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A court hearing that could pave the way for a shutdown of the BlackBerry e-mail system has been set for Feb. 24.
Meanwhile, BlackBerry customers continue ramping up contingency plans in case of a shutdown, much to the delight of BlackBerry's competitors.
Research in Motion Ltd., creator of the BlackBerry, has a lock on 70 percent to 80 percent of the mobile e-mail market, a service that's increasingly indispensable for executives.
RIM and NTP Inc. are locked in a closely watched battle: NTP claims RIM infringed on its patents. Since 2001, the fight has been winding through courts and the U.S. Patent Office.
NTP is asking for an injunction against RIM that would force a BlackBerry shutdown. A federal judge in Richmond, Va., this week scheduled a hearing on the injunction for Feb. 24.
Most analysts are betting that RIM and NTP will settle without a court-ordered shutdown. And even if there is one, Canada-based RIM says it has a "workaround" that would keep customers from losing service.
Still, one of BlackBerry's key competitors said calls are increasing from companies looking for alternatives.
"Overall, the situation is going nuts," said Danny Shader, chief executive officer of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Good Technology. "We are getting a very large number of inquiries."
He said that since early December, Good has received more than 600 calls from companies working on contingency plans, including installing back-up systems.
Good is marketing a 45-day free trial of its GoodLink e-mail software, complete with Treo smart phones. The initiative is a partnership with Palm, maker of the Treo, BlackBerry's biggest hardware competitor. The slogan: "Does your wireless e-mail system have a future?"
Good says 28 companies in the Chicago area have signed up for the 45-day trial.
Woody Hobbs, chief executive of San Jose, Calif.-based Intellisync, another RIM competitor, said he's also hearing lots of corporate contingency plans, but "I don't think anyone is feeling a great sense of urgency," he said.

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In early June 2013, Toyota announced that it was conducting a voluntary safety recall of more than 87,000 2010 Prius and Lexus HS 250h vehicles in the U.S. According to the auto manufacturer, the recall was issued because of a potential problem with the vehicles’ braking system. Owners were notified by mail that they should take their cars to a nearby dealership in order to find out whether or not the part needed to be replaced.
This certainly isn’t the first Toyota recall in recent history. According to Forbes magazine, the automaker issued recalls for more than 5 million vehicles in 2012, topping the list of last year’s most recalled vehicles. Meanwhile, Honda came in second, with more than 3 million vehicle recalls in 2012, and General Motors rounded out the top three, with about 1.5 million recalls last year.
What’s even more astounding is that there were 16.2 million total recalls issued industry wide in the U.S. in 2012—that’s more vehicles recalled than new vehicles sold that year.
If you’re one of the millions of consumers affected by a vehicle recall, you know the process can be a hassle that often involves being left without a vehicle for a few days while yours is being repaired. But what role, if any, does auto insurance play in the recall process?
How much does a car recall cost?
A vehicle recall can seem like a potentially expensive process for the average consumer. For instance, if your car needs to spend a few days in the shop, who will pay for a rental car in the meantime?
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), any cost associated with the recall—from repairs to rental car reimbursement—is the responsibility of the automaker.
“These car manufacturers are already getting some bad press by having to issue a recall in the first place,” says Shane Fischer, a Florida-based criminal defense attorney and insurance expert. “So that means they want to do everything they can to keep their customers happy during the process.”
According to Bret Bodas, director of automotive professionals group at the auto repair advice site RepairPal.com, even if you’re involved in an accident that was the result of a recalled part or system, your insurance provider will pay out for the claim and recoup the cost from the manufacturer. What’s more, since the accident was caused by a faulty part or system, your insurance rates won’t increase.
However, Bodas offers a word of caution about getting into an accident after ignoring a recall notice.
“If you receive a recall notice and fail to get the repairs completed, you could be held financially responsible as a result of your inaction,” Bodas says, adding that manufacturers keep a record of all formal recall notifications they send out.
What happens to my car insurance during a recall?
According to Insurance Information Institute spokesman Mike Barry, the short answer to this question is “nothing.”
“Your insurance isn’t going to be affected one way or the other if your car is recalled,” Barry says. “Insurance is there to stem the costs that result from accidents and perils, not manufacturer recalls.”
That being said, there are a few ways in which your auto policy may play a role in the recall process.
If you won’t be driving another car while yours is getting repaired, some insurance companies may allow you to temporarily suspend or delete certain coverage like comprehensive and collision for that period of time. But this, says Kristofer Kirchen, president of the Florida-based Advanced Insurance Managers agency, may not be worth the hassle.
“For the most part, unless we are talking about a significant amount of time, the savings realized by doing this are relatively inconsequential,” Kirchen says, adding that most recalls are usually resolved in a matter of a few days.
For example, if you have an annual policy and your comprehensive and collision premiums total $600, suspending that coverage for one month will only save you $50.
Finally, consumers may be tempted to cancel their policies altogether during the time that the car is being repaired, but Kirchen doesn’t recommend doing this.
“The biggest reason you shouldn’t cancel your coverage is because it creates a gap in the continuity of coverage,” Kirchen says.
According to Kirchen, when insurance companies determine premiums, they often take into consideration how long a consumer has had continuous coverage. The greater the length of time, the bigger the discount.
“A lapse—even a small one—can have a double-whammy effect on your rating,” Kirchen says. “Not only does the consumer lose the premium credit for continuous coverage, but he will also probably be moved into a less favorable rating tier. Weigh that against the meager savings you get from canceling your policy and it’s a no-brainer.”
According to Tully Lehman, spokesman for the Insurance Information Network of California, dropping coverage during repairs also is very risky.
“What if the vehicle is stolen? What if it’s damaged in some way due to a storm or in the shop while it’s being repaired? If you don’t have coverage, you’re in serious trouble,” Lehman says. “So even if your vehicle is going to be out of your possession for a long stretch of time, just leave the insurance policy alone.”


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I must apologize to Dave Winer. He warned me about supporting services that aren’t the open web and I wasn’t willing to listen to him a month ago, because I was infatuated with a cool new service that lots of insiders were supporting.
I’ve seen a LOT of discussion about Quora in the past few weeks since I wrote it could be the biggest blogging innovation in the past decade.
TELUS wants its customers to know they can get answers from their new Neighbourhood forums.TELUS Says Their ‘Neighbourhood’ Forums Will Help Customers Get Answers [VIDEO] is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource
There is a narrow margin between Uber supporters and those who think it should be banned in Toronto.Survey: Majority of Toronto’s Younger Residents Are Supporting Uber is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource
When a German lingerie brand wanted to sell bras online in Malaysia, it turned to Singapore’s nearly 200-year-old national postal service, writes Alexandra Stevenson.Singapore Post built a website, developed a marketing strategy and now delivers packages for the company, Triumph International. The customer service team even answers questions about sizing.
In 2012, the note-taking app Evernote became one of the first “Unicorn” startups, joining the exclusive club for private tech companies worth $1 billion or more.That year, Evernote passed 30 million registered users, brought its total funding to $270 million, and seemed like a sure-fire candidate to hit the public market in the coming years.Fast forward three years, and the tables have turned.
If you’re reading this post, you probably share a common problem that all gadget packrats share. We have lots of devices but no good way to store them while they are not being used. I keep my older MacBook Air on the end table next to my side of our double Lazy Boy couch, Jeanne keeps her MacBook Pro on the floor.
This week was an important week in rule making for the FCC, not only did the FCC clarify an 1991 ruling that makes it easier for carriers to block spam texts and robocalls, it has also voted to allow the federal government to give a broadband subsidy to the poor.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - AT&T's proposed $48.5 billion purchase of DirecTV has cleared its final regulatory hurdle as the U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to approve the merger, according to people familiar with the votes.
According to CEO Brian McAndrews, the threat is overblown. McAndrews said that Pandora has seen no meaningful impactyet, and the company doesn't expect it long-term, either.Pandora's stock poppedmore than 10% after-hours after it beatQ2revenue expectations thanks to solid advertising growth. The streaming music service'srevenue clocked in at$285.
Virgin Mobile has conducted its own survey to reveal customers just want better customer service.Virgin Mobile Survey Concludes Canadians Want Friendly Customer Service is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource
Spinlister, a bike-sharing service that describes itself as the Airbnb of cycling, is making inroads in Canada.Bike-Sharing Service Spinlister is Making Inroads in Canada is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource
McDonald's franchisees have voted to make all-day breakfast menus a reality at a select number of restaurant locations throughout the United States. The first wave of updates to McDonald's breakfast menu offerings will begin at 14,300 US-based restaurants starting on the 6th of October.
Back at the 2014 Paris Motor Show, Lamborghini left us speechless with the unveiling of the Asterion LPI 910-4 , the company's first plug-in hybrid. They made it clear then that the car was just a working concept, meant to serve as a technology demonstration. It offered just about the best of everything with a 5.2-liter V10, three electric motors, and an incredible 910 horsepower with 57.3 mpg.
WestJet has updated its iOS app to indicate the launch of its inflight entertainment service is imminent.WestJet for iOS Teases ‘WestJet Connect’ Inflight Entertainment Service [PIC] is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource
In space even, the mundane and boring things we do when we don’t feel so well on Earth are exciting and worth of recording with a super expensive RED 4K camera. If you happen to have a 4K monitor I strongly suggest that you hit up YouTube change the resolution of the video below to 4K and check this out. The video shows a ball of water floating weightlessly in space aboard the ISS.
As usually happens when a company announces a rebrand, or an entirely new brand name, lots of people have immediately reacted to Google's creation of its new parent company "Alphabet" by discussing (and in some cases criticizing) the brand name. Branding is hugely important.
Dave Goldberg is half of one of Silicon Valley's most powerful couples. He's the CEO of uber successful Valley company SurveyMonkey, with an epic career that began in the Internet bubble days. And he's married to Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook. By any measure, Goldberg has a fantastic life.
I was very happy at Google, and I do recommend it to anyone," hetold Business Insider.But a job with HackerRank gave him the chance to chase his passion: competitive programming.They have to think really hard to solve the hard problems, and they come up with the correct solution, that is the best part," Aly says.
The Transit directions service would allow iPhone users to navigate mass transit via the official Apple Maps application.Apple to Reportedly Launch its Transit Service for Maps with iOS 9 is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource


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Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitical tensions, China proved itself to be an attractive and reliable investment destination. According to official data released by China’s National Statistic Bureau, foreign direct investment (FDI) into China rose by 14.9 percent year-on-year to RMB 1.149 trillion (US$173.48billion) in 2021, with 47,643 foreign-invested enterprises (FIE) having newly established. To understand China’s appeal, beyond the swift measures taken to contain the economic fallout of COVID-19, China has other accumulated advantages to back up its outstanding position in the global market and maintain investor confidence, including its huge market growth potential, its skilled labor pool, its unparalleled infrastructure, and its ever-improving capabilities as a manufacturing base for industries of the future. Investing in China is not always easy, but there is no other country that can replace it.
Why choose China for your business?
China’s growth potential
Although China’s economic growth rate is slowing after years of breakneck expansion, the size of its economy dwarfs almost all others, be they developed or developing. Simply put, foreign companies cannot afford to ignore the world’s second largest economy.
Already the world’s second largest national economy, China’s economy is not done growing either. With a population of 1.4 billion, China’s GDP per capita was US$12,551 in 2021, about six times lower than that of the US. While China is not guaranteed to eventually achieve GDP per capita on par with the US, the gap shows that there is still significant room for economic activity and household wealth to continue to grow before leveling off at a saturation point.
The British Consultancy Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) projects China’s economy to continue growing at 5.7 percent per year through 2025 and then 4.7 percent to 2030, at which point it will surpass the US to become the world’s largest economy. Although these growth rates are slower than in the past, they come from a higher base and reflect China’s transition towards becoming a high-income country.
China’s tremendous domestic market
Being the world’s second largest economy, China’s rising purchasing power, expanding middle class, and a population over 1.4 billion, touts it to become the largest retail market in the near future. In 2019, for example, total retail sales of consumer goods hit RMB 41.17 trillion (US$5.97 trillion), according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This trend has remained in the wake of COVID-19.
Due to vigorous employment support measures, the per capital disposable income rose by 9.1 percent in 2021, reaching RMB 35,128 (US$5,445). Combined with other consumption promotion measures launched by the government, the total retail sales of consumer goods remain stable, reaching RMB 44.82 trillion (US$6.95 trillion) in 2021.
The strong domestic market performance will benefit from China’s dual circulation strategy, which intends to spur China’s domestic demand, on one hand, and simultaneously create conditions to increase foreign investment and boost production for exports, on the other. The focus on tapping into China’s internal consumption patterns and domestic markets will also buffer the impact of global economic headwinds on the country’s economic and financial stability. This is why China’s government – at the central and provincial levels – have sped up market opening reforms to make it easier for businesses to scale up, innovate, and boost economic activity, and as a result, fuel consumption growth.
Bearing this in mind, it is not hard to understand why foreign investors are once again betting big on China.
Many foreign companies have started to produce goods specifically for local consumption in China, rather than use the country as a production base for export-led manufacturing as in the past. For many companies, China is now their largest market for growth.
China’s infrastructure and supply chain
China’s sophisticated manufacturing and logistics infrastructure ensures it will not get replaced in the global supply chain easily. According to Xinhua, the state-run press agency, China is the only country that possesses all the industrial categories in the United Nations industrial classification, which allows firms to source goods easily. China also boasts of the largest network of high-speed rail and expressways in terms of mileage, which allows products to be transported efficiently.
China Supply Chain
The importance of these transport advantages has become fully clear right from the start of the pandemic when global supply chains were seriously disrupted due to the aggressive implementation of infection control measures. From the production and supply of masks, protective suits, and medical equipment in the early stage of the outbreak, to consumer electronics, household goods, and festival products during later months, China’s exports have made up for overseas shortages in all kinds of goods segments.
China’s workforce and labor
China has the world’s largest labor market even though its working age population is shrinking. The labor force of China, which refers to the population aged 16 and over and capable of working, stood at around 811 million in 2019. And the number of employed people in China amounted to around 774.7 million people.
Despite the increasing concerns that China’s labor cost keeps rising, China’s labor force still earns considerably less than their counterparts in developed countries, while at the same holding advantages in experience and efficiency compared to lower cost emerging markets.
For example, in 2020, the average hourly cost for labor in the manufacturing sector was US$6.50 in China, compared to US$4.82 in Mexico and US$2.99 in Vietnam, two popular alternatives for manufacturing. However, while Vietnam’s labor costs in manufacturing are less than half of China’s, Vietnam’s productivity per worker is about one-third of productivity levels in China.
Workers in China’s manufacturing sector tend to be more experienced, more educated, and better resourced than in competing countries, often making China a more cost-efficient option despite slightly higher wages.
The breadth of China’s labor pool means that the country’s human resources are highly adaptable to business needs, as companies will be able to find workers and technical specialists experienced in a wide variety of fields.
Further, China’s labor market is becoming an asset not just for its size and cost efficiency, but for the quality of education. For instance, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings had 10 Chinese universities in its 2022 top 200 list – the most ever – including two in the top 20.
Overall, China was the fourth most represented country in the complete rankings, with 97 universities, behind only the US, Japan, and the UK. The improving quality of China’s universities is reflective of the next generation of Chinese workers that is more educated and competitive than previous ones.
China's investment environment
China’s improving business environment
China’s efforts in business reform have yielded success. In the years between 2017 and 2019, China moved from ranking 78th to 31st on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings. China featured among the top 10 economies with the biggest improvement in business environment for two years in a row during the period.
Among the 10 indicators – starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency – China’s far-reaching reforms have placed it close to or at the forefront of the global best practice in several areas.
In getting electricity, China is now positioned 12th worldwide, with only two steps to get a commercial electricity connection. It now only costs 32 days to obtain a power connection in China, compared to half the East Asia and Pacific average of 63 days. China made it easier to get electricity connections in Beijing and Shanghai by expanding their network capacity, simplifying power connection applications, introducing mobile apps to simplify administration, and making electricity tariffs more transparent.
In addition, China maintains its leading position in enforcing contracts, ranked 5th worldwide, and achieved great improvement in dealing with construction permits (from 172nd to 33rd), protecting minority investors (from 119th to 28th), and starting a business (from 93rd to 27th).
In 2017, China launched online company registration and simplified social security registration in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as implemented a simplified company deregistration procedure nationwide.
The completion of the five-in-one business license reform and the introduction of policies like “One Window, One Form” created a simplified digital channel to register a business, and as a result, dramatically cutting the days needed for starting a company from 22.9 days to 8.5 days.
In the years between 2017 to 2019, China also made dealing with construction permits easier by simplifying the approval for low-risk projects, quickening service for obtaining water and drainage connections, and increasing safety by imposing stricter qualification requirements for specific professionals. This has reduced the total time to obtain building permits in Shanghai from 169.5 days to 125.5 days and Beijing from 136.5 days to 93 days.
China’s market reforms and opening
China has endeavored to attract greater foreign investment by relaxing more market access restrictions and continuously introducing improvements to the business and regulatory environment.
Key among its reform actions, are changes to the negative lists. These lists indicate which industries are subject to special administrative measures for foreign investors, or in other words, supervised by authorities when determining market entry, scope of operation, and access to local market. The negative lists were shortened again this year.
The 2021 National Negative List has removed two restricted items from its 2020 counterpart, cutting it 33 to 31, while the new 2021 FTZ Negative List removed three items, cutting it down to 27 from 30. Taking auto manufacturing as an example, the restrictions on the share ratio of foreign investment in passenger vehicle manufacturing has been liberalized. Before, the Chinese party shareholding percentage in passenger automobile manufacturing was to be no less than 50 percent.
Besides, with the Foreign Investment Law and supporting regulations coming into effect in 2020, together with other reforms in the areas of company establishment, tax, finance, reporting and compliance management – foreign investors in China are playing on a more even ground with domestic competitors.
China has also publicly stated its intentions to accelerate market opening reforms.
More free trade zones (FTZs) were announced to diversify scope and access to preferential incentives as well as pilot sector- and region-based relaxation of entry norms.
Most recently, on September 21, 2020, China announced it would establish pilot FTZs in Beijing, Tianjin, and Anhui, raising the country’s FTZ tally to 21. This also constitutes part of China’s efforts to transform into a more innovative, service, and consumption-driven economy and the creation of sustainable and high-end manufacturing capacity to attract international businesses.
Such policy orientation towards high-tech innovation and market opening – that was initially an outcome of US-China trade tensions – will pave the ground for future and sustainable patterns of growth and investment in China.
Innovation and emerging industries
Once known as an economy rife with copycats and counterfeits, China-based businesses are advancing to the leading edge of innovation and experimental business models.
Companies that do not pay attention to China will not just miss out on the market, but also the country’s increasingly dynamic innovation that is beginning to influence trends worldwide.
This spending has contributed to the growth of dynamic and innovative business models in areas like e-commerce, fintech, and artificial intelligence that are competitive with – or even lead – advanced economies like the US.
One unique advantage for data-fueled innovation in China is the size of its internet-using population. China has close to a billion internet users, which is more than the US and EU combined. About 800 million people in China use mobile payments on a daily basis – over eight times more than the US – leading to a world-leading fintech industry.
China’s tech ambitions are no longer limited to the domestic market either. For example, TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, now has one billion monthly users, even though the platform is not available in China itself. This makes it the world’s sixth most used social media platform, far ahead of more established platforms like Snapchat (557 million), Pinterest (444 million), and Twitter (436 million).
As the case of TikTok shows, trends that began in China are beginning to influence trends worldwide. Consequently, it is becoming more important to learn from the Chinese market to inform business models and strategies for global audiences.
Beyond opening an enormous market, investing in China positions international companies to gain experience with innovative products that can make them more innovative and competitive in their home countries.
China's thriving services industry
China’s services sector is the main driver of the country’s economic growth and the basis for the next stage in its development.
China’s unprecedented economic growth miracle over the past four decades was primarily driven by the manufacturing sector, which benefited from an enormous low-cost labor pool as the country opened to export markets. Now, as labor and land costs are growing and its workforce is increasingly well-educated, China is transitioning to a more sustainable post-industrial services and consumption-driven economy.
While growth in China’s manufacturing sector slowed over the past decade, the services sector grew at a faster pace. In 2009, the services sector represented 43.4 percent of China’s GDP, while in 2019 it was worth 53.9 percent of the GDP. Accordingly, the services sector is an outsized contributor to China’s growth – in 2019, it was responsible for 59.4 percent of total growth.
The Chinese governemnt is also increasingly focused on improving the business landscape for the services industry. This includes China’s capital received the green light from the State Council to further open parts of the Beijing service sector to foreign investment. The affected industries include areas that were previously off-limits, such as education, telecommunications, construction, performing arts, and more.
Further, on April 20, 2021, the State Council, China’s Cabinet, released the Guo Han  No.37, approving comprehensive pilot programs on opening the service sector in Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing municipalities, and Hainan province. This document expands the pilot program on China’s service sector opening – six years since Beijing became the first and only pilot city in China implementing service sector opening-up trials in 2015.
As China navigates its transition from manufacturing to services and consumption, foreign investors that are agile and can adapt to satisfy shifting trends will be best placed to capitalize on the country’s new economic landscape.
EDZs in China attracting investments
China’s economic development zones (EDZs) are areas with preferential business policies that differ from those governing the country as a whole. First experimented with in the 1970s, China has created a range of EDZs to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and boost domestic growth.
There are over 2,000 EDZs, each with unique investment incentives and accreditation at different levels of government. Even within zones of the same type, the level of infrastructure, amount of autonomy, and breadth of incentives vary widely, creating an extremely diverse investment environment. Further, EDZs can have accreditation at the national, provincial, municipal, and district levels. Accreditation at a higher level generally means larger tax exemptions and better infrastructure.
EDZs provide a broad range of FDI incentives, which vary depending on the specific EDZ. Businesses operating in EDZs can expect, among other incentives, a higher level of autonomy over their operations, a variety of tax exemptions, land and building subsidies, and preferential employment policies.
China’s trade and investment agreement framework
China has been extremely active in putting into place a variety of trade agreements. This includes bilateral investment treaties (BITs), free trade agreements (FTAs), and double taxation agreements (DTAs), among others. These have had a significant impact on the Asian geographical region, and proved highly influential in encouraging the direction of trade flows and the development of supply chains.
Why foreign companies relocate to China?
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a public health crisis of unprecedented proportions, China emerged as a more resilient and reliable investment destination than ever before. As businesses and factories reopened and internal movement relaxed following the successful implementation of COVID-19 control measures, China offers the world a way to move forward.
The parallel experiences of China versus much of the rest of the world has put the country at a uniquely advantageous position. Foreign investors who had moved their supply chain out of the country due to the US-China trade tension and China’s rising labor cost are now seriously considering moving back to China.


