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11 CVB’s to ‘’Opt Out” of Visit Florida after Being Forced to Divulge Staff Salaries
Just a little more than a month after Florida’s legislature caved in to pressure from its governor, Rick Scott, as well as the state’s entire travel and tourism industry, and approved the restoration of the $76 million budget of Visit Florida (the state’s public-private sector tourism promotion agency) it appears as if the move might have created some unanticipated problems.
According to a report by a trade publication that specializes in coverage of association and DMO news, major destination marketing organizations in the state are bailing on the organization, which had already lost more than 15 senior sales, marketing and operations executives since late December 2016.
The saga began with the forced resignation late in December of Will Seccombe, who was ousted from his position as president and CEO of the public-private sector organization over an expired $1 million dollar contract with a globally known rapper, Pitbull, whose efforts included a video of a scantily clad women performing with the rapper on the state’s beaches. (The video did not go over well with certain key members of the Florida legislature.) It seemed to conclude with the July 7 resignation of Alfredo Gonzalez, the organization’s vice president of global meetings and trade.
Now, as Visit Florida goes through a restructuring phase, USAE News reports that—apparently because of the fine print requirements in the bill funding Visit Florida which call for the release salary information from the agency’s member organizations—a fifth of Visit Florida’s DMO members have left the state agency.
Stephen Lawson, vice president of government relations for Visit Florida, told USAE that 11 Visit Florida members have “opted out” of the organization. These include: the Greater Miami CVB, Visit Orlando, Visit Tampa Bay, Experience Kissimmee, Discover the Palm Beaches, Florida Keys Tourist Development Council, Visit South Walton and DMOs representing Santa Rosa, Brevard, Franklin and Seminole counties.
Language in the legislation funding Visit Florida stipulates that the state agency’s partners which received more than half of their revenue in the previous fiscal year from a public source must report all public and private financial data to lawmakers, including the salaries of employees and board members from both public and private sources.
William D. Talbert III, president and CEO of the Greater Miami CVB, as well as chairman of the 31-member Visit Florida board of directors, told USAE News that his organization is taking a pause due to concern about the ambiguity surrounding the reporting of board members’ salaries. The Miami bureau can always return to Visit Florida, he added, noting that tourism bureaus throughout the state are still figuring out the recently passed legislation.
“At this point we are reviewing the new provisions and have not determined our formal response,” said George Aguel, president and CEO of Visit Orlando. “Any position we may take would not be done until after consultation with our board leadership and legal counsel.” And DT Minich, president and CEO of Experience Kissimmee, told USAE News that his bureau has engaged in several conversations with Visit Florida leadership regarding its concerns.
Explained Minich: “Our decision was based on several factors which include, but are not limited to, the fact that Visit Florida had not disclosed the 2017/2018 marketing plan prior to last week (the fiscal year began July 1st) and the provision reporting structure for DMOs participating in marketing programs with Visit Florida are unclear. This is about protecting the privacy of our board members and the viability of relationships and contracts with private sector companies, many of which carry non-disclosure clauses. To share this type of information would be detrimental to both current and future strategic partnership.”
2016 Arrival Statistics Finally Arrive: Strong $US Causes Steep Declines in Europe
Not since the first full year of the Great Recession of 2008-2009 has the United States a decline in overall international visitor arrivals. But, on the basis of two percent year-on-year decline in arrivals, was 2016 a lost year for growing the international market?
To answer the query, first, here are the raw, preliminary numbers released late last week by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) as the agency struggles with a system of collecting and compiling raw data by another federal department that has caused it to fall about six months behind the schedule it once maintained of providing arrivals figures in a window of two-to-three months after the passing of a calendar month.
Putting the Numbers in Context, or—was 2016 really that Bad? The answer is “No.” At first blush, the numbers point to a year in which the USA experienced its first annual decline in international arrivals since 2009, and only the second year since the trough year of 2003 following the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001. Overall international visitor traffic to the U.S. dropped 2.4 percent from 2015.
Upon a closer look, however, the trend line evens out. Here are several reasons why:
—First, 2015 was a record year; arrivals for 2016 were still greater (by just 0.8 percent) than they were in 2014.
—Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of the decline from 2015 to 2016 was due to a drop-off of 1.4 million visitors from Canada alone.
—As for a cause of the decline in long-haul overseas arrivals (this excludes visits from Canada and Mexico), it appears that 2015 numbers were strong because—despite the decline in the value of both the euro and the British pound vs. the U.S. dollar, tour operators were able to lock in prices before the slide of the euro and pound began in late 2014. In this context, 2016 was a shakeout year—the first full calendar year in which a strong dollar made a travel package to the U.S. costlier.
What about this year? In its latest Travel Trends Index (TTI), the U.S. Travel Association sounds almost defiant in its positive tone: “International travel continued to defy the expectations of many in May 2017, according to the U.S. Travel Association’s latest Travel Trends Index (TTI), posting its 13th straight month of year-over-year growth. International travel to the U.S. grew 5.2 percent in May versus the same month in 2016.”
It should be noted that US Travel was trying to make sure people knew that there was no real “Trump Slump” in travel to the USA from abroad. It made a point note that “the latest TTI even revised upward (to 6.6 percent) its positive international travel figure from April—the first month of data to begin fully reflecting any effects of President Trump’s initial executive order on immigration issued January 27.”
(US Travel has been able to provide the closest thing to “real time” analysis of inbound travel trends and shifts, thanks to a data base that includes input on advance search and bookings data from ADARA and nSight; passenger enplanement data from Airlines for America (A4A); airline bookings data from the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC); and hotel room demand data from STR.)
If the industry’s business turnover is as healthy as the TTI seems to suggest, 2017 is certain to be an improvement on 2016 and could also be indicative of consumers adjusting to increased prices by reducing their spending levels by reducing length of stay and class of hotel. We’ll all have a better idea once data on the key travel months of July and August are recorded.
US Travel, in assaying the performance of the overall travel market—both domestic and inbound international—said “travel will likely grow by about 1.8 percent through November 2017, and domestic travel growth will lead the U.S. travel market into the end of the year. However, while growth in forward-looking domestic bookings and searches remains positive, their pace of growth is markedly slower than this time last year.” The graph below illustrates NTTO’s most up-to-date long term outlook for inbound travel.
Will New Air Service Compensate for Trump Effect and Strength of US $?
Perhaps the world’s long-haul air carriers, both low-cost and legacy, know something upbeat that the rest of the tour and travel industry and its analysts don’t know. This is a message one receives through a recent flurry of announcements of new airline routes and connections between overseas source markets and the USA. In our memory, the first part of July 2017 has produced more new service notices for both the near and long-term, than any similar period in the past. They include the following.
- On July 7, Air Indialaunched a first-ever non-stop flight connecting Delhi (DEL) and Washington Dulles(IAD), with the carrier scheduled to operate the route with a three times weekly 777-300 service. Previously, Air India had operated to the U.S. capital up until May 2010, when the city was flown to as a tag-on stop from its New York flights. Sabre Global Demand Data shows that for the year ending March 2016, the Washington D.C. area welcomed more than 281,000 Indian visitors. Washington Dulles is Air India’s fifth US destination after New York JFK, New York Newark, Chicago O’Hare and San Francisco. †
- Even as it shifts to a strategy that emphasizes increasing its growth domestically, on July 8, American Airlines began service to Guatemala City, Guatemala from Chicago O’Hare. †
- Eurowingshas begun twice-a-week (Tuesdays and Saturdays) services from Cologne Bonn to Seattle-Tacomaon July 11. (In addition to Cologne Bonn, Seattle-Tacoma will add new non-stop service to Mexico City and London Gatwick later this year.) †
- Beginning July 13, WOW expanded its service to the USA by adding Chicago O’Hare(ORD) to its network. The carrier flies the route four times a week from its Reykjavi/Keflavik base in Iceland. WOW air now operates to 10 destinations across the USA (eight destinations) and Canada (two). †
- Low-cost Danish airline Primera Air has announced that it will open new bases at Stansted and Birmingham in the UK, and start direct flights to New York and Boston from both airports next year. In doing so, Primera Air will be the first airline for nine years to fly scheduled services to the USA from Stansted. Beginning next April, the airline will offer daily service to Newark (Liberty International) airport. Then, starting in May, Primera will fly four times a week to Boston’s Logan International Airport. The airline said it will also announce two more trans-Atlantic routes from the new bases by the end of summer 2017. Flights to both destinations went on sale starting July 20 with prices starting from £149 ($194) one-way inclusive of all taxes, fees and charges. Another transatlantic route from Stansted and two more from Birmingham are to be announced by the end of the summer.
- Delta Air Lines is bringing back direct flights from Atlanta to Shanghai next year. The carrier will restart Shanghai Pudong service in July 2018, six years after terminating the then-underperforming route—before outbound traffic from China to the USA began its exponential growth. Now, Delta announced, there is much stronger demand in both directions, it said Delta has strengthened its partnership with major carrier China Eastern Airlines, which has a hub in Shanghai. (Delta bought a stake in China Eastern two years ago.) In addition to its Atlanta service, Delta flies to Shanghai from Detroit, Los Angeles and Seattle.
- Thomas Cook Airlines is adding a new twice weekly service from Manchester to Seattle next summer.
Tickets are now on sale with the first flight to Seattle taking off on May 27. Announcement of the new service follows the recent introduction of San Francisco and the year-round service to New York JFK from Manchester. In explaining the move, Christoph Debus, CEO of the Thomas Cook Group Airlines, said, “We work closely with partner airlines, allowing us to connect customers to 90 destinations within the USA. Alaska Airlines, based in Seattle is an important partner offering our customers even more choice to the likes of British Columbia, Alberta, Alaska and Hawaii.”
- The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has given tentative approval for a foreign air carrier permit to Norwegian’s British subsidiary, Norwegian UK (NUK). When finalized by the DOT, the permit will allow Norwegian’s UK subsidiary to operate low-cost flights between the U.S. and Europe.
NAJ Re-Introduces PhotoFinder:
Question to operators: Do you want high-resolution royalty-free photos from destinations for your brochures or website?
Answer: Then visit www.touroperatorland.com. TourOperatorLand.com was just reintroduced to the tour and travel industry from throughout the world at the recent IPW in Washington, DC by the NAJ Group, the same company that publishes the INBOUND Report.
It’s Super Easy: Once at the site, click on the PHOTOFINDER link here (you’ll be asked to register). Select a destination or state, then your photo selection will appear. For instance, if you were looking for photos from Flagstaff, Arizona, you would have 17 photos from which to choose. Here’s a sampler:
“I don’t have time to review hundreds of photos to find what I need. Touroperatorland.com has curated the most relevant ones and that saves us a lot of time.”
–Sanya Hamilton, head of sales, AlliedTPro
High Drama at DMAI (now DI): Litigation with former CEO Settled but Lawyers Sued for Malpractice
On the one hand, the annual convention of Destinations International (formerly Destination Marketing Association International) July 11-14 in Montreal was a smooth success as the rebranded organization which underwent a top-to-bottom management change early last year seems to have found an ideal blend of a trade show cum education and networking event.
On the other hand, and what many talked about at some point during the convention, was the litigation that has ensnared the association in the wake of the forced departure of Michael Gehrisch, who served as DMAI’s president and CEO for 15 years until he formally left in January 2016. He actually had to go, in a de facto sense, in September 2015, albeit with a nice severance package, with the organization deeply in debt (to the tune of $1.8 million) and forensic audit report showing “significant financial mismanagement” under Gehrisch.
Under that separation agreement, DMAI/DI was to pay Gehrisch in the form of “salary” through Dec. 2015, and then an additional year’s worth of “salary” – $397,000 – over 18 months. The association would also continue to provide health benefits for Gehrisch and his wife until Dec. 31, 2016. Then, last September, Gehrisch sued the association, charging it with not meeting the terms of the agreement. Why? Because Destinations International had notified Gehrisch it would stop payment in Aug. 2016 unless he supplied documentation it sought. Court documents say when Gehrisch did not provide the requested documentation, the payment of his buyout—as well as his and his wife’s health insurance – ceased. More than $165,000 had been paid at the time Destinations International stopped payments.
A month later, Gehrisch sued DMAI/DI (He sought $694,751 for violation of the wage law and $1,191,000 for a board member or members’ who allegedly slandered him). Such litigation, with depositions and interrogatories and amended filings, etc., takes time. With the association facing the possibility of a triple damages award should it lose the case, and with Gehrisch facing expensive legal costs in the interim, the whole matter suddenly came to close last week when it was announced that the two parties had reached an agreement.
A statement furnished to the trade publication USAE News by Destinations International said, “Destinations International (formerly Destination Marketing Association International) and Michael Gehrisch have agreed to settle and dismiss the lawsuit between them. The parties wish to resolve this dispute, to put it behind them, and to focus on their future endeavors. The terms of the Settlement will be kept confidential. On behalf of Destinations International, no additional comments will be made, and no interviews will be granted.”
But it’s not Completely over: Still pending is a suit Destinations International filed last February against the law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery LLP–a Chicago-headquartered mega-firm with more than 1,100 attorneys—charging legal malpractice, saying the law firm and two of its lawyers gave it bad advice about how to fire the group’s CEO and failed to fully disclose its prior relationships with him. In its suit filed in New York Supreme Court, Destinations International accused McDermott Will and two partners, Banks Brown and Kristin E. Michaels, of malpractice because they allegedly advised the group to characterize termination payments to the ex-CEO Gehrisch, as “salary,” thus exposing the group to an ongoing suit by Gehrisch under Washington, D.C.’s Wage Payment and Collection Law.
“The drafting of the separation agreement was so flawed as to constitute legal malpractice,” the association charged, adding “The defendants also advised DMAI to make substantial payments to Gehrisch, even though they knew or should have known that Gehrisch was in breach of his underlying employment agreement with DMAI, and that in fact Gehrisch should have been forced to return money he improperly took from DMAI.”
In addition, Destinations International alleges that the lawyers failed to disclose the full extent of their prior personal and professional relationships with Gehrisch. The suit claims that the McDermott Will defendants’ misconduct and ethical violations support an award of punitive damages based on their professional malpractice and receipt of payment for conflicted legal representation.
Brown and McDermott Will represented the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) while Gehrisch was its executive vice president between 1988 and 1999, prior to his serving as CEO of Destinations International, according to the suit. Although McDermott Will disclosed to the group that it had worked with the AHLA while Gehrisch was there, “it did not disclose the volume of work that Brown did for the AHLA and how closely he worked with Gehrisch,” the suit said.
While Brown also disclosed to Destination Marketing that he was personally friendly with Gehrisch, he didn’t advise the board of directors to seek other counsel to handle Gehrisch’s termination or tell the board that he had also represented Gehrisch personally, the suit said.
Part One of China International Travel Monitor: Fewer Chinese Visitors Now Interested in Shopping
Shopping no Longer Number One: Nothing in the new, seventy-four-page sixth annual China International Travel Monitor (CITM) put out by Hotels.com catches the attention of the reader as much as the declaration that “Shopping is no longer holds the attraction it once held for Chinese travelers as the key motivation.”
