The global visa cost divide: How and why the price for travel permits varies worldwide

Visas are an important means for countries to regulate the potential access of non-nationals to their territory. Past datasets and quantitative research on visas have focused on visa waivers, ignoring the fact that visas, where demanded, can vary greatly by cost. This paper presents a novel dataset based on a manual collection of visa costs for travel between a global set of country pairs in seven different categories (tourist, work, student, family reunification, business, transit, and other). Our analyses reveal a strong global visa cost divide that exposes the injustice in the right to travel for people located in different areas of the world. Whereas Europeans usually hardly have to work at all for travel permits, visa costs often amount to several weeks of mean income in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The result is a fundamentally paradoxical situation: The richer a country, the less its citizens pay for visas to go abroad (both in absolute terms and relative to their income). Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood regression analyses reveal that a variety of factors influence the costs of visas between countries: reciprocal treatment, processing costs, historical-cultural ties, geographic proximity and regional, religious, economic, and political discrimination. This confirms the important role of visa costs as a tool for states to control population movements and simultaneously position themselves in international relations.     

Equal Access to International Debate: Visas and Their Implications

This paper describes the experience of Jordanian student who is studying for a PhD degree in Museum Studies in the UK. She outlines the difficulties that she has met in getting a visa to travel to conferences and feels that the difficulty of obtaining a visa has impacted upon her development as a scholar. One outcome is that she ignored so many conferences and calls for papers because she knew that she could not get a visa in time to attend. She questions why the process of applying for a visa has to be so difficult.     

Visa Discrimination

This paper addresses the problem of increased visa discrimination for people from low-income countries since the events of September 11th. She uses the example of changes in her own experiences as an Argentinian citizen wishing to travel to the USA to highlight changes that are occurring throughout South America. The difficulties involved include unsympathetic automated telephone answering systems, non-refundable application fees, and long-distance travel to the Embassy.     

Visa Stupidity

This paper describe the author’s experiences when he has applied for visas in a range of countries, including Germany, the UK, Japan, China and the USA. In 22 years of international travel, he has never been refused a visa, though he has been unable to obtain a visa in time on several occasions, and this has cause him to be unable to attend meetings, even when he is fully funded, and has applied for a visa well in advance.     

Visa Story Concerning the American Embassy in India

This paper describes the difficulties the author encountered when applying for a visa to attend WAC-5 in Washington, DC. The first response he met was that he could not be granted a visa because he was ‘going abroad for the first time’. He did not give up, however, and was supported by Joan Gero, Claire Smith and Heather Burke, who all wrote to the Embassy. In the end, the visa was issued—and he was allowed to go abroad for the first time.

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Resumen Este artículo describe las dificultades que tuvo el autor a la hora de solicitar un visado para asistir al WAC-5 en Washington, DC. La primera respuesta que le dieron es que no podían concederle un visado porque era la primera vez que iba a viajar al extranjero. Sin embargo, no se dio por vencido, obteniendo el apoyo de Joan Gero, Claire Smith y Heather Burke, que escribieron a la Embajada. Finalmente, el visado fue concedido—y se le permitió viajar al extranjero por primera vez.

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Résumé Cet article décrit les difficultés rencontrées par l’auteur lorsqu’il a demandé un visa afin de participer au CMA-5 à Washington, DC. La première réponse qu’il a obtenue est qu’il ne pouvait pas obtenir de visa comme c’était la première fois qu’il voyageait à l’étranger. Il a insisté et a aussi obtenu le support de Joan Gero, Claire Smith et Heather Burke qui ont tous écrit à l’ambassade. à la fin, il a pu obtenir son visa ce qui lui a permis de voyager à l’étranger pour la première fois.

     

How I was Denied Scholastic Opportunities by the British Government

This paper describes the difficulties the author had in obtaining twice a UK visa from the British Consulate in Paris. She was once refused an academic visitor visa despite an invitation to conduct research for two years at the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge. Then, the following year, she was denied again a short visit to attend a conference at the Department of Museum Studies, Leicester University.     

我国都市旅游发展的产业政策研究——上海问题与国际经验

本文在对上海浦东新区旅游饭店、旅行社、旅游景区点、会展公司、邮轮公司、海关、旅游行业协会与上海签证处等单位进行深入调查基础上,研究了浦东与上海在发展都市旅游产业政策方面存在的问题及国际都市旅游产业政策的成功经验,并运用产业经济学与公共经济学的理论针对存在问题,参照国际经验,提出了我国都市旅游产业政策体系构建与完善的建议。     

‘The facts stated do not seem to be true’: The Contested Process of Repatriation in British Colonial Nigeria

