text:
This installment of Insights is brought to you by Tipalti.
Hollywood has been transfixed by the pell-mell rush into online streaming-video services from both traditional media and big tech companies. But all of a sudden, we’re getting the same kind of rush with streaming game services too.
These services promise endless access to lots of games. Indeed, many are described as “Netflix for games.” I’m not sure the acronym SGOD (as in Subscription Gaming On Demand) will catch on, but they promise we’ll be able to play those games across multiple devices, as much as we want, anywhere we are. And because of new high-speed technologies, we’ll be able to play even the most technically demanding titles on fairly pedestrian devices.
Subscribe for daily Tubefilter Top Stories
This land rush, like the one for video, will surely lead to some big winners and some big busts over the next three to five years. As both video and game services emerge from the same companies, I would expect to see them bundled together, to keep customers inside a particular ecosystem.
I also expect we’ll see some of the smarter companies try to differentiate their services with a compelling social overlay. Cloud-based services that make it easy for communities to connect and talk while playing games are more likely to attract and keep subscribers.
Fortnite As Inspiration
Fortnite is the big inspiration here. Its standalone success as a social connector for its 250 million users (and prominence on Twitch as the most-streamed title) show what’s possible when a company gets it right.
In turn, influencers may get to stake out a new audience in these relatively wide-open new frontiers. Just think what happened to Ninja’s career when he climbed on Fortnite‘s battle bus and rode it to million-dollar-a-month success.
To make that happen, though, the cloud services must figure out how to connect personalities and play patterns in ways that will keep people coming back.
There’s plenty of incentive to figure it out. NewZoo estimates that games on all platforms last year grossed $134 billion worldwide, more than half of all money spent on entertainment. Mobile gaming garnered about half that total, but really, people are playing games in many ways.
They increasingly are enjoying esports, watching other people live-stream games, and playing alongside groups of friends. They’re talking in the Fortnite lobby, a Twitch chat, a Destiny 2 or Counter Strike team, or through Discord. And the new augmented-/virtual-reality games coming down the pike are only going to increase the potential for game-like experiences that are more immersive, social and connected.
Amid all this, lots of companies are jumping in. Last week’s mammoth E3 game conference was the occasion for many announcements, making clear how crowded this space will soon be.
A Stadium’s Worth Of Competitors
The biggest announcement probably was Google’s Stadia, though the announcement itself was poorly received by many in the notoriously exacting gamer cognoscenti.
The most surprising announcement was the agreement between archrivals Microsoft and Sony to partner on streaming services built on Microsoft’s Azure. For all its crossing of matter and anti-matter, the deal was much better received by those same (now puzzled) cognoscenti.
Sony and Microsoft also announced coming successors to their PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles that will surely revolve around the new game- and video-streaming services (Microsoft hasn’t even waited for the next generation, recently releasing a digital-only variant of its current Xbox).
Verizon is building a cloud-based game service to leverage its massive investment in super-fast, super-responsive 5G mobile technologies. We can only hope it goes better than Go90.
Given Verizon’s initiative, I wouldn’t be surprised to see something from archrival AT&T.It too is spending tens of billions of dollars building a 5G network, and also owns WarnerMedia, which is launching a streaming-video service next year.
Could a Warner game service through the WB Games subsidiary also be coming? It could build on foundational properties such as the brilliant Batman series Arkham Asylum and what will certainly be an endless fountain of Harry Potter titles. AT&T surely is going to want more ways to get people to use its 5G service, and more reasons to pay for subscription content.
Amazon has Twitch, the epicenter of live-streamed gaming video, and also runs AWS, the immense cloud service powering a significant chunk of the Internet. Amazon is also developing several ambitious games, though just as E3 closed, word came that it had killed some titles and is laying off dozens of people.
Drop A Dime In Apple’s Arcade?
Earlier this spring, Apple announced its cross-platform Arcade subscription service, now pushed to a fall debut. As an Apple user whose gamer-geek impulses have never been well served on the Mac, I’m looking forward to playing purpose-built new titles from great developers that will run across my Mac, iPad, and iPhone.
Comcast, with a streaming-video service coming from its NBCUniversal unit, already is a big investor in esports, recently announcing a $50 million stadium in hometown Philadelphia for its Overwatch franchise.
Even game publishers are, um, getting into the game. Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, and maybe Activision Blizzard are all bringing services. Riot Games is building out a service that sits atop its sole commercial property, the hugely popular League of Legends. Valve’s Steam service, a long-time part of this world, continues to evolve too.
And if that isn’t complicating enough, the company that inspired the idea of creating a “Netflix for games” is increasingly …getting into games. Netflix needs to expand its revenue base beyond video subscriptions. Can a full-fledged service with games inspired by titles such as Stranger Things, Bird Box, and Altered Carbon be that far behind?
And Snap, reviving from last year’s awful funk, already has launched multiplayer games wired into its main service. Given Snap’s creative (if not financial) track record, the potential here for clever augmented-reality games with friends is huge.
The Missing Mouse
Disney has a lengthy, not always positive history with gaming. But creating a cloud-based service seems inevitable, especially given Disney’s existing interactive unit and game assets like its Kingdom Hearts collaboration with Square Enix, its Star Wars and Marvel universes that already have spawned dozens of games, and half a hundred other storied franchises.
Lots of technology is arriving in the next couple of years to power all this. Those 5G mobile networks will be crazy fast, with extremely low latency, which means when you do something in a multiplayer game, it reacts in a couple of milliseconds.
At E3, the cable TV industry was showing off its 10G initiative, which will be even faster (10G stands for 10-gigabyte data streams; the average American household these days has something like a 50-megabyte connection). The downside, of course, is that 10G requires an actual physical line into your home. Its extraordinary potential speed still can’t provide 5G’s mobility and flexibility.
Winning the race for a gaming subscription service amid all this competition won’t be easy, but it’s clearly where a lot of companies want to go. As Deloitte Digital detailed in a recent report, more Millennials now pay for a videogame service (53%) than a Pay TV subscription (51%). That’s a net shift of 10 points difference between the two in just a year.
And it suggests why this gold rush, even more than the one in video, is happening now. We just have to figure out who the winners and losers will be, and who can else can take advantage of the new opportunities these services will create.
This installment of Insights is brought to you by Tipalti, automating creator payments for the video industry.


text:
Microsoft has released a surprise announcement that it is completely shutting down Project Spark, its free sandbox game creation game for Xbox One and Windows. The game has already been pulled from the Xbox Marketplace and Windows Store, and its online functionality will be completely shut down by August 12.
Community Manager Thomas Gratz explained on the Project Spark forums that the team made the decision to shutter the game largely because there were no longer enough people or resources to keep Project Spark maintained. According to Gratz, the reduction in staff working directly on the game occurred around the same time that it became free-to-play last year.
“This was an extremely difficult decision for our team that we do not take lightly,” Gratz said. “When Project Spark transitioned away from active development last fall, many of our team members moved to other projects within Microsoft Studios. While this means there have been no layoffs at Microsoft, it also means it’s simply no longer feasible to continue the behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping Project Spark up and running with meaningful updates and bug fixes, so we have come to this hard decision.”
“Despite this news, we want to celebrate the accomplishments of our team and community of creators and players. Our team released 46 content packs, thousands of assets and 16 updates since launch (averaging more than one update every two months). We produced hundreds of livestreams and videos to educate and celebrate our community. In turn, our passionate fans have then gone above and beyond supporting Project Spark by uploading hundreds of thousands of creations and dreaming up millions of objects, behaviors, and experiences. Outside the game, they created fan sites, tutorials, forums, apps, and more! We thank everyone who has played or created anything within Project Spark, as it would have never existed without you.”
Gratz said that players who had already purchased a retail “Project Spark Starter Kit” will receive a full credit to their Microsoft account, and users who purchased Project Spark between October 5, 2015 and today will receive a credit that can be used to purchase content through the Xbox Marketplace or Windows Store.

domain: news


text:
A few months back, Xiaomi surprised everyone by unveiling a super cheap camera called as the Xiaomi Yi Camera. The device was aimed to compete with the likes of GoPros, but at a much cheaper price tag.
Now, the company has released a brand new edition of the Xiaomi Yi Camera, called as the Night Vision Edition. The new camera will be capable of taking clear pictures even at night thanks to its 940mm infrared camera sensor. The device will not flash any light while taking pictures which means others won’t be disturbed by the camera.
As for the design, the company decided to go with the exact same body as the Yi camera, so there are hardly any differences between the two. Only the infrared sensor is an addition, and you can get this edition for just 149 Yuan ($25). This is the same as the launch price of the Yi Camera. As for the regular Xiaomi Yi Camera, it is now available for just 129 Yuan ($21). But its actually hard to get hold of the device at this price because the device is in short supply.
The Xiaomi Yi Camera Night Vision Edition will go on sale from June 4 via the company’s official store.