The CITM, which has achieved status as the most authoritative, comprehensive and non-proprietary resource work on the Chinese travel market, goes on to tell us, “Chinese travelers have entered a new phase in their evolution. More educated and increasingly sophisticated in their tastes and expectations, they want more of everything—more time traveling, more locations, more exotic experiences, and they are spending more … This is a key finding of this year’s CITM and it applies across all age brackets. Just like their millennial counterparts, those born in the 1960s are spreading their travel wings, seeking more adventurous destinations further from home, visiting more locations on each trip, staying away longer and traveling internationally more often.”
No More “Boomers”—CITM Uses Different Demographics: The CITM fashions its findings using a slightly different take on demographics. When analyzing the response of those surveyed for the report, travelers were divided into four age categories—those born after 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1990 in order to provide further insights into choices and preferences of different generations. Those born after 1980 and 1990 rea also referred to as millennials. This group, also known in China as the “new generation” as distinct from the “post generation” born prior to the 1980s, is increasingly driving consumption and spending patterns of Chinese travelers.
As noted, for the first time in the survey’s history, shopping is no longer the prime reason for international travel. Leisure, culture and eco-tourism are the new flavors. Shopping as the prime reason for traveling dropped from 68 percent of travelers expressing an interest in 2016 to only 33 percent doing so in 2017, indicating the increasing diversification of Chinese travel activity preferences.
Chinese travelers intend to spend an average of 10 percent more on international travel over the next 12 months. Millennials looked to increase their spend the most, with around two-thirds of post 80s and 90s saying they expect to spend more. Dining and entertainment are the main winners for future spending.
Methods of Payment: The preferred method of payment across the age groups is UnionPay. (Obviously, there is an overlap of payment methods with travelers using a number of different methods depending on available facilities. Alipay is also common among younger millennials. “As UnionPay and Alipay are not commonly accepted overseas,” says CITM, “this is seen as the most important area for improvement for Chinese travelers.”
Traveling Longer and More Often: There are a number of standout trends in traveler behavior in this year’s CITM. Chinese travelers are traveling internationally more often and for longer, and many are seeking new, more adventurous destinations. All age groups are traveling more often and for longer, with the number of trips and days per trip increasing in the past year from 3.4 and 3.9 and from five to seven days.
Time Spent on Planning: When planning their trip, Chinese travelers spend considerable time researching. On average they spend 12 days researching online and start planning one to two months before their trip. Younger travelers spend less time planning than older travelers.
Influencers: Spouse/partner and friends are the key influencers for travel, followed by online and offline professional channels across generations. Parents are ranked sixth out of 17 influences on post 90s travel destination selection and 13th among other generations.
Travel Companion: Non-millennials and older millennials (post 60-80s) usually trvel with their own family. Post 70s and 80s tend to travel with their children, while post 90s are more likely to travel on their own or with t heir parents.
Part Two of INBOUND Report’s take on the China International Travel Monitor will appear in our next issue.
A NOTE ON METHODOLOGY: Hotels.com engaged the market research firm Ipsos to conduct interviews during May 2017 with 3,000 Chinese residents, aged 18-54, who had traveled overseas in the past 12 months. A computer-assisted web interviewing technology was used for the interviews and the representative sample consisted of men and women from a number of different-tiered cities.
Chinese cities are classified into different tiers based on their population, economic size and political ranking. Tier 1 includes cities such as Beijing and Shanghai; Tier 2 provincial capitals as Chengdu; Tier 3 medium sized cities such as Zhuhai; and Tier 4 smaller sized cities. The travelers were asked about their spending patterns, travel preferences, booking methods, accommodation choices and future plans, along with many other aspects of their travel.
Pricing for 2018: Hotels and Air Prices to Rise Around 3.6%
According to the just-released 2018 Global Travel Forecast, a stable and strong global economy means travel prices are expected to rise sharply in the coming year, reaching nearly 4 percent increases in some sectors. This year’s report, the fourth annual forecast—it’s sponsored by the Washington, D.C.-based GBTA Foundation in partnership with Carlson Wagonlit Travel—also shows that, in 2018:
—Global airfares are expected to rise 3.5 percent;
—Hotel prices are expected to be 3.7 percent higher; and
—Ground transportation such as taxis, trains and buses are expected to rise only 0.6 percent—significantly less than the 3 percent inflation forecast for 2018.
We’ve gone through the report, and isolated those areas as they pertain to North America. The projections for 2018 follow.
2018 Air Projections: North America will see prices rise by a modest 2.3 percent, according to our projections. Citing the potential for stronger U.S. travel restrictions, flights to the United States have already been reduced accordingly. Canadian airlines are expected to aggressively compete given new market entrants and capacity growth of about 11 percent in 2017 and 12 percent in 2018. With the region’s air travel market nearly flat year-over-year in early 2017, competition is fierce between carriers who now compete on branded fares rather than on bundled fares or by carrier type.
2018 Hotel Projections: North American hoteliers may be banking on economic growth as demand has leveled off since mid-summer 2016 – but supply is expected to continue growing steadily through 2018. With international travel projected to grow 4 percent in 2017 and 2018, U.S. hotel growth is expected to be concentrated primarily along with the West Coast and in Washington D.C. In Canada, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are expected to maintain good pricing power amid a weak Canadian dollar.
2018 Ground Transportation Projections: Canada is expected to see a healthy 4.6 percent increase in 2018, but the overall region will only be up 1.0 percent. Limited railways, along with improved income per capita and increased corporate travel, are expected to push up rental car rates in North America. Still a low-margin business, rental car companies have implemented operational efficiencies and made investments in technology to better manage fleets and improve utilization. Sharing economies continue to grow, but face improved competition from traditional cabs and government regulation.
About the 2018 Forecast: Forecast projections provided by CWT Solutions Group. Data analysis provided by Rockport Analytics.
UK Travel to North America on a Downward Flight Path?
Still the largest source market for overseas visitors to the United States, the UK is, the data clearly show, not strengthening its position. As a source market, China, which is now ranked Number three, could well surpass the UK by the end of 2020.
Two reports issued last week—the monthly update on overseas tourism from the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the release of preliminary data full-year arrivals figures for 2016, along with monthly figures for December 2016 from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO)—show that visits to the USA from the UK ended last year at a level that was 10 percent less than it was in 2015. And this year, through May, the ONS said that visits to North America (usually, about 90 percent of the number goes to the United States) were down 3 percent vs. the same period last year. Some other data from the ONS monthly report:
—For the month of May 2017, visits to North America by UK residents declined by 4.2 percent vs. May 2016. (For the same period, all visits abroad by UK travelers decreased 4.6 percent.)
—Visits to North America by UK residents for the latest three months (March, April and May) totaled 920,000—declined 3 percent for the same three months in 2016. (For the same period, all visits abroad by UK travelers increased 2 percent.)
—Visits to North America by UK residents year-to-date (January through May 2017) numbered 1.4 million—declined three percent for the same period a year ago. (For the same period, all visits abroad by UK travelers increased 4 percent.)
—Visits to North America for the year ending with May 2017 by UK travelers totaled 4.09 million, a change of zero percent. (For the same period, all visits abroad by UK travelers increased 6 percent.)
What Happened? One is hard pressed to find a one-size-fits-all explanation for the 17-month decline. First of all, few in the industry knew of it, as there were no NTTO data readily available for much of 2016 and into 2017. Second, the UK has been the beneficiary of the strongest of any Brand USA marketing promotions. We actually had cause to believe that Visit USA traffic was increasing, not decreasing. Third, nothing in the regular monthly ONS reports gave anyone in the travel and tourism industry cause for concern. And, while there might be some discrepancies in ONS figures and the preliminary figures of NTTO, they are not sufficient to be a cause for alarm.
What Will Happen in the Future? We don’t know. We’ll keep you posted.
The UK/France and the United States: We Really Like One Another
The just published Sojern’s Destination Report: A Focus on the United Kingdom and France, reveals that there has been some slippage in intent-to-travel to the United States by residents of the UK and France, but it should not last. While the major points of the report have to do with the popularity of the two countries as destinations, it contains several points of interest for those whose focus on the two as markets—not destinations.
The USA has fallen out of favor with French travelers this summer, dropping from second to fourth, says Sojern. British travelers follow a similar trend, with most American destinations slightly down compared to last year. This, the report suggests, “could be a knock-on effect of the strength of the U.S. dollar, meaning that it is more expensive to visit the U.S.”
Weakened since the June 23, 2016 referendum in which Britain voted to leave the European Union, the British pound has stabilized in the last few months, about 15 percent less valuable against the U.S. dollar than it was at its pre-referendum peak. Sojern notes that, according to BMO Capital Markets (it is the investment banking subsidiary of Canadian Bank of Montreal), although the pound to dollar has dropped due to the general strength of the dollar and also a rocky start to the UK/EU negotiations for an agreement on the UK’s exit from the European Union, a rebound is expected. This fluctuation could potentially be playing a role in the slight decline in UK to U.S. travel intent
For travelers who book travel to France or the UK, Sojern looked at what other destinations they considered for similar departure days. The other destinations considered depend highly on the traveler’s place of origin:
- The United States is the most popular alternative destination for North American travelers
- Singapore and Australia are strong alternative destinations for travelers from APAC
- Across regions, those who end up booking travel to France or the UK actually search multiple destinations within those countries. For example, people may book Paris, but search Marseille or Nice as well.
Alternative Destinations by Origin Region:
Surprise! Americans like to visit the UK and France: Travelers from the U.S. comprise the top non-European source market for both countries.
IN MEMORIAM: Selia Garcia and family
Members of the travel and tourism industry in Central Arizona have created a fundraising site to help with the burial and other expenses incurred by the extended family (they number 10) of Selia Garcia who were killed by the flash flood that occurred on July 15 at the Cold Springs swimming area in the Tonto National Forest, near Payson, which is about 90 miles north/northeast of Phoenix. A sudden six-foot tall, 40-foot wide torrent of murky water that carried tree trunks and logs rolled through the area at 45 miles an hour, sweeping away the victims, who had no time to fathom what was happening.
Several family members worked at well-known area businesses, including the Horny Toad, El Encanto, Harold’s Cave Creek Corral, Buffalo Chip Saloon and Carefree Resort.
The matriarch of the family, Selia Garcia, was well known and warmly regarded in Carefree. Here is an excerpt of a Facebook tribute posted by her friend and colleague, Terri Zimmer, senor sales manager at Carefree Resort & Conference Center:
“Selia Garcia was a beautiful kind woman that I had the privilege of working with for several years. She always had a smile on her face. She was one of the ten victims who lost their lives in the Payson flash flood last weekend. The lives of her two daughters, her son, and five grandchildren were also taken. The flood also left four other members of her family injured and her son-in-law is still missing.”
For information on making a contribution, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/selia-garcia-family
HODGE PODGE: Shifts, Shakeups and Occasional Shaftings in the Tour and Travel Industry
Lynn Dorsey, the former executive director of the Webster Parish (La.) CVB who gained national attention after she accidentally live-streamed herself nude on a bureau phone, has received a settlement of $37,000 after being dismissed from her post last February. Dorsey reportedly live-streamed herself nude the night of last Dec. 19 in what was intended to be a private session with her husband while she was in Baton Rouge on business. Instead, the video was streamed from Dorsey’s work-assigned smartphone to the tourism board’s public Instagram account.
Gavin Landry is resigning from his post as executive director of tourism for New York State to take on the job of director of the Americas for VisitBritain, with offices in São Paulo, Los Angeles, Toronto and New York City. Landry had been with New York State for nearly 4½ years. Previously, he had been a principal with Landry Hospitality Consulting Services, L.L.C, based in New York City. He also served for a dozen years as president of the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau.
Blanca Rosa Espinosa has joined Super Shuttle Airport Transportation as regional business development director. She’ll be based in New York City. She joins the company from Gray Line New York, where she was executive director of sales. Her tour and travel industry career includes tenures with the Heartland Brewery and the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.
World 2 Meet, owned by the Iberostar Group, has named Susan Barjan as the new vice president for the Americas. She will report directly to the global commercial director, Noelia Baez. Barjan has previously been a regional director for Hotelspro Travel Wholesaler America and has 17 years of experience in Tourism.
In the UK, Riviera Travel has appointed Amanda Weir to the company’s agency sales support team as the operator continues to expand its trade-facing staff. Weir previously worked in the company’s operations department in tour manager relations and will be the sixth member of Riviera’s agency sales team. Weir’s new role follows the appointments of Tom Morgan to key accounts manager in February and Tamzin Bishop as agency sales executive in March. Riviera first started selling through the trade in 2012, after having spent years selling direct through newspaper advertising.
Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air has appointed Stephen Jones as executive vice president and deputy CEO. He will take up his appointment during the latter part of this year reporting into CEO Jozsef Varadi. Jones, who is a national of both New Zealand and the UK, joins from Air New Zealand where he was chief strategy, network and alliances officer. Before this, he held a number of other roles at Air New Zealand, where he has worked since 2001, including general manager of its low-cost carrier Freedom Air.
Brand USA has named Maria Sheetz as director, partnership development. She leads the organization’s effort to develop and maximize partner engagement, retention, and growth in Brand USA’s cooperative-marketing programs. Sheetz has 16 years of experience in the travel and hospitality sector; prior to coming to Brand USA, she was senior director for national sales and business alliances at Amtrak. She also worked for Choice Hotels International as senior director for account management and marketing within Choice’s strategic partnership group.
Kirsten Feld-Türkis, who has been responsible for Thomas Cook Germany‘s premium and long-distance product for two years, is leaving the company. According to a trade news report, she wants to devote herself to her consultancy activities, which she had already started in 2014, with a focus on advising medium-sized companies.
John Reyes has been named chief operating officer of Visit Sacramento. Reyes will be leaving his current post as executive vice president and chief sales officer for the San Francisco Travel Association, where he has worked for nearly 6 years. He begins his new job on Aug. 14. Previously, he was president and CEO of the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau. He was also president and CEO at Florida’s Visit Jacksonville. Reyes worked, too, with the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau for 18 years, progressing from national sales manager to director of travel industry sales to vice president of sales.
In Germany, Benjamin Jacobi will chair the management of TUI’s last-minute holiday brand, L’Tur, as of October 1. He’ll take over from Marek Andryszak, the new head of TUI Germany, who has been handling the post on a temporary basis. Jacobi came from TUI to L’Tur at the end of 2015 and is currently the product and purchasing manager of the last-minute brand.
Affordable Car Hire has recruited Royal Caribbean’s Stephen Joyner as head of sales. Prior to Royal Caribbean, Joyner was cruise club manager for The Travel Network Group. He has more than 15 years’ experience in the travel industry.