This article will examine requests for repatriation submitted by Nigerian subjects in the last decade of colonial rule in Nigeria. Requests for repatriation from this time provide insights into the motives, outcomes and impact of a growing trend among Nigerians to travel abroad for work, studies, pilgrimages and adventure. This mobility reflected both easier access to the means to travel and the empowerment of Nigerians to realise their economic, social and cultural aspirations beyond the borders of Nigeria. Once abroad, many became destitute and unable to pay for their return back home, and requests for their repatriation were then made to the colonial administration in Nigeria. A review of the files regarding the process of repatriation exposes divergent perceptions between colonisers and colonised of the rights and obligations structuring the colonial relationship. It will be seen that a very limited range of options was available to the British administration in Nigeria in dealing with those who defied, ignored or reinterpreted rules aimed at monitoring and regulating the identities and movement of Africans. Thus, the history of repatriations reveals both the impotence of the colonial regime in imposing limits on the mobility of its African subjects, and the various ways in which Africans imposed their own notions of flexibility and ambiguity in response to colonial policies.     

尼克松主义对日韩安全合作关系的影响

就某种意义而言,“尼克松主义”是美国在内外交困的局势下实施的“收缩战略”。美国的脱身政策引起日韩两国的不安,两国一方面采取种种“自卫”的措施,另一方面加强安全合作。“韩国条款”和所谓的“事前协商”是美日韩安全合作关系的分水岭。     

交通拥堵治理的空间与基础设施政策综述

交通拥堵是制约国内外城市可持续发展的瓶颈问题之一,给城市经济、社会与环境带来诸多负面影响.本文聚焦城市交通拥堵的结构性因素,系统归纳和综述了引导可持续出行行为的空间政策(如城市空间结构和土地利用政策)与基础设施供应侧政策(如道路和公共交通基础设施投资政策),及其在交通拥堵治理上的理论探讨、学术争论焦点、实证分析及当前亟...     

Sidelining the Hardliners: A 2 + 1 Solution for Israel‐Palestine

This article presents a modified two‐state solution to the Israeli‐Palestinian conflict. A “2 + 1 solution” would see the establishment of a State of Palestine in the West Bank whose constitution proscribes the participation in government of any party whose platform calls for the elimination of Israel; Gaza would accede upon the reform or demise of Hamas. Achieving a state in the West Bank should be the proximate, urgent goal of the Palestinian people. Ideologically motivated Israeli settlement of the West Bank continues apace and threatens the viability of a two‐state solution. Meanwhile, religiously motivated policies of colonization hide behind a security narrative conflating Hamas with Fatah and suggesting that the Palestinians pose an existential threat. The 2 + 1 solution, by excluding Hamas from a State of Palestine, directly addresses Israel's legitimate security concerns and thus carries the potential to lay bare the extent to which ideology informs Israeli policy. The approach also gives moderate Palestinians the opportunity to define the civic values and attributes of Palestinian national identity in a way that supports a lasting two‐state peace.     

Tibet and the Problem of Radical Reductionism

Abstract:  This article takes issue with a mode of argumentation advanced by a number of left-leaning, radical scholars, including those associated with China's New Left, about the causes of the Tibetan unrest in China in spring 2008. According to this stance, the Tibetan protests were the result of external manipulation by neoconservative, reactionary forces, ranging from the CIA to the Dalai Lama. The unstated premise of this response is that taking a critical stance against western imperialism and neoliberal globalization necessitates a defense of China's policies in Tibet. Such arguments take the form of unfavorable comparisons between Tibetans and Palestinians especially because the former are often romanticized, suggestions that Tibetans are unfortunate ideological victims of US-funded propaganda, and claims that they should be grateful for Chinese state-funded development. This response renders Tibetans incapable of being authentic political subjects. A radical stance on Western imperialism and capitalism should reject such reductionism.     

旅游同伴角色对旅游者行为的制约影响——以香港海洋公园为例

随着旅游业不断发展,当今社会,大众型旅游模式已不能满足人们的个性化旅游需求,自由行、自助游等旅游模式悄然占据市场主体地位。大多数散客与家人/朋友/同学/同事等结伴出游。从时间地理学的制约思想和认知供给理论来看,旅游者的行为因此受到旅游同伴的制约影响。如何选择旅游同伴,选择怎样的旅游同伴成为旅游者首先要考虑的问题。本文以香港海洋公园为例,企图探寻同伴角色与旅游者行为制约要素之间的关系,实证结果表明旅游同伴包含不同的角色-家人、朋友、同学、同事、旅游团,不同的角色对旅游者行为制约因素的影响力不同。     

邮轮旅游供应链的旅行社激励机制研究:组织游客奖励还是营销推广扶持?