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Nissan’s famous Leaf electric car will now be able to offer you more range. The company updated it back in 2017 and today it has introduced a new version of the Leaf. It’s called the Leaf e+ and can travel 226 miles on a single charge. Nissan says that this represents a 40 percent improvement in range. In the simplest of terms, the car has a bigger battery.
The updated Nissan Leaf that came out in 2017 had a 40kWh battery was good for 150 miles of range. This particular vehicle features a 62kWh battery which pushes the range over the 200 mile threshold.
Authorities say the number of deaths from the record rainfall that hit western Japan last week has reached 200. They say 37 people are still missing and 3 people are showing no vital signs.
By region, Hiroshima Prefecture has the highest death toll. 91 people died there. Sixty people have been reported dead in Okayama Prefecture and 26 in Ehime Prefecture.


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The Consumer Technology Association announced Tuesday that the CES exhibition will be in Las Vegas next month, although a number of tech companies and publications say they will not be posting their employees.
Why it matters: The annual consumer electronics trade show is a major hangout for the industry, but the pandemic forced it to go virtual in 2021.
- “The CES will take place in Las Vegas from January 5th to 8th with strict security measures,” the Consumer Technology Association said in a statement to Axios.
- “Thousands of entrepreneurs, businesses, media and buyers plan to come to Las Vegas. Top executives from federal, state and overseas governments are attending, ”the group said, adding that“ it has received several thousand new registrations since late last week. ”
Yes but: Many tech companies and media organizations say they will not participate.
- Amazon said late Monday it won’t be attending. According to , Meta, Twitter and Pinterest are also skipping the show. T-Mobile is scaling back its presence significantly, including the cancellation of a planned keynote by CEO Mike Sievert.
- A number of the big names in tech media plan to cover the show entirely remotely, including CNET, Engadget, The Verge, TechCrunch, IGN, and TechRadar.
- Samsung was non-binding but said a smaller delegation on site is being considered as employee health is a priority: “The health and safety of our employees and attendees is a top priority at CES 2022.”
Be smart: The organizers of CES tried to personally advance the event in 2021 before finally switching to virtual.
The big picture: Tech companies have adjusted their plans in the course of the Omicron variant. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, *ple, and Meta have all postponed a widespread return of employees to the corporate offices.


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Casamigos has teamed up with Sydney rooftop bar Zephyr to launch a pop-up tequila paradise to celebrate the brand’s expansion across Australia. The popular Darling Harbour bar will offer a limited-edition food and cocktail menu for guests as well as a Casamigos archway for attendees to snap selfies under while sipping on Casamigos at sunset.
Zephyr and Casamigos have developed three cocktails for the event, which have been curated in collaboration with Zephyr and Diageo brand ambassador Kate McGraw. The three drinks are the ‘Tequila Colada Slushie’ made with Casamigos Blanco and maraschino liqueur, the ‘Supersonic Jalisco’ made using Casamigos Anejo, and a ‘Sonic Cherry Belsazar’.
Zephyr and Casamigos are also inviting guests to an exclusive Tequila-tasting event on the evening of February 24 for AUS$79 per person which will include a cocktail, a Tequila flight, a slushie as well as a range of Mexican food and canapés. All other visitors, however, will need to wait till March 20 to exerpience the Casamigos takeover.
For more information or to make reservations, head over to Zephyr’s official website.
In March, Wine Island 2022 is coming to Sydney’s Clark Island. The aptly named annual event–or at least annual until the pandemic cancelled the event for the last two years–features a packed lineup, beginning with a cocktail to enjoy on the boat ride over.


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At the end of 2009, Nazareth Hardware closed its doors to the public, leaving area residents without a local place to buy their nuts and bolts.
What was once known as a Nazareth staple had closed its doors.
But on April 15, 2011, clouds parted and sunbeams shone down on 49 S. Main St., where opened its doors -- nuts, bolts and all -- in the same location as the original Nazareth Hardware.
“This was the original hardware store when I was a little girl, back when Warren Dech owned it 44 years ago,” said Barbara Werkheiser, co-owner of Nazareth Hometown Hardware.
Werkheiser added that Dech himself stepped in to help her and fellow co-owner Mike Meixsell open their store.
And, in fact, all of the shelving units are from the original -- kept in great condition over the past several decades.
"We did a lot of scrubbing," Werkheiser joked.
The store -- which offers everything from rakes to mailboxes to lawn and garden items -- was opened through the combined efforts of Werkheiser and Meixsell, both longtime Nazareth residents.
According to Meixsell, it was originally Werkheiser’s idea. She, in turn, "blames" Meixsell’s know-how for inspiring her decision.
“Downtown was empty," Werkheiser explained. "It really bothered me to see all those empty buildings. [Meixsell] can’t cook, so I figured we’d go with the guy's strong suit and open a hardware store.”
Once the final decision was made, it took 16 months to get the store ready for the public. But, in the end, the duo's hard work paid off.
According to Meixsell, several local businesses have opened accounts, largely Main Street store owners.
And, so far, the locals are enjoying their new nearby hardware store.
“We get that guy four blocks away who’s ripping up his shower and needs something right away and says, ‘Thank God you’re here,’” Werkheiser said.
And being Nazareth residents has its advantages -- the owners already know many of their customers.
“And if we don’t know them, they know us,” Meixsell joked.
Both owners still maintain their respective careers -- Werkheiser works as the chief claims consultant for Guardian Life Insurance, and Meixsell is the maintenance supervisor at .
While Patch was interviewing the owners, a situation presented itself that quickly brought to light why they added "hometown" to the name.
A young man walked in looking for a specific size of washer. He needed one that would fit his dirtbike, and he’d already tried another store with no success.
Werkheiser walked him to the aisle, and Meixsell helped him find the right size. When the man brought the washer up to the counter to pay, both owners said, “Don’t worry about it.”
The man -- surprised -- thanked them both and left, but not before promising to return when he needed other supplies.
It’s that type of service and benevolence that will allow Nazareth's new staple -- Nazareth Hometown Hardware -- to thrive.
The store's hours of operations are Monday through Friday, 7am to 7pm; Saturday, 8am to 4pm, and Sunday, 8am to 2pm.
The store is also open on holidays from 8am to 2pm.


