Author: Ben Debski

Towering above

Posted on by Ben Debski

In the heart of the city centre, an area in which the citizens of Zürich crave to live, immediately adjacent to the Hardbrücke major transport artery and a mere 12km from the airport, is the perfect location − precisely where you will find the Renaissance Zürich Tower Hotel, Switzerland.

This modern hotel is above all renowned for its capacity to host meetings. The Renaissance Tower provides the setting, but the detail is added according to each guests’ personal wishes and needs − whether it’s a conference, meeting or social occasion. A total of ten function rooms are air-conditioned and naturally lit thanks to stunning full-height windows. The soundproofed rooms have disabled access, state-of-the-art multimedia systems, high-speed wireless internet access and individual lighting and design systems. The foyer, a bright 120sq m hall, is available for breaks, providing enough room for socialising and relaxing.

Privacy is a major issue in the business world. The Renaissance Zürich Tower Hotel realises this and provides the perfect solution with its boardroom − a retreat which has high-speed wireless internet access, a 50-inch LCD screen, a projector with screen, a coffee machine and universal plug sockets.

To relax and immerse yourself in a different world is often the only thing on your mind after a strenuous day at work. The 15th floor of this hotel, high above the Zürich skyline, is somewhere that guests can let themselves relax and take refuge. The executive lounge offers a private area and space to let your mind wander, or simply chill out and enjoy a canapé and a glass of wine or two.

Everyone has their own way of recharging. Guests who like to keep active will find what they need in the fitness centre, where state-of-the-art equipment is available 24/7. After a vigorous workout, guests can re-energise their mind and body in a steam bath or sauna while enjoying breath-taking views from Zürich to the Swiss Alps.

Individual flair
Each of the 300 rooms tells a story, with a local twist. Seemingly abstract images printed on aluminium are self-explanatory when viewed closely – they are industrial motifs, capturing the district’s lively history – while full-height windows give views over modern-day Zürich.

From the lobby, via the bathroom to the sleeping area, every room is coordinated, with attention to detail and stylish furnishings. The oak furniture has been specifically designed for the hotel, while specially selected textiles make the space calm and welcoming, without detracting from the urban chic.

All rooms are non-smoking and air-conditioned. They each have a two-channel telephone with voicemail, cable or wireless high-speed internet access, a safe and international sockets. Digital cameras, laptops, flat-screen televisions, coffee machines, tea-making facilities, ironing facilities and hair dryers can also be found in the rooms. High-quality bed linen, feather pillows and plump duvets ensure a perfect night’s sleep.

Cosmopolitan delights
Equinox is an equality of day and night; it is also the hotel’s restaurant, which provides food and entertainment around the clock. Try the surprising ‘urban cuisine’, where premium ingredients from innovative, regional producers are transformed with a delight in experimentation. Equinox serves seasonal, passionate cuisine for gourmets who enjoy exceptional taste sensations.

The Lucid and Vivid bars are both cosmopolitan rendezvous when you fancy a snack, or an aperitif with selected wines, exotic cocktails, or a cool, locally brewed lager. Live music is played in the evenings, while a DJ gets guests in the party mood. It’s not unusual to bump into different national and international stars of stage and screen who like to stay in the hotel. The Renaissance Zürich Tower Hotel is regarded as a bit of a well-kept secret on the fashionable circuit.

Finger on the pulse
Zürich is an international financial centre, synonymous with style. It is chic, but never intrusive, and retains its charm thanks to its compact scale. The Renaissance Zürich Tower Hotel is located in the fifth district, in the beating heart of the city, also known as ‘new Zürich’. This former industrial area has successfully transformed itself, embracing the service sector to become the most coveted place to live and work, where the best restaurants rub shoulders with internationally successful art galleries and select shops and boutiques.

Creativity is infectious and awaits you around every corner. The newly renovated railway viaduct, for example, is a shopping and commercial mecca with Zürich’s first indoor market, and is simply known as Im Viadukt. Another example is the Schiffbau, a former shipyard, but what is now a theatrical venue and home to the legendary club Moods, Zürich’s premier destination for jazz, funk, soul, blues, electro, fusion and world music. Music and events are held at the Maag Halle, just a two-minute walk from the hotel, and the hotel’s concierge can book attractive offers for you. All of the music clubs will be another highlight for night owls, where they can meet with Zürich’s party people and celebrate until the early hours.

Of course Zürich West doesn’t sleep the day away, but offers other attractions. The Migros Museum of Modern Art, housing exhibitions by famous and lesser-known artists, is a must for art lovers. A stroll through the district is perfect for a breath of fresh air and is always time well spent. Lots of cafés offer a pleasant alternative to a tiring day at work.

Zürich West is just a short distance from the city centre and thus offers further places of interest, such as Augustinergasse, the perfect place to shop, with little boutiques alongside household names, providing something to suit every taste. Or why not take a break beneath the trees in Bürkliterrasse, named after former town planner Arnold Bürkli and located at the end of Bahnhofstrasse? On a clear day the view across the lake to the Alps from here is quite spectacular. If you’re sightseeing in Zürich, don’t forget to visit the Fraumünster, as the church has unique windows, masterpieces by artist Marc Chagall, which are regarded as some of the last century’s cultural treasures.

A cosmopolitan city

Posted on by Ben Debski

In a major media centre like Hamburg, the red carpet is permanently rolled out. Small wonder, since the city offers endless possibilities for celebrations, meetings and events. Those looking for the unusual will find it here: floating lounges on the water, animal backdrops at the aquarium, historic portside sheds, turn-of-the-century industrial architecture, generous ballrooms and ships of any size.

These places are not only located at the scenic waterfront, but often have their own piers and can be reached by boat. It is also important as a consular city and still holds centuries-old trade relations. Combined with a tangible flair of openness and tolerance, it is clear that Hamburg is a cosmopolitan city.

In the course of history, trade and change have given Hamburg the growth, success and the foresight to manage future challenges. The best example of this is the port, which, developed in the immediate vicinity of downtown tourist hotspots, had to adapt to accomodate giant container ships and a rising demand for space, yet still managed to defend its position as one of the top container ports in the world.

The maritime sector and the logistics industry extend their influence far into the surrounding economic centres and form the basis for Hamburg’s reputation as an international metropolis for the service industry. Every two years, Hamburg is host to the leading trade fair of the shipbuilding industry, the SMM, which comes as little surprise as 120 German shipping companies alone are already represented in the city.