text:
The Year in Rearview
The pandemic has dominated our lives and the news since March, but believe it or not, other stuff has happened, too, so I thought I’d go back through the year to remind you of what else took place in 2020 (with a bit of COVID news thrown in because it’s unavoidable).
January. I attended what turned out to be my only two live shows of the year, TPIE in Florida and IPM Essen in Germany, where it was obvious that houseplants continue to be on trend with consumers (who had no idea they were about to be locked in their homes). Aroids were the “it” plant of 2020, and at TPIE, a food-truck-turned-plant-truck by the new business Aroid Greenhouses caught everyone’s attention. At IPM, I saw a lettuce plant vending machine, sweaters on amaryllis bulbs and I helped name Dutch young plant grower Anthura the International Grower of the Year. Also in January, the MANTS show turned 50, Beacon Impatiens made an appearance at the GRAMMYs and Katie Dubow took over Garden Media Group from her mom, Suzi McCoy, who started the business in 1987.
February. Bad news about changes to the International Energy Conservation Code that will probably impact any new greenhouse construction. It will require greenhouses to meet the same sort of energy requirements as a home or office, with roof glazing now being equated to skylights and side glazing equating to windows.
March. On March 10, with pandemic news coming out of China and Italy, I wrote the headline, “Coronavirus: good for gardening.” I said, “I do see a silver lining that we should all keep in mind: Less travel = staycations = gardening, decorating and growing food!” I’m glad I was right.
April. The first of my Spring Sales Surveys came in and indications were that Spring was going to be good. Wrote Alex Van Der Hengst of South Central Growers in Tennessee, “Was it the biggest weekend we’ve ever had? Nope. However, for this time of the year and the uncertainty that is currently going around, sales were absolutely phenomenal.” His cousin Abe at Metrolina gave us our first glimpse of the veggie boom, writing, “Veggie/Herb sales 4X that of regular COMP (if sale were up 20%,
veggie/herbs were up 80%).”
May. I was saddened to report the sudden passing of my friend Sonny Hummert at the age of 78 (but he always seemed about 60). Who in horticulture hasn’t poured over the pages of the fat Hummert International catalog? Mean-while, garden centers were reporting record-breaking sales.
June. Syngenta named Mark Schermer as global head of Syngenta Flowers. Costa Farms continued to grow, acquiring the facilities of Florida’s DeLeon’s Bromeliads, one of the largest growers of bromeliads and orchids in the country. And Gary Falkenstein, a veteran of Ball, Fischer, Syngenta and ePlantsource, an online brokerage he’d launched, passed away at the age of 75.
July. After 30 years of service, the California Cut Flower Commission is no more after the state’s cut flower growers voted to suspend operations. But the commission will be replaced by Certified American Grown—the first new flower trade association since AmericanHort was formed by the merger of ANLA and OFA.
August. Ball Publishing celebrated the 1,000th issue of GrowerTalks (the first was May 1937), but we mourned the passing of garden center industry icon Ernest Wertheim, who had celebrated his 100th birthday the previous December. Ernest had been designing gardens and garden centers since 1940!
September. I reported that a New Zealand plant enthusiast paid NZ $8,150 (US $5,398) for a four-leafed Rhaphidophora tetrasperma, one of the split-leaf types of aroids.
October. Alas, more passings: Dave “Dr. K” Koranski and George Lucht. Plus, the closing of Grimes Seed after 95 years in business.
November. We learned that garden mum sales had been as strong as spring bedding plant sales—even though my River Ridge neighbors didn’t buy any more of them than usual (they went for pumpkins instead). And we got word of a new executive position at Ball: President of Ball Horticultural Company, the umbrella corporation over Ball Seed, PanAmerican Seed, et al. Al Davidson took the spot.
December. Well, you’re living it now, whereas I’m writing this in mid-November, so I don’t know what news December will bring. A closure to the election, I hope, and good news about a COVID vaccine (for which I will get in line now, in a lawn chair like awaiting a new iPhone, if it will let me get back to visiting greenhouses again). GT


text:
Germany seeks to increase trade and business opportunities with Mexico, but it is necessary to reduce technical barriers between the two nations, said German businessmen. The general director of Hannover Fairs Mexico, Bernd Rohde, said that the European country wants to strengthen trade relations with Mexico and, therefore, will come in October to officials from the German Ministry of Economy and the German Industry Association.
He said that the Industrial Transformation Mexico (ITM) fair and the annual meetings of the German Mexican Working Group on Quality Infrastructure and Industrialists (RAI) of the Concamin will take place that month. In these spaces will meet experts and representatives of the private sector of both nations, to adopt a work plan towards greater cooperation in quality infrastructure and thus contribute to reducing technical barriers to bilateral trade, he said.
It is estimated that 69 percent of German companies installed in the country, almost two thousand, will maintain or increase their investments this year, thus Germany remains Mexico's first trading partner in the European Union. According to a survey by the German-Mexican Chamber of Commerce (Camexa) conducted at the end of April, 36 percent of member companies announced that they will increase their investments in Mexico this year, 33 percent will maintain them the same as in 2018 and 31 percent will reduce them.
Trade between the two countries reached a volume of 21.7 billion euros in 2018. Germany exported 13.9 billion euros to Mexico, an increase of 7.7 percent, and Mexico sent 7.8 billion euros to that nation, 4.7 percent more than the previous year.
About the fair, Bernd Rohde commented that it will be the first edition of the Hannover Messe in Latin America and this is a reflection of the country's boom in terms of industrial transformation and the innovation environment that live in various regions of Mexico.
The choice of the city of Leon, Guanajuato, as the venue for the first edition is due to the productivity and industrial platform that has the state and the Bajio region, as they meet all that is necessary to be a leader in industrial transformation. In 2018, Mexico was invited by Hannover Messe and became the first Spanish-speaking nation to achieve this distinction. In that year, 172 Mexican exhibiting companies and a national delegation of more than 1,500 people participated.


text:
Brexit To Leave Most Of European Pharma Outside EU
The British decision on June 23 to leave the EU stands to put the bulk of the European pharmaceutical industry outside the European Union.
Five of the top six European pharmaceutical companies will be domiciled outside the European Union following "Brexit". Unless they redomicile following Britain's vote to leave the EU, the fourth and fifth biggest European companies by drug sales, AstraZeneca PLC and GlaxoSmithKline PLC, will join Swiss firms Novartis AG and Roche, and Israeli generics company, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., outside the world's largest trading bloc (Figure 1) once the UK has withdrawn.
Pharma Sales Of EU In & Outs
Four of the top five R&D spenders in Europe are also outside the EU (Figure 2).
Overall, around 60% of drug sales, 63 % of R&D spending and nearly 70% of the net profits in 2015 across the top 20 companies in Europe are associated with companies that will be domiciled outside the EU following the UK's withdrawal (Figure 3).
Ex-EU profits are boosted by the returns from Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, both of which recorded gains from divestments including sales of the divisions the two companies "swapped" in April 2015. Novartis logged $10.7bn in additional profit largely associated with the sales of its vaccine division to GSK, incorporation of its consumer health division into the joint venture with GSK, and the sales of its animal health division to Eli Lilly & Co. GSK's profits were around $8bn up on 2014, an increase largely due to $15bn worth of divestments, including the sale of its oncology division to Novartis.


text:
Before the holidays, Chipotle had an E.coli outbreak along the West Coast and random locations in the Northeast that had people very concerned.
E. coli caused severe illness for 50 patrons in 11 states. When another minor outbreak of E. coli broke out in mid-December, affecting five people in three states, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) got involved.
This week, they ended that involvement.
After a month-long investigation that caused slight panic in burritos and stocks to plummet $250 (a piece), the U.S. Government finally has provided its findings. And in typical governmental fashion — they didn’t find a damn thing.
The CDC advised that both outbreaks “appear to be over,” and shared that its investigators weren’t able to figure out what ingredients caused them. Of course, they would like us all to know that “It can be difficult to determine the source of an outbreak when a restaurant serves or cooks multiple ingredients together.”
So, can we go back to eating non-GMO burritos?
“We are pleased that the CDC has concluded its investigation, and we have offered our full cooperation throughout,” said spokesman Chris Arnold. “Over the past few months we have taken significant steps to improve the safety of all of the food we serve, and we are confident that the changes we have made mean that every item on our menu is delicious and safe.”
Guess so. Thanks Obama… or whoever is to blame for our tax dollars at waste this time.
[PHOTO: AP Photo/Steven Senne; SOURCE: USA Today]


text:
A South Yorkshire surplus food firm is creating 30 jobs and switching to 24-hour operation to keep pace with demand.
Company Shop is hiring 30 retail and operative staff and has stepped up parts of its operation to run 24/7 at its headquarters in Tankersley, Barnsley.
The firm, launched by John Marren 40 years ago, now employs more than 500 and claims to be the UK’s largest food redistributor.
It also has warehouses in Corby, Grimsby and Middleton in Manchester, which have shops attached.
The firm buys in more than 30,000 tonnes of surplus stock from big-name manufacturers and stores – under a strict set of contracts – including Tesco every year.
Items become surplus for a host of reasons including a misprinted label, or updated designs – but all are within date.
They are sold at up to 70 per cent less than shop prices to 17,000 members who either work in the food industry – through 18 on-site shops – the NHS or the emergency services.
Tom Rumboll, commercial director, Company Shop said: “We are very excited to be continuing to expand our operation at our headquarters in Tankersley, opening up new employment opportunities for the local community.
“With extra colleagues on board we can stop more good food from going to waste and provide a boost for our local economy.
“I urge anyone who is interested in retail roles across varied shift patterns to get in touch with our recruitment team.”
The firm also runs two local Community Shops – in Goldthorpe, Barnsley and Lambeth – which are social enterprises and only sell to local people on income support.
The group champions a profit-with-purpose model, aiming to deliver social, environmental and economic value to members, colleagues and clients.
The firm turns over £31 million and is growing at more than 50 per cent a year annually.
It won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise this year – the highest honour for a UK business.
It was also a finalist in the Guardian Sustainable Business Awards.


text:
The Future: PropTech conference takes place in under a fortnight’s time on May 2 and over 1,200 delegates have now been confirmed, coming from over 31 countries and with 596 different companies being represented.
This makes it the largest event of its kind held in the UK.
It’s now been revealed that the ‘Innovation Stage’ will host over 20 new start-ups, giving attendees the chance to dive into technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and robotics.
New speakers just confirmed include Guy Grainger, the chief executive of JLL and Dan Batterton from the Build To Rent division of Legal & General.
This is in addition to the likely-to-be-packed-out Modernising Your Agency session in the afternoon.
This involves Lee Wainwright (Purplebricks’ UK chief executive) and Anthony Codling (equity analyst at Jefferies International and the author of a report on the sales record of Purplebricks and other online agencies).
Long-awaited PropTech operators The Depositary and BestAgent are officially launching at the event, and there will be a host of new products on display.
The organisers say they have a mission to ensure that women are balancing the PropTech gender divide, so have over 13 of the top female thought-leaders in the sector speaking throughout the event.
Angels Media, publisher of Estate Agent Today and Letting Agent Today, is one of the media sponsors and there’s a special offer for our readers: when you register you can get 20 per cent off by entering the code EAT2018.
You can find our more details and get those tickets here.