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mParticle receives ISO 27001 certification and SOC 2 Type II attestation
Independent audits confirm mParticle’s privacy and security controls exceed internationally recognized standards and best practices.
NEW YORK, May 22, 2019 – mParticle, the leading Customer Data Platform (CDP) for multi-channel consumer brands, today announced it is ISO/IEC 27001:2013 compliant and, in addition, has received its SOC 2 Type II audit report. The mParticle platform was purpose-built with enterprise-grade security measures in place, and these independent verifications further bolster mParticle’s customers with even greater confidence in the company’s security protocols.
ISO/IEC 27001:2013 is an Information Security Management System (ISMS) standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). It requires a proactive approach to risk identification, the development of technical security controls to handle those threats and a continual review of these respective controls’ effectiveness.
After an extensive evaluation, mParticle was certified that it meets this comprehensive, internationally recognized standard. mParticle will continue to evolve its ISMS to comply with ISO 27001 and work in partnership with its auditors for annual assessments to ensure its program continues to operate effectively.
Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 reports are based on the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Trust Services Criteria. SOC 2 Type II is an in-depth examination of a company’s internal control policies and practices over a set period of time. The goal is to assess and validate the implementation of best practices around corporate infrastructure, internal processes, data management, data privacy and security.
An audit conducted by a certified, third-party firm verifies that mParticle has in place the internal controls that meet the Trust Services Criteria for security, availability, processing integrity and confidentiality, and that they’re operating effectively.
“Security and consumer privacy have been part of our platform since day one,” said Will Rogers, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), mParticle. “We’re excited to have met and surpassed these standards with the receipt of these reports, and we will continue to invest in our security controls to ensure the safety of our clients’ customer data.”
The ISO 27001 certification and SOC 2 Type II report are part of a continued mParticle initiative to protect consumer interests on behalf of its customers. In 2018 mParticle led the launch of OpenGDPR, an open-source framework for capturing and distributing consent to ensure compliance with GDPR and proposed legislation, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
mParticle is the leading customer data platform (CDP) for multi-channel consumer brands. Companies such as Starbucks, Burger King, NBCUniversal, Spotify, and Airbnb use mParticle to create a unified, real-time customer data pipeline that enables them to win in key moments of the customer journey. Founded in 2013, mParticle is headquartered in New York City with offices in Delray Beach, London, San Francisco and Seattle. The mParticle platform manages more than 500 billion API calls monthly. To learn more, visit: www.mparticle.com.
Head of Corporate Marketing, mParticle
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Corona empties Venice | status analysis after quick check on site
The coronavirus crisis has impacted many areas of life but only few as dramatically as the global travel and tourism industry. What used to be top destinations of city tourism have been especially hard hit.
The cities in Europe most overrun by tourists before corona according to Forbes Magazine were Venice, Dubrovnik, Barcelona, and Prague. With only 50,000 residents and 25 million visitors per year, Venice is by far the leader in overtourism in Europe. For this very reason, I didn’t find Venice to be an attractive destination for a long time. And how is the situation now—after or during the corona pandemic?
My trip to Venice last week was interesting in several aspects. Just like in a burning lens it was visible and even more palpable how profoundly the coronavirus crisis has affected this city.
Tourists from the U.S. are by far the most important and lucrative target group for the big hotels in Venice. However, flights to Europe are still heavily restricted. As a result, some hotels are only partially open (San Clemente Kempinski with 25% of its rooms) or have announced in the past days that they will reclose shortly (St. Regis, Marriott’s flagship hotel). It’s not really a fair and square game. While Italian destinations are still advertised in England, Italian press releases are—again—announcing Italy’s closure (St. Regis). This press release talks about one year while employees were informed about a closure for 27 months. Hotel groups are likely not so sure about how things will ultimately turn out. Who knows how long this crisis will last. And the pressure from the areas of financing, compensation, and the risk of delayed bankruptcy filings are palpable.
It’s clear that the situation in Venice is the perfect storm for hotel and vacation rental owners. When a rental is booked only at 25 to 40% of its capacity, the operators won’t be able to meet the business plan by a long shot. As a result, many owners and (closed) funds won’t come to an agreement about the valuation rate with auditors and banks at the end of the year. And with Venice being one of the key Airbnb locations worldwide, not only hotels but also condo and apartment rentals will be affected. Without these lucrative short-term rentals, many apartments and condos with hefty financing will drown in the floods.
During the insurance crash in 2002 (which the public was barely aware of), the German legislature felt compelled to invent the new balance sheet item “hidden burden” (see link Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) to avert the bankruptcy of the entire sector. As a result, write-offs of €20 billion that had become necessary immediately—an amount that seems ridiculously low by today’s standards—were prevented. Similar measures will likely be inevitable with the coronavirus crisis—just the volumes will be much higher.
The bottom line
Even during this crisis, Venice won’t sink. This much is clear. But many of those for whom business was good before the corona crisis will realize that they won’t survive the winter and, as a result, won’t live to see the next spring from a financial standpoint.
- The problem is not just missing tourists. The current situation also relentlessly brings to light how little many providers have invested over the years. The Vikings and Teutons in their Pampers bombers have already shown up in Venice. But overpriced honeymoon suites for enamored American couples aren’t up for rent for this, without a doubt, financially strong target group. And South Tirol isn’t far, which similar to the North Sea, Baltic Sea, and the Alpine region is booked solid.
- The financial challenges for those who have invested little to nothing over the years far exceed the financing of the closing. Those who don’t bring their products up to date won’t find customers who will pay even close to the excessive shortage prices that were pushed in the phase of overtourism before corona.
- The cake—both in tourism and other industries—will get smaller as many people with median and smaller incomes will be faced with significant losses of income. The plans for layoffs in many industries are sitting in the drawers. No one wants to be first quite yet—but soon even that will no longer matter.
- Countries won’t be able to agree as quickly on additional stimulus payments as they did in the spring and summer, and the lack of government payments will have an immediate and stunning effect. Helicopter money (see Wikipedia link) doesn’t have a ripple effect the way monetary policies do. Liquidity will simply be gone over night for many.
- Regardless, the stock exchanges can continue to operate. Easy money and purchases by the Federal Reserve in combination with drastic corporate reorganization measures can have a more stimulating effect on investors than we might think today. Venice is a good example:
St. Regis owner, Marriott, with a market capitalization of still more than $28 billion will survive corona. After all, the stock is being touted for purchase on U.S. TV. The midsize and small hotel owners in Venice, by contrast, aren’t publicly traded and don’t burden the indexes with their losses and bankruptcies for now. But the sentiment at the markets may very well shift later on when it becomes clear that corona isn’t just a spring flu and that many destroyed lifeworks won’t just rise from the ashes even if the virus itself will lose its terror with the availability of drugs and vaccines.
- A big opportunity of corona is that something will happen that has happened only rarely for years: unprofitable market participants are eliminated due to closure or bankruptcy. The creative destruction as described by Schumpeter generates room for new things, and this very room presents potential. We are convinced that this potential will be used and hence we are optimistic in the medium term. Despite this opportunity we’re afraid that the next months will be much more uncomfortable for many than is widely expected today.
- Empty Canale Grande,
- but the music keeps playing …
even if it’s a platitude that coffee at St. Mark’s Square is overpriced and rarely ever tastes good. That has always been the case and will likely never change.
In Venice too the corona crisis has not only losers but also winners. While seats in top-class slow food restaurants are still available for the moment, they are booked up in the end. Quality simply sells well, even and especially in a crisis.
Auch in Venedig kennt die Corona-Krise nicht nur Verlierer, sondern auch Gewinner. In hochklassigen Slowfood-Restaurants bekommt man zwar kurzfristig noch Plätze, aber ausgebucht sind sie dann doch. Qualität läuft eben meistens und gerade auch in der Krise.