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News - Rodenticides
2 news items on Rodenticides
Renewals of rodenticide authorisations under strict conditions
Rodenticides based on anticoagulants are indispensable to protect people, animals, buildings and supplies against disease, ...
Changes on labels for rodenticides as of 1 March 2018
On 1 March 2018, the derogation period ends for the sale of rodenticides for which the labelling does not comply with 9th ATP ...


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Owners of Amazon Echo devices with the voice-enabled assistant Alexa have been pretty much creeped out of their damn minds recently. People are reporting that the bot sometimes spontaneously starts laughing — which is basically a bloodcurdling nightmare.
Step through the article, read the tweets. This has all the elements of a next-gen horror movie. I can’t help but wonder if there’s IoT hacking going on here, if there’s not someone having a good laugh over this.
Or ghosts. Yeah, probably ghosts.


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TrueCar is drawing a distinction between itself and its competitors in the digital automotive marketplace by showing how it can help consumers fight information overload when buying a new or used car.
Fifteen- and 30-second versions of “No Confusion” introduces TruePrice, which shows buyers what they'll pay, including all fees and accessories, before going to the dealership. With TruePrice, consumers see what others in the area paid for the same car and Certified Dealers are able to set their prices competitively so that consumers get the best deal.
“The enemy of the car buying process is not the dealer,” says Lucas Donat, chief brand officer of TrueCar. “It’s the morass of information available online that confuses consumers.”
In addition to the TV spots, the campaign includes national radio spots across news, sports, podcasts and a home-page refresh. Creative was developed in-house and it was produced by the company’s long-standing partner, Sandwich Video, Donat says.
The spot is being tested across cable and broadcast, including the brand’s top-performing cable networks and NFL programming on CBS and Fox. “We’ll examine test results to determine a longer-term media mix/plan,” Donat says.
The ad aims to draw a distinction between other third-party automotive websites and TrueCar, Donat tells Marketing Daily. Additionally, this spot is designed to answer the age-old question, “How do I know if the price I see on this car is a good price?”
“With the introduction of TruePrice you can now see what others paid for the car you want and get an upfront price from TrueCar Certified Dealers that will include all fees, accessory costs, and incentives,” Donat says. “TruePrice allows you to see exactly what you’ll pay at the dealership.”
The ad departs from TrueCar's previous marketing efforts by shooting in front of a white background, simplifying the messaging and creating a billboard hero effect where the graphics tell more of the story than the spokesperson, Donat says.


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The subscription for the Golfino AG bond (ISIN DE000A1MA9E1) – which is to be included in the Entry Standard – ended on its very first day. The subscription was originally supposed to run until 3 April. But the total volume of 12 million was already able to be placed on the market by late morning on the first day of subscription.
The bond runs until April 2017 and has an interest rate of 7.25 percent.
Trading is planned to commence on 20 March 2012. Applicant and specialist is Close Brothers Seydler Bank AG.
“The Golfino AG bond will be the fourth corporate bond this year to join the Entry Standard,” said Barbara Georg, Head of Listing & Issuer Services at Deutsche Börse. “Bonds in the Entry Standard are a good financing alternative particularly for SMEs. In the Entry Standard, Deutsche Börse places no demands regarding company size, sector or minimum bond volume.”
“With the proceeds from the issue we plan to invest in opening additional stores, expanding our already successful online business and expanding in the growth markets Asia and North America. We also intend to redeem loans and an existing mezzanine finance arrangement, as well as to strengthen liquidity,” said Dr Bernd Kirsten, co-founder and co-owner of Golfino AG.
According to company sources, Golfino is a vertically integrated clothing manufacturer, focusing on golf and leisurewear. Golfino designs, produces and sells ladies’, men’s and children’s clothing, especially golf wear.


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The capital city’s glitterati gathered to celebrate the sixth anniversary of Blue Bar at Taj Palace, New Delhi recently. The event was marked by the launch of the Spring Summer 2015 collection of British fashion label ‘Temperley London’ which has been introduced in India by Kitsch, the leading multi-brand concept store.
Models pose for the camera post the show
AD Singh and Charu Sachdev
Suhel Seth Kalyani Saha and Rohit Gandhi


text: The mangled Mad Max-styled Maybach from Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Otis” music video sold for $60,000 last week in an auction in New York. The high-end luxury vehicle was expected to fetch around $100,000 to $150,000 in the auction at Phillips de Pury’s New York Contemporary Art Evening, but went for below expectations. Proceeds from the sale will go to Save the Children, an organization that fights battles on behalf of children around the world. A rep for the non-profit said the monies will go directly to families in East Africa. “Jay-Z and Kanye West are towering figures in contemporary culture. They have greatly contributed to the artificial barriers between art, music, fashion and cinema to come down,” Simon de Pury, chairman of Phillips de Pury and Company, said in a press release. “Their video for ‘Otis’ became an instant classic. The Maybach they have transformed for it has the starring role.” While a brand new Maybach would usually sell for $350,000, DUB magazine president and co-founder Myles Kovacs tells MTV that chopping the ride dramatically lowered its value. He also estimated that the custom job cost the Throne around $150,000. “The thing is, the value of that car is nothing now, you couldn’t drive it on the street,” Kovas told MTV News last year. “It would start malfunctioning big time.


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Michael Jordan and his fiancé Yvette Prieto have announced that their April 27 wedding in Palm Beach will not have any gossip related to it.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the couple's invitation apparently included a card requesting guests not to share any details about the wedding, as well as a request not to talk to media or anyone who might talk to the media. And to leave cell phones and cameras at home.
According to the Sun-Times, Michael Jordan and Yvette Prieto have a stringent prenuptial agreement, as Michael Jordan has an estimated $650 million to protect.
The newspaper indicates that their agreement gives Yvette Prieto $1 million for every year they were married should they divorce, and if they reach the 10 year mark, that payment increases to $5 million for every year.
Michael Jordan's 2006 divorce from Juanita Vanoy resulted in a payment of an estimated $168 million.


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Virtual hair color is about to get a serious upgrade.
L’Oreal, intent on maintaining a digital edge among beauty brands, says it is expanding its use of augmented reality to Garnier, so more customers can virtually experiment before purchase.
Rival Perfect Corp. plans to introduce new try-on technology for hair at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show.
L’Oreal’s technology comes from ModiFace, which it bought in 2018. (ModiFace has also developed AR technology for Sephora and Estée Lauder.) Using the camera in their phones, shoppers can see how they’d look in shades from both the Garnier Nutrisse and Olia lines.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Lubomira Rochet, L’Oreal’s chief digital officer, says that 500 Walmart stores will display signs that explain how the try-on app works close to the product. She says that when customers experiment using AR, they are three times more likely to buy the product, and typically dabble in 20 different colors.
Perfect Corp., whose app has been downloaded 800 million times around the world, says its new AI Hair innovation goes even further, expanding beyond a single process shade. It says it incorporates a mix of gradient, shine and color effects, including ombre, duo-chrome and metallic shading. “The real-time hair color try-on instantly recognizes the unique movement of hair to display wildly accurate digital hair color effects,” it says in its announcement.
It also plans to introduce its new AI Foundation Shade Finder and virtual AI Beauty Advisor tools, as well as a custom Acne Spot Scan that uses advanced AI to generate product recommendations.
L’Oreal rolled out its makeup app last year, touting its AI-enabled shade calibration and photo-realistic results. The proprietary technology, which runs on Amazon Web Services and uses Google Lens facial recognition, analyzes information provided by makeup brands as well as images and descriptions on social media. And in June, it expanded the virtual try-ons to Amazon.
L’Oreal is also using ModiFace for skincare. In February, for example, it revealed a digital skin diagnostic. Consumers upload a facial photo, then AI analyzes it, comparing it to 6,000 clinical images from L’Oréal’s evaluation and knowledge studies, conducted with Skin Aging Atlases. The diagnostic draws on information from 4,500 smartphone selfies from Asian, Caucasian and Afro-American women in four different types of light.


