Fact of the Month
Revenues from gambling in Macau increased 58% in 2010.
Source: Reuters
Feature of the Month: Global Tourism
After two years of challenges for the travel industry, tourists are finally starting
to return to their favorite vacation spots. Government leaders in many of the hardest
hit locations are executing strategies to boost tourism through a combination of
rate cuts, marketing campaigns and increasing airline capacity. Fortunately, world
travelers have started to respond to these measures and their increased travel is
a sign of a strengthening economy.
One location benefiting from the rebound in travel is the Caribbean. The IMF believes
Caribbean GDP will grow roughly 1% this year and a new study
suggests that the travel industry's contribution to GDP could reach 4.2%.
St. Maarten is projecting a 5% visitor increase which Travel Weekly attributes to the aggressive marketing of
early-booking bonuses and the increased availability of flights. Hotel executives
believe that the increased flights will allow tourists to travel more economically
and will be driven by the increasing popularity of low-cost airlines.
Another hard-hit country, Greece, suffered from bad publicity this year, but the
facts have proven that you can only keep travelers away from beautiful beaches for
so long.
Greek News Online reports hotels have kept customers by lowering prices.
They cite a study that estimates 50% of Greek hotels offered lower rates in 2010
which resulted in a 7 to 8% drop in overall revenues. The Greek tourism industry
is also banking on low-cost airlines to bring new tourists to the country, however
diplomats are concerned that new flights could hurt the two main Greek airlines
and are being careful not to upset those relations.
Mostly known for its spring break getaways, Mexico's travel industry has largely
rebounded with the strengthening of the United States which sends many tourists
and day travelers to Mexico’s beaches every year. The Economist reports
that some tourists have been lured by price cuts and the average tourist spent 5%
less in 2010 than at its peak in 2008. Although there were slightly more foreign
tourists this year, the decreased spending means that the industry will still be
making less money than at its peak.
The overall trend in the industry is an increasing amount of travelers spending
less money per visit. Insiders are hoping that employment conditions will improve
and the great deals along with easy flights will convince travelers to make that
trip they have been putting off.
From the globalEDGE Blog
Although some would argue that gambling may have helped cause the current economic
recession, governments are increasingly seeing it as a way to increase tax revenue.
Continue on to the globalEDGE Blog to learn more about current industry trends
and gamblers' newest glitzy hotspot, Macau!
Featured Resources
Macau: Economic Services of the Macau Special Administrative Region
This governmental branch carries out the economic policies in the industrial, commercial
and other economic sectors, while also providing licensing and registration of internal
and external trade operations. Selected economic and financial indicators, general
information on their services and a list of related links are provided. Site available
in Chinese, English and Portuguese.
Category: Macau
PricewaterhouseCoopers: Hospitality & Leisure
PricewaterhouseCoopers, a professional service firm, provides worldwide background
information on industry sectors. This site includes an up-to-date industry environment
description, challenges facing the industry and potential solutions, free downloadable
publications including annual reviews, and events.
Category: Hospitality & Travel
Featured Academy
Global Market Opportunity Assessment
The Global Market Opportunity Assessment module informs one on the following issues:
why it is important to assess global market opportunities; how companies conduct
market opportunity assessment; what makes market research effective; practical approaches
to identifying foreign market opportunities. A sample global market opportunity
assessment questionnaire and a case study on Thailand’s growing importance
in the global export market are also included in the module.
Catoregy: Market Research & Entry
globalEDGE Business Review
"Globaloganization of Renault Development Strategy"
by Said Cherkaoui (Volume 4, Number 3, pp. 1-2, 2010)
This article presents the drive of Renault from the edge of bankruptcy to the rise
of its model Logan to international preeminence, fame and success. At the same time,
Renault concentrated its production in countries that have been considered by the
major car manufacturers as solely a marketplace and not the location of their production.
Newsletter Information
If you have suggestions on how we can improve the newsletter,
tell us here!
This newsletter is being sent to you by the globalEDGE Team. You elected to receive
this newsletter from globalEDGE when you registered on our website, located at:
http://globaledge.msu.edu/.
If you wish to unsubscribe from the mailing list, please click on the following
link. Please remove me from this list.
|