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SIPA’s Marketing Conference - Putting it All Together
For the first time ever, SIPA, SIIA and ABM are joining forces on a conference devoted exclusively to marketing. And to mark this historic alliance, the theme of our 2013 Marketing Conference is Putting it All Together – combining technology … content … and razor-sharp marketing to help boost your profits to record levels – and have a little fun in the process.
Tue, 03 Dec 2013 21:29“..by 2015, 40 percent of Global 1000 organizations will use gamification as the primary mechanism to transform business operations.” - Forbes.com, earlier this year. Games surround us. On the bus to New York this past weekend the guy next to me played chess the whole time. My colleague Luis walked into my office yesterday chanting [...]
Mon, 25 Nov 2013 20:23SIPA: You’re co-presenting the Pre-Conference workshop on sales again in Las Vegas with Bobby Edgil of BLR. I sat in last time, and it was really substantial. How has sales changed the last couple years? LEXIE: Many publishing companies have been focusing on building and supporting direct sales teams. This is because B2B sales has [...]
Thu, 21 Nov 2013 20:56I get asked about SEO a lot – who’s doing it well, where can I find out more? For the latter, there’s the Marketing Conference in Las Vegas where three sessions will focus on SEO with top speakers like Norann Oleson of Mequoda and Andy Swindler of Astek. For the former, I came across an [...]
» visit the Blog