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In an update to its retail website, Apple has noted that its 11-year-old location in Simi Valley, California, will be permanently shuttered on September 15th. The closure will occur just after the introduction of the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and iPhone Edition, but likely before the new models officially go on sale.
Apple’s statement regarding the store’s closure simply reads:
Thank you for over 10 great years. The last day we will be open is September 15. Please visit apple.com/retail to find the nearest store.
No further explanation for the sudden announcement is provided, but one factor may be declining traffic to the Simi Valley Town Center where the store is located. Retailer Macy’s announced the closure of one of its locations in Simi Valley earlier this year. Customers who frequented the shopping center have no shortage of choice when it comes to finding a new location; Apple The Oaks is just a few miles away, and several other locations reside within its vicinity on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
Over the past few years, Apple has focused on transforming its retail experience, majorly redesigning many locations and refreshing others. Just last a month, we detailed Apple’s newest location in Madison, WI at the Hilldale Shopping Center. The changes come under retail chief Angela Ahrendts, who has spearheaded new in-store initiatives such as “Today At Apple”.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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Reliance Industries, India’s largest company in terms of market capitalization, on Friday, said Intel Capital has invested USD 253.6 million in its digital arm Jio Platforms for a stake of 0.39%.
This essentially means the investment arm of the American technology behemoth Intel, has become the 11th investors to come on Jio Platforms’ cap table, barely two weeks after Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries said, the current phase of induction of financial partners in the digital venture has ended.
Between late April and mid-June, Reliance raised USD 15.17 billion (INR 115,693.95 crore) from leading global investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), TPG, L Catterton, and Public Investment Fund (PIF).
On June 19, Ambani said Reliance has become net debt-free after raising a total of USD 22.1 billion (INR 168,818 crore) in the last 58 days through funding from global investors and rights issue. The group was reeling under USD 21.4 billion net debt (as of March 2020) that it had accumulated over the years, a significant part of which came from its splurge on dirt-cheap internet services.
With the Intel Capital funding, Reliance said, Jio Platforms has now raised USD 15.7 billion by diluting 25.09% equity in the entity. The latest transaction values Jio Platforms at an equity value of USD 66 billion and an enterprise value of USD 69 billion.
The deal is interesting because Intel Capital is the second technology firm after Facebook in the entire gamut of high-profile global investors who have backed Jio Platforms in the last two months.
“We are…excited to work together with Intel to advance India’s capabilities in cutting-edge technologies that will empower all sectors of our economy and improve the quality of life of 1.3 billion Indians,” Ambani said in a statement.
Intel, which has offerings across semiconductors, computing and communications technology devices, data centers, and cloud, said it is excited to “help fuel digital transformation in India, where Intel maintains an important presence.”
Intel has been present in India for over two decades and runs state-of-the-art design facilities in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Intel Capital, which backs startups working in the space of artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, datacenter and cloud, 5G, next-generation compute, has invested USD 12.9 billion in more than 1,500 companies worldwide since 1991. Out of these, its 692 portfolio companies have either gone public or participated in a merger.
According to Wendell Brooks, Intel Capital President, Jio Platforms’ focus on “applying its impressive engineering capabilities to bring the power of low-cost digital services to India,” aligns with Intel’s purpose of delivering breakthrough technology.
Jio Platforms is an umbrella entity that houses all of Reliance’s telecom and digital assets–Jio Infocomm and its digital platforms like MyJio, JioTV, JioCinema, JioNews, and JioSaavn. It also received the company’s tech capabilities like artificial intelligence, big data, and Internet of Things (IoT). Additionally, it subsumed the oil-to-retail conglomerate’s tech acquisitions and investments such as Haptik, KaiOS, Reverie, Radisys, Den Networks, Hathway Cable, and Datacom Ltd, among others. Betting big on this venture, Reliance has been able to sell its vision of creating a digital India to 1.3 billion Indians, primarily focusing on millions of small merchants, micro-businesses, and farmers.
“Intel’s deep expertise across edge ecosystem, computing devices, and enterprise data center solutions can help Jio Platforms expedite on its ‘Compute To Cloud’ vision,” Sanchit Vir Gogia, the chief analyst, founder and CEO of Greyhound Research, said in a recent analyst note.
There is another segment where Jio can tap Intel’s resources. It is no secret that Jio harbors the ambition to play a bigger role in creating smart cities across India, which is one of the flagship initiative of the Indian government. Reliance has already launched its IoT cameras for homes, which aligns with the smart city vision. With Intel, which has RealSense technologies that use AI to offer vision‑based solutions, Gogia said, Jio can go enhance its portfolio of IoT devices.
Moreover, Gogia added, Intel can also help Jio foray into computing devices (laptops and tablets), just as Ambani had ventured into entry-level smartphones with its telecom arm, Jio Infocomm. On its part, Intel, which has been eyeing India’s digital transformation to expand its footprint deeper into the country, Jio Platform is one rare opportunity.
Since Jio Platforms is expected to roll out data centers for enterprise services, Gogia said, this investment will ensure Intel’s technology can be leveraged for the same. Without this investment, Gogia believes, Intel won’t have a fair and equal shot at Jio’s foray in Cloud, given that Intel’s archrival AMD is a portfolio company of Mubadala, which wrote Jio a USD 1.2 billion check for a 1.85% stake.
Gogia believes Reliance can potentially divest another 4-5% in Jio Platforms to raise additional money in the range of USD 2.6 billion to USD 3.3 billion.
A report that was released last month by Bernstein Research said, it expects Jio Platforms to reach 500 million customers by 2023, and control 48% of the mobile subscriber market by 2025.
Parallelly, Reliance reportedly is in the final stages of acquiring stakes in some units of Future Group, an Indian retail conglomerate.
The deal will involve at least three companies promoted by Future Group’s founder Kishore Biyani—Future Retail, Future Lifestyle Fashions, and Future Supply Chain Solutions—going for a merger, according to a report by local media Economic Times (ET). The combined business will then be acquired by Ambani’s Reliance, it added.
It is to be noted that Amazon holds a 3.58% stake in Future Retail, the owner of supermarket chains Big Bazaar, HyperCity, and grocery chain Easyday. While the move will help Biyani pay off the company’s debt, it will make Reliance the biggest brick-and-mortar player across categories like groceries, fashion, and general merchandise.


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Impact can be assessed for a company, an investment, a project, or a sector and is an important tool in strategy, project implementation, regulatory advocacy, staff motivation and reputation management.
We are leaders in helping companies and investors conceptualise, measure and articulate the social, economic and environmental value created (or destroyed) by a company, sector or investment.
A new approach to impact reporting rolled out in Ghana with SCB
Standard Chartered Bank partnered with Genesis as impact advisors to develop a next generation approach to impact measurement and reporting. This new approach was rolled out in a case study on lending to the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors in Ghana.
Economic impact of De Beers on Botswana
De Beers, the world’s largest diamond miner, has been in partnership with the government of Botswana for 50 years - arguably the world’s most successful public-private partnership. The company asked Genesis and PwC to produce an independent report to analyse the economic contribution of the partnership to Botswana.
Economic impact of Emirates on South Africa
Emirates, one of the world’s largest airlines, sought to demonstrate to policy-makers, regulators and the public, that it creates high value for South Africa’s economy. Emirates asked Genesis to quantify the value that the airline created in South Africa and then to model the impact of a number of expanded business scenarios.


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US: Apparel clause left out of defence bill
The National Defense Authorization Act has been signed into law by President Obama without a controversial amendment covering military branded garments.
The amendment would have required military branded garments sold at US base retail stores to be sourced from companies which have signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.
The amendment, backed by some US Democrat politicians, was drawn up after a number of garments and documents with US Marine insignias were found in the rubble of the Tazreen Fashions factory in Bangladesh.
The factory was destroyed by fire in November 2012, resulting in the deaths of 112 workers.
The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh has so far mainly been signed by European, rather than US, apparel companies.
- Why have US FTA imports fallen to a record low?
- Collaboration key to the future of smart textiles
- Synergies Worldwide CEO unravels sourcing shifts
- First figures show Bangladesh exports climb
- Rana Plaza three years on – Timeline of change
- Hanesbrands to buy Pacific Brands for $800m
- Retailer Austin Reed goes into administration
- C&A selects PLM to boost product development
- BHS receives "expressions of interest"
- Timberland sets new eco-preferred standards


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Louisiana RTO chain wins Tupelo buyer's award
Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, February 10, 2014
Tupelo market Chairman V.M. Cleveland (left) and market president Kevin Seddon (right) presented the market’s Buyer Appreciation Award to Mike Hebert, Bert Landry and Joey Thompson of Affordable Home Furnishings in Lafayette, La.
The retailer, which has been sending buyers to the Tupelo market since the late 1980s, was cited for its loyalty to the market and longstanding support of the home furnishings industry.
Founded by Chris and Stacy Overton, the company is the largest locally-owned RTO operation in the South. Most of its stores are in Louisiana, but it also has locations in Mississippi and Texas.
The award is presented at every Tupelo market to a buyer or retail company who regularly shops here. The next market takes place Aug. 14-17.
Most Viewed Articles
FTTV: Frontline Friday From F/T


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The growing popularity of laser printers has privacy watchdogs worried, USA Today reports. Many such printers have a feature, designed to foil currency counterfeiters, that puts a signature of microscopic dots on each page. In the US, only the Secret Service can decode the information, but there are concerns the feature could be used to track down dissidents and whistleblowers.
"There's nothing about this technology that limits its application to counterfeit investigations," said a rep for an electronic privacy group. "Some people who aren't doing anything wrong may have their privacy threatened."