Global players
Traditionally, global players and well-known brands establish corporate, German and European headquarters in Hamburg. The list includes everything from mail order companies, coffee roasters, oil companies, banks and insurers to chocolatiers and cosmetics manufacturers. Lesser known is that the metropolis at the Elbe River is the largest civil aviation centre after those in Seattle and Toulouse. Consequently, Airbus, Lufthansa Technik, mid-sized suppliers and the airport are among the region’s most important employers.

In addition, there are recognised research and educational institutions, such as the university, state and private colleges, scientific institutes and important technology centres like the German Electron Synchrotron. Hamburg is also in the headlines as a media and creative centre − and you can take that literally. After all, Germany’s most widely read tabloid newspaper is produced in the city, as well as the most popular TV newscast, a selection of leading magazines, award-winning ad campaigns, computer games, films and TV series. As one of the strongest economic regions in Europe, Hamburg occupies a top position in many important industries. It is above all the great potential of renowned scientists and specialists as well as its global trade relations that make the city an ideal meeting place.

Inspiring moments
Mainstream and avant-garde; stars and newcomers; true Hamburg citizens and people from every culture − all intermingle in this large cosmopolitan melting pot. Symphony concerts and nightlife, the Harbour Festival and numerous Jazz festivals, theatrical performances and poetry slams are just as much part of Hamburg as are luxury brands and independent labels, haute cuisine and fish sandwiches at the Sunday fish market.

It wasn’t princes and kings, but cosmopolitan citizens and art-loving patrons who laid the foundation for its arts and culture. And this is still true today. The Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall is ultimately an expression of this philanthropic commitment. Hamburg is the uncontested leader when it comes to endowments for the arts and culture; the city’s valuable treasures and unique institutions, such as the Art Gallery, the Brucerius Art Forum, the Deichtor Halls, the Ernst Barlach Museum or the Maritime Museum, are all owed to this generous spirit.

On the trail of the Beatles, those who come looking for music find this city has more to offer than others. For example, Hamburg established Germany’s first public opera house in 1678, attracted famous composers like Johann S Bach and Johannes Brahms to the banks of the Elbe River and served as a springboard for legends of more recent musical history, above all the Beatles, who in the 60s started their unprecedented career in the clubs of St. Pauli. The Beatlemania Museum and various tours remind us of the performances of the best-known rock band of all time.

Sustainable visions
Hamburg’s beauty isn’t just set in stone. The city also impresses with delightful natural surroundings, cultivated charm and clean air. Encircled by tributaries and canals, generous parks and green spaces with many plant species and old, giant trees are spread throughout the city. You can find a peaceful refuge anywhere – be it on a lakeside patio in the nearby 148 hectare city park, on an Elbe River beach or on a boat dock on Alster Lake. Woods, meadows and recreational areas make up about 15 percent of the city’s area. Hard to believe, but Hamburg boasts 29 nature reserves on its relatively small area – more than any other city in Germany.

Hamburg was crowned the most environmentally friendly city in Europe, winning the Green Capital award in 2011. And for good reason. Leading Hamburg to success was the fact that the city managed to significantly reduce its CO2 emissions, despite economic growth. By 2020, emissions are to be reduced by another 40 percent – by expanding the public transit system, which is already exemplary with its fleet of hydrogen-powered and hybrid vehicles.

Visionary technologies
Hamburg is one of the most important centres for innovative technologies like electric vehicles, wind power generation and health research. Visionary approaches for a green metropolis with a high quality of life are found everywhere – not least in the projects of the International Building Exhibition or the 2013 International Horticultural Exhibition on the Elbe island of Wilhelmsburg. The city wants to continue to grow – never at the expense of valuable green space or the climate, but using concepts that are sustainable.

A successful event is the result of details and perfect planning; those who can develop ideas save time, money and effort. Hamburg has all it takes to make this happen and is truly more than just another option. The central location of hotels and conference facilities, diverse locations, reliable service partners, and the fact that everything is nearby and can be easily reached, speaks for itself. Whether in daylight or at night, the city is unique; its hospitality is perfect and sincere, and its charm will simply blow you away. Anyone who has ever been to Hamburg will gladly come back again. Why don’t you find out for yourself?

Classic style, modern substance

Posted on by Ben Debski

After a recent $180m renovation, the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel is now among the most thoroughly modernised and desirable places to stay in Manhattan. The hotel offers a perfect combination of comfort, convenience and city style: a home-away-from-home where guests enjoy personalised service and top-notch amenities.

The hotel is located in iconic Times Square and within convenient walking distance of New York’s greatest attractions. This means that Broadway theatres, Central Park and the shopping mecca of Fifth Avenue are just steps away, giving the Sheraton New York Times Square incredible appeal for business and leisure travellers alike. With an expert concierge team to handle dining and activity recommendations, the hotel makes it easy for guests to plan excursions and make special arrangements during their stay.

Home comforts, New York style
Every one of the hotel’s 1,781 guest rooms and suites are newly fashioned, from floor to ceiling. The rooms have amenities designed especially for business travellers and offer a sophisticated look with a modern touch, contemporary aesthetic and elegant feel.

Thoughtful design elements have been incorporated into the guest rooms, such as ample power outlets conveniently located on desk lamps (no more searching for sockets as a computer threatens to switch off) and laptop-height tray tables for guests who need to catch up on work in their rooms. Accommodation comes complete with the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper bed (designed to meet AAA’s Five Diamond Award criteria), Starbucks’ one-cup coffee makers and both wired and wireless internet platforms in-room.

The guest rooms are a welcome respite from the bustle of New York City. Amid the elegant furnishings, in-room artwork invokes a sense of place, with carefully chosen images of iconic architecture and landmarks from Manhattan. Rooms offer stunning views of the Times Square area and greater New York City.

Luxurious amenities
Along with the new design, the Sheraton New York Times Square has a host of sought-after amenities, ensuring the hotel stands out as a top choice for travellers. At the state-of-the-art Sheraton Fitness Centre, programmed by Core Performance, visitors can work out while watching the bustling Manhattan streetscape, or enjoy daily classes in yoga, pilates and cardio training. On-the-go guests can take some time to relax with a speciality cocktail in the welcoming lobby lounge or enjoy a snack in the convenient Link Café, which boasts complimentary computer access and wi-fi.

High above Manhattan on the 44th floor, the hotel’s Club Lounge is a guest favourite – not only for its jaw-dropping panoramic views, but also thanks to the attentive staff, who understand the specific needs of busy business travellers. The expansive space offers both comfortable workspaces and areas to unwind after a long day in the city. This exclusive retreat has 24-hour guest access, complimentary coffee and snacks throughout the day.