text:
The Petco Foundation announced today that all funds raised during its All For Saving Lives campaign in Petco stores and online through September 10 will directly support animal welfare organizations in the south Texas and Louisiana region.
Located in San Antonio, Texas, the Petco Foundation began reaching out to south Texas and Louisiana animal welfare organizations ahead of Hurricane Harvey to proactively provide supplies and support as organizations prepared to evacuate pets and take in displaced animals. As of Wednesday, organizations throughout southern Texas, including Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio and Austin, as well as those in impacted areas of Louisiana, have received supplies and/or pledges of grant funding to support their Hurricane Harvey response and recovery efforts.
“The impact of this devastation is beyond anything that we could have imagined. Today’s focus is on doing everything we can to help save animal lives, and our efforts in the months ahead will be to support the recovery and rebuilding efforts,” said Susanne Kogut, Petco Foundation executive director. “After the Baton Rouge flooding just about a year ago, we provided more than $500,000 of support. We know the Harvey recovery will require millions based on the massive scope of organizations and animals impacted by this storm and we’re committed to doing all we can over the long haul.”
The All for Saving Lives campaign, which launched on August 19, celebrates the life-changing impact of pets.
Individuals can join the Petco Foundation in supporting Texas and Louisiana by donating in a Petco or Unleashed by Petco store locations or online now through September 10.
To learn more about the Petco Foundation and its Hurricane Harvey response, visit www.petcofoundation.org/hurricaneharvey.


text:
Commission Midday Express, 21 December 2010
Products imported into the European Union from third countries are safe thanks to a well-functioning controls' system, a European Commission report concludes. The report to the European Parliament and the Council on the effectiveness and consistency of sanitary and phytosanitary controls on imports of food, feed, animals and plants demonstrates that, despite an ever-changing global environment and an ever-increasing demand for certain food products on the part of both consumers and businesses, the EU has an effective system in place that ensures consistent import controls across the 27 Member States.
The report, however, also acknowledges that the system is based on individual approaches to specific food and feed sectors. This can occasionally pose difficulties to Member-State authorities and businesses operating within the confines of these controls. The wide range of legislation in place and the complexity of the controls can sometimes contribute to a lack of coherence, particularly when it comes to implementation.
The report, which was published today, concludes that a more holistic approach would serve to strengthen the efficiency of the EU's imports control regime. The Commission is currently reviewing and consolidating its imports provisions for food, feed and animals and plants to achieve a more integrated approach. It aims to present its proposals to the Parliament and Council during the course of 2012. A more holistic approach will serve to reinforce the risk-based nature of the EU's import regime, ensure the optimal allocation of resources and promote the EU regulatory model further.
Today's document comes in reply to an invitation by the Council to submit a report on the issue by the end of 2010.
A copy of the report is available on this site. See:


text:
Mark your calendars! Columbia Basin Trust is partnering with FestivalSeekers to host the #BuyBasin Festival on Facebook this spring, featuring up to 100 businesses across the Columbia Basin will showcase a diverse range of products and services available locally.
“The #BuyBasin Festival is a new initiative for the Trust that will benefit both businesses and consumers,” said Tim O’Doherty, Director, Investments & Economic Development at Columbia Basin Trust. “This Festival will provide businesses with one-on-one training on promoting their business on Facebook and introduce people living in the Basin to the diverse range of products and services available locally.”
Last fall, the Trust supported the communities of Ɂaq̓am/Cranbrook/Kimberley with a similar initiative
(#LiveLocalYXC Festival) that resulted in increased exposure and sales for local businesses. The Trust is now taking the initiative Basin-wide.
“We saw a great increase in our social media following and inquiries to the business. Prior to the festival, we would see maybe three inquiries a week through Facebook and immediately following the event there were probably 100 inquiries in Facebook alone, and new inquiries now coming in daily,” said Kimberley’s Sinclair Catering founder, Patrick Sinclair. “For those considering joining the #BuyBasin Festival, sign up today; I am confident this experience will be another success.”
Local entrepreneurs and businesses will be going LIVE on Facebook during the #BuyBasin Festival this spring with expert tips, giveaways, demos, live music and all kinds of behind-the-scenes fun. This is your chance to virtually explore businesses in communities like Trail, Rossland, Golden, Revelstoke, Valemount, Slocan, Lower Columbia, Nelson, Castlegar, Cranbrook, Kimberley, Elk Valley and more.
Expect a new lineup of LIVE videos every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from March 23 – April 30.
Tune in often! You can catch all the LIVE Facebook broadcasts on the @BasinBusinessAdvisors or @FestivalSeekers pages as well as the Facebook event page.


text:
Prediction: Caribbean Tourism Will Increase 50% by 2030 - The St Kitts Nevis Observer
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (18 Oct. 2019) - Royal Caribbean International is predicting that its Caribbean cruise tourism business will grow by 50 per cent by 2030, with overall economic benefit of cruise reaching $6 billion.
President and chief executive officer, Michael Bayley, told a recent Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) outlook forum that with the region continuing to grow in popularity among cruisers - eight of the top 10 cruise destinations worldwide are in the Caribbean, he said - now is the time prepare for further increases in cruise passenger numbers.
"The Caribbean was, is, will always be, the number one cruise destination in the world," Bayley told the gathering of ministers, chief executives, policymakers and other senior Caribbean tourism professionals at the gathering in Antigua and Barbuda.
"There are considerations that we need to take into account in terms of some of the destinations' ability to absorb the growth that is coming - in some places the growth is perhaps already at a critical mass - but we need to find a way to accommodate the growth that is inevitably coming to cruise tourism in the Caribbean," he stressed.
The Royal Caribbean CEO noted the success of the cruise line's recent US$250 million private island destination experience in the Bahamas known as Perfect Day® at CocoCay®, saying it's a perfect example of collaboration that benefits both the destination and the cruise line.
Perfect Day at CocoCay is a unique stop on what was once called Little Stirrup Cay, but is now a privately owned island destination by Royal Caribbean, and a tropical paradise for cruisers. It offers a number of attractions, including a record-setting water slide - the tallest in the region - and a massive wave pool described by the cruise line as the largest freshwater pool in the Bahamas.
"Once we put this product into the market in the US and globally, our phones went crazy. The demand we have seen for our ships and our products that go to CocoCay has been amazing," said Bayley.
"There is a lot of demand for these products and if we can figure out how to collaborate together to create these experiences, they don't always have to have this shape and form, they can be other types of experiences".
"As we evolve in terms of our ship design and experiences and what we are creating for our customers we really believe there is a huge opportunity to take all that knowledge...and transfer it into the destinations in a very meaningful way," he added.
The Caribbean tourism outlook forum was the first organised by the CTO as a platform for discussion between member governments and leaders from the tourism industry that generate business to the region. It was attended by ministers and commissioners of tourism, directors of tourism, chief executives of destination management organisations, permanent secretaries, advisors and specialists and technical officers from 12 member countries.
More News in Business
The Coenzyme Q10 Consumption report delivers a comprehensive and systematic framework of the worldwide Coenzyme Q10 Consumption Market at a global level that includes all the key aspects related to it. The
READING, UK (TEGNA) - Only eight days after the first Chick-fil-A opened in the UK, the British shopping center where the Atlanta-based restaurant giant has been given the boot. According to a BBC report, The Oracle
The "Fertilizer Applicators Market" report includes an in-depth analysis of the global Fertilizer Applicators market for the present as well as forecast period. The report encompasses the competition landscape entailing share analysis
Qantas's flying experiment from New York to Sydney has landed, linking the east coast of the United States to the east coast of Australia with a non-stop flight for the first time. The 16,200km
Qantas has completed a historic non-stop test flight from New York to Sydney, researching the potential impacts on pilots, crew and passengers of what would be the world's longest commercial airplane journey. Carrying 50 passengers and
The Automotive Fabric market intelligence report from TMRR is a valuable tool that enables vendors to identify growth avenues, and strategize for launch of products and services. These findings help


text:
Shares of consumer tech giant Apple (AAPL) have been rising in recent sessions, but are still well under the all-time high set in early September. One trader sees the current rally ending.
That’s based on the January 8th 2021 $125 put options, expiring 29 days from now. Over 8,185 of the contracts traded hands, a 21-fold rise in volume over the prior open interest of 388. The option is at-the-money, with shares trading just a hair under $125.
The option buyer paid about $4.45 for the contracts. Shares would need to trade near $120.50 at expiration for the put buyer to profit. Over the past two months on pullbacks, shares of Apple have managed to dip in to the $105-110 range. So this option could give traders at least a double under the right conditions.
Action to take: None yet. Shares are trending up but aren’t quite overbought yet. That will likely happen in the next few trading sessions. Once they get overbought, there may be some profit potential buying a put option. Waiting could lead to far cheaper prices for such a trade, making for a higher probability of profiting from a short-term pullback.
Once a pullback does occur, traders should look to either buy a call option or sell a put option to profit from the longer-term rise in shares.