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A leaked Microsoft document has revealed that the company’s second next-gen Xbox will be fully revealed in August.
Microsoft had originally planned to unveil the console, codenamed “Lockhart”, in June, but now the tech giant has moved these plans to August, reports Eurogamer.
Project Lockhart, or Xbox Series S, is expected to be a cheaper and less powerful version of the Xbox Series X, unlike Sony’s PS5 Digital Edition, which will be a standard PS5 but without an optical drive.
While Microsoft has not acknowledged Lockhart, the codename can also be found in the company’s Xbox One operating system, alongside references to Anaconda and Dante.
The Xbox Lockhart will come with 7.5 GB of usable RAM and 4 teraflops of GPU performance. It will reportedly support 1080p or 1440p gaming.
Microsoft in February had announced that the Xbox series X console will use a custom made eight-core AMD Zen 2 CPU, clocked up to 3.8GHz. For handling graphics will come with a custom RDNA 2-class GPU with 12 teraflops of power and 52 compute units, clocked at 1.82GHz each.


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Yesterday, we looked at shopping gullibility. To appeal to unaware customers, one widely-used tactic involves selling fake products as authentic. Now, there is a promising new tool in the …
Guerilla marketing involves innovative, unconventional, and low-cost marketing techniques that seek to achieve maximum consumer exposure for a product. Although the concept has typically been applied to low-cost tactics used …Read more
The upcoming 2014 World Cup in Brazil will the world’s most viewed sporting event of the event of the year — yes, more viewers than for the Super Bowl.
As …Read more


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9 stories about Gaming 2023
“We’re seeing very interesting trends in how gaming companies are outsmarting each other”
Yevgeny Peres, EVP Product Strategy at AppsFlyer, spoke to CTech about the gaming sector and how it has navigated growth in recent years
“Competition is forcing everyone in gaming to be better”
Omer Pupkin, CMO at Baba Entertainment, spoke to CTech about how technology is affecting the gaming industry
“The gaming industry wasn't our focus industry… but they chose us”
Ofer Polivoda, GM Israel at Mixpanel, spoke to CTech about how its platform helps the gaming sector
"Within 24 months, it will be challenging to differentiate between a real person and one created by AI"
Oren Aharon, CEO of the generative AI company Hour One, explained how the startup's platform allows users to create virtual reality avatars of themselves using AI technology
What can the gaming industry expect to see this year?
Iris de Vries, ASO Manager at Bagelcode, spoke to CTech at Gaming 2023 about AI and how it can impact the ecosystem
The Israeli startup building the OpenAI of gaming
Ilan Graicer, Founder and CEO at Playo.ai, told CTech how his company aims to replace incumbent gaming developers with AI
“Interaction is something really important for our audience. Players got married thanks to Slotomania”
Amnon Calev, Slotomania's General Manager at Playtika, joined CTech to discuss how online gaming shapes our real worlds
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"When a game introduces a female character, she may look a bit sexist, but she’s also strong and powerful"
A panel discussion at Calcalist’s Gaming 2023 Conference, in collaboration with Playtika and Google, focused on women in the gaming industry including female gamers and YouTubers
UI & UX by


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Hakuba sells genuine leathers cases for Sony NEX and Olympus PENHakuba has begun the sale of genuine leather cases dedicated to Sony Alpha NEX 5N/5 and Olympus PEN E-P3 popular mirror-less cameras. The cases come in with detachable neck straps made of the same material as the case.
Sony to shift image sensor output to Japan
Sony has stated that it will shift its image sensors processing operations to its semiconductor factory in Kumamoto, due to the halt in operation at the Thai factory. D-cams, including the NEX-7 resumed partial production last week at an other plant in Thailand, since the Ayuthuja plant was hit hard by the big floods.
Special camera grip for Olympus PEN
U.N Co. Ltd., a major supplier of photo/imaging accessories, began selling a special camera grip dedicated to Olympus PEN E-P3. The grips are made up of aluminum alloy, and will be available in a silver or black finish.


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Weetabix has unveiled a £7m campaign that it hopes will position the brand as the ideal start for dealing with a busy day.
Weetabix Food Company has pledged to buy all of its wheat from with 50 miles of its factory.
The Weetabix Food Company plans to lift people out of the misery of the recession with an on-pack promotion to win a share of 1m
Imperial Tobacco has launched a new addition to its Embassy Signature range.
The firm’s Kitchen Cooking Index analyses the rise in cooking at home due to the pandemic.
Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I will roll out sustainable straws following a successful trial.
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Candy Industry’s Managing Editor Alyse Thompson has won a 2021 Eddie Award.
Thompson’s article, "Cannabis Sector holds potential for confectioners willing to navigate it," won for the category, Single article, B2B Food and Beverage.
Candy Industry’s Editor Crystal Lindell also received an honorable mention for a collection of four columns for the category, Columns/Blog B2B Overall.
Lindell’s four submitted columns included:
- Nestlé makes the right move in changing derogatory candy names
- Tricking-or-treating isn’t safe this year, but there are lots of alternatives
- After a year of COVID-19, how will the candy industry know the worst is over?
- Conferences should continue virtual event access after COVID-19
For more than 25 years, the Eddie & Ozzie Awards have recognized excellence in engaging content and gorgeous design across all sectors of the publishing industry.
The full list of the 2021 winners is available on the Folio Magazine website.


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Coffee Lake is just around the corner so you may want to hold your horses (upgrade) for a little longer. Rumor says, it could shake up the Core i3 Family by going out of the usual 2 cores and instead, making it a quad core.
Also, another rumor says it will also push the current i5 and i7 family from quad-core to six-core respectively. With AMD’s Ryzen launched earlier this year, they finally gave Intel a run for its money and virtually every competitive comparison in terms of performance or price to performance ratio and attracting more users to switch and having to enjoy more core counts than Intel’s current processor line up. But, with the Coffee Lake’s impending launch later this year or possibly early next year, Intel ensures they can clear their inventory of existing parts and seeing this as a benefit for those who wants to upgrade coming from previous generations of Intel processor and for enthusiasts to pick up higher core of process on its own brand to oppose switching to their counterpart.
Overall, this brings their higher-core count to all especially those who heavily multitask and gamer as well. Also, this move by Intel will surely benefit the PC market as it brings a healthier competition.
Intel’ 8th Gen Coffee Lake is set to launch this August 21st and will be shown thru Facebook Live.


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JioPhone Next: Reliance might spend Rs 18,750 crore as subsidy to keep cost close to Rs 4,000
Reliance Industries (RIL) may have to spend almost Rs 3,750 crore or 25% more on subsidies than that estimated before in the event that it intends to price its upcoming budget 4G cell phone, JioPhone Next, at about Rs 4,000 each as costs of semiconductors and different components have gone up in the midst of a global shortage, the Economic Times referenced in a report refering to experts.
“We reckon if RIL prices the JioPhone Next smartphone at around Rs 4,000 and looks to sell 75 million units, the subsidy element per handset could rise to around Rs 2,500, or Rs 18,750 crore overall,” an unnamed analyst at a leading brokerage told ET.
“This is due to a near 20% rise in component prices, particularly memory and LTE (4G) chipset costs, coupled with procurement delays and the continuing global shortage of semiconductors.”
In June, IIFL Securities had estimated that RIL may have to subsidize consumers to the extent of Rs 15,000 crore in the event that it targets selling around 75 million units, at Rs 2,000 subsidy apiece.
Worth mentioing here is that Jio Platforms, RIL’s digital business unit, as of late conceded the launch of JioPhone Next, created with Google, to around Diwali — from September 10 — because of the worldwide semiconductor shortage. Examiners said a key challenge for the organization is the way it deals with the component supply chain.
“Jio could also explore a ‘buy now, pay later’ scheme to galvanise JioPhone Next sales, where the upfront sum could be kept low to attract value hunters with an option to pay the balance in easy, multiple instalments,” the financial daily quoted another analyst as saying.
On the off chance that the chipset deficiency endures for additional quarters, RIL could at first do a token JioPhone Next launch in certain markets around Diwali and think of a fullblown launch once part costs stabilise and semiconductor supplies standardize, said the second expert.
Brokerage UBS had said in June that regardless of whether Google and Jio develop a lighter operating system, the cost decrease would be conceivable just in few areas like display (around $5) and memory (around $4), which would make a $50 bill of materials (BOM), or cost of the gadget, intense to achieve.
Jio is known to targeting on a 500 million client base — from around 425 million now — as it expects the JioPhone Next 4G cell phone to make India “2G-mukt (free)” by targeting a chunk of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s 300 million 2G feature phone user base.
The organization has not uncovered JioPhone Next’s probably pricing.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Economy Port journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.