考虑到旅行社在我国邮轮旅游销售供应链中的重要性,邮轮港口所在地政府为推进邮轮旅游产业发展,普遍对旅行社实施两种激励政策——组织游客奖励与营销推广扶持。但两类激励政策对当地政府、邮轮公司及旅行社的效益影响尚不明确。本文首先建立“政府-邮轮公司-旅行社”三阶段主从博弈模型,以研究两种激励政策对两企业运营决策的作用机理,并给出政府在最大化市场需求目标下的最优激励政策。其次,借助数值仿真实验分析了不同情形下基于最优激励政策时市场需求和企业利润的变化。结果表明:站在政府角度,激励政策有两种选择——仅采取营销推广激励或者两种激励方式并存,而且最优激励设计受到补贴预算、旅行社营销推广能力及其岸上游收益的影响。站在旅行社角度,作为激励政策的直接受益方,其定价与营销努力决策会受到两类激励方式的不同影响;而对于营销推广能力较强的旅行社,可以依赖于政府奖励适当提高船票价格,以改善当前国内邮轮市场的低价竞争。站在邮轮公司角度,即使自身没有直接得到激励资金,其仍能间接获得激励政策所带来的红利。研究结论可为政府的邮轮旅游激励政策的设计提供理论参考,并为邮轮公司与旅行社在面对政府财政干预时提供决策建议。     

客源地—目的地关系质量对游客多分类旅游意愿的影响机制研究——以大陆赴台湾潜在客源市场为例

客源地-目的地关系和游客的旅游决策是旅游营销研究中的重要议题。本研究基于联想网络理论，构建了关系质量、多分类旅游意愿、游客风险倾向等变量之间的融合影响机制，以大陆赴台湾潜在客源市场为例，依托问卷调查数据，采用结构方程模型进行建模和检验。研究表明：①消极化的客源地-目的地关系质量通过直接效应和旅游形象的中介作用负向影响游客对目的地的旅游意愿（赴台旅游意愿）；②消极化的关系质量负向影响游客的基础旅游意愿（出境旅游意愿），并强化了替代旅游意愿（非台湾旅游意愿）的替代作用；③低风险倾向游客的多分类旅游意愿受消极化关系质量的负向影响更强。本研究拓展了联想网络理论的应用领域，揭示了客源地-目的地关系质量对多分类意愿的影响机制。     

West African Perspective of the World Archaeological Congress: Challenges and Aspirations

This paper looks at how the West African region was involved in the early history and formulation of the World Archaeological Congress. In particular, it describes events around the 9th Congress of the Pan-African Association of Prehistory and Related Studies, held in Jos, Nigeria, in 1983. The question of apartheid South Africa came up in the plenary session of that meting. A resolution was adopted condemning apartheid, and calling for the cessation of all contacts with South African institutions, and for the censure of colleagues and institutions maintaining links with South Africa. This later became the core of the WAC approach to South Africa, adopted by the organizers of the Southampton Congress. Looking ahead, formidable obstacles remain for West African archaeology, many of them structural in nature. Punitive visa requirements, currency crises and the scarcity of resources all prevent West African scholars from participating fully in global scholarship.     

Marriage under occupation: Israel’s spousal visa restrictions in the West Bank

In the West Bank, hundreds of non-Palestinian women who are married to Palestinian men have recently been issued shortened visas with tightened restrictions. This means they are often prevented from working, their mobilities are severely reduced and they are placed in extremely precarious bureaucratic and procedural positions. The research in this article draws from fieldwork interviews with women affected by such restrictions to show how politically induced precarities produce gendered effects towards specific ends of the occupation of Palestine. We thus frame a discussion of the women’s experiences of visa regulations through precarity before giving an account of the profound effects on women’s roles in family and political life. We then broaden the focus to consider Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the demographic implications of the gendered effects of visa precarity. In doing so we make the argument that Israel’s spousal visa regulations contribute to the (re)production of uneven gender relations and the demographic objective of emptying out the West Bank.     

旅游、旅游体验和符号--对相关研究的一个评述

本文认为旅游现象的内核是旅游体验,而旅游体验在本质上可以看成是旅游者对符号的解读,将符号的解读和建构纳入旅游体验的研究视野当中,这在国外也是一个比较新颖的议题。为此,本文梳理了国内外旅游体验研究和旅游符号学的研究成果,发现这两个领域的研究现状还比较薄弱,尤其就国内而言．旅游符号学的研究几乎还是一片空白,对旅游体验的关注也远远不够,迫切需要更多学者将目光投射到这两个领域当中来。     

EFFICIENTLY MANAGING SPATIALLY COMPETING WATER USES: NEW EVIDENCE FROM A REGIONAL RECREATION DEMAND MODEL*

ABSTRACT In arid regions, managing water efficiently among competing demands depends critically on measuring comparable economic values of each end use. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to measure recreational values of water in the arid western U.S. These difficulties result from open spaces, few sites, and low incomes typical of the region. We examine whether water used for recreation can economically compete with agriculture. We accomplish this objective by extending the travel cost model to account for conditions unique to arid environments. We use demand systems theory to estimate a regional travel cost model which accounts for travel time, substitute sites, and discretionary travel cost. Findings from New Mexico's Pecos River Basin reveal recreational values of water which are 4040 percent higher than would result from conventional travel cost methodology. Measured recreation values of $130 per acre-foot compare with equivalent values of water in irrigated agriculture of $25–$40 per acre-foot.