Check in with VIP Guest Services for any request, large or small, and for personalised attention and recommendations. The Club Lounge offers guests free wi-fi and many easily accessible power outlets, making working from the road that little bit easier.

Complimentary continental breakfast and afternoon hors d’oeuvres are served each day, showcasing the creative talents of the hotel’s food and beverage staff, while offering a range of both healthy and flavourful cuisine.

Delightful dining options
Whether grabbing a bite on the move or enjoying a more casual dining experience, the Sheraton New York Times Square presents a wide variety of dining options. Stop by Hudson Market during breakfast or lunch for a freshly prepared, American-style buffet. In the evening, Hudson Market Burger offers a full menu of tasty burgers made with a proprietary blend of USDA Prime Black Angus, as well as milkshakes and traditionally American sweet desserts.

In-room dining menus cater to the guests’ every whim, from snacks to gourmet meals. All of the hotel’s menus offer ‘Colour Your Plate by Sheraton Fitness’ options – a dining programme making it easy to eat healthily on the road. Guests select three colours from an assortment of fruits and vegetables to help stay in shape and increase energy while travelling.

And for guests who wish to relax before venturing out into New York, Sheraton Social Hour is hosted three times per week in the hotel’s lounges. Attendees are treated to a specially curated menu of premium wine tastings, presented in partnership with Wine Spectator magazine.

New meeting spaces
Renowned for its award-winning meeting services and facilities, the hotel is debuting 60,000sq ft of new meeting and event spaces in March 2013, following a $20m renovation. The story of these new spaces is very New York – showcasing vibrant new décor with a classic metropolitan aesthetic and a clean, contemporary look. The hotel’s new ballroom, meeting rooms and pre-function areas reveal a fresh design scheme with an emphasis on light tones and geometric patterns.

With a dedicated meeting specialist team, the latest in audio-visual equipment and high-tech communications including a TelePresence suite, the Sheraton New York Times Square is an ideal choice for corporate functions and special events. Facilities include 43 meeting rooms, an executive conference centre, the 14,968sq ft Metropolitan Ballroom and the 8,715sq ft New York Ballroom.

Every guest is a VIP
Across the decades, the Sheraton New York Times Square has demonstrated great appeal to international travellers and celebrity guests alike. The hotel has enjoyed a rich history, welcoming high-profile guests and world-renowned figures from The Beatles to US President Barack Obama.

If the walls could talk, they would tell stories about history being made and visits from distinguished clientele including: A-list celebrities; TV and film stars; presidents and leaders from across the globe; music, art and sports legends; titans of industry and more.

Further information email: nymetromarketleads@starwoodhotels.com; tel: 212-841-6615; www.sheratonnewyork.com

Gulf treasure

Posted on by Ben Debski

Despite its size, the gulf nation of Kuwait punches well above its weight. This is largely due to its vast oil wealth; the country has crude oil reserves of about 104 billion barrels – seven percent of the world’s total. It is little surprise then that petroleum makes up nearly half of its $153.5bn GDP and accounts for some 95 percent of government revenue. In 2011, GDP growth was a strong 8.2 percent and the IMF estimates that growth will average five percent per annum over the coming years.

Kuwait is eager to diversify its economy away from potential over-reliance on petroleum. A triple shock in the 1980s and early 90s – the global stock market crash, falling oil prices and an Iraqi invasion that destroyed important hydrocarbon infrastructure – exposed the dangers of dependence on a single commodity. The country also has little arable land suitable for farming and suffers from a lack of water.

Time to diversify
While most of the damage from the First Gulf War has been repaired and high oil prices have boosted government coffers, Kuwait has instituted a National Development Plan (NDP) for its economy, making diversification a key priority. The NDP is a series of five-year plans and the current edition (2010-14) focuses on investment in infrastructure projects, such as a $3.66bn expansion of Kuwait International Airport, a new shipping port on Bubiyan Island and vast improvements to its transportation network to tighten links with other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Kuwait has favourable tax rates, with individuals and Kuwaiti companies exempt from taxation. Foreign corporations conducting commercial activities in Kuwait are subject to income tax though, and a progressive rate is applied, ranging from five to 55 percent. In general, companies with a permanent presence in the country must be at least 51 percent owned by Kuwaitis. The state is currently ranked as 82nd in the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rankings.

The country has a unique democratic tradition among Gulf States. Its unicameral National Assembly features 50 representatives – out of a possible total of 65 – elected by universal adult suffrage. But the Emir retains the power to appoint the prime minister, who in turn forms a cabinet. Repeated clashes between the Assembly and the Emir have been a hallmark of Kuwaiti politics for years and parliament is often dissolved as a result. Recent opposition protests and violence have marred the country’s free traditions but it appears that Kuwaitis still maintain higher levels of civil liberties than many countries in the region.

Break from business
While Kuwait is mostly known for business travel, there are a variety of attractions for visitors during down time. The architecturally unique Kuwait Towers are one of the most famous landmarks in the country and a symbol of its modernisation. A revolving observation area and a restaurant offering guests a unique daily menu are located in the top sphere of the biggest tower.

Situated 20km from Kuwait City, Failaka Island is another popular tourist haunt. The island is the site of a Greek settlement from the time of Alexander the Great, but more recently hosts fishing, boating, sailing and swimming. Nautical enthusiasts will want to visit the Dhow Harbour and its collection of old sailing ships used in the past for coastal trading, fishing and pearl diving. Visitors to the harbour have the opportunity to board the Fateh-el-Kheir, the country’s largest surviving wooden dhow.

Amsterdam’s boutique business hotel

Posted on by Ben Debski

Amsterdam has grown to become a hugely popular destination for business travellers across Europe and the world. Its growing industries and easily accessible location means corporate travellers find it an attractive destination to meet. Amsterdam also offers a wide range of cultural attractions, from museums and galleries, to restaurants
and nightlife.

Speaking to Business Destinations, the Park Hotel’s General Manager, Bram van der Hoek, describes it as medium-sized, but encompassing all the style and individuality of a boutique hotel. Refurbished a few years ago, the Park has 200 rooms, is based in the heart of Amsterdam, and has high-end dining and executive facilities.

Van der Hoek says that they wanted to “create a kind of mid-sized hotel with the DNA of some boutique hotels.” He adds: “Obviously what you feel most in boutique hotels, you don’t really find in mid-sized hotels like ours. We have 200 bedrooms and 750sq m of meeting and event space. Usually these are just mainstream hotels. That’s why I think it’s also so successful in the business market.”

