Which is the best way to have a low-cost holiday? Second: the transportation

Even if the mid of August has passed few days ago, it is still time of holidays.

In the previous post, I have discussed about the choice of the best destinations in order to have a low cost holiday. Today I would like to write about the transport options we can have.

Once you choose a destination, there are many ways to get it (and to visit it). I am going just to mention some of them, the most known.

The cheapest way to travel is hitchhiking. This method has the big advantage that is completely free, but from the other side you never know who will give you a lift and you cannot schedule a trip because you cannot predict if and when you will get a ride. Hitchhiking is very common in some Countries like Poland and Netherlands, where there are also platforms dedicated to people waiting for a ride. In Cuba hitchhiking is mandatory by government vehicles, because of the small number of cars.

Another possibility to travel is given by car-pooling service, like Bla Bla Car. In this case, someone who has to travel from a city to another can offer a ride in exchange of the payment of a part of the costs. This solution is generally cheap, but you cannot always find the route you need.

Bus and train can be a good solution if you can find a good offer. For example Polskibus has been a huge success in Poland, because the ticket prices are very low (you can find a ticket from Krakow to Warsaw at less than 10 Euros). Interrail is also a good way to visit one or more countries: you pay a ticket for unlimited trips by train in one ore more Countries for a specific period of time.

If you have a larger budget and you don't want to spend to much time travelling, there are many offers from the low-cost Airlines as Ryanair or Wizzair. From one side, thanks to this solution you can arrive everywhere in Europe. From the other, it is not always easy to find a ticket really cheap and there are also restrictions regarding luggage.

Finally, you can always traver by your own vehicles. More than a car, it is interesting mentioning that many people are used to travel by bike. Even if it is more difficult to plan "exotic trips", travelling by bike gives more opportunities to enjoy the nature and to discover places not easily accessible via other transportations.

As you can see, there are many opportunities to travel in a cheap way. We are spoiled for choice!

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Which is the best way to have a low-cost holiday? First: the destination

In this period many people are planning summer holidays. 

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has estimated that in 2013 Europe has attracted the most number of tourists in the World (52%), followed by Asia (23), America (15), Africa (5) and Middle East (3). Regarding the Countries, France is the first world destination, then Usa, Spain, China and Italy.

Bucharest - the cheapest destination in Europe

During the crisis not everybody can plan a long holiday in one of the places mentioned above. But it doesn't mean that holidays must be cancelled. There is still a huge variety of choices that gives us the possibility to spend some days in nice places, without wasting too much money.

Which is the best way to have a low-cost holiday in Europe? 

I would like to analyze three elements: the destination, the form of transport and the accommodation. This post will be dedicated only to the choice of destination. The two others will be discussed in the next days.

The European Backpacker Index is a good instrument for an overview of the most economic cities in Europe. The 2014 index ranks Bucharest, Kiev and Sofia as the cheapest destinations, whilst Zurich, Stockholm and Oslo are the most expensive. In the top-10 there are also other beautiful cities of Eastern Europe, such as Belgrade, Sarajevo, Krakow and Budapest. 

In this part of Europe the cost of life is lower: if for a meal in Bucharest you have to pay 40 Ron (9 Eur), in a city as Lisbon the price is 16 Eur and in Venice 26. The price of a good hostel in Krakow can reach 30 zloty (7 Eur), in Zurich 41 CHF (33 Eur).

These elements can explain why the tourism in Central and Eastern Europe has increases by 7% last year.

Even with those good results, we still have to register some diffidence from a part of the international tourism, that associates East with grey communist buildings and problems of security. Even if cities like Budapest and Prague are part of the international touristic circuit, there are also other Countries that can offer beautiful places and low-cost holidays.

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Can the debate about Palestine become just a contrast among supporters?

One week ago, I was in Tel Aviv. I have decided to visit Israel for tourism. Even if I am not a religious person, I think that Middle East can offer extraordinary places, a thousand-year old culture and beautiful natural sites.

In the last days of my stay, I started to hear and to see the rockets from Gaza. 

Even when the sirens stroke in the streets or on the beach, it seemed the none was scared, except for few tourists. Life in Tel Aviv was going on normally. Of course, we know that in the Gaza Strip the situation was the opposite. People were diyng and a huge part of population was moving to the south of the Strip (or trying to do that) to avoid the missiles from the Israeli Army.

When you see a place with your eyes, it can happen that you become more involved in the problems of that place. Probably because it doesn't seem so far anymore, I am constantly following the news from Middle East. I am also reading many articles to understand better the situation and the history of the last century on negotiations and wars in the area.