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14:05 | 26/06/2015 Trade
The bilateral trade between Vietnam and Russia is expected to reach 10 billion USD by 2020, following a Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union.
Wood processing for export (Source: VNA)
The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan.
The Finance Ministry said that with the signing of the FTA in May, Vietnam can benefit from its commitment to elaborate import tax on some key Vietnamese export items, including seafood, processed fish, fruits, and rice.
It added that this can facilitate Vietnamese enterprises to promote the country's exports to Russia.
Ha Duy Tung, Deputy Head of the ministry's International Cooperation Department, told Hai Quan newspaper (Customs) that Russia has been one of the world's major consumption markets, so this FTA can create great opportunities for Vietnam.
The Chief Representative of the Russian Trade Office in Vietnam, Maxim Golikov, noted that during 2005-09, the turnover of the bilateral trade between the two countries was 1.1 billion USD per year. This increased three times to around 3.5 billion USD during 2010-14.
He added that the two-way trade will rapidly increase after the signing of the FTA.
Nguyen Ton Quyen, the vice chairman-cum-general secretary of Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Vifores), pointed out that businesses have much expectation from the Russian market as the country has been the third largest importer of Vietnam's wooden products, following the United States and European Union.
Quyen expressed his hope that enterprises in this sector will exploit market opportunities, considering that the export turnover to Russia has been around 40-50 million USD.
A representative of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said seafood firms will enjoy preferential status in terms of tax norms. Agreements on the food hygiene and sanitary and phytosanitary fields will be integrated and transparently implemented in accordance with international norms.
Domestic seafood companies will be able to avoid complications in food hygiene, he added.
However, the signing will also create challenges for businesses, said Duong Hong Minh, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's European Market Department.
According to Minh, local firms lack in information on markets as they have focused on markets in English-speaking countries.
Another challenge especially for small and medium Vietnamese enterprises will be to deal with the methods of payment. Russian firms often send payments via telegraphic transfer (T/T) instead of Letter of Credit. T/T payments are usually made when samples or small quantity shipments are transported by air, with documents such as air waybills, commercial invoices, and packing lists are sent along with shipments. This has been a barrier that dissuades local companies.
However, he said, Russian businesses have been believable, which causes less disputes.
He observed that enhancing the quality of agricultural, forestry, and seafood products has been a challenge for Vietnamese companies.
He suggested that relevant agencies should provide adequate information to businesses on regulations relating to product quality that are prevalent in markets, including those in the Eurasian Economic Union.
The ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Russian management agencies should resolve this issue./.


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The restaurant industry has been devastated by COVID-19, causing closures and service industry employees to lose their jobs. Many establishments have turned to takeout and delivery to stay afloat while others remained completely closed. As the stay-at-home order has been lifted by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, restaurants are preparing to reopen, and some are going above and beyond required measures to ensure the safety of staff and guests.
Johnny’s Hideaway, the iconic Atlanta nightclub, has partnered with CleanWell, the exclusive certified applicator of Monofoil in the Southeast. Johnny’s is the first nightclub to use this nanotechnology-based cleaner that sticks to surfaces and provides protection for 30-60 days. It molecularly bonds to any surface and provides ongoing efficacy in physically killing pathogens that can carry viruses. CleanWell will come to Johnny’s every 45-60 days to reapply the cleaner.
Marlow’s Tavern has installed an upgraded Reme Halo air filtration system that kills 99% of all germs and viruses. They are temporarily installing plexiglass dividers between booths and sanitation stations throughout the taverns. Single-use paper menus and QR code menus will be available for guests to read on their phones. Marlow’s Tavern also will be controlling the number of guests entering the building.
Following the trend, Murphy’s owner Tom Murphy is taking proactive measures to implement new safety protocols and improve the air quality at his iconic Virginia-Highland restaurant with the installation of Synexis, a biodefense technology to reduce the opportunity for infectious microorganisms. Murphy’s is the first independent casual dining restaurant in Atlanta with this state-of-the-art microbial reduction system. Synexis is the same advanced technology used to continuously reduce bioburden in sectors such as schools and hospitals and is effective against airborne and surface viruses, bacteria and fungi.
Ray’s on the River and Ray’s at Killer Creek are also implementing increased precautions to ensure a healthy, safe environment for all guests and employees. Added precautions include installing UV lights by Global Plasma System to combat dangerous pathogens and viruses that may be in the air, single-use menus, contactless pay options, plexiglass booth dividers and more.
Rock ‘N’ Taco, Roswell’s late-night, gourmet taqueria spot, has taken several steps to ensure a safe reopening. While the eatery was closed, the team renovated, updated décor and strategized on how to serve their guests safely. All employees are now required to wear masks and practice extensive hygiene protocols. They have a handsfree, virtual menu so that guests do not have to unnecessarily touch anything. Rock ‘N’ Taco is opening its six, large garage doors to encourage patrons to eat on the patio so that everyone is getting fresh, clean air. Additionally, the restaurant has made more room on the patio by roping off some of its large parking lot for extra, spaced-out seating.
Taco Mac is following strict sanitation guidelines upon reopening and implementing several additional safety recommendations from the local, state and federal governments, as well as the CDC. Staff performs a thorough cleaning and sanitation of the entire restaurant before opening a dining room, utilizing ready-to-use peroxide disinfectant to regularly spray all contact surfaces. All employees are required to wear masks while in the building. Taco Mac has installed sanitation stations throughout the restaurant and removed all caddies and condiments from tables. Team members will bring out sanitized salt and pepper shakers as well as single-use condiments upon request. Dining areas have been rearranged for intentional social distancing through limited seating as well as planned traffic flow and taped six-foot markings in key areas to show guests where to stand when waiting. Taco Mac is continuously monitoring the situation and applying additional measures as needed. View detailed guidelines and safety measures here.
It is important for people’s livelihoods that these restaurants reopen, and guests need to know that their health and safety is of the upmost importance to the owners of these establishments. As patrons return to their favorite local restaurants, they can take comfort knowing restaurants have gone above and beyond to enhance protocols for their wellbeing.


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With shoppers about to be deluged by a flood of pre-Christmas consumer messages, an unusual tree decoration is being promoted by an ornament company in York - a bauble featuring the face of their local Anglican Archbishop.
Dr John Sentamu could be appearing in many homes across the city this Christmas as miniature versions of himself hang on festive trees, reports York News.
The Archbishop was approached about the idea by York Minster and has agreed to the production of the decorations in the anticipation that it will help raise funds for the building.
A spokesperson for the Archbishop told the local paper: "He has had very little involvement but he has seen them. We got effectively a prototype and he said if it raises money for the Minster that is fine."
"They went off and worked on it and all we had to give them was a photograph," he added.
Dr Sentamu is not the first Archbishop to be made into a decoration. St Nicolas, the appropriately-named company which makes the festive ornaments, has been making decorations of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, for a few years and he is said to be very popular.
Dr Williams was also immortalised as a "Rowan bear" a few years ago, in a move initiated by the Ship of Fools satirical Christian website.
But the Sentamu Baubles are deadly serious, if not too earnest, it appears.
The 10 centimetre fabric decorations are part of the bespoke range, the company says. They have a padded filling and Dr Sentamu is pictured wearing a gold and blue robe.
The decorations are hand-made in Thailand by a group of 30 women working from home. It is not clear whether they were produced and sold in Fair Trade Conditions.


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Jarden to Acquire Yankee Candle
September 3, 2013,
RYE, N.Y.-Jarden Corporation, the housewares giant, has entered an agreement to purchase The Yankee Candle Company for approximately $1.75 billion.
Jarden will acquire Yankee Holding Corp. and The Yankee Candle Company from a fund managed by Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC for $1.75 billion and up to $55 million in additional cash earn-out payments based upon achievement of certain performance targets, subject to working capital and other adjustments, the companies said.
The deal will extend Jarden's portfolio of consumer brands in niche, seasonal staple categories, while creating opportunities in cross-selling and broadening its global distribution platform, according to Jarden. Jarden expects Yankee, which generated $319.1 million in net sales for the first six months of 2013, to expand its Branded Consumables segment to approximately 35 percent of combined sales.
"As a successful, well-managed and well-invested business, Yankee Candle is a solid platform for us to leverage our proven, time-tested and portable brand-building approach and to drive additional value through investments in brand equity, product development and innovation," said Martin E. Franklin, Jarden's founder and executive chairman. "As our first significant acquisition since April 2010, Yankee Candle embodies all of the characteristics of our market-leading brands, while offering a compelling financial and strategic value proposition."
Harlan Kent, president and CEO of Yankee, said joining Jarden enables both companies to share best practices, presents many cross-marketing opportunities and enables Yankee to continue to expands its international business and open more stores. "I am very proud of our Yankee Candle team and their proven ability to create scentsational customer experiences, and deliver industry leading financial performance," Kent said. "I don't expect us to change this winning formula, and am excited to work with our new partners on continuing to grow this wonderful business."


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When it comes to banking habits, millennials and Gen Xers aren't so different.
LAS VEGAS – A CU Direct executive discusses how fintech and mobility is changing the way credit unions do business.
Credit unions that do the work for their members are rewarded with loyal members.
A new study reveals a majority of consumers avoid mobile banking apps without biometrics.
Credit unions should not "roll over and play dead" when it comes to Apple's bill pay threat to CUs.
Millennials go for third-party payment options rather than mobile banking apps.
Expectations for frictionless mobile experiences lead to more opportunities for fraudsters.
A former CU board chair discusses the millennial lifestyle and why CUs should keep it on their radar.
Experts from Google, MasterCard, FIS and Visa share insights into the future of digital banking.
Partnership enables consumers to refinance high-APR credit card balances with participating New York CUs.