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Oracle ordered to pay HP $3 Billion in Itanium case
The case stems from Oracle’s decision to stop developing software for HP’s Intel Itanium-powered servers in 2011, which HP says is a breach of contract between the two companies. Oracle’s argument has been that the Itanium processor was nearing end of life and it didn’t think there was a contract requiring it to support the hardware indefinitely. But HP said it had an agreement with Oracle that support for Itanium would continue, without which the equipment using the chip would become obsolete. The jury’s order comes four years after judge James Kleinberg originally ruled that the two companies did indeed have a contract in place.
We have the info from here.
Apple patents tech that could stop you from using a camera phone at concerts
Put simply, this patent is for (among other things)a technology that could potentially allow music venues to disable a smartphone’s camera.
The technology itself is pretty straightforward. Apple could build infrared sensors into the camera on its smartphones, which would be able to pick up signals broadcast by strategically placed infrared emitters. All a venue would have to do is broadcast infrared signals from its stage that instruct the iPhone, iPad, iWhateverComesNext (or other smartphone or tablet) to turn off.
As is fairly customary, Apple hasn’t commented on whether it plans to actually build the technology outlined in the patent.
You can read all the details here.
HTC ‘Marlin’ could be the next 5.5-inch Nexus smartphone
The leaks says that it will feature a 5.5-inch QHD (2560×1440) display which is smaller than last year’s Nexus 6P, but it probably won’t be an AMOLED panel. Inside there will be Snapdragon based quad-core processor with 4GB of RAM. The storage options would be 32GB and 128GB. There will be a 12MP rear camera and an 8MP front snapper. Other features are said to include bottom firing speakers, USB Type-C, a fingerprint reader at the back, a 3,450mAH battery and of course Android Nougat.
You can read more about the leaks here.
Chinese manufacturer Vivo has launched its X7 and X7 Plus
The Vivo X7 will go on sale in China starting July 7 while the Vivo X7 Plus will be available starting July 15. The Vivo X7 and X7 Plus come with a lot of identical features such as unibody metal design and 16-megapixel front camera, which is also highlight of both the devices. The front cameras are also accompanied by an LED flash. The handsets also sport a fingerprint scanner, which is embedded into the physical home button, and 4GB of RAM. Under the hood, both the X7 and X7 Plus are powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 652 (MSM8976) processor clocked at 1.8GHz. and come with 64GB inbuilt storage.
More specs can be found here.
You might want to know about this
Android N is named Nougat (nu:ga)
Not-so-long-ago, Google invited its fans to suggest names for the upcoming iteration of Android OS. While Nutella and New York Cheesecake made it to the top of the list, many Indians also petitioned Sundar Pichai for Nankatai, Neyappam and so on. But, none were picked and the company went ahead with Nougat
So what does Android Nougat have to offer? Here are some of the highlights: split-screen multitasking, notifications, project Svelte – reducing RAM usage, quick settings, Android TV, Android for Work.
You can read more info about this here.
You’ll soon be able to browse Google Chrome in Virtual Reality
Google’s highly anticipated Daydream virtual reality platform is launching in the fall and all aspects have to be ready to go, especially the Chrome Browser. The beta and developer versions of Chrome for Android now support the open source WebVR standard, and there’s even mention of a VR Shell that would make any website viewable in VR. Google is also expected to release its own VR headset and controller to support Daydream in the fall. The search giant is also developing desktop Chrome support for other VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive.
More info here.
A smart fridge grows fruits and veggies in the kitchen
Everblume is a connected, refrigerator-sized box that houses a hydroponic garden. The idea is to grow fruits, veggies, and herbs right inside your kitchen. Everblume connects to an app on your smartphone, where you can select the kinds of plants you’re growing and automatically adjust their environment accordingly. If the plants aren’t doing well, the box will sense it and tweak their conditions. You also can use the app to monitor your plants’ growth.
You can read about it here.


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Birmingham-based O'Neal Steel Inc. said today it has acquired operations of TAD Metals Inc. in the Northeast, Southwest and Canada, adding six metals service centers and one sales office to its expanding network.
TAD Metals specializes in processing and distributing stainless steel and aluminum for consumer appliances, construction materials, automotive components and architectural elements. It also has developed a full line of pipe, tube and bar products.
O'Neal gets locations in Monroe Township, N.J.; Norwell, Mass.; Dallas, Houston, Laredo, and San Marcos, Texas; and Mississauga, Ontario. They will continue to operate under the name TAD Metals.
TAD's two Southeastern locations were not part of the transaction and will now be known as AP Specialty Metals.
Chairman Craft O'Neal said the deal expands "our geographical reach" while "further diversifying our product offering."
O'Neal Steel has annual sales of more than $2.3 billion and more than 75 locations in North America, Europe and Asia.


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- Commercial Support Coordinator (32-40 hours)
- Quality Assurance Manager
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- Agriculture Sales engineer France & European zone
- Area Sales Manager Benelux
- Cultivation specialist / Growers for Amerika
- Tissue Culture Lab / Operations Manager
- Area Manager South Germany
Top 5 -yesterday
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- GLOBAL MARKET OVERVIEW GARLIC
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- "We have noticed that oranges are losing ground and mandarin consumption is on the rise"
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- Vegetable trade war between Botswana and South Africa escalates
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Envy makes believers out of apple fans
The integrated Envy marketing campaign that leverages touch points inside and outside of the store will launch at Fresh Summit. “Bite and Believe” is backed by significant consumer research efforts that ascertained what people are truly looking for in a premium apple, said David Nelley, executive director of the Oppenheimer Group’s apple and pear category.
“Earlier this year we commissioned a research firm to delve into premium apple varieties,” said Nelley. “Results pinpointed what consumers across the U.S. love about premium apples and Envy in particular. As global production ramps up, the time has come to energize the look and feel of the Envy brand.”
Envy, a natural Royal Gala and Braeburn cross, is distinguished by its deep red hue, its sweetness and its natural resistance to browning when cut. While Envy is also quite popular in Asia, North America is the most mature market for the apple, Nelley said. The campaign, which has been created collaboratively between Oppy and the Envy brand owner ENZA/Turners and Growers of Auckland, New Zealand, will touch many global markets over time.
“ ‘Bite and Believe’ was inspired in part by the zealous nature of Envy fans everywhere, who have taken it upon themselves to share their discovery of Envy namely via social media,” Nelley said. “To our delight, Envy has gained a host of supporters, including produce managers, moms and apple fans who have gone out of their way to spread the word,” he continued. “We think ‘Bite and Believe’ will be very effective because it encourages trial and promises the reward of a genuine eating experience.”
‘Bite and Believe’ will reach consumers in numerous ways, including in-store signage and shipper units, billboards in key markets, outreach and contests on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, and a new website at www.envyapples.com. The clean, contemporary site is highly interactive, encouraging users to submit Envy recipes and pairing ideas, and take part in social media discussions.
“ ‘Bite and Believe’ and its supporting messages convey the confidence that we at Oppy―and our growers and customers―have in Envy apples,” Nelley said. “This is one special apple, worthy of the buzz. In my opinion, it’s the best apple to emanate from New Zealand since the Royal Gala.”
“Envy volumes are increasing but they remain limited,” Nelley said. “We encourage our customers to order early and often, as supplies will move very quickly.”
Envy is available in North America exclusively from The Oppenheimer Group. The Washington season begins in early November and continues through May, with Envy from New Zealand and Chile available June through September.
Photo 1: Washington Envy grower Mark Goer.
THE OPPENHEIMER GROUP
Tel: 206 499 7440
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Other news in this sector:
- 2022-09-28 Altaf Bukhari demands priority of passage for fruit trucks on Srinagar–Jammu National Highway
- 2022-09-28 More and more appreciation for Yunnan grapes
- 2022-09-28 Perthshire farm halts blueberry production after nearly 30 years
- 2022-09-28 US research orchards chart the future of the humble apple
- 2022-09-28 Kashmir: Apple economy hit by highway closure
- 2022-09-28 Average weighted price for peaches at €128 in week 37 of 2022
- 2022-09-28 Canadian Food Inspection Agency warns of spotted lanternfly pest nearing the border
- 2022-09-28 South African grape grower upbeat ahead of Fruit Attraction Madrid
- 2022-09-28 ASOEX Table Grape Committee presents Strategic Plan and first estimate for 2022-2023 campaign
- 2022-09-28 Australian table grape production expected to increase to 210,000 MT in MY 2022/23
- 2022-09-28 Taking stock of the Sicilian stone fruit season
- 2022-09-28 2021-2022 blueberry season was marked by many problems
- 2022-09-28 British 2022 apple season starts early due to favorable weather
- 2022-09-28 "Stable, long-term relationships are far more appealing than the spot market"
- 2022-09-28 Pear volumes down, size and quality are good
- 2022-09-27 First Brazilian melons of the season arrive at Rotterdam Port
- 2022-09-27 "It is very difficult to expand exports because the logistics are still very difficult"
- 2022-09-27 "In these tough times, the strawberry sector must find solutions"
- 2022-09-27 Complex logistics situation obstructs melon exports
- 2022-09-27 UAE and Chile analyse their exchanges of fruits