Yitzhak Rabin (Israel Prime Minister), Bill Clinton, and Yasser Arafat (Leader of PLO)
during the Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993

But trying to understand is very hard, because it seems that to analyze the contrasts between Israel and Palestinians, first you have to become supporter of one of the two parts. If you don't want or you cannot take a sharp position, you can just issue many questions, without any answer.

How is it possible that people who suffered the Holocaust can kill so many persons, especially children? Can it be possible supporting people who launches rockets to civilians, cities and airports without any scope, except killing other people? How can 1.6 million of people living in the Gaza Strip with constant limitations to their freedom? Have a Country the right to defend its citizens from kamikaze attacks? Can be a permanent peace if Hamas doesn't recognize the right of Israel to exist? Can be a permanent peace if Israel continues to colonize the West Bank? Is the creation of two States or the maintenance of a permanent conflict the real aim of the political leaderships of both the parts?

I have just questions. No answer.

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The importance of being a Unesco World Heritage Site

Few days ago, Italy got another Unesco World Heritage Site, the area of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato, famous all over the world for its vineyard.

A UNESCO Site is a place recognized as of special cultural or physical significance. The criteria to be able to become a Site are defined in a Convention adopted by UN in 1972. The main element to identify a Site is the uniqueness it represents for human history or natural phenomena.

From 1972, there have been created 981 World Heritage Sites, located in 160 different Countries, the most part in Europe and North America. Following the top 10 list of the Countries with most number of Sites:

  1)   Italy - 50 
  2)   China - 47
  3)   Spain - 44
  4)   Germany - 39
  5)   France  - 39
  6)   Mexico - 32
  7)   India - 32
  8)   Uk - 28
  9)   Russia - 26
10)   US - 22

Considering the long procedure to became a Unesco Site (for instance, the candidature of Langhe-Roero began 10 years ago), why is it so important to enter in the Unesco List? Are there real benefit of being a World Heritage Site?

First, when a place becomes part of World Heritage it can have more easily access to National and International Founds. Then, a new Site can increase the number of tourists. From the other side, the prestigious given by being part of Unesco List involves also keeping in a good status the Site itself. This requires further investments and a system of control for the site.

The influence of "UNESCO Brand" is difficult to calculate. Some surveys have estimated that it can touch the 30% of tourists. But there are other elements that influence the tourism of a specific place, from marketing to the accessibility. Moreover, most of the sites were already touristic centers and in some cases the Unesco recognition didn't affect visitors inflow. 

Finally, it seems important to point out that the World Heritage List has been often criticized. From one site, there is a distortion in the number of sites: 496 out of 962 are from North America and Europe, the richest part of the world. Furthermore, the number itself of the sites has raised quickly in the last decades, and the designation has lost part of its uniqueness. The debate to reform the system is still open and regards both the improvement of the criteria to indentify a site, and also the number of the sites can be in the list each year. But for the moment nothing really seems to change.

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Is it worth hosting a major sporting event?

Few days ago the 2014 World Cup has began in Sao Paolo in Brazil. It is estimated that the economical effort to build all the infrastructures for Word Cup and Olympic Games (that will take place again in Sao Paolo in 2016) will touch the amount of 33 billion US Dollars (24 bl Euros).

Such an expense for the organization of a sporting event is creating many protests from the population. Brazil is a country with wide economical disparities, an high crime rate and a large part of the population  (15%) under the poverty threshold.

Many Brazilians think that such a big amount of money should have been used to solve those problems and not for a sporting event. A recent poll has showed that just 35% of people think that World Cup can have a positive effect on the national economy.

So it is spontaneous wondering if hosting a major sporting event can be an economic advantage or a loss. To answer we can take a look at the history of past International Sport Events.

Just few years ago, for example, the State of Canada has run out the debit for the Olympic Games of Montreal, that took place in 1976. Athens 2004 was a fantastic show, but its cost, around 10 billion Euros, have speeded up the collapse of the economy. 

A research has estimated that for the London Olympic games in 2013 there have been an immediate retuns of 800 million Euros, 5 billion will come back before the end of 2015 with a 0.3-0.4% of GDP growth rate. Considering that the total cost have touched the 10 billion Euros, there will be probably many years to refund the debit. 

Barcelona 1992, instead, was a fantastic opportunity for the renovation of the imagine of the city, that has become one of the most attractive touristic city in the world. Also Turin has changed its international image after the XX Winter Olympic Games in 2006, at the price of 3 billion Euros. 