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Krafton, the developer of PUBG (one of the battle royale most popular on the market), has just sued Garena ensuring that this last company has plagiarized PUBG: Battlegrounds with their games Free Fire Y Free Fire Max. Moreover, the thing has not stopped here and has also extended the lawsuit to Apple and Google, companies that he accuses of distributing both titles on their respective platforms (App Store and Google Play). As if that wasn’t enough, Krafton also charges Google for containing videos of the two Free Fire on YouTube, as well as a Chinese movie claiming that it is a crude illegal adaptation to real action of PUBG.
“Free Fire Y Free Fire Max copy many aspects of Battlegroundsboth individually and in combination, including the descent to earth from the air that occurs at the beginning of each game and that is registered and protected content, as well as the structure of the game and its gameplay, the combination and selection of weapons, armor and unique objectives, location, choices of the color palette, materials and textures”, can be read in the lawsuit.
Of course, Krafton alleges that Garena has earned “hundreds of millions of dollars” with micropayments that include both games and that, consequently, Apple and Google have also made a substantial amount of money by distributing Free Fire in their systems.
Update on the below:
1. The directors said it’s not a PUBG movie, despite basically being a PUBG movie.
2. Krafton said they are considering suing given the similarities to the PUBG IP.
Last December 21 Krafton requested Garena to withdraw Free Fire Y Free Fire Max, a request that was rejected by the company. This led the company to ask Apple and Google to stop its distribution and to remove the related videos, something that did not come to fruition either and that has finally ended up leading to this lawsuit.


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China Biologic Products Inc. (CBPO) Stock Price Down 2.2%
Shares of China Biologic Products Inc. (NASDAQ:CBPO) were down 2.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $118.67 and last traded at $118.91, with a volume of 81,659 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $121.60.
Several analysts recently issued reports on CBPO shares. Jefferies Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of China Biologic Products in a research report on Saturday, June 4th. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of China Biologic Products from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 6th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group AG upgraded shares of China Biologic Products from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 5th.
The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $110.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.71.
China Biologic Products (NASDAQ:CBPO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.06. The firm earned $85.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that China Biologic Products Inc. will post $4.29 EPS for the current year.
In other news, Director Wp X. Biologics Llc sold 2,775,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $308,025,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Ming Yin sold 19,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $2,229,389.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 51,419 shares in the company, valued at $5,843,255.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in China Biologic Products during the fourth quarter worth $2,846,000. WCM Investment Management CA boosted its stake in China Biologic Products by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management CA now owns 60,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,655,000 after buying an additional 11,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Frank Co boosted its stake in China Biologic Products by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Frank Co now owns 14,104 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,993,000 after buying an additional 5,764 shares in the last quarter.
China Biologic Products, Inc (China Biologic) is a biopharmaceutical company. The Company is principally engaged in the research, development, manufacturing and sales of human plasma-based biopharmaceutical products in China. It operates in the manufacture and sales of human plasma products segment. It has a product portfolio with over 20 various dosage forms of plasma products and other biopharmaceutical products across over nine categories.
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Despite the slowdown in consumer sales, the PC market is continuing to slowly grow in the third quarter of 2010, according to market research firm iSuppli. Worldwide shipments were at 88.1 million units in Q3 2010, up 6.7 percent from Q2 2010, and up 10.3 percent from Q3 2009. Corporate PC demand in the third quarter was particularly evident: desktop PC shipment sales rose sequentially by 11 percent in the third quarter, compared to only a 4.2 percent increase for notebooks. iSuppli's definition of PCs encompasses desktops, notebooks and entry-level servers.
In the top five, Dell, Lenovo, and Asus saw solid growth while HP and Acer dipped. After reclaiming second place in the global PC market in Q2 2010 (which it had lost to Acer nine months earlier), Dell has not only maintained its ranking but has managed to capitalize on the corporate PC market refresh cycle. Lenovo delivered another impressive quarter; during every 2010 quarter, the company has so far achieved year-over shipment growth in excess of 30 percent. Asus managed to move into the top five ranking, displacing Toshiba into sixth place.
"The second quarter of 2009 was a terrible period for the PC market, but the following three months marked the beginning of the recovery, representing the first quarterly period in 2009 when shipments grew on both a sequential and year-over basis," Matthew Wilkins, iSuppli's principal compute platforms research analyst, said in a statement. "Because the third quarter of 2009 was stronger, the year-over-year growth rate in the third quarter of 2010 appears weaker than it was during the second quarter of 2010."


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Samsung Galaxy A52 5G will be available in four color variants, as per a new leak. The smartphone is expected to launch soon in India. Samsung Galaxy A52 is rumored to launch in March in two variants – 4G and 5G. The smartphone was recently leaked in image renders by Evan Blass (via Voice). Now, the tipster has revealed new color variants for the Galaxy A52 5G in
Samsung Galaxy A52 is rumored to launch in March in two variants – 4G and 5G. The smartphone was recently leaked in image renders by Evan Blass (via Voice). Now, the tipster has revealed new color variants for the Galaxy A52 5G in GIF images that can be clicked on to view the smartphone in a 360-degree view. Also Read - Samsung Galaxy A52 price increased by Rs 1,000; now starts at Rs 27,499
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G will be available in four color options including Awesome Black, Awesome White, Awesome Violet, and Awesome Blue. Also Read - Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Review: The first affordable Flip
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is expected to feature an Infinity-O display with punch hole with a punch hole on top of the screen. The screen size is said to be 6.5-inches of S-AMOLED quality. The 4G variant has already passed BIS certification in India, hinting at an imminent launch. The Galaxy A52 5G variant will be launched in the country as well, according to various reports. Also Read - Top smartphones under Rs 60,000 in September 2021: Apple, Samsung, OnePlus
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G renders suggest the phone will sport four rear cameras, placed in a rectangular module. The absence of a physical fingerprint scanner suggests that it will feature an in-display fingerprint scanner, though it could be embedded into the power button as well. More details are unclear at this point.
The volume rocker keys and power button will be on the right edge. Samsung Galaxy A52 5G will also sport a 3.5mm headset jack and a USB Type-C charging slot, which will be placed at the bottom.
The 4G variant is expected to be powered by a Snapdragon 720G processor, while the 5G variant is said to pack Snapdragon 750G. Further, the quad rear camera setup will be a combination of a 64-megapixels main lens, 12-megapixels ultra-wide lens, and two 5-megapixels macro and depth sensors respectively.
As for the price, the European price of the Galaxy A52 was revealed by GalaxyClub. As per the website, the Galaxy A52 4G will cost Euro 369 (approximately Rs 32,700) for the 6GB RAM+128GB storage variant. The top-end 8GB RAM + 256GB storage model will be priced at Euro 429 (approximately Rs 38,000).
Meanwhile, the 5G variant of the phone will be priced at Euro 459 (approximately Rs 40,700) for the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage option. The 8GB RAM and 256GB storage model will cost Euro 509 (approximately Rs 45,100).Samsung Galaxy A52 5G color variants leaked in new images View Story


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Meteorological Technology World Expo 2023
McPhy is delighted to announce its participation in this year edition of the Meteorological Technology World Expo 2023 in Geneva This event organized by the Meteorological Technology International Magazine, will take place from the 3rd to 5th of October 2023.
3 days dedicated to meteorological technologies and services
This global event brings together more than 145 exhibiting companies and thousands of attendees came to discover the latest innovations in renewable energies, transport, weather and climate forecasting, and more.
McPhy is delighted to present its low-carbon hydrogen production solutions at this flagship exhibition for the industry.
Come and meet our Italian team on stand 7062 & don’t miss the presentation of our products at the conference on 4 October.
Info & Registration
| Meteorological Technology World Expo 2023
October 3rd, 4th & 5th, 2023 | Geneva
Palexpo, 30 Route François-Peyrot, 1218 Le grand-Saconnex, Suisse | Hall 4 – Booth N° 7062
| Conference slot: 4th of October 2023 at 14:50
« Green Hydrogen Generator », Marco Parigi, Sales Manager Southern Europe of McPhy
For more information and registration: https://www.meteorologicaltechnologyworldexpo.com/en/


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The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (, IPMAN) said the price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as fuel will soon sell for N617/per litre.
Recall that three weeks ago, fuel marketers increased the fuel pump price from N539/per litre to over N600/per litre.
IPMAN said fuel would continue to increase as long as the US Dollar rose in the foreign exchange market.
Chinedu Okoronkwo, the National President of IPMAN, disclosed this to DAILY POST exclusively while reacting to speculation of further fuel pump hikes.
The IPMAN’s boss noted that fuel price will keep soaring if the dollar keeps rising in the forex market.
He said: “Nigerians should understand that with fuel subsidy removal, the government is no longer determining pump prices but the market forces. The product is bought in dollars. The dollar is around 890/$1 now. As the dollar climbs, fuel pump prices will continue to go up”.
As a solution, he urged the government to double up efforts to make Compressed Natural Gas available for Nigerians.
“Government should make conscious efforts towards making CNG available for Nigerians”, he stated.
Naira dropped further to the dollar, exchanged at N782.38/$1 on Wednesday at the official market.
But, at the parallel market dollar is enchanted at 910/$1.
Meanwhile Nigerians have been told to brace for tougher times because prices of cooking gas will go up next week.
The President of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, Olatunbosun Oladapo, said gas consumers should get ready for price hikes starting next week.
He cited rising international prices, high tax rates and prices of vessels, forex scarcity, and naira devaluation as some of the reasons for the intended price review.
“It is starting next week because international prices have gone up. The prices of vessels have gone up and taxes are high, but consumers are not earning more.
“Their purchasing power has gone down. Everybody is crying. Consumers, middlemen, and retailers are feeling the impact because business is now on the low side,” he said.
Olatunbosun described the imminent price increment as unfortunate.
“The situation is very unfortunate because prices are going higher. Nigerian consumers are passing through very difficult times because they can no longer afford gas,” he added.
According to him, consumers are now returning to firewood, charcoal, and sawdust for cooking.
“The government should come in and alleviate the suffering of the masses by providing palliatives, reducing taxes and levies.
“You can imagine that for every 1kg of gas priced at N700, tax would take way N3.50. How much is left in such a business?” he continued.
He urged the government to tax profit and not products because consumers were not buying gas anymore.
“Local taxes are worsening the problem,” he said, calling on marketers who had the opportunity to buy products locally to fix prices with “consumers’ sympathy” in mind.


