Best Air Port in Asia

Asia Comes out on Top
By Moon Ihlwan

When it comes to airports, many travelers have a simple goal: Spend as little time there as possible. With the global recession causing airlines to cut back on services—and with travelers having less cash to spend at duty-free stores and other shops—the airport experience threatens to get even worse. One part of the world where a trip to the airport isn't so enervating, though, is Asia. In the annual survey of airport service quality by Geneva-based Airports Council International (ACI), Asian airports—Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Nagoya, Japan—won four of the five top spots. Nova Scotia's Halifax was the only non-Asian airport to be included in the top five.

More than 200,000 passengers at 126 airports from around the world took part in the quarterly airport surveys, measuring more than 30 elements of passenger experience and how well each element satisfies expectations. While Asian airports aren't immune to the economic downturn and the fall in airline traffic that has come with it, governments around the region are intent on maintaining their lead. Big expansion projects are underway, for instance, in Shanghai and Seoul. To read about the top performers, click on.

The Best Luxury Hotels in the World

We've done it again! Our team of luxury hotel experts is proud to present our collection of the World's Best Luxury Hotels for 2007. And why not, after the huge success of last year's luxury hotel awards. Who better to select the best luxury hotels in the world than the travel agency with the most comprehensive collection of 100% luxury hotels?

This year we've hand-picked the best luxury hotels worldwide, based on great feedback from our loyal customers. Learn about Five Star Alliance and how we can help you find and book the ideal luxury hotel - just like we've helped tens of thousands of travelers. As always, we'd love to hear from you. Bon voyage!
2007 World's Best Luxury Hotels
World's Best Business Hotels 2007
For the globetrotting executive looking for the very best.

World's Best Honeymoon Resorts 2007
Newlyweds deserve an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

World's Most Romantic Luxury Hotels 2007
Certain luxury hotels set the standard for romance and seclusion.

World's Best Luxury Hotels for Families 2007
No need to sacrifice when you bring the kids along.
World's Best Spa Resorts 2007
We're warning you now - if you visit these spa resorts you might never leave.

World's Best Golf Resorts 2007
The courses that all serious golfers need to visit in their lifetime.

World's Best Ski Resorts 2007
There are many mountains in the world, but a rare few with world-class luxury resorts.

World's Best Beach Resorts 2007
You won't believe the umbrella drinks you can get at these places.

Investment Decision Making

Strategic investment decision-making: complexities, politics and processes
Article Abstract:
This article is a preliminary report on an investigation into the processes of investment decision-making. Three case studies from three firms are presented which show disparities in a number of aspects of process, for example, the length of time taken to arrive at a decision, the number and intensity of disagreements and uncertainties encountered. Date were collected for these cases through semi-structured interviewing from multiple informants in the three organizations, thereby permitting the use of analysis of variance techniques of the different perspectives given by informants. Perceptions of the effectiveness of the decisions were also gathered. One finding from the study is that the decisions with the lowest perceived effectiveness (in firm HE) also lost support from those involved in making the decision during the process, although the decision was eventually implemented. This decision also had the least agreement amongst informants as to the main sources of disagreements. Informants of all three decisions saw effect upon product quality and productivity, fit with business strategy and competitive position of the company as the most important factors to take into account in evaluating the decisions. In firm CG, however, there were disagreements as to how the investment should be evaluated. In the conclusions to the article a discussion is given as to the nature of evaluation procedures in relation to the developing theory of information systems. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Importance Of Water

Water is our lifeline that bathes us and feeds us. In ancient cultures water represented the very essence of life. The Romans were the first to pipe water into their growing cities, especially with their aqueducts. They also realized that sewage water could cause damage to their people, and needed to be removed from large areas of people.

Water has played a role not only in the history of countries, but in religion, mythology, and art. Water in many religions cleanses the soul through holy water. For example, the water at Lourdes, France is thought by many religions to be sacred water with healing powers. In Egyptian mythology, the Nu was the beginning of everything and represented water. It brought life to their people, but in drought, produced chaos.

Water has always been perceived as a gift from the gods as it rained from the heavens.

The water or hydrologic cycle explains interactions between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. The water or hydrologic cycle is a major driving force on our planet. Water is in constant motion, evaporating into the atmosphere from oceans, lakes, rivers and streams. When the atmosphere can no longer support the moisture within the clouds, we experience rain, snow, hail, or sleet. Some water is locked in the form of ice at the polar caps and in glaciers. Water melts in the spring, producing runoff, that percolates through the Earth as groundwater (subsurface) or makes its way back to the sea (surface). The oceans contain most of the water, but it is salt water which is unusable by most organisms. Only pure H2O (water) can interact with organisms.