text:
There is so much research white papers out this week, Madison Avenue should save the rough draft scrap for a big Advertising Week parade. (After you watch for four seconds, you can skip out.)
One out today is from Zefr, the ad tech firm that tries to pair YouTube content with advertisers. It has the idea that by slicing and dicing the types of contents into very small pieces--over 13,000 separate categories, it says--the big data chew can give an advertiser pinpoint advice about where to place its message.
Its current paper, The Alignment Effect, looks at what kinds of sites worked best for a sampling of consumer packaged good, entertainment and retail advertisers and leans, of course, on Zefr’s Brand ID technology. Supposedly, this latest granular analysis is never-before-done stuff.
Over eight months, Zefr charted hundreds of campaigns of over 100 advertisers to see where they did the most good, amid those thousands of kinds of content. It found some weirdness out there.
"There’s a good reason why no one has shared lists of this kind," writes Zefr's Rich Raddon in his introduction. "Historically, there has been insufficient data and technology to work with..." Zefr thinks it is now filling in the info gap.
Like, in the consumer-goods category, top performing YouTube sites didn’t seem to have an immediate connection to consumer goods or food. Top performers included videos featuring “Tubing,” “Fourth of July parties,” electronic dance music group Swedish House Mafia and comedian (and food’s good friend) Aziz Ansari.
The idea, apparently, is that those videos caught viewers on their way toward a consumer packaged goods event. (So, it’s don’t buy the how-to-make a hot-dog video. Buy the how-to-plan a picnic video.)
For entertainment-centered advertising it makes sense that they’d find Adam Sandler and George Clooney YouTube videos a good place to be. And not obvious at all is Bleach, the video gamer’s YouTube site. A trend Zefr sees is YouTube-grown sites like Miranda Sings and Sam Tsui show up prominently in this category, and throughout YouTubers seem to be more than adequate places for many advertisers.
Eric Goldman, vice president of product for Zefr, notes that in many categories, YouTube’s homegrown stars “have as much sway as traditional stars.”
The retail segment seems a little more sensible. Great places for retailers to be during this study were those kiddie unboxing sites, but also Easter Egg Hunt sites. An advertiser might not think to look there, but Zefr said, those egg sites attract 400,000 YouTube views every day.
Goldman says brands usually have no idea where, specifically, their YouTube ads get played, but Zefr’s very specific audience info can fix that. “Upper-funnel transparency,” he says, “leads to down-funnel success.”
Also today, the Video Advertising Bureau issued “Requiem for a Stream: The Relationship Between TV Brands and Video Streaming,” (best title/worst subhead), that underscores what everybody already knows: A lot more people watch TV than watch streaming services.
In the past, VAB has gotten its nose out of joint when digital cheerleaders try to pick out graves for cable/telcos MVPDs, and likes to periodically announce the biz is doing fantastic.
But you might be interested in VAB’s stats. It says only 6% of people do 87% of streaming. And heavy streamers average more than four hours of TV per day and just 22 minutes streaming. (Similarly I recall TV researchers long ago noting that one-third of all viewers do two-thirds of the viewing, a reason some pretty horrible programs inexplicably do pretty well.)
Interestingly, VAB also gathers in TV Everywhere views with plain-old-TV viewing stats to conclude that at any given moment there are more than four times as many people watching “TV” than all the viewers watching the three major subscription video streaming services--Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. VAB also notes Netflix, the big OTT gorilla, acquires 94% of its “TV programming” from TV networks.
In what seems to be a kumbaya moment, a VAB press release says, “All the streaming activity is adding significantly to TV ratings by bringing in new viewers, as evidenced by an average 18% jump in audience from the final episode of last season to the first episode of this season across the TV spectrum.”
Yes, the VAB says, traditional TV viewership is down a bit, but that may be because viewers are watching TV online instead. The more things change ...


text:
The same law that created last year’s “lead ban” could soon force the manufacturers to stop making Y6 and Y10 youth ATVs altogether.
The CPSC is set to vote this week on whether it will extend by 60 days the date by which OEMs and importers must begin using accredited third-party laboratories to certify that these units meet federal standards. The current deadline was Nov. 26.
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008 makes mandatory the SVIA/ANSI ATV standard that had been voluntary.
The CPSIA also dictates that eventually all children’s products subject to a product safety rule will require third-party testing. So while manufacturers may continue to use in-house testing for certifying adult ATVs, they are scrambling to find third-party labs for Y6 and Y10 models. The OEMs could also choose to create their own “third-party” labs through a process called firewalling.
On Aug. 27, the CPSC published accreditation requirements for the labs. The CPSIA dictates that 90 days after this publication, the agency had to require third-party testing for all ATVs intended primarily for children 12 and younger.
Because no such labs exist yet, the SVIA petitioned the agency for the 60-day extension allowed for by the CPSIA, which doesn’t condone further extensions.
The SVIA notes in its petition that it’s unlikely that there will be enough labs even by the new deadline, Jan. 26. It thus asks the CPSC to “consider other forms of relief, such as a further stay of enforcement of these requirements for one year until November 27, 2011.”
The ballots for this week’s vote are due Wednesday. The CPSC is considering only the 60-day extension, but if it’s passed, the commission will invite comments on the one-year stay. The types of comments sought are outlined in the CPSC ballot (click here to read it and the SVIA’s petition).
Still in effect is the ban on all vehicles intended primarily for kids 12 and under that contain too much accessible lead. The CPSC, however, has issued a stay of enforcement regarding motorcycles and ATVs until May 11, 2011.
Unfortunately, the stay does not prevent officials at the state level from enforcing the ban, but manufacturers — many of which have also relabeled units or, in some cases, made structural changes — continue to offer youth-sized vehicles. The OEMs likely will stop selling the illegal units once the stay ends May 11, making the third-party testing requirement a moot point. This is why the industry continues to seek a permanent solution to the lead ban through legislation.


text:
Since April 19, 2021, the 4th International Specialized Exhibition of Fur and Leather products "Soft Gold of Russia" has been opened and is currently being held in Pyatigorsk in the VK "Narodny". The exhibition "Soft Gold of Russia" is an important event in the market of fur items and the main business platform where the business life of the industry is concentrated. Every year the exhibition demonstrates the work of the best domestic and foreign fur clothing manufacturers, designers, gathers representatives of the largest multi-brand chain stores, fashion industry experts, bloggers and young fashion designers presenting their projects on its site.
As part of the business program of the 4th International Exhibition, a Forum of the Fur Industry was held, where representatives of business and government agencies were able to discuss the problems the industry faces and discuss a common strategy for its further development. The forum was organized by: the Russian Fur Union, LLC MDC "Soft Gold KMV", the Association of Wholesale and Retail Trade Companies, with the support of: the Government of the Stavropol Territory, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Stavropol Territory, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, JSC Russian Export Center, the International Fur Federation IFF. In addition, a gala show of wholesale collections was held during the exhibition. This bright and unforgettable show gathers thousands of interested viewers-specialists of the fur business every time.
Shebekinskaya industrialnaya khimiya, LLC (Russia) took an active part in the exhibition, having prepared and presented to its partners new developments of chemicals, modern up-to-date recipes, as well as ready-made fur and leather articles using chemicals from companies: Shebekinskaya industrialnaya khimiya, LLC (Russia); as well as partner companies Pielcolor, S.L.U. (Spain) and Cromogenia-Units S.A. (Spain).
Booth of the company Shebekinskaya industrialnaya khimiya, LLC (Russia) at the exhibition "Soft Gold of Russia", Pyatigorsk, April


text:
Snowflake set to price as the highest valued software IPO—Here’s what to know about the company
Snowflake is set to be the highest valued software IPO. CNBC’s Leslie Picker reports on the company’s financials and the unusual interest from Berkshire Hathaway, which hasn’t invested in an IPO since Ford in 1956. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi
Data storage software company Snowflake has raised its estimated IPO price by around 30% since last week, according to an updated S-1 filing Monday.
Snowflake’s initial public offering is on track to be one of the most popular debuts in a flurry of tech IPOs this month, with both Berkshire Hathaway and Salesforce agreeing to buy shares in concurrent private sales.
Snowflake now expects to go public at a share price between $100 and $110, according to the filing. In its last filing on Sept. 8, the company said its shares would likely debut between $75 and $85.
The new price estimate would value Snowflake at between $27.7 billion and $30.5 billion. The previous estimate range would have valued the company at between $20.9 billion and $23.7 billion.
Last week, Snowflake revealed in a filing that Berkshire Hathaway and Salesforce each agreed to buy $250 million of stock at the IPO price in a concurrent private placement. Berkshire Hathaway also agreed to buy 4.04 million shares in a secondary transaction from former CEO Bob Muglia. At the midpoint of the new estimated price range, Berkshire Hathaway’s total stake in Snowflake after the IPO would be valued at $674.4 million, compared with the roughly $550 million it would have been worth at the midpoint of the previous range.
Snowflake gives businesses new ways to store and access data in the cloud, rather than relying on databases tied to hardware. The company is growing fast, reporting that revenue in the first half of 2020 more than doubled to $242 million from $104 million a year earlier. However, it faces a complicated relationship with Amazon Web Services — it relies on AWS to host a significant portion of its business, while also competing against the Amazon Redshift cloud data warehouse offering.
» Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision
» Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC
» Subscribe to CNBC Classic: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassic
Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futures to live price updates CNBC is the leader in business news worldwide.
Connect with CNBC News Online
Get the latest news: http://www.cnbc.com/
Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Facebook: https://cnb.cx/LikeCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Twitter: https://cnb.cx/FollowCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Instagram: https://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC
For info on the best credit cards go to CNBC Select:


text:
Following a dynamic performance of her newly released single “The Show Must Go On,” as well as being honored with the ICON Award at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, Celine Dion proves her Las Vegas show will continue to go on with the addition of 12 new shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The new 2017 performances are scheduled from January 17 through February 4, 2017.
Tickets will go on sale to the public beginning Friday, May 27 at 10 a.m. P.T.
The five-time Grammy Award winner released her brand new single last week – a cover of Queen’s “The Show Must Go On,” featuring electronic violin sensation Lindsey Stirling – available now at iTunes, Spotify and Apple Music.
“The Show Must Go On” (Courtesy CelineDionVEVO)
Celine at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace is a glamorous show directed by legendary Grammy Awards producer Ken Ehrlich and presented jointly by AEG Live and Caesars Entertainment. Designed exclusively for The Colosseum, the production features Celine’s biggest hits mixed with timeless hits by iconic artists that celebrate all generations and genres of music ranging from Elvis to the Bee Gees, Queen and Prince. The show features a full orchestra and band and is set to a visually stunning presentation designed exclusively for the 4,300-seat state-of-the-art venue.
Tickets may be purchased in person at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace Box Office, by calling 866-320-9763, or online at thecolosseum.com or axs.com.
For show information, visit www.celineinvegas.com
SOURCE Caesars Entertainment & AEG Live


text:
The company, which develops software for member-based organizations to manage duties such as membership renewals, directories and email marketing campaigns, is looking to expand its space and headcount after landing $1.3 million in seed funding last month.
Marketing director Marty Knight says the company’s new home is at KRP Properties' 535 Legget Dr. The office features 4,000 square feet of space, with a capacity for roughly 50 employees, more than double its current headcount.
Mr. Knight says the company is currently on a hiring spree, specifically citing customer success as a core area of growth for Member365.
The company should feel right at home in the Kanata tech park, closeby to one of its newest customers, the Kanata North Business Association.
Member365 moved from its home on MacLaren Street to Kanata’s L-Spark in the fall of 2016. Since joining the SaaS accelerator, its client base has grown from 10 customers to 150.
Before it moves into its new space on Aug. 1, Member365 will take the stage next week at L-Spark’s SaaS Showcase, an event that is part-celebration, part-pitchfest.