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Shop local for holiday gifts — on campus
The UIC Jazz Ensemble’s latest album, available for download, makes a great gift.
Looking to buy locally for your holiday gifts? Check out these UIC-related gifts and special discounts for holiday shoppers:
Support your local jazz band
The UIC Jazz Ensemble’s latest CD, “Walkin’ About,” is available for download online. The group’s second CD features a mix of classic works by Thad Jones and Oliver Nelson, in addition to selections from Kenny Wheeler’s “Sweet Time Suite” and an original composition by Jazz Ensemble conductor Andy Baker, director of jazz studies.
UIC’s new design
Head to the UIC Bookstore to update your wardrobe with T-shirts that feature the new campus logos and color palettes. The new identity system, created by UIC graphic design students, features two new designs: vertical text mirroring the Chicago skyline and a circular logo. Get $2 off through Dec. 17 with the coupon in the Dec. 3 UIC News, available in campus buildings.
Have a sports fan in the family? UIC Athletics is offering a two-for-one ticket deal for all home men’s basketball games. Use the code “2FOR1” online. Visit uicflames.com for a schedule of home games. Students are always free with i-card. And check out the UIC Flames store for merchandise.
Gifts from Jane
From books to jam, the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum Gift Shop has a variety of holiday gifts on sale this month. All regular-priced books are 15 percent off and seasonal, locally made jam is 25 percent off.
The Ultimate Gift Bag includes some of the museum’s most popular items for 10 to 15 percent off in a custom-made tote bag: Café Chicago’s fair trade coffee, Chicago Honey Co-Op honey, Jane Addams peace mug, seasonal jam, a copy of Jane Addams’ Twenty Years at Hull-House, Hull-House slogan pins and a poster copy of “Maps and Papers.”
Find the store on the second floor of the Residents’ Dining Hall. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.


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DETROIT, MI- A report regarding General Motors Co. losing tens of thousands of dollars on each Chevrolet Volt are “grossly wrong,” according to the company.
“Reuters’ estimate of the current loss per unit for each Volt sold is grossly wrong, in part because the reporters allocated product development costs across the number of Volts sold instead of allocating across the lifetime volume of the program, which is how business operates,” GM said in a statement. “The Reuters’ numbers become more wrong with each Volt sold.”
The Detroit-based automaker’s comments are in response to Reuters publishing an article Monday regarding GM losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it produces. The reported losses were attributed to information and estimates provided to Reuters by industry analysts and manufacturing experts.
GM did not release its cost-of-production for the extended-range vehicle, which went on sale nearly two years ago.
The Reuters article -- “Insight: GM's Volt: The ugly math of low sales, high costs” -- reports some people leasing the vehicle are just paying $5,050 to drive the vehicle, which reportedly costs as much as $89,000 to produce, for two years.
GM sold a record 2,831 Volts last month, upping the year-to-date sales to about 13,500. The sales, as previously reported, have forced GM to idle its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant more than once.
Here is the full statement from GM:
Reuters’ estimate of the current loss per unit for each Volt sold is grossly wrong, in part because the reporters allocated product development costs across the number of Volts sold instead of allocating across the lifetime volume of the program, which is how business operates. The Reuters’ numbers become more wrong with each Volt sold.
In addition, our core research into battery cells, battery packs, controls, electric motors, regenerative braking and other technologies has applications across multiple current and future products, which will help spread costs over a much higher volume, thereby reducing manufacturing and purchasing costs. This will eventually lead to profitability for the Volt and future electrified vehicles.
Every investment in technology that GM makes is designed to have a payoff for our customers, to meet future regulatory requirements and add to the bottom line. The Volt is no different, even if it takes longer to become profitable.
GM is at the forefront of the electrification of the automobile because we are developing innovative technologies and building an enthusiastic – and growing – customer base for vehicles like the Volt.
Click here to read the full Reuters article.


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MLCommons officials also added a second text-to-image generator to its MLPerf benchmarking suite based on Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion XL model.
Artificial intelligence benchmarking group MLCommons on Wednesday released a fresh set of tests and results that rate the speed at which top-of-the-line hardware can run AI applications and respond to users.
The two new benchmarks added by MLCommons measure the speed at which the AI chips and systems can generate responses from the powerful AI models packed with data. The results roughly demonstrate to how quickly an AI application such as ChatGPT can deliver a response to a user query.
One of the new benchmarks added the capability to measure the speediness of a question-and-answer scenario for large language models. Called Llama 2, it includes 70 billion parameters and was developed by Meta Platforms.
MLCommons officials also added a second text-to-image generator to the suite of benchmarking tools, called MLPerf, based on Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion XL model.
Servers powered by Nvidia’s H100 chips built by the likes of Alphabet’s Google, Supermicro and Nvidia itself handily won both new benchmarks on raw performance. Several server builders submitted designs based on the company’s less powerful L40S chip.
Server builder Krai submitted a design for the image generation benchmark with a Qualcomm AI chip that draws significant less power than Nvidia’s cutting edge processors.
Intel also submitted a design based on its Gaudi2 accelerator chips. The company described the results as “solid.”
Raw performance is not the only measure that is critical when deploying AI applications. Advanced AI chips suck up enormous amounts of energy and one of the most significant challenges for AI companies is deploying chip that deliver an optimal amount of performance for a minimal amount of energy.
MLCommons has a separate benchmark category for measuring power consumption.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
- Stability AI Unveils Stable Video 3D Model for 3D Video Rendering
- Nvidia’s New Platform Will Utilise Generative AI to Power Humanoid Robots
- Nvidia Unveils Flagship AI Chip, the B200, Aiming to Extend Dominance
Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company’s new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Gus and Inez Bodur, who have held the trademark for their sportswear company since 2001, were challenged by French press group Intra Presse, who are behind the Ballon D'Or, the European Footballer of the Year award. The press group accused the couple of "cashing in" on their trophy.
A two-year battle ensued, with the Bodurs, both 47, defending their right to the name. They registered the trademark Golden Balls months before Victoria Beckham said it was her nickname for footballer husband David.
"The Beckhams have never complained and we've often sent them merchandise from our range — and have always made it clear that we are not linked to them," Inez Bodur said.
"We chose the name because we wanted something cheeky, and my husband Gus, also a good footballer, is the original Golden Balls'— it's his initials."
By 2002, the couple were selling Golden Balls sportswear over the internet and the brand was successful almost immediately.
"We saw Gwyneth Paltrow wearing Golden Balls merchandise when travelling to the Donmar theatre, singers Kelli Young and Michelle Heaton from Liberty X wearing our clothes, and our internet sales were on the rise," Mrs Bodur said.
They opened a shop in West End Lane in West Hampstead.
"One of our first customers said she would love to mention the shop in her magazine, and explained that she was Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue," Mrs Bodur said. "We never got a mention but appreciated the compliment."
In October 2007, Golden Balls licensed their name to Endemol UK Plc for the game show Golden Balls hosted by Jasper Carrott on ITV1.
Two months later, the couple — who have two children, Chloe, 12, and Oliver, four — received a letter from Intra Presse, owned by the Amaury Sport Organisation and French company EPA, which also owns and runs the Tour de France, accusing them of "cashing in" on the Ballon D'Or award and demanding they cease trading. Now the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market has rejected the complaint "in its entirety". But the couple claim to have spent more than £100,000 in legal fees and had to close their West Hampstead shop in March.
"We feel relieved, but the battle has cost so much and has held our business back. We are still selling over the internet, but we would have had a new range for the World Cup and for Wimbledon, and haven't been able to because of the cost," Mrs Bodur said.
The legal documents rule that the plaintiff should pay costs. Lawyer Marianne Laborde said that Intra Presse, which has two months to appeal, had no comment.Reuse content


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- Waymo, a Google-affiliated self-driving car company, announced this week it is expanding its Waymo Driver technology to Class 8 trucks and last-mile delivery vehicles in the coming years.
- "We're working closely with the ecosystem — shippers, truck makers, and Tier One suppliers — to ensure a successful deployment," Waymo CEO John Krafcik said this week in remarks at the International Automobile Exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany.
- Krafcik also said automated trucking technology would help fill a "pressing need for more drivers in many parts of the world" referencing the nationwide driver shortage often cited by the industry.
Waymo piloted its driverless truck technology for the first time earlier this year with Class 8 trucks running freight to and from a Google data center in Atlanta. While the trucks are using local highways, a licensed driver was always required to be in the cab. Waymo has not given details of an exact launch date or the names of firms it is partnering with for the pilot outside of Google Logistics.
Driverless trucks have been hailed as a solution to the growing driver shortage in the industry in recent years. While the technology is still in its emergent stages, and legal requirements mandate a driver remain present in the vehicle at all times, more and bigger players have been entering the market touting the lower costs and higher efficiency levels to be gained by turning over the keys to a robotic driver.
Amazon has also been an early adopter of autonomous trucks, partnering with the firm Embark to run freight across U.S. highways recently.
Also in 2019, Volvo announced its own autonomous trucking base that eliminates the driver cab entirely. The vehicles are currently being piloted to deliver freight in and around ports in Sweden.
To date, Waymo has focused on testing its driverless technology on modified, and custom-built, compact cars and vans from Lexus, Jaguar, Toyota and other automakers. These "robotaxis" have thus far been integrated into Waymo's fully autonomous ride-share pilots in Phoenix, Arizona. However, Krafcik told audiences in Frankfurt that branching out into delivery is the next big move for the company.