Typical clients range from business travellers to tourists visiting for the weekend, as van der Hoek says: “From Monday to Friday it’s business guests, and on the weekends we have a lot of individual travellers that come to Amsterdam to explore and enjoy our destination.” Judging from the feedback he has received from their business clients, the decision has been a huge success. He adds: “Actually, what we are hearing from our meetings and events clients and corporate clients is that they love the hotel because it has all these elements in it that you would find in a smaller boutique hotel. Business people these days would like to experience emotion, rather than staying in, let’s say, the mainstream hotels next door.”

Cultural epicentre
Located in the centre of Amsterdam, the Park Hotel is right in the middle of the cultural district, benefiting from some of the city’s most prestigious museums. Van der Hoek says: “The location of the hotel is really superb. It’s right in the city centre next to the museum square, with all the famous museums. Our neighbour is the Rijksmuseum, which is due to reopen soon having been closed for ten years. We’re all looking forward to that.

“A few months ago we had a brand new opening of the museum of modern art, the Stedelijk Museum, which is in our back yard and, of course, we have the Van Gogh Museum and the Concert Building. So, from a location point of view, it’s really one of the best.” As well as the museums, the hotel is perfectly situated for shopping, with the famous PC Hooftstraat nearby, which has many international fashion labels. There is also ample entertainment, with the Leidseplein and the Leidse Square close by, with many restaurants, bars and casinos.

Culture is an important aspect of the hotel, and it is eager to blend into its surroundings with its own artistic offerings. The hotel opened its own gallery zone that exhibits local artists’ work, in the comfort of the hotel’s living room. Van der Hoek says: “Every two or three months we change the art in the gallery zone and host events with local people in order to attract them to the living room.”

Feels like home
The living room is a specially designed space that is unlike a traditional hotel’s public seating area, and is intended to offer guests home comforts, van der Hoek says. “With the public space, rather than boring lobbies or waiting rooms, we designed something different. We have a stunning fireplace, especially in wintertime, so it’s really nice to relax and browse through the selection of books. The living room has a big guest library as well. It’s designed so that you feel like you are at home.”

Another addition to the living room area is the new Jewellery Bar, which is styled like a traditional European coffee house during the day, and by night turns into a bar. He says: “Once you enter the place you will find a very lively, dynamic, high design living room filled with art and also the Jewellery Bar. We call it the that because it features fine chocolates and pastries during the day and in the evening it will be transformed into the living room bar. The Jewellery Bar really transforms into a full bar with a great selection of international wines and spirits, as well as dinner and desserts. So you have this 24-hour dynamic feeling in the public spaces of the hotel as well.”

Making a statement
The centrepiece of the hotel, and the feature that van der Hoek feels attracts the most local visitors, is the MOMO restaurant. Van der Hoek describes MOMO as a “statement” in Amsterdam, adding: “We built a destination restaurant, bar and lounge, rather than a typical hotel restaurant and bar. We have a concept team working in the hotel that is constantly looking for new initiatives and so creating a restaurant, rather than a hotel restaurant, is a big challenge in hotel business. We see a lot of people enjoying our restaurant.”

The restaurant offers pan-Asian cuisine, and blends both western and eastern influences to give customers a sophisticated, international experience. It has been deliberately given a distinct identity from the rest of the hotel, so that it encourages non-guests to visit. The management actively encourage the local community to come and use it, which van der Hoek says is essential to maintaining the hotel’s unique atmosphere: “It is often felt that you are only allowed to come to hotels when you have booked a room, but we actually try to get the locals in and try to get the locals and other visitors to Amsterdam into our place. Once locals are in the hotel, your guests also enjoy it because they have the chance to mingle with them.” While MOMO is primarily the hotel’s restaurant, it can also cater for private business functions, with an exclusive room above the main dining area set aside especially for this. He says: “It’s a very good space to do business during lunch and dinner.”

Get down to business
As with any hotel in a popular business city, the Park has a number of conference facilities, and hosts a lot of corporate events. The Netherlands has become a leading player in a variety of industries, including IT, environmental technology, life sciences and biotechnology, and Amsterdam attracts a lot of business visitors from across Europe and beyond. Van der Hoek says that they are able to cater for many types of events, and have in the past worked with a wide range of companies as diverse as Apple, Heineken and Abercrombie & Fitch.

He says: “We actually have nine meeting and event rooms and we named them after destinations. For example, we have meeting rooms called New York, London, Berlin, Sydney, and Tokyo. We also have 750sq m of meeting and event space. The hotel is actually one of the market leaders in that segment here in the city centre.” In addition, the hotel has a gym, which is around 80sq m, with a personal trainer available to assist guests keen to exercise. There are also a range of shops and boutiques in the hotel, allowing guests to buy gifts and souvenirs.

Understandably for such a centrally located hotel, the Park is easily accessible by all forms of transport. Amsterdam benefits from its modern hub airport, Schiphol, which can be reached by train or car in around 15 minutes. It also has its own car park that can house nearly 50 cars – a rare capacity for such a centrally located hotel.

The unique style that The Park has gone for is clearly its biggest asset. Both the hotel and MOMO have achieved a number of industry awards in the past few years. Van der Hoek says that it is both the boutique styling and location – which he describes as “triple A” – that have garnered the hotel’s unparalleled popularity.

Cities stamp out carbon footprint

Posted on by Ben Debski

There were disgruntled murmurs across Paris upon the announcement by the French Energy Minister Delphine Batho that new, extreme green, energy-saving initiatives will mean a night-time blackout of shops, offices and public businesses, compromising the Parisian reputation as ‘la ville lumiere’. New legislation, likely to be implemented in July, threatens to black out the normally permanently illuminated Champs Elysees, the iconic windmill of the Moulin Rouge and the windows of flagship fashion houses Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Dior. Batho stated: “My intention is very clear. It is that we make energy savings.”

The new initiatives were not universally welcomed, with particular protest from the tourist and retail sectors. Furious merchant unions claim that alongside existing restrictions on Sunday and late-night shopping, the measures will have a hugely detrimental effect. They also suggest that their use of window displays as supplementary advertising has been disregarded; department stores such as Printemps and Galeries Lafayette work hard on the appearance of their windows, which have become tourist attractions in their own right. Safety is also a concern; Paris already has a reputation for pick-pocketing and petty crime and there are fears that a cover of darkness will provide an opportune environment in which criminals can operate.