text:
Doing Business reforms
Facilitating International Trade
International trade is a cornerstone of economic development, as access to global markets is strongly correlated with economic growth.1 Although tariffs on exports and imports have fallen on average in recent decades, non-tariff measures have gained increasing prominence.2 Optimizing time and costs in the trade sector is strongly associated with trade growth, diversification and economic expansion.3 Accordingly, global trade policies have shifted their focus from tariffs to trade facilitation, including the elimination of trade-related transactions costs. Doing Business tracks global policies and reforms that facilitate trade by implementing cost-effective, time-efficient and transparent regulatory practices.
Twenty-six economies undertook reforms making it easier to trade across borders in 2018/19. Around 40% of the reforms captured by the trading across borders indicators were in low- and lower-middle-income economies. Overall, South Asia was the region with the highest share of economies implementing trade reforms in Doing Business 2020 .
Eighteen economies improved their electronic systems for filing, processing and exchanging trade information in 2018/19. Since June 2018, Nigeria upgraded and expanded its electronic data interchange system Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System 2 (NICIS2). The system now integrates additional agencies involved in trade processes, such as banks and the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control. Sharing of information between traders and government agencies improved, allowing for documents to be submitted and approved electronically. In combination with the launch of an e-payment system, the initiative helped reduce documentary compliance and border compliance times.
Inadequate infrastructure is one of the main burdens in international trade.4 Eight economies implemented reforms impacting border infrastructure in Doing Business 2020. Starting in May 2018, the government of Bahrain deployed new scanners at King Fahad Causeway and established differentiated lanes for border crossing depending on the exporters’ status. As a result, there is less congestion at the border, shortening the border compliance time for exports by 12 hours.
Trade reforms demonstrate the importance of cross-border cooperation in ensuring efficient customs clearance. On April 7, 2018, the Integrated Check Post (ICP) Birgunj, a joint customs and border checkpoint between India and Nepal, was inaugurated. It became fully operational in June 2018. Customs procedures now occur at ICP Birgunj instead of the Kathmandu customs offices. ICP Birgunj is also equipped with the customs electronic data interchange system ASYCUDA World, has modern border infrastructure and more customs officials. Lastly and in part thanks to more advanced technology, border authorities at the ICP Birgunj conduct fewer intrusive inspections on export shipments.
1 World Bank Group and WTO 2015.
2 Hoekman and Nicita 2011.
3 Arvis and others 2010.
4 Lanz and others 2016.
Reforms implemented in 2018/19 are available here.


text:
Fitbit has launched a new Sleep Profile feature for its Premium subscribers, which provides an analysis of your sleep with different archetypes. While Fitbit…
Facebook has announced a slew of improvements to its Native ad products, which form a crucial part of its Audience Network.
“Today, more than half of developer revenue from Audience Network comes from native formats, and publishers are seeing 7x higher CPMs for native ads when compared to standard banners,” the company said.
Audience Network by Facebook was launched a year ago, on 30 April 2014, and its function is to improve the relevance of adverts inside mobile apps by extending the reach of existing Facebook campaigns beyond Facebook and helping developers and publishers monetize their apps. Facebook says that this service became an instant success such that since October 2014, the number of apps in the network has increased by five-fold.
The improvement to native ads is informed by intensive research, Facebook says. In this research the company found out that native ads are far more engaging. The research also shed light on what kind of ads the average user engages with. It found that banner ads tend to be ignored and poorly placed ads, especially those that pop up when a user first opens an app, have a negative effect on the user’s experience and engagement. The effects of these pop up ads also affect how users interact with future ads regardless of how well designed the new ads are.
Ads that do well, Facebook found, are ads that are well integrated within an app design and not destruct from the flow with which a user navigates said app. These ads stand a better chance of catching a user’s attention, more so than other ads.
Publishers and developers need not despair as Facebook is introducing three new tools for them to implement native ad formats.
These tools include
Native Ad Templates: By using these native ad templates, publishers can define characteristics such as font, ad height, background colour, button boarder treatment, and a variety of other properties to make ad formats more in-line with the app’s natural user experience.
Native Ad Management Tools: To ensure that the highest performing ad is delivered at the right time to the right person. Instead of designing a system to cache and deliver native assets, a publisher can pass control to the new native ads manager to handle this functionality, which will automatically optimize for highest performing ads.
Horizontal Scroll For Native Ads: Horizontal ad scroll view leverages the native ads manager and either a native ad template or publisher defined UI view. Facebook is adding h-scroll support within the native ads manager.


text:
Jack Ma and Joe Tsai, two co-founders of Alibaba, bought a total of 200 million USD in shares of this e-commerce giant.
On January 23, the New York Times reported that Jack Ma bought $50 million worth of Alibaba shares on the Hong Kong exchange in the fourth quarter of 2023. On the same day, Blue Pool – the asset management fund of Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai – said he bought nearly 2 million Alibaba shares listed in the US, worth $152 million last quarter.
This news helped Alibaba shares increase 8% on the New York Stock Exchange on January 23. On the Hong Kong exchange today, this code is currently up 4%. However, since the beginning of the year, Alibaba shares have decreased 5.5% on the Hong Kong exchange.
In November, Alibaba said Jack Ma’s asset management fund planned to sell 10 million Alibaba shares, worth $871 million.
Jack Ma has been silent for the past few years, after a speech criticizing the Chinese financial system in 2020, which is said to have upset Chinese officials. Previously, he resigned as Chairman of Alibaba in 2019 and left the Board of Directors in 2020, not participating in the company’s daily operations. However, he is still a person who has a great influence on this corporation.
The Chinese e-commerce giant is in a period of reform. Last November, they canceled their plan to separate the cloud computing segment, due to uncertainties related to the US export restriction on AI-related technology. This plan is part of the strategy to split the group into 6 subsidiaries, announced in March 2023.
In the e-commerce segment, Alibaba is currently facing fierce competition from Pinduoduo. The speed of retail recovery after the pandemic in China is also slower than forecast, putting even more pressure on Alibaba.
In December 2023, this company announced that CEO Eddie Wu would also hold the position of CEO of e-commerce. This happened just a few days after he became the head of cloud computing.
Ha Thu (according to Reuters, CNBC)


text:
The Android overlay Facebook Home, out for almost a month now, was only available on a handful of select devices. That is, until yesterday. Thanks to a small change, the social network's core Android app is allowing unsupported handsets to use it anyway.
As Facebook boasts of nearly hitting 1 million installations since the April 16 debut of Facebook Home, the glorified launcher can now be installed on a number of previously unsupported handsets.
For those smartphones, users installing Facebook Home will be warned they "may not get the best experience," with the option to go straight to Facebook proper or "Use Home Anyway."
What the hey
At least two flagship handsets - Samsung's Galaxy S4 and Sony's Xperia ZL - are said to work just fine by ignoring the aforementioned warning, while a third, the HTC One, appears to be working with no prompt at all.
Thursday's update to the official Facebook app presumably added this unofficial support, also introducing an option for persistent notifications which can be disabled via Settings.