Panoramic of the costs of the most recent Olympic Games (www.tradingfloor.com)

It seems that hosting sportive events is not always a good investment. The returns are not enougth  to cover the costs, or they can do it on a very long period (30 years for Montreal...). Moreover, the structures built for those kinds of events are often not reutilezed anymore. It is, once again, the case of Athens, where the beautiful Olympic park has been left to the decay. 

Maybe, it is the moment to rethink to the organization of major sporting events, from one side to preserve the tradition and to the other to face to the current economic situation, unless we want to see these events taking place just in Dubai or similar places.

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Monarchy or Republic?

The flag of the Kingdom of Spain

Few days ago, King Juan Carlos of Spain, has announced his unexpected abdication.

In Spain this decision has fired up a wide debate about the opportunity to move to a Republican State, especially in a such a difficult moment for the Country, deeply touched by the economic crisis (the unemployment rate is the worst in Europe at 25%, 54% for young people).

But how much do Monarchies cost in Europe?

A reaserch of Prof. Herman Matthjis from the University of Ghent has analyzed the costs of the Royal Families. The most expensive Monarchy is Norway: 42 million euro per year, followed by The Netherlands and UK (38 million), Sweden (15), Belgium and Denmark (13), finally Spain (8). If we consider cost per capita, Spanish pay just 0,17 euro to the King, instead of 1 euro for Belgians and 5 euros for Norwegians.

Republican countries spend much more for their Head of State. The President of France has a budget of 112 million euro each year, but he has also other functions, not just representative. The President of the Italian Republic costs the record amount of 228 million euro. At the opposite pole, the President of Germany has "just" 20 million euro.

Monarchies in the World (in red)

If we evaluate just the costs, Monarchy seems quite better than Republic. But there is a strong main argument against Monarchy: the fact that someone, just because son or daughter of the King/Queen, can become King/Queen him/herself, represents a violation of the most important principle of democracy, the equality between the citizens of a State.

Anyway, arguments in favor of Monarchy or Republic are various. More than the institutions, we should evaluate each person at the head of a State. In some cases Kings have been important as guarantee of democracy and unity of a Country, such as Juan Carlos after the Franco dictatorship, or Albert II against the secessionist forces that crossed Belgium in the last years. In others, like in Italy during the fascism, Monarchy didn't support democracy and didn't contribute to the stability of the Country (in fact Italians voted for Republic in a referendum in 1946).

In conclusion, it can be sharable to say that the reputation of Monarchy depends mainly by how Monarchs can use their power and by how much they respect their people.

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Can the Italian Democratic Party be a new model for European Socialists?

The last European Elections has largely confirmed the previsions: Eurosceptics have got many votes and the abstaining has touched another record.

The only surprise of these Elections has been Italy. The Democratic Party (Partito Democratico PD), leaded by Matteo Renzi, has won the European Elections 2014 with the 40% of votes, +13% in comparison with the result of the National Political Election in 2013. This is the best result ever got by the PD since it was born in 2007.

The victory has two main causes. First, the other competitors have done mistakes in the electoral campaign (the case of Movimento 5 Stelle) or have had a too weak leadership (the case of Berlusconi's Party Forza Italia).

Second and most important element to comprehend this victory is the charismatic figure of Matteo Renzi. The former Major of Florence has conquered PD in December 2013, becoming Party Secretary. In a couple of months, following the contrasts with the Former Prime Minister Enrico Letta (PD member himself), Renzi finally became Head of the Government.

Renzi's political view followed two main guidelines: from one hand, he proposed the turnover of the political leadership and a strong reduction of the costs of politics. From the other, he never put in discussion the participation of Italy in the European Union and the respect of the Institutions. In this way, he could compete with other more populist political forces during the electoral campaign, but at the same time, he could keep an strong appeal to the more traditional part of the electorate.

Considering the advance of Eurosceptics in the last elections, can we consider PD as a new model for European social-democratic Parties, many of them in a huge crisis?

Of course, each Country is different. But two considerations can be done: first, the most part of Europeans are still favorable to Eu integration. On the long period, attacking the Union could become a boomerang. Second, changing of leadership should be probably one of the most important topic to face by many Parties that lost the European elections. Nevertheless, changes must be also substantial.

Finally, it is possible that this time Italy will be able to show a positive example for European Partners. We will see in the next months, especially during the Italian Eu Presidency Semester.

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