Those advocating lighting reductions say the changes made will be minimal. Many Parisian illuminations are already extinguished at night, including the Eiffel tower and 304 other landmarks – fountains, bridges, statues, churches and monuments. According to the Association to Protect the Sky and the Night Environment, night lighting uses the energy produced by one nuclear plant, or 1,300 megawatts. Policy-makers believe that cutting unnecessary nocturnal power is the easiest way for the city to meet its goal of cutting public lighting consumption by 30 percent between 2004 and 2020. Across the globe cities have set themselves similar goals and are adopting a string of unorthodox measures, many of which are fortunately proving more popular than the Parisian initiatives.

Driving down pollution
As cities grow, so too do levels of pollution. This can have a tangible and detrimental effect on inhabitants’ lives. A Hong Kong survey, released at the end of 2010 by think tank Civic Exchange, found a quarter of residents wanted to leave the city to escape the pollution after levels reached a record high, prompting government warnings to avoid going out. Regional authorities highlighted vehicle exhausts as a key cause of street-level pollution.

Cars were only allowed on the road on alternate days, depending on whether their number plates ended in an odd or even number

All over the world, major cities have identified the same problem. In many, car-free policies are being initiated on a short-term basis. Beijing took 50 percent of its three million cars off the road in 2008 during a partial ban to cut down on smog before the Olympics. Cars were only allowed on the road on alternate days, depending on whether their registration plates ended in an odd or even number. This was enforced by the presence of hundreds of plate-recognition cameras and the threat of a 100 yuan fine. The Beijing anti-pollution measures also included the closing of factories and construction sites a fortnight before the games began.

One of the most successful initiatives is the annual car-free day in Bogotá, Colombia, introduced in 2000 by Mayor Enrique Peñalosa who branded it, “a beautiful, immense experiment”. The initiative was a success and popular with Bogotá residents who walked, cycled, used public transport or even travelled on horseback for their commute. The initiative is designed to cut pollution and to encourage people to reflect on their methods of transport. It currently claims the title of the largest car-free weekday in any city in the world.

Sheepish gardeners
Curitiba in Southern Brazil is a 21st-century emerald city, internationally renowned for its efforts in conservation and eco-friendly development. The urban planning of the city has been completed with the environment in mind. Despite being a sprawling metropolis, Curitiba now boasts 52sq m of green space per person, where previously there had only been 1sq m. What’s more, an impressive three quarters of the population make use of the futuristic and efficient public transport system.

The city’s tower blocks are broken up by stretches of municipal parkland, where roaming flocks of sheep tend to the lawns, nibbling at the grass and fertilising the ground with their waste. The use of sheep as natural gamekeepers, cutting out petrol-guzzling lawnmowers and non-organic fertilisation, has been experimented with by other cities too. Bryant Park in New York previously hosted a thirty-strong flock and the Italian city of Turin regularly uses this method during the summer months. Sheep are imported in from the Alps for around two months at a time and left to graze until the municipal parks are cricket-pitch smooth, before being moved on to another patch. Cows were also dabbled with, but the sheer volume of manure meant they have not been invited back to the Turin parks.

Highly eco-friendly
Toronto has become the first city in the world to introduce a bylaw making it compulsory for buildings over 2,000sq m, newly constructed in the main metropolitan area, to have between 20 and 60 percent green roof-space. The law encompasses commercial, institutional and many residential developments, stipulating inclusion of a green roof or cool roof to facilitate water or energy conservation.

A cool roof reflects the sun, reducing the urban heat island effect – where city centres record much higher temperatures than surrounding areas. Green roofs support the growth of vegetation, while helping to manage storm water, enhance biodiversity, improve air quality and energy efficiency, and add to the already substantial aesthetic beauty of Toronto. They consist of a waterproofing membrane, a drainage layer, a seam of soil and vegetation.

Older buildings face no legal obligation to install a roof garden, but it is encouraged. There are even assistance packages and financial incentives to help with their spread. Despite being the first city to legislate the presence of roof gardens, Toronto follows in the footsteps of Chicago and New York in encouraging and providing grants for green roof developments.

Reaping the benefits
Across Africa urban farming is a widespread aspect of city life and an important livelihood strategy for the poor. Yet in many areas, considered a hostile nuisance and a public health risk, it is technically illegal. This was the stance in Kampala, Uganda where until 2005 urban farming was against the law. Now, the local government embraces urban farming, to the extent that Kampala has become internationally recognised and highly commended for its sustainable, eco-friendly city farming policies.

New initiatives have been put in place as part of a poverty eradication plan, to promote environmentally friendly and cost-effective agro-enterprises. Plantations of fruit and nut trees have sprung up in miniature orchards around the city. Locals have been trained in the reuse of urine as a soil conditioner, silage-making, sustainable livestock farming, biogas and organic manure, production as well as the sustainable production of crops, fruit, vegetables, mushrooms and herbal medicines.

The Kampala model of sustainable farming is being exported and promoted in other African cities as the most effective environmentally friendly method of poverty alleviation. The Ugandan government is also being commended for other positive environmental strategies such as the major efforts to prioritise the provision of public transport in the normally congested inner city.

Saving together
Following the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, the entire country was obliged to return to a reliance on more traditional sources of fossil-fuel energy while all 50 of Japan’s nuclear reactors were temporarily suspended. The government urged businesses and households to make every effort to cut their energy consumption by 15 percent.

The chief cabinet secretary Osamu Fujimura declared: “The government will try to implement the measures so that the power savings will affect the economy and people’s livelihood as little as possible. But I would like to repeat here our appeal to the nation to save power this summer”.

Yet the Japanese government barely employed enforcement measures as citizens rose to the cause. A movement was created, known in Japan as ‘Setsuden’, encouraging businesses to turn off the main lights and provide more energy-efficient LED lamps.

Public transportation ran slower. Escalators in subway stations were stopped. Workers were encouraged to shed business suits in favour of more weather-appropriate clothing on hot days, allowing air conditioning to remain off, while others made scarves out of icepacks to wear around their necks at home. The Setsuden movement was successful; energy consumption was cut by the desired 15 percent and positive precedents were set for future energy-saving initiatives.

An environmental enclave
The district of Vauban in Freiburg, Germany, is reputed as Europe’s first car-free district. The attractive, family-friendly neighbourhood prides itself on ecological awareness. Low-energy building is obligatory; zero-energy and energy-plus construction and the application of solar technology are standard for most.