text:
Vietnam, which was long known as a conflict zone, has emerged in the twenty-first century as one of the world’s most promising emerging tourism markets. Vietnam tourism industry receives more tourists than even India, a country much larger in size. In 2014, nearly 8 million tourists visited Vietnam, placing it 12th in the Asia Pacific region in terms of tourist arrivals. Vietnam tourism industry ranks 75th in the world in terms of travel and tourism competitiveness.
After experiencing double-digit growth rates from 2010 to 2013, the rate of increase in tourist arrivals has slowed in recent years. One of the reasons for the drop in tourist numbers in Vietnam is the failure of local authorities to maintain pristine attractions, as well as massive increases in pollution and traffic in recent years. Another factor that has had an impact on India is the security situation. Most tourists feel unsafe while traveling around Vietnam, which has been plagued by robberies, thefts, and muggings of tourists. In order to compensate for fewer arrivals, Vietnamese officials have raised visa fees, which has once again served as a disincentive to tourists.
Nevetheless, the fact remains that Vietnam has one of the most beautiful cultures, sights, and scenery in the region, which attracts a large number of foreign visitors. More people want to visit Vietnam, and if the Vietnamese authorities address issues such as security, visa costs, and so on, the tourism industry, which has been stagnant in recent years, will rebound.
The high cost is one of the factors preventing an influx of tourists. The cost of Vietnam tourism has recently risen rapidly due to high accommodation and general travel costs. The Vietnamese yuan has depreciated against the US dollar, making travel in Vietnam more expensive. But yet another significant reason is the shortage of reasonably priced, modern housing which dissuades the budget tourist.
In addition, there is a severe shortage of luxury hotels in Hanoi, which discourages HNI tourists from visiting Vietnam, which would help the tourism industry.
However, Vietnam has many such possibilities in the tourism business, and now is the ideal time and opportunity to put money and reap the benefits in the future.
Vietnam is the world’s 37th largest economy, with a population of 90.7 million people. Despite recent difficulties, the tourism industry is expected to expand significantly in the future. Vietnam’s tourism industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of XX.XX percent until 2020.
The Vietnam Tourism Industry Report Provides
VIETNAM TOURISM INDUSTRY
1. Market research for the Vietnam Tourism Market, including region-specific assessments and regional and global competition analysis
2. Market description, including identification of the key drivers and constraints
3. Identifying factors that can influence market scenarios, emerging prospective opportunities, and key companies that can influence this market on a global and regional scale.
4. .Thoroughly researched detailed competitive section, including profile pictures of big corporations and market shares.
5. Identifying and analyzing macro and micro factors influencing the Vietnam Tourism Market on a global and regional scale.
6. A comprehensive list of key market participants, as well as an analysis of their current strategic interests and key financial data.
7. Broad knowledge and insights into the major players in this industry, as well as the key strategies they use to sustain and grow in the studied market
8. Insights into the major countries/regions where this industry is thriving, as well as the regions that remain untapped.
Vietnam Tourism Industry’s Pre-Pandemic Performance and Prospects
In accordance with the World Economic Forum’s 2019 report, Vietnam’s tourism industry has advanced to the 63rd position out of 140 economies. Furthermore, Vietnam’s tourism industry was recognized in the following global and regional categories of the prestigious World Travel Awards in the same year:
Asia’s Leading Heritage Destination; Asia’s Best Golf Destination; Asia’s Leading Cultural Destination; Asia’s Leading Culinary Destination.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Vietnam tourism remained committed to enforcing Political Bureau Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW. This resolution aims to make tourism a key economic sector in Vietnam and to put the Vietnam Tourism Development Strategy 2030 into action.
As a result, the existence of a coherent and consistent professional relationship between all various ministries and private stakeholders was critical in paving the way for the tourist industry sector’s success.
Why Should You Invest in the Vietnam Tourism Industry?
In accordance with Mckinsey, the tourism industry contributes significantly to Vietnam’s GDP and is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels of revenue by 2024. Because of its proactive government campaigns, resilient economy, and implementation of the zero-case-first approach.
The following are some business sectors with excellent opportunities for foreign investors:
Medical Tourism: When compared to other Asian countries, medical tourism in Vietnam has a significant impact on the tourism industry. In 2017, approximately 1 million international visitors came to Vietnam for medical treatment, spending approximately USD 2 billion.
Airport Infrastructure: Despite a thriving tourism industry, Vietnam’s airport infrastructure remains deficient. Furthermore, airports are overcrowded and unable to accommodate the growing number of tourists and flights. Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, for example, is operating at a 33 percent capacity level.
The government, on the other hand, is committed to implementing a number of long-term and short-term solutions. It includes counter reorganization, restaurant reductions, increased waiting lounges, and airport relocation.
Talented Experts: The nation is undergoing a lack of qualified travel operators. This gap is even more noticeable in the hospitality industry, where qualified employees are needed in customer service, housekeeping, and maintenance departments. To close the gap, the government is launching a number of initiatives to provide personnel with the necessary training.
As a result, the convergence of all of these elements has created an opportunity for foreign investors to broaden their tourism business into Vietnam.
The Tourism Industry in Vietnam Faces Difficulties
- The slow adoption of digital technology: As per a Mckinsey report, online travel activity accounted for 19% of all bookings made in 2018. The pandemic has brought the term “digital” to the forefront, and the tourism industry must catch up.
- Concentrate on experiences: It is also necessary to reinvent the traditional tourism path. Travelers are increasingly seeking out unusual experiences and activities rather than simply visiting well-known tourist destinations. Platforms such as Tripadvisor enable travelers to personalize their stay and experience at a destination.
- Involvement of the Government The government should also help connect suppliers with distribution companies and intermediaries in order to create better travel packages. They should also launch campaign groups and efforts to promote Vietnam as a location for adventure.
- Tourism diversification: There is also a need to diversify tourism and attract tourists in all segments, including adventure travel, medical tourism, sports tourism, and even agrarian tourism.
Of over 19 million visitors coming Vietnam in 2019 and spending approximately USD 32.76 billion per year, the government has been debating whether to reopen Vietnam’s tourism industry following the pandemic. As a result, in lieu of the current COVID-19 situation, which is regarded under control with the majority of people fully vaccinated, the government has agreed to allow international visitors to enter the country beginning March 15, 2022.


text:
All posts tagged Symbian^3
One Mobile Ring has managed to obtain a pair of Nokia E7 mobile phones, to bring you a side-by-side comparison of the old Symbian^3 and the new ‘Anna’ platform – which was released yesterday, for the Nokia N8, C7, C6-01 and E7 handsets.
Product Name: Nokia E7
Specifications: Symbian^3, 4-inch 640×360 capacitive AMOLED touch screen, 16GB storage, 8MP camera, dual LED Flash, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSPA, GPS, WIFI b/g/n/, 3.5mm audio jack, microHDMI, microUSB, USB On-the-Go, GPS, A-GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery
One Mobile Ring has just taken delivery of the new Nokia X7, due to arrive with networks in the next month or so. We thought we would publish these hands-on images of the latest Symbaian^3 OS based device, just to whet your appetite ahead of its official OMR review.
with updated OS
Finnish fone maker Nokia has unveiled a new colour for their flagship N8 mobile phone in hot pink, along with the updated Symbian^3 code-name Anna OS.
Big Red is now communicating
Mobile phone network Vodafone has unveiled it is carrying the Nokia E7 Qwerty keyboard based mobile phone, on tariffs starting from £25 a month or with the handset free on a contract for £40.


text:
Uniqlo fashion show. Source: Reuters
Japan’s Fast Retailing Co. Ltd intends to open clothes stores in Russian regions under the Uniqlo brand. The announcement was made by the company's Vice President Noriaki Koyami during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum's ‘Russia-Japan: Prospects for Business Cooperation’ roundtable.
For now the brand is represented only in Moscow, he said.
“Currently, there are seven stores operating in Moscow under the Uniqlo brand and we plan on opening our stores in other Russian cities,” said the company's top manager. Koyama remarked that to develop the business the company is betting on Russian personnel, including managers.
At the same time, to improve the business climate in the country the government must facilitate customs procedures and improve the logistics network, Koyama underlined. “We will be very active in Russia in the future,” he summed up.
Fast Retailing Co. Ltd opened its first store in 1984 in Hiroshima, Koyama said. The first Moscow store was opened in 2010 at Moscow's Atrium.
All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
to our newsletter!
Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox


text:
West Bromwich firm New Generation Courier (NGC) Logistics, which provided services across the UK and Europe, has entered administration.
Hermes has extended its deal with last mile delivery tech firm PostTag after positive results following a six-month trial.
Nearly half of shoppers have changed their mind about making a purchase online because they were unhappy with the inflexible delivery options, according to research by Whistl.
Petit Forestier has supplied 123 rigid trucks to a major logistics customer, all featuring Carrier Transicold Syberia MT (multi-temperature) systems.
Hermes is piloting a service in London involving ‘pedestrian couriers’ unloading parcels from Ford vans, which it said reduces vehicle emissions for final mile deliveries.
Central England Co-op is using eight fully electric Mercedes-Benz vans as part of a trial of delivery services on routes in Norfolk, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, Birmingham and Derby.
Dorset-based Superior Seals has received a second all-electric Mercedes-Benz van in the form of a 3.5-tonne eSprinter.
YOYOMultiDrops has appointed a new director, Brian Bachelor, to spearhead the company’s growth as its innovative quick-swap bodies head into production.
Three quarters of delivery drivers are willing to switch to zero-emission electric LCVs to reduce pollution, according to a survey carried out on behalf of LeasePlan UK.
Volta Trucks and European rental firm Petit Forestier Group have partnered to make a refrigerated 100% electric commercial vehicle available to hire from 2022.


text:
Europe’s only Centre for Food Robotics and Automation (CenFRA Ltd) has relocated to Doncaster and the new state-of-the-art premises were formally launched on May 22nd. Yorkshire Forward’s Executive Director of Business, Simon Hill, officially opened the purpose built premises at Crompton Business Park at a ceremony which was attended by food and drink producers, industry professionals and regional partners. The launch was the culmination of two years work by Yorkshire Forward, whose insight and vision led to the establishment of CenFRA Ltd – which initially started life at the Innovation Technology Centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham.
The new facility will still offer the same services and automation audits as the previous base, but the new commercial development will be home to flexible automation directly applicable to the food and drink industry, six of which were demonstrated at the launch.
CenFRA is a ‘not for profit’ business and offers totally independent advice to all UK companies interested in flexible automation. Businesses located in Yorkshire and Humber, the North East, and North West can qualify for free automation audits, benefiting all food and drink producers in the North.
Funded by Yorkshire Forward and the Northern Way (a collaboration between the North’s three Regional Development Agencies), the Centre has been developed in partnership with experts in robotics and automation from the University of Salford.
This new initiative aims to encourage innovation within the food and drink industry where traditionally there is low investment in robotics and process automation. CenFRA is keen to emphasis that through the introduction of enhanced and affordable automation, operating costs can often be significantly reduced helping producers to remain competitive whilst providing staff with improved working conditions.
Michael Taylor, chairman of CenFRA Ltd, who was present at the launch, believes there are a number of misconceptions concerning automation that need to be addressed. Mr Taylor said: “CenFRA is most keen to support companies with impartial advice and guidance on the wide variety of automation solutions available – some starting at less than £20,000 – and to assist them identify and quantify the significant cost benefits that can result.”
To address these issues experienced engineering staff and technologists based at CenFRA will be available to identify automation opportunities and provide practical advice as well as develop bespoke automation solutions.
A key benefit of the new service is that all advice is independent of suppliers and is therefore offered directly in response to the needs of the producer. As part of the package, CenFRA will additionally be providing seminars, learning packages and skills training days as well as researching issues of a generic nature to the overall benefit of the industry, Simon Hill commented: “In creating the Centre for Food for Robotics and Automation, Yorkshire Forward, along with its partners is offering food and drink processing companies access to new innovations to enable them to make informed choices when moving their businesses forward. We are encouraging all businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises to consider their options and engage with the Centre.”


