provided by the estimate 1. Alternative models (estimate 2 and 3) do not provide significant changes while maintaining the same levels of significance and slight changes in coeffcients. On the contrary, estimates 2 and 3 sacrifce a lot of information that estimate 1 provides.


text: A New Mexico ski vacation is ideal for the skier or snowboarder looking for a truly unique experience. A trip to Taos is like going to a whole new world. The town of Taos boasts some incredible Native American history and is a hotbed for native and new-age artists alike, so you can expect a lot of art galleries. Perfect for sightseers and those looking for a slew of off-mountain experiences, Taos also has Native American adobes and Spanish Missionary architecture to explore. Taos ski resort is about a 45 minute drive from the town, but the whole experience is well-worth the travelling. Taos has a nice variety of terrain, but is best suited for advanced and expert skiers, who will especially enjoy skiing off the 12,481-foot Kachina Peak.


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We are going to try to keep all of the forums more on topic. If you are posting a 'sport' video (agility, protection, flyball, etc) please post it in the sports section.
Conformation videos and pictures belong in the conformation section
If you have videos that relate to training problems or questions... I bet you can guess where they belong!!
This will help keep the forum organized and put resulting discussion in the correct section for people to use as reference.
Videos and pictures of puppies, kittens, playing in the yard, pets being funny, etc all belong here!
We will be moving posts to the correct sections over the next day or so.


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Breast soreness
I regularly do BSE; however, this morning I did so without remembering that my period should start in about two days. I`m 42 (today, in fact) and my breasts have always been a little lumpy. I thought for a moment that I felt something unusual, but must have been mistaken because I tried for almost an hour to "find" it again, and couldn`t. Meanwhile, after all that poking and prodding, the breast in question has been sore all day. I should not have done BSE this close to my period, probably, but wasn`t thinking. Of course, now, since my breast is so sore, I`m in panic mode. My question is…I understand that it`s normal for many women to experience soreness/tenderness before periods (and I`m noticing that I experience it more as I get older)…but can vigorous BSE during that time make your breast sore as well? I have been worried about this all day, but have assumed I just poked at the "wrong time" of the month.
It is very common to experience breast pain before your period and this can be exaggerated by repeated breast exams. The breast does feel more lumpy prior to your period. Please do not worry about the breast pain. It should subside in a couple of days. Please exam your breast a week after your period and if you still feel any lumps kindly see your doctor. Also if you breast pain does not subside in a week consult your doctor.
For more information:
Go to the Breast Cancer health topic.


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This is the home of Tron B. Burgundy ( Levi Ratliff ), one half of the dastardly duo know as Halftone Def Studios along with the super talented Grease E. Monkey ( Kendrick Kidd )!
It gets hard to keep up with all the projects we've been working on these days so if you want to find out what Grease and Myself have been up to lately, make sure you stop by HalftoneDef.com to see our latest Hand Screen Printed Posters, Apparel, Skateboards, Logos, and Packaging that Grease and I have been lucky enough to get our hands on.
When I come back, this is where you will find all the goodies that I've done as a part of Halftone Def and as a freelance illustrator myself along with some seriously opinonated blog posts on music, art, events, and pretty much anything else I feel like talking about dang it... casue it's my blog, haha. Tron's wisdom knows no boundaries, not even the internets. If you're really bored, go kill some time over at Jiffyfeet.com - Tron Burgundy.
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Oct. 5, 2006
It was easily the most disappointing loss of the season.
The Bisons were unable to jumpstart their offense in a 1-0 Atlantic Sun loss to visiting Stetson Thursday night at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex.
"This was a big opportunity that we missed," said Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow. "I expected us to win. I expected us to score.
"To Stetson's credit they were better than us. They outworked us. It was a good wake-up call for us."
Midfielder Kirk Labusch scored an unassisted goal at the 17:33 mark of the first half to give Stetson the only goal of the game. He shot from the right side of the field, drilling a line drive to the wide left side of the net to beat Bisons goalkeeper Danny Prichard.
Lipscomb made nine shots, but had only one shot on goal from defenseman Tim Hunter.
"The way we practiced is not the way we played against Stetson," said Morrow. "It is not the way we had played leading up to the Stetson game."
Stetson made 14 shots, nine shots on goal.
Prichard was credited with eight saves.
The Bisons fell to 5-5-1, 1-1 in the A-Sun. Stetson is 3-8-1, 2-0-1 in the conference.
Saturday afternoon at 3 the Bisons welcome Mercer to campus for an A-Sun match.


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By Thomas Escritt
THE HAGUE, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Kenya's most senior government lawyer rejected claims on Thursday it was obstructing the International Criminal Court's investigation into crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Prosecutors say Kenya's government has hindered access to bank and telephone records which they consider essential to secure a conviction on charges that Kenyatta orchestrated violence that swept Kenya after elections in 2007.
The case is a test of the authority and credibility of the court, which has seen several cases collapse and secured just one conviction in 11 years.
It has also driven a wedge between the court's Western backers and African allies of Kenya, many of which launched a diplomatic push to have Kenyatta's trial scrapped or deferred following his election as president last year.
Kenyatta, who is head both of state and government, denies the charges.
Speaking at a meeting to decide whether Kenya is in breach of its obligation to cooperate with the court, Kenya's attorney-general Githu Muigai said prosecutors' requests for access to Kenyatta's bank records had not been correctly filed. That left Kenya with no choice but to refuse.
"Prosecutors cannot parade in the garments of the court, invoking powers they do not have," Muigai told the court.
Kenya could only breach Kenyatta's privacy by opening up his bank records if prosecutors first obtained an order from judges compelling the government to do so, he said.
Last week, prosecutors told the court access to Kenyatta's bank records were their last best hope of successfully prosecuting the politician in the face of "pure obstructionism" by the Kenyan government.
They said bank records would allow them to see if he had indirectly paid large sums of money to those who carried out the violence, in which 1,200 people died and thousands were driven from their homes.
In court filings, they have spoken of a "climate of fear" that has deterred witnesses from testifying against Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's founding father. His trial has been postponed four times as prosecutors sought to shore up their case.
Speaking for the prosecution, lawyer Ben Gumpert said Kenya's interpretation of the law appeared to have been made up on the spur of the moment.
"This request was made 22 months ago," he said. "The Kenyan government kept saying: 'Yes, yes, we're getting round to it,' until recently ... Because the argument advanced today hadn't yet occurred to them."
While lobbying hard in diplomatic forums against the charges, Kenyatta has obeyed all summons to attend the court and followed other instructions made by it.
The court has also charged his deputy and former rival William Ruto in a similar but separate case. Both men are vigorously contesting the charges they face, and have hired prominent London human rights lawyers to defend them.
While Western powers led the push to establish the court and are keen to support it, they are also anxious to maintain relations with Kenya, seen as a key ally in the battle against militant Islamism in neighbouring Somalia. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Catherine Evans)
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