A former military base, abandoned in 1992, Freiburg was developed to be a residential district with a large community spirit. The primary goal of Vauban’s developers was to maintain a car-free city centre and reduce the overall numbers of private cars. This was accomplished by creating diverse public transportation possibilities, such as a 3km-long tramline to and from Freiburg. The city council also created a car-sharing system, established 500km of bicycle paths in Freiburg and Vauban, and added 5,000 bicycle parking spaces.

For sacrificing cars, citizens are rewarded with bargain public transport and cheaper housing; if residents insist on having a car it must be parked outside city limits at an average cost of €1,800 per year. Since Vauban’s completion in 2006, the 5,000 residents have enjoyed lush green surroundings and air virtually free from car exhaust fumes.

Cash cats boost café business

Posted on by Ben Debski

Imagine stepping into a café on a cold winter’s day, ready for a coffee or a hot cup of tea, to be confronted by a crowd of cats wandering about the premises in search of human affection. This is not the latest Studio Ghibli creation, but a perfectly normal, everyday occurrence in cities across Asia.

Ever since the first so-called ‘cat cafés’ sprang up in Taiwan in 1988 the idea spread quickly, spawning similar places in Japan, China and South Korea. Tokyo alone now has over 40 of these feline hangouts and they are becoming increasingly popular with residents, as well as providing an impressive return for savvy business owners.

Feline fine
The idea is simple: patrons pay a time-based fee, charged at an hourly rate, to spend quality time with the cats. High returns make this a lucrative model, and drinks and food are also served to the animal lovers. For the cats, it’s a pretty good gig. They are cared for by the staff and have their fur stroked by the paying customers. And when they feel the need for a well-deserved rest, they can just doze off peacefully – most cafés have rules against disturbing a sleeping feline.

To those who live in the countryside or smaller urban areas, the whole idea may seem a bit odd: why not just get your own cat? In cities like Tokyo though, most residents live in small apartments where the landlord either forbids pets, or space is simply inadequate to comfortably accommodate one. Homes where animals are actually allowed tend to be prohibitively expensive. But it’s not just eager locals who flock to the quirky establishments; the novel concept has captured the imagination of many curious tourists too.

Because these aren’t any old tabbies; the café cats are specially selected to be playful and friendly with humans. There will often be catalogues or blackboards on the premises describing their stock of feline friends, complete with information such as name, breed and personality. Some establishments even cater to particular niches, carrying only one breed of cat or exclusively featuring stray cats rescued from the city streets. A few cafés have even started to breed their own kittens, sometimes allowing customers to purchase a cat they’ve grown particularly fond of.

Tabby trauma?
The cafés are not universally admired though; some animal rights activists complain that the animals are subjected to unnatural trauma. “From morning to night these cats are being stroked by people they do not know. For the animals, that is a real source of stress,” campaigner Chizuko Yamaguchi told the AFP. Café owners respond with the assertion that they comply with all animal welfare laws to ensure the cats’ wellbeing. In Japan, recent legislation also states that cafés must close by 10pm to prevent overworking the animals.

Nonetheless, the success of the concept has already seen the start of its spread to Europe. Austria’s first Katzenkaffehaus, Café Neko, was opened last year by Japanese expat Takako Ishimitsu after three years of haggling with local authorities. So far the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. London, where a population of eight million faces the same pet ownership challenges as large Asian cities, expects its first café − Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium − in 2013. For now though, East Asia remains the cat’s meow when it comes to the peculiar feline haunts.

Business and pleasure

Posted on by Ben Debski

Overlooking Delhi’s Green Ridge and conveniently close to local business complexes, the Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla is an avant-garde hotel, fusing business with leisure. The hotel caters to the bespoke needs of corporate guests, promising successful and memorable experiences; when organising any event, Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla is the perfect venue. The hotel offers state-of-the-art business space and banqueting options for corporate occasions and weddings alike.

Business focus
Guests will enjoy working with the Crowne Meetings Team, true professionals equipped to deal with all corporate requirements. The dedicated team ensures there is only a single point of contact throughout, and they guarantee to respond to every enquiry within two hours, and provide a full proposal by the next business day. Those leading business meetings can also take advantage of the ‘facilitator’s tool’ – a professionally presented briefcase containing a complete set of meeting amenities, including post-it pads and a laser pointer.

At the conclusion of every day of your conference, your Crowne Meetings Director will conduct a useful debrief, giving you an itemised account of that day’s expenditures, gathering feedback and proactively handling any further requests you may have.

Special highlights of the new corporate area include the newly opened Opal and Pearl meeting spaces, offering a contemporary environment, state-of-the-art lighting and a fully enabled, built-in AV system. The Crowne’s creative meeting space includes The Emerald – a unique area that utilises new technology, flexible seating arrangements, and inspiring tools and activities, all intended to stimulate creativity and provide an upbeat, non-traditional meeting experience.

Wedding services
The first-class staff organisation and attractive hotel interiors combine to make the Crowne Plaza an ideal wedding venue. Whatever your requirements, the experienced staff will always be available to discuss your concerns and take care of your needs. Planning a wedding can be inordinately stressful, but by guiding you through the organisation of your celebration the hotel staff leave you free to enjoy an extra-special hassle-free day.

The personal attention to little extra details, along with the courtesy of the staff, will leave you confident in the success of the day, which will undoubtedly be enjoyable and memorable. Every wedding is unique and the hotel’s bespoke service caters to the traditional and the unusual – from planning the wine lists, to seating plans and entertainment.

At Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla, personal and professional service is a point of pride, working with guests to make sure their day turns out just as they dreamt. To help, the Crowne have compiled a checklist of the information required to ensure everything runs without a hitch.

Special wedding rituals on offer include a wedding bath at Spazzo, the hotel’s spa and wellness centre. As the bride gets ready for the big day, this ceremonious dip in milk and rose water will lend an added glow. The Crowne plaza also offers a pre-wedding youngster’s party. Before entering the new world of married life, the couple can cherish the company of friends and family to the fullest with a gala Youngster’s Bash where everyone dances their hearts out and enjoys food, beverages and a lively ambience.

Contemporary comfort
The guest rooms have been thoughtfully designed to exceed expectations of comfort, as well as providing you with everything you need to succeed at work. With 208 guest rooms and a standard room size of 36sq m, Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla boasts some of the most contemporary rooms in Delhi. Beautiful views of the ancient Tughlaqabad Fort add to the uniqueness of the hotel rooms.

The Executive Club level is perfect for business travellers, offering complimentary meeting rooms and an evening cocktail hour. Designed with individual tastes in mind, the rooms and suites offer both comfort and luxury.