text:
British and American scientists conducted studies have found together, so that electrons within organic solar cells using specific way, "spin", is expected to substantially increase the organic photoelectric conversion efficiency of solar cells, the latest technology can also be used to develop higher-performance organic light-emitting diodes. Research published in "Nature" magazine.
Organic solar cell
simulation of plant photosynthesis to work, and its slim, lightweight and flexible, you can also print out like a newspaper, with the current widespread use of silicon-based solar cells, the manufacturing process is more rapid and less costly. But its highest photoelectric conversion rate of 12% conversion efficiency can not compete with up to 20-25% so more commercial advantage comparable silicon solar cells.
Now, the University of Cambridge and the University of Washington scientists work conducted study found that organic solar cells by way of electron spin manipulation can significantly improve its performance, help scientists developed a low-cost and high-performance organic solar batteries.
Previously scientists organic solar cell manufacturers
performance within the different electronic puzzled, I hope to clarify why some electronic performance will be surprisingly good, while some electronic performance is unsatisfactory. To this end, the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory scientists developed a sensitive laser technology to track the organic solar cell behavior and interactions of electrons. They were surprised to find that the "culprit" is the electron has a spin of the quantum properties.
Particle has a spin angular momentum and its related properties. Electron spin has two ways: up or down. By a "recombination" process, the solar cell in the electron energy will lose its own, into a completely empty called "hole" state. The researchers found that the use of specific methods for electronic "spin" that can prevent energy loss and increase solar cell current.
The leader of the study, researchers at the Cavendish Laboratory Akshay Rao said: "Borrow this exciting research findings, we can take advantage of spin physics to improve the performance of solar cells, previously, we that this can not happen. using this approach the development of new materials and solar cells may soon be available. "
Researchers believe that this concept help scientists narrow organic solar cells and silicon solar cell conversion efficiency differences, in addition, higher performance is expected for the manufacture of organic light emitting diodes. Organic light emitting diode display technology is an ascendant, for the manufacture of mobile phones and more efficient use of television monitors.
- 2013/08/26(月) 09:51:50|
- solar cell


text:
Milk is over $9 and a can of instant coffee is an incredible $84. These are real prices – and they show just how dire things are for some Australian shoppers.
Consumers across the country are being hit by the cost of living crisis, which has sent prices for staples like lettuce and milk skyrocketing.
But shocking photos shared on social media show how grocery bills are costing more in some places – and reveal just how dire the situation has become.
Watch the latest news on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >>
A picture of an April receipt from a store in the town of Kaltukatjara, southwest of Alice Springs, showed a two-litre carton of milk costing $9.20.
At a Sydney Woolworths, the same product was being sold for just $3.10 this week.
Donna Donzow, operations manager for the non-profit EON Foundation which helps grow and supply fresh produce to communities in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, said she noticed the unusually high grocery store prices in June when she was in Minyerri, a town 240 km to the southeast. of Katherine.
“The cost of a pack of mixed salads was $17,” Donzow told 7NEWS.com.au.
By comparison, a bag of mixed salad at a Sydney Woolworths this week is just $3.
High food prices in remote areas are caused by a range of issues including long supply chains, poor roads and transport costs – and experts say more needs to be done to address the problem. problem.
A long-standing problem
Food has been more expensive in the regions than in our biggest cities for years – as the photos on social media show.
A photo shared in 2020 showed a can of instant coffee being sold at a Hope Vale grocery store in remote Queensland for $84, according to the poster.
According to a 2021 report by health policy organization Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (Amsant), food in supermarkets is 56% more expensive in remote communities than in regional supermarkets.
A 2020 survey by MP Julian Leeser echoed these findings, stating that “the cost of buying food is significantly higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities than for people living in more major population centers in urban and regional Australia”.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says the cost of groceries has risen 5.9% across all Australian capitals since June last year – and there’s reason to believe costs are rising in the regions too rural Australia, where prices were already astronomically high.
In Minyerri, for example, Donzow said he saw signs around the store informing community members that fruit and vegetable costs had increased due to flooding in Australia’s southern states.
EON Foundation Executive Chair Caroline de Mori said she had a similar experience.
“I heard people complaining the other day about a lettuce for sale in Sydney for $8, but can you imagine what it’s like when you go a few thousand miles inland? ” said of Mori.
“You end up paying $12 for a brown-headed broccoli.”
“It’s only getting worse”
The huge costs aren’t just a problem for putting food on the table now – they have ripple effects for the future.
De Mori told 7NEWS.com.au the lack of cheap fruit and vegetables meant some shoppers were turning to processed foods.
“By the time everything arrives (in remote communities), it’s musty and not fresh, so that’s not necessarily an option,” she said.
“That means we’re seeing astronomically higher rates of illness and health issues in these communities, and it’s only getting worse.”
De Mori added that some communities only had one store selling essentials for the whole town.
“Because they have the monopoly, they can charge whatever they want and it seems like a terrible downward spiral,” she said.
Amanda Lee, professor of public health policy at the University of Queensland, told 7NEWS.com.au that experts have recommended many solutions over the years, but little has been done overall.
Lee recommends subsidizing transport costs and preventing supermarkets from marking up fruits and vegetables.
“Unfortunately, although there is a long list of recommendations from all the investigations over the past 40 years…there has been very little collective action to address them.”


text:
EuraTechnologies is an incubator and accelerator with a background deeply entwined with history. It started in Lille within buildings that were once spinning factories. In the 1980s, the factories closed and 2,500 jobs were lost. When it launched in 2009, EuraTechnologies’ mission was to transform these empty factories into a giant incubator, generating jobs to compensate in some way for the huge losses that happened as a result of the closures. Thirteen years later, 6,500 jobs have been created thanks to startups that have grown with the accelerator.
“Our Lille campus is really for any startup that wants to expand in Europe,” says Koussée Vaneecke, president at EuraTechnologies. “We’re geographically in a great position as we’re between Paris and London and very close to Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne. We are also a great platform to launch from if you’re looking to expand into the north of Europe.”
EuraTechnologies’ ongoing commitment to job creation was shown through its 2022 Talent Fair event in October, which showcased over 300 job opportunities. Pitch Perfect, the closing show at the event, saw four EuraTechnologies’ alumni and startups from various sectors pitch to five high profile investors with the hope to have them invest in their company.
“Our mission is to create more jobs,” says Koussée. “We are a semi-public company and we accompany startups from their launch to their development in order to create great successes and eventually jobs. We incubate and accelerate 200 startups each year to help make this a reality.
“All our programmes are operated in English, making it easy for UK startups to participate. We have different verticals that are real ecosystems and through them, we serve partnerships with big corporations, companies and mentors.”
One of those programmes began back in 2009 – the same year EuraTechnologies launched – in partnership with Stanford University. The programme operates every two years and startups split their time between Stanford and Lille when participating. It demonstrates the accelerator’s international vision from the very beginning.
“For the past ten years, we’ve collaborated with EuraTechnologies to deliver an executive innovation leadership program in Lille, France that provides a foundational education for professionals within startup organisations, which are part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem EuraTechnologies has developed there,” says Carissa Little, associate dean for global and online education at Stanford’s school of engineering, and executive director at the Stanford centre for professional development.
Startups that are part of the EuraTechnologies incubator, including from the UK, can be enrolled in this programme.
EuraTechnologies operates in seven verticals, including retailtech, ecommerce and proptech. The region surrounding Lille booms with big retail companies and is highly engaged with technological development.
“We have two batches of startups per year – one in March, one in October,” says Koussée. “In 2022, 30% of our batches were international startups. In October 2022, we welcomed 140 startups and 40 were international and from countries including the UK, Estonia, Tunisia, Morocco and the Czech Republic.
“We are very attractive to a lot of different countries because startups know they will be able to develop in a specific vertical and benefit from the vivid ecosystem we’ve created. Many startups that want to expand in Europe believe Lille is a great base to do this from, too.”
Achievements in 2022 and beyond
In summer 2022, EuraTechnologies raised €24M and will use this money to accelerate its mission and create 3,000 additional jobs in the next five years through its startups.
It will also use the money to reinforce its tech offering to startups. One example is the purchase of a costly cyber range that simulates cyber attacks, helping startups adapt their architecture to prevent a real-life attack.
“We have the ability to bring together great corporations and offer opportunities to startups,” concludes Koussée. “Our new investors will really help startups as it’s a new opportunity to work quicker, adapt their product and get their first clients very quickly. This is really an accelerator designed for their development.
“A goal we have for next year is to be more international. We’ve started the transformation by welcoming 40 nationalities into our incubator, but we want to further launch EuraTechnologies in Eastern Europe and other emerging countries. We have an ambition of opening ten new locations in the next two to three years, which is really exciting.”
Koussée Vaneecke is president at accelerator and incubator EuraTechnologies.