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In an industry that is constantly striving for the solution to all supply chain problems, it stands to reason that the best solution is right around the corner. But is it? Software companies abound that claim to offer the answer to supply chain woes. If only there were a place to put a multitude of software to the test live to see if it fits the bill.
As it turns out, there is. A major attraction of FreightWaves’ The Future of Supply Chain live event in Northwest Arkansas on May 9-10 will be the seven-minute live demos. Here’s a preview of one of those demos.
Ninety percent of the world’s freight travels in standardized sea shipping containers, intermodal freight. During the port congestion crisis last year, containers were piled up and waiting on chassis to be unloaded. What about moving these containers from one place to another fast, safely and easily without any additional equipment?
Demo Product: QuickLoadz
What it does: QuickLoadz allows any container to be moved anywhere without need for additional infrastructure such as loading docks, warehouses and cranes. They use automated trailers controlled from a smartphone that can pick up or deliver a shipping container anywhere.
Who needs it most: 3PLs, brokers, shippers, asset-based carriers and logistics service providers.
QuickLoadz is the last piece to create the new world of freight: a world where distribution centers can expand or contract where needed and the autonomous truck can work with QuickLoadz to deliver entire container loads of freight in three minutes without anyone touching the load.
Farmers can eliminate grain trailers and grain elevators and go straight from field to international shipping. Every small manufacturer or retail store can suddenly have dynamic containerized warehouses at one-tenth the cost. Parking lots become distribution centers. Massive infrastructure for transloading and storage are no longer needed. Logistics takes a giant leap forward in cost reduction and efficiency.


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Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI) – the exclusive manufacturer of PepsiCo beverage products – recently reported a six percent reduction in its 2020 water usage, compared with previous year. The company saved 5,836,587 cubic meters of water which is more than 2,300 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Dinna is a seamstress and barangay seller in Barangay Pasong Putik, Novaliches, Quezon City. Together with her husband who is also a retired tailor, they run a small business that provides a variety of tailoring services in their neighborhood. She would also sell products and press clothes for neighbors to earn extra aside from tailoring.
For real estate leader SM Development Corporation (SMDC), it is not just the infrastructure that serves as a dwelling place for a group of residents. It is about creating a community where people co-exist in a home that allows them to live their best lives – healthily, happily, fruitfully, securely. The essence of community building, after all, lies in its impact on the lives of its people.
Calming sceneries of blue waters and the affluent lifestyle associated with waterfront properties often make living in such areas even more glamorous and appealing.
Samsung Digital Appliances introduces its latest Air Conditioner line-up: the Window-Type Inverter Air Conditioner, WindFree™ Plus with Air Purifier PM1.0, and WindFree™ 4Way Cassette with Air Purifying Panel. Designed to improve and maintain indoor air quality, these new air conditioning appliances offer timely and highly relevant technologies that can transform home or commercial spaces into cooler and safer spaces efficiently.
Last February 24, Go Shopping Philippines together with select partner brands revealed what the Mega-app has in store for consumers and tenants at its Merchants’ Preview. Sharing the vision of closing the gap to bring convenience for shoppers through quality service and original products, Go Shopping Philippines CEO Neil G. La-as and Jay Lorenz Hides Liles, Managing Director of GEP Solutions showcased the infrastructure of Asia’s First Filipino-owned Digital Mall.
To celebrate women, women’s month and new beginnings, Vine Holistic Medical Aesthetics launched its new logo and campaign tagged “Beauty Speaks.”
Surprising discounts up to 57% await you at XTREME Appliances as they participate in Lazada’s 9th Birthday Blowout and Shopee’s Mega Free Shipping Sale on March 27! Time to gear up your home with appliances from your one-stop-shop appliances brand by looking for enticing products and adding them into your cart days prior to the big sale event!
Recently-launched Stitch Tech Solutions believes that with cloud computing, businesses of any scale can continue operating even amid the pandemic and even as natural disasters strike.
Several centuries have passed and the mushroom, even up to this day, have become a staple ingredient not just in food but also for treatment due to its renowned medicinal benefits, especially in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
There were many mushroom varieties that have sprouted, and claims about its wondrous benefits have become legendary. However, it was only probably in the 1970s that mushrooms’ properties were studied up close. Animal testing saw success in slowing down cancer cell growth and improve mortality, but the real test was when it involved humans.


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New franchise opportunity
Ableworld, one of the UK’s leading Mobility and Homecare retailers, is looking to award a limited number of Franchises for its successful Retail and Stairlift Businesses.
There are unstoppable demographic, economic and political forces driving the Mobility and Homecare industry forward. Just one example is that, according to government statistics, in 10 years time over 25% of people will be over 65 and the figures for those over 80 and 90 are even more striking. Ableworld’s products and services are designed to capitalise on this growing market and you can capitalise too, as an Ableworld Franchisee.
FRANCHISEES WILL GET:
- Two integrated businesses for one price
- The opportunity of earning up to £95,000 p.a. by Year 3
- Use of the Ableworld ™ brand in an exclusive territory
- A first class training and support programme
- And much more ...
FRANCHISEES WILL NEED:
- Drive, energy and enthusiasm
- A customer service mentality
- A passion for helping people
- The desire to want to run their own business in a growing market
Up to 70 per cent finance available


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Here's Why Sears Holdings Finally Admitted the End May Be Near
"Always look on the bright side of life" and "stay optimistic" make for nice T-shirt or greeting card sentiments, but the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rules that prevent public companies from letting optimism cloud their financial reporting.
It was because of those regulations that Sears Holdings(NASDAQ: SHLD), the parent company of Sears and Kmart, had to make what's known as a "going concern" disclosure in its recent annual report. That's an official statement that the company believes it may not survive the coming year.
Public companies report results based on standards adopted by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The FASB, a private organization, does not make rules or laws. The SEC, however, has the right to establish financial reporting standards and it has chosen to designate the ones created by the FASB as de facto law. According to PwC, a going concern [opens in PDF] disclosure must be made by a public company "when conditions give rise to substantial doubt about a company's ability to continue as a going concern within one year from the financial statement issuance date."
Sears, which had delivered an optimistic report on its revival efforts in mid-February, has seen its financial situation deteriorate to the point it had to issue what amounts to an official warning it may run out of money. In that March 21 SEC filing, the company acknowledged that its "historical operating results indicate substantial doubt exists related to the company's ability to continue as a going concern." While expressing optimism that the plans it has in the works could provide the money it needs, the chain also acknowledged that if it continues to experience operating losses (and there are very few reasons to expect it won't) and it can't sell off or leverage assets as planned, that it may not be able to secure funds needed to operate.
It's important to note that issuing a going concern notice does not guarantee a company will go out of business. Sears Holdings does have assets and real estate that could potentially generate the billions it needs to fund its losses and transformation, but this disclosure admits something Sears would rather not have to say publicly -- that its plans may not work and they are fairly tenuous in the first place.
Sears has admitted it may run out of cash. Image source: Sears.
Why keep bad news quiet?
In general, struggling companies want to keep the extent of their problems quiet. If it's well known that a chain may not survive, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. People may stop shopping there either because they are wary about being able to return merchandise or because they assume they will soon get better prices at a going-out-of-business sale. Shoppers may also stop buying gift cards, which essentially takes an interest-free loan away from the retailer.
The most serious consequence of having to publicly admit a retail chain may not survive is that vendors may no longer offer credit or favorable payment terms because they believe they won't get paid in full if the company goes bankrupt. When that happens, a retailer must pay up front for any goods or merchandise it receives. That can be a death blow, especially heading into the fourth quarter, where chains stock up on merchandise with the anticipation of paying for it by selling it during the busy holiday season.
What's next for Sears Holdings?
The chain and its CEO, Eddie Lampert, have gone to great pains to convince shareholders, vendors, and consumers that it has a viable plan to turn its business around. The company has over $13 billion in short- and long-term liabilities and it lost $607 million in 2016. That's up from $580 million the year before. In addition, Sears Holdings stores had a 10.3% drop in comparable-store sales in 2016 while overall revenue dropped by $1.2 billion.
Lampert, in the company's February update on "the next phase of its strategic transformation," made every effort to make it seem like good things were happening. In some ways, even though the company saw its share price jump after the report was released, the CEO's statement was a bit like talking about how nice your lawn looks while your house is burning down behind you.
"We significantly improved our operating performance and made progress toward profitability in the fourth quarter of 2016," he said. "In the first several weeks of 2017, we undertook a series of transactions to optimize our capital structure and unlock value across our wide range of assets. We also reached an agreement to amend our asset-based credit facility which further enhances our liquidity and financial flexibility."
That's certainly the glass half-full view while the going concern statement offers the glass half-empty view. Sears is not dead yet, but it's really sick and there are strong signs it may not pull through.
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David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Sears Holdings wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
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Daniel Kline has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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We’re back with another episode of In Check with Fintech!
This week we talk to Peter de Caluwe, CEO of Thunes, about the impact of COVID-19 and the global pandemic on cross border payments.
April 28, 2021
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