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Update 01/21/22: Ohio's Travel Industry and the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
OMICRON CONTINUES TO IMPACT DECISION-MAKING ON TRIPS; HOWEVER, OPTIMISM THAT THE PANDEMIC WILL IMPROVE IN THE NEXT MONTH SOARS; NEARLY 80% OF AMERICAN TRAVELERS HAVE TRIPS CURRENTLY PLANNED IN 2022
Key findings from Destination Analysts fielded Jan. 12 - 14, 2022
- With Omicron-fueled COVID case records continuing to disrupt life in the U.S.—from staffing shortages to full hospitals—Americans concerned about personally contracting the virus rose over 7-points in the last two weeks to 65.4%. This exceeds levels during the Delta-variant and is the highest it has been since February 2021.
- 71.9% report that at least one person in their personal circle has contracted COVID just in the last month alone (2.9 friends, relatives and/or coworkers on average).
- Omicron also continues to impact trips, with 40.8% of American travelers reporting either a cancellation or postponement specifically due to the variant—an 8-point gain from the start of the month.
- Nearly 30% have said that the challenges procuring COVID tests have stopped them from traveling in the past month.
- About 30% of recent trip-takers reported a high-degree of COVID anxiety and three-quarters of all American travelers say they are or will be more careful when traveling because of Omicron.
- Nevertheless, while 44.6% of American travelers have frequently worried that people are giving up on COVID safety when they shouldn’t, 30% admit to frequently feeling exhausted in the past month from having to deal with the COVID-19 situation and 35% say they have frequently had the thought that “life should go back to normal” despite the pandemic.
- Optimism that the pandemic will improve in the next month has soared 10-points in the last two weeks to 30.6%.
- Nearly 80% of American travelers have trips currently planned in 2022. Over 70% have engaged in travel planning and/or dreaming in the past week alone—a 7-point increase over the past month. Excitement for an unplanned getaway (70.0%) and openness to travel inspiration (66.2%) both increased 5-points in the past two weeks.
- This week, 72.8% of Americans expressed higher levels of excitement for their prospective travel future—reaching the highest level it’s been since the Omicron wave began. In fact, when asked for the one word that describes how they feel about travel right now, “excited” is the top response. The average number of anticipated leisure trips Americans plan to take over the next 12 months has hit its highest peak during the pandemic era at 3.1.
- In addition, more Americans now say that travel will be a spending priority in the next 3 months (58.2%—a 3-month high).
- It appears the typical American traveler has used a wide array of travel planning resources recently. Digital channels naturally dominate destination marketing receptivity. When asked about the channels they’d be most receptive to learning about new travel destinations to visit, website found via a search engine (29.9%), email (24.0%), Facebook (21.3%), streaming video services such as YouTube or Hulu (19.3%) and online content such as articles and blogs (18.0%) topped the list. Instagram is also a top resource for Millennials, while printed travel and lifestyle magazines are key for inspiring Baby Boomers.
- When it comes to travel planning, Americans are commonly using Facebook (27.0%), YouTube (26.0%) and Instagram (20.9%), online travel agencies (24.6%), online content such as articles and blogs (22.4%), printed travel or lifestyle magazines (16.7%) and television programming (14.4%). American travelers are also looking to official resources such as the official destination website (21.9%) and an online visitor guide (14.7%) or printed visitor guide (11.8%) to plan their travel.
- By far the types of trips Americans are most excited about taking in the next year include family trips and romantic getaways. Millennial and Gen Z-aged travelers exhibit much higher levels of excitement for many different trip types compared to older travelers. In terms of interest in specific activities in the next 12 months, Americans are most interested in enjoying scenic beauty, warm weather outdoor activities, road trips, dining in regional restaurants, visiting historical sites and enjoying street food during their travels.
DESTINATIONS THAT HAVE LOW COVID CASE NUMBERS ARE IMPORTANT IN TRAVEL PLAN DECISION MAKING; TRAVELERS LOOKING FOR AUTHENTIC AND NEW EXPERIENCES IN 2022; CLEANLINESS AND SAFETY PROTOCOLS A MUST FOR MANY TRAVELERS
Key findings from Tripadvisor fielded November 2021
- 78% of Americans surveyed said they were likely to travel in 2022.
- In the United States, intent for leisure travel abroad is up 6 percentage points compared to 2019, while domestic leisure travel plans for 2022 are up 8 percentage points against 2019.
- Approximately 7 in 10 respondents surveyed said that destinations that have a low number of COVID-19 cases are important when making a decision on where to travel next.
- A whopping 75% of Americans say it’s important they “see new places” when thinking about their future travel plans.
- More than a third to nearly half of all travelers surveyed by Ipsos MORI in the United States said that traveling to a destination they’ve never been to before would be more important to them now, compared to trips they took in 2019, when choosing where to travel.
- About a third of respondents also said they are now more open to exploring new travel destinations than before the pandemic. This appetite for the “new” provides the perfect opportunity for businesses to capture a new customer, so they should bear this in mind when planning marketing strategies for the year ahead.
- The top three most important considerations in future travel plans to visit a destination was to get immersive by seeing new places, having new experiences, and learning about history and culture.
- When planning future trips, 34% of American travelers said that it’s more important now than before the pandemic that they choose a destination where they can immerse themselves in “authentic local experiences.”
- 30% of travelers surveyed say it’s more important now that they “pack as many activities” into their holiday travel as possible.
- Roughly 3 in 10 Americans who traveled for leisure in 2019 say it’s more important now than before the pandemic to splurge on a big trip.
- According to the survey, in addition to spending time in nature and relaxing and dining out, one of the main areas where travelers seem to have an interest in 2022 is in self-guided cultural activities. On the other side of the coin, looking at guided cultural activities — those activities and tours, where subject matter experts and professional guides allow for travelers to sit back, learn, relax, and see all that an area has to offer — about 2 in 10 travelers surveyed said they will do more of this when planning trips in 2022 or beyond than before the pandemic.
- 22% of travelers said that they plan to experience more guided cultural activities than they had pre-pandemic.
- One-third of the Americans who aren’t traveling next year said they’ve decided against it because of uncertainty surrounding possible travel restrictions.
- Seventy-percent of Americans who responded to Ipsos MORI’s survey agree that an establishment’s cleanliness will be an important factor in their travel decision making.
- 63% percent of Americans surveyed agree that they would like to see safety measures (e.g. hand sanitizer, perspex sneeze screens, track and trace, etc.) in place at hospitality businesses, even after COVID-19 cases have dropped worldwide.
- American travelers are spending 29% more on their average booking in 2022 than they did in 2019.
VISITORS TO CULTURAL ENTITIES WANT TO SEE PROOF OF VACCINATION
Key findings from IMPACTS Research published January 19, 2022
- New research this month says 56.8% of adult Americans and 71.1% of likely visitors (people who actually attend these organizations) now believe US cultural entities should require visitors to show proof of vaccination.
- In September, only 48% of likely visitors believed that proof of vaccination should be an admission requirement.
- There is significant variance in sentiments across the US, and things aren't even consistent within states, let alone regions. Consider, for example, major cities within the state of Ohio: Among high-propensity visitors residing within metro Cleveland, 64.8% believe that organizations should require proof of vaccination. Travel two hours down the highway to Columbus, and this belief among high-propensity visitors increases to 71.9%. Keep heading a few more hours south on the same highway to Cincinnati, and the belief that proof of vaccinations should be required by organizations decreases to 54.5%.
- Even with regional variance, however, a majority of Americans increasingly feel safe visiting both exhibit and performance-based entities when vaccinations are required, and the trendline is important to note regardless of where your cultural entity is located.
- Even if your organization is not able to make this a requirement by law or if yours is a particularly red county, trends in overall sentiment and behaviors for the rest of the United States may impact tourism, strategic planning, and market potential considerations.
- As of the start of 2022, requiring proof of vaccination is now the second biggest factor for making potential visitors to exhibit-based entities feel comfortable, and the third for performance-based entities. In both cases, over 64% of respondents said that requiring proof of vaccination would make them feel safe and comfortable.
- More than half of all Americans think exhibit-based entities should require proof of vaccination, and this has risen notably since September. Not only that, nearly 69% of likely visitors believe that these entities should require proof of vaccination. From a research perceptive on a divided topic, that is a high percentage of likely visitors.
Travel Research Round-Up
Take a look at the latest trends and traveler sentiments in a one-page research summary, including some updates on how the Omicron variant has and will impact travel sentiment.