text:
Bike shops are among businesses that will be permitted to stay open as England gets ready to enter lockdown tomorrow, 5th November.
To reduce social contact, the Government has ordered certain businesses and venues to close, including all non-essential retail, indoor and outdoor leisure facilities, entertainment venues and personal care facilities.
MPs will vote on the new restrictions today, and if approved, the measures will remain in place until Wednesday 2nd December.
Bike shops will however be allowed to remain open, as during the first lockdown, as will food retailers, pharmacies and petrol stations, among others.
“These new measures have been carefully judged to achieve the maximum reduction in growth in the number of cases, preventing the NHS from being overwhelmed, whilst ensuring that schools, colleges and universities stay open and that as many people as possible continue to work,” the Government said.
It added that essential retail should follow COVID-secure guidelines to protect customers, visitors and workers.
In a letter last week to Phillip Darnton at the Bicycle Association, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, minister of state of transport, said: “I would like to recognise the excellent work of the cycling industry in helping the Government meet its aum of doubling cycling levels by 2025 in order to deliver the Prime Minister’s vision for half of all journeys in towns and cities to be cycled or walked by 2030. The important role of the industry has been underlined further during the COVID-19 pandemic where we have seen cycling levels increase and therefore the need for consumers to access cycle repair facilities has never been greater.
“Regarding future plans I agree that cycle shops provide an essential service and, as in the first lockdown period, I will do my utmost to ensure that they can stay open in the advent of any future lockdown.”
In Wales, bicycle retailers and repair and maintenance shops can also remain open through lockdown restrictions.
Read the November issue of BikeBiz below:


text:
Recent months have brought a flurry of industry metrics, market predictions, investment rounds, research announcements and more that have fueled the rising trend of wearable health devices. This past February MobiHealthNews reported on market predictions made by ABI Research: In five years the number of wearable wireless health and fitness devices will hit 169.5 million. That’s up from almost 21 million such devices last year. The firm expects about 90 million wearable fitness devices to be in the market five years from now, which leaves about 80 million health-focused ones.
This week researchers at the University of Arkansas grabbed headlines after announcing that they had developed a remote monitoring system -- dubbed an "e-bra" -- that could integrate with women's sports bras or a vest for men. The system consists of a "series of nanostructured, textile sensors" integrated into the garments via a lightweight, wireless module that snaps onto the clothing. The device communicates to a nearby smartphone via short range wireless, which can then relay the data to care providers. The cuff-less sensors can monitor blood pressure, body temperature, respiratory rate, oxygen consumption, neural activity, ECG, and more, according to the research team.
“Our e-bra enables continuous, real-time monitoring to identify any pathophysiological changes,” Vijay Varadan, Distinguished Professor of electrical engineering said in a statement. “It is a platform on which various sensors for cardiac-health monitoring are integrated into the fabric. The garment collects and transmits vital health signals to any desired location in the world.”
At the end of last month Misfit Wearables, the wearable devices startup founded by AgaMatrix co-founders Sonny Vu and Sridhar Iyengar as well as former Apple CEO John Sculley, raised $7.6 million led by Brian Singerman of the Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures. While Misfit has been very quiet about its specific plans, it seems likely the company will launch a product that includes sensors embedded in some type of clothing instead of a wrist-worn device or peel-and-stick sensor.
While this one is more of an art project, it did get the attention of The Wall Street Journal this week: "'IM Blanky,' a 'smart' blanket, brings together high technology and homely arts and crafts. For an art exhibition, designers affiliated with the University of Toronto's architecture school arrayed 104 sensors in floral patterns on a green taffeta blanket, linking them with soft conductive material. The sensors relay moment-by-moment data about their orientation; the information goes to a processor and then wirelessly to a computer, which creates a 3-D rendering of the fabric's surface. One potential application is monitoring fitful sleepers, and the designers are brainstorming with medical engineers about ways to deploy 'the blanket with an IP address' in hospitals." Not quite a wearable, but close.
USA Today also ran a piece on wearable devices. While it mostly focused on location-aware devices that help people track family members who may wander, the roundup also included a mention of Zephry Technology's BioHarness, which is mostly used by military types or professional athletes, as well as Exmobaby, the heart rate, temperature and emotional state monitoring baby clothing that AT&T announced it was wirelessly-enabling recently.
In mid-April research firm Forrester called attention to the wearable device trend -- mostly as a piggyback on the recently unveiled and widely hyped Google's Project Glass. Forrester predicted that for the wearable device market to move into the mainstream, it must "get serious investment from the 'big five' platforms — Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook — and their developer communities." This is the "next platform war", according to the firm. Forrester specifically points to the rising number of wearable fitness devices, including Nike+FuelBand, as an indication of the trend.


text:
License! Global, the world’s leading publication and news source for brand licensing and retail merchandising executives, and Australia’s prominent Bugg Toys & Licensing, have announced a content sharing agreement.
The agreement gives both parties the opportunity to extend their reach and offer their readers breaking news and trend insights about the brand licensing business. The alliance will further extend the international reach of License! Global into Australia and New Zealand and allow Bugg the capacity to deliver its territory news to a global audience.
“License! Global is excited about this content alliance because it extends our reach into Australia and New Zealand, thereby allowing us to provide vital information about the licensing business in these important territories to our current global readers,” says Steven Ekstract, group publisher, License! Global.
The content sharing agreement will allow License! Global and Bugg Toys & Licensing the opportunity to provide greater visibility of the Australian and New Zealand markets to North America and Europe while providing Australia and New Zealand with a better understanding of what is happening in the rest of the world.
“We are really looking forward to working with License! Global,” says Tony Bugg, publisher of Australia’s Bugg Toys & Licensing. “The strength and reach of their publication, combined with their event capability, including Licensing Expo in Las Vegas and BLE in London, will unlock vast opportunity for the licensing community locally.”
The agreement will be effective Feb. 1 and will coincide with the re-launch of the License! Global website at www.licensemag.com and the newly launched Bugg Toys & Licensing website at www.buggtoysandlicensing.com.
A special button will highlight the Bugg Report and news of Australia and New Zealand on the License! Global site. Conversely, Bugg will publish various news articles from License! Global. The agreement includes online, social media and print.


text:
Bad quarter but good year for Bon-Ton home
March 11, 2004,
YORK, Pa. — The home department at regional department store chain Bon-Ton Stores Inc. was one of the four weakest categories in sales during the fourth quarter but one of the top six over the past year, the company reported during its fourth-quarter and year-end conference call this morning.
At Bon-Ton stores during the fourth quarter, the poorest performing categories were special sizes, juniors, men's clothing and home, with the three best being intimates, shoes and accessories.
Related Content By Author
Live From New York: Fashion Comes Across the Pond
Home & Textiles Today eDaily


text: Over on the A1SE/5800 Forum there is a thread from someone that has just returned from the berlin IFA. There are a lot of pictures of new amps,speakers,cd & dvd. The news I was waiting for is of the replacement of the DV-5000. The new Denon DVD-A1. its a huge DVD player sporting DVD-Audio, progressive scan,THX certification and is rumoured to be the first DVD with firewire. It can most probably be modified for Pal Progressive just like the 2800. Apparantly it goes on sale in germany, early next year for about 7000DM. Does anybody know roughly how much it will be when released in the UK and what will the firewire be for. Any news will be greatly appreciated.


text:
Bleaching creams banned - FDA
The FDA has said that several of such products have been banned since January.
Speaking before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing in Parliament on Wednesday, the Acting Chief Executive of the Food and Drugs Authority, Mimi Darko said his outfit is also using laboratory tests to identify such creams.
“The bleaching agent in most bleaching creams is hydroquinone and the Ghana standard now is, there should be zero percent hydroquinone in bleaching creams and the Food and Drugs Board, being the regulatory authority, has taken that standard and we are now implementing it. So, since January this year , we don’t register a product that has hydroquinone in the product.”
She said her outfit has also held meeting with cosmetic sellers on the market and “is working with them to ensure that those creams are not available on the market.”
“The lab is also testing to make sure that even if they try and hide it, we will find it is laboratory analysis,” she warned.
Many health practitioners in Ghana have expressed worry about the damage being caused by such products and have since warned against their usage.
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:


text:
Good On You in Oz adds 500 European brands to rating app
August 14, 2018 - Australia
Australia-based Good On You’s brand-rating app has recently added 500 new brands specifically targeted at Europe and plans to raise the number of brands rated from 2,000 to 10,000 over the next 6-12 months, according to founder Gordon Renouf. The app shows how a brand impacts workers, environment and animal protection to help shoppers make better choices.
The most ethical brands on their app are People Tree from the United Kingdom and Japan, Know The Origin from Germany and Etiko, a long-standing Australian brand sourced from India, Renouf told Fibre2Fashion in an interview.
The biggest challenge is to find a way to create ratings for so many brands from different countries, he added. (DS)
For the full interview, please click here


text:
Associates at Honda’s Anna, Ohio engine plant celebrated a milestone this week as the facility produced its 25 millionth engine. Honda recently invested $47 million there to bolster engine production for the 2018 Accord. New are two direct-injected VTEC Turbo 4-cylinder engines and a 2.0 i-VTEC Atkinson Cycle engine for the Accord Hybrid.
“Building 25 million engines is not just a major production milestone, but symbolic of the passion and commitment invested by our associates, past and present, to satisfy 25 million customers,” said Paul Dentinger, Plant Manager, Anna Engine Plant.
The 25 millionth engine, produced on Line 4, was a 1.5-liter turbo that will be shipped to the Marysville Auto Plant, about 45 miles east of Anna. Anna Engine produces more than 1.18 million engines annually, making it Honda’s largest engine plant in the world. The 2.5 million square foot facility supplies engines and components for 14 Honda and Acura vehicles made across the globe. The plant also makes the turbo engine for the Civic Type-R, the most powerful production Honda in the United States. Further, in the spring of 2016, master technicians at the Anna plant starting building the hand-assembled twin turbo engine for the Acura NSX.
“We continue to invest in our plant and our people to build a new generation of Honda engine products for customers here and around the world,” Dentinger said.
The Anna Engine plant opened in 1985 and total investments there by Honda exceed $2.7 billion. At its current production rate, the Anna staff should reach another 25 million engines sometime in the year 2038.
Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and resides in Detroit, Michigan.
Photo & Source: Honda North America.