New concepts in dining
Beyond the comfort of the hotel rooms, an incredible selection of food and drink awaits. For quick bites to sweet delights, the French Heart pastry lounge offers it all. Treat yourself to a variety of cakes, pastries and speciality soft beverages in a relaxing ambience.

When guests are in need of a larger helping, embark on a culinary journey at Edesia, named for the Roman goddess of feasting. The Crowne’s multi-cuisine all-day restaurant treats visitors to a varied spread of gourmet delights from across the globe. For the discerning palette, multi-award winning Chao Bella offers something a little different. Relish authentic food from China and Italy, prepared by celebrity chef Sam Wong, who promises to tantalise your senses. Our culinary maestro Chef Fugui Zhang, the only noodle pull chef in town, will mesmerise you with his skills.

After dinner, Copper Bar and Lounge provides the perfect setting to let your hair down and mingle with the who’s who of town. Serving exotic cocktails and hors d’oeuvre, and with over 700 bottles of wine on display, Copper is a place you wouldn’t want to miss.

Relax after work
After all of the business meetings and events, guests often head to the world-class gymnasium, comprising high-end cardio and strength equipment. Yoga and personal training sessions are also on offer. If the day’s activities have been strenuous, guests can invigorate body and mind and be wonderfully pampered at the Crowne Plaza’s onsite spa – Spazzo.

The hotel’s speciality treatment, Shirodhara − an ancient Indian therapy using warm medicated oils − will calm the body and mind. With four serenely decorated treatment rooms, each session promises a rejuvenating experience to help you relax and unwind.

150 years of the London Underground

Posted on by Ben Debski

For the London Underground, more affectionately known as the Tube, 2013 marks 150 years of existence. With few Londoners driving to work, it has become indispensible to the functioning of the city – without it, a population of more than seven million would
be left stranded.

But it’s more than just a means of transportation for the citizens of the sprawling metropolis; the Tube has been woven into the fabric of London, shaping its identity and development for generations. Their fates intertwined, as the Tube expanded, the city grew with it. It now carries over a billion passengers every year over a 402km long network, which serves 270 stations.

Going underground
The story of the world’s first underground passenger railway begins in the 1860s when an increasingly populous city was facing traffic gridlock. Thousands of commuters arrived into King’s Cross railway station every day to find there was no form of public transport into the city centre. Inevitably, roads were overwhelmed with a dangerous crowding of people, carriages and unruly livestock.

Charles Pearson, a solicitor by trade, formulated a bold solution – an underground railway ferrying people deep beneath the capital. He hoped the system would also put an end to London’s slums by allowing more people to live outside the city centre and commute
to work. The Metropolitan Railway was soon born and on opening day in 1863, its steam
stock carried 40,000 passengers, divided into cars by class, between King’s Cross and Farringdon stations.

Pearson’s idea was a success. London grew and the system expanded as other railway companies moved to get in on the underground action. A new circle line was soon constructed and jointly operated by the District Railway and Metropolitan Railway, providing an even greater transport range for Londoners. In 1890, the City and South London Railway began operations, becoming the first underground railway to use electric traction. This technology rendered the old stock obsolete, although steam locomotives stubbornly remained until 1961.

The railway companies soon realised the profitability of expanding their operations beyond the old London borders. As fresh Tube stations popped up, entire suburbs developed in the newly accessible areas. In 1930, control of all the underground railways was taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board uniting the various lines under a single system.

Through its storied history, the Tube has served Londoners in ways other than transportation. During the Second World War, stations became shelters for people fleeing the German bombing campaign, factories for munitions and even meeting places between Churchill and his cabinet. Its iconic logo – white lettering in a blue plate imposed over a red disk – has become an internationally recognised symbol of London. Tourists regularly snap pictures of Tube station signs and buy up souvenirs featuring the famous roundel.

A bumpy ride
Like London, the Tube has also had its dark days. A Nazi bomb destroyed Bank station in 1941, killing over 100 people who had sought shelter there. In 1987, fire tore through King’s Cross, costing 31 people their lives and less than a decade ago, terrorists struck the transport network. But like the successes, these terrible memories have helped to shape the conscience and identity of one of the world’s most famous cities.

To celebrate this anniversary, the London Transport Authority brought back a Victorian steam train for a special trip, taking passengers along the original Metropolitan line. The throwback gave Londoners a glimpse into the humble beginnings of the transport system that helped the city grow into an international, cultural and commercial powerhouse. And at 150, the system which Mayor of London Boris Johnson recently dubbed “trains in drains” shows no sign of slowing down.

Supply chain reaction

Posted on by Ben Debski

When GE Aviation paid €3.3bn for Avio, a world-ranking aerospace group, at the end of 2012, it marked one of the year’s biggest investments in a race to shorten supply chains and secure distribution channels. The price – a hefty 8.5 times pre-EBITDA earnings – reflects the weight placed on B2B linkages. And it’s a trend taking shape across all commercial sectors in the race to narrow the gap between producer and consumer. In the case of GE, an old-economy business, Avio was brought in because of its critical importance as a supplier; GE Aviation turns over $19bn a year and needs to protect its future.

But there’s a simultaneous revolution happening in the brave new world of digital business as companies take steps to eliminate any blockages between them and consumers. The most recent developments in m-commerce – app-driven technology embedded in mobile phones – is rewriting the rules in the fast-moving world of consumer goods. Smartphones are rapidly becoming tools for making payments and ordering goods and, say industry experts, they will steadily undermine competing businesses based on bricks and mortar.

According to IDC Financial Insights, an independent consultant, the global value of m-commerce will reach $1trn within four years – and it’s only getting higher, much higher. Directly in the firing line is everything from branch banking and main street shops, to railway ticket offices and travel agencies.

Grocery wars
At one end of the scale, e-commerce giant Amazon is taking on supermarket heavyweights as it aims for $100bn a year from grocery sales through m-commerce. So far Amazon’s ‘subscribe and save’ service has sold only dry groceries, but it’s about to bring in fresh and chilled products in a direct threat to global chains such as Tesco, Carrefour and Walmart.

Working with rival supermarkets such as Britain’s The Co-operative Group, Amazon expects shoppers to order groceries en masse from phones while commuting.

Here, Amazon’s big advantage is unlimited shelf space. As Ajay Kavan, the online retailer’s Vice President of Consumables pointed out recently, unlike supermarkets, Amazon has no physical storage constraints. Nor does it have to apply for planning permission to build stores at considerable expense. Hence its goal to offer customers “pretty much anything they want online”, and deliver within hours. Amazon has already listed 700,000 grocery products that can be ordered by m-commerce channels.

And there are plenty of online retailers that you probably haven’t heard of, but are poised to prosper off the back of m-commerce. For instance, FineArtAmerica.com – a storehouse of photographic and other images – is revolutionising how art of all kinds is bought and sold around the world. Its secret is simplicity; after downloading a free phone app, artists and photographers upload their images and with a few clicks, immediately set their prices and sell prints to a global market. Where does that leave the high street picture-framing shop, or indeed the small gallery?

Rivers of gold
As these old and new economy examples show, distribution channels are seen as rivers of gold – but the shorter the better. Because the globe is rapidly shrinking in terms of communication and transport at the same time as the costs of both are collapsing, short supply lines have become vital.

Energy is a good example. Notoriously isolated from their consumers, Europe’s energy giants are rapidly adjusting to a looming threat that aims at the very heart of their business: energy-efficient homes. Instead of simply fixing prices for the supply of power and then billing consumers, they now find themselves in the novel position of actually helping consumers save money in what could prove an entirely different cooperative relationship.

As McKinsey, the commercial think-tank and consultancy points out: “Many [energy] players realise they have to join hands with other new entrants to cover the value chain effectively.” Thus European utility RWE is working with Microsoft and eQ-3, a German electronics manufacturer, to develop a central control unit for ‘smart’ homes that links all appliances in a more energy-efficient way.

Similarly, British Gas has rethought its distribution channels to sell energy-management products such as solar panels and insulation through supermarket chain Sainsbury’s. When a consumer buys its products, British Gas is able to clip the ticket by sending in trained teams to install them.

As systems for selling and ordering products of all kinds change, it will be essential for these industrial behemoths to speed up and adapt to a new consumer-driven world. “Developing or acquiring new capabilities will be essential for utilities as they move beyond their comfort zones,” explains McKinsey.

Dangers of commoditisation
Other traditional industries such as hotels have been forced to react quickly to the dangers, as well as the opportunities, posed by m-commerce. The US-based InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), a company with 4,480 branded establishments, has said that travel sites such as Expedia threaten years of investment in a name because they aggregate room rates by price rather than by brand. “They’re commoditising the brand,” explains Danny Wong, IHG’s head of corporate risk.

Facing the long-term erosion of loyalty programmes and hard-won brand awareness, IHG’s response was to embrace m-commerce and develop its own phone app, with immediate results. In its first year of operation in 2010, the mobile app produced just $3m in bookings, but by 2011, as customers became more adept, it generated nearly $150m – “And that was from a standing start two years ago,” reports delighted Chief Executive Richard Solomons.

IHG’s experience is an instructive one. Instead of merely lamenting the damage caused by price-based search sites, it has fought back with the same e-commerce technology. In response the chain launched Best Price Guarantee – “it was designed to drive more guests to book through our direct websites,” explains Solomons. In January 2012, IHG went one further by helping develop roomkey.com, the first industry-owned hotels search engine.

Intelligent sites
In the all-important task of leveraging distribution channels, m-commerce and its older cousin e-commerce often go hand-in-hand with old-economy methods, namely shops. For instance, Volkswagen-owned Bentley and other luxury car brands typically run a three-cornered strategy that showcases the vehicle in high-end shopping precincts as well as on interactive sites that allow visitors to view the car from many angles, listen to descriptions of its technical and luxurious attributes and, if they want, buy it.

The sites’ secret is that they empower the consumer, wherever they may be. For instance, Global Beach, the business launched by US and UK-based e-commerce entrepreneur Clive Jackson, established worldwide digital platforms for Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover and other landmark brands. As well as giving buyers the tools to specify interior and exterior colours, the sites deliver valuable data back to the manufacturer by “reading” client interest. They are, in a very real sense, intelligent.

Jackson’s latest venture is Victor, another e-commerce solution for marketing vacant seats on private jets at a fraction of the usual cost. In the process Victor bypassed much of the jet-brokerage industry that traditionally sells spare capacity. Launched in mid-2011 on the basis of a single route between London and Mallorca in Spain, Victor jumped in just over a year to more than 400,000 route pairings and attracted 2,100 members. In late 2012, Victor started offering trans-continental hops and there are plans to expand into Asia. “My job is to build a sustainable business to compete on a global stage,” explains Jackson. “We’re not brokers. There’s no middleman. The brokers hate us.” But not, it seems, business-jet operators. By the end of 2012, the pool of aircraft available to Victor’s users had soared to 500.

They move, you move
In the old economy, manufacturers have got the message and are cosying up to their clients, making business-to-business relationships tighter. In the case of Mahle, the German supplier of engine-management systems, it is actually accompanying clients such as Toyota into new countries, as Japanese automobile manufacturers move out of their home base to try and escape the stubbornly strong yen. Last year, Mahle expanded an R&D facility in China, enlarged two existing plants in Thailand and is building a factory in Indonesia near a Toyota plant. All of these investments are designed to shorten supply lines and, in the long run, make the company indispensable to its clients.

If you want to sell to them, you need to be near them. That’s the view of Continental, fourth-biggest tyre manufacturer in the world. Based in Hanover, Germany, ‘Conti’ spent much of last year licensing service representatives in Mexico, Chile, Ecuador and Brazil for its ContiLifeCycle brand as it tackles the dominance of Firestone and other manufacturers in Latin America. More plants will follow in 2013.

Every now and then, distribution channels are better when they’re slower. When Brazil’s mining giant Vale wanted to reduce its fuel costs on ore shipments to China, it commissioned a new kind of vessel for the purpose. The result is an $8bn, 35-tanker fleet of carriers of 400,000 dead weight tonnage. These leviathans are designed to steam at a stately pace to reduce energy consumption, yet wider than a football pitch and longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall, each ore carrier can transport 11,000 trucks at once. As an investment in a supply chain, Vale’s $8bn must rank as one of the biggest of the year.

Even the healthcare industry is getting involved, with American medical providers dispatching patients’ records on electronic files directly to doctors’ iPads. The system not only makes it easier to update their details, it also increases speed by eliminating at least two steps in manual handling. It’s clear m-commerce is revolutionising the business to consumer relationship, and if that means orders are going up around the globe, then that’s good news for all concerned.

The lighter side of currency

Posted on by Ben Debski

It’s understandable why many people find the whole business of currency exchange a bit dry, but it needn’t always be. Working in the currency business means we often come across facts that might appeal to the wider public. So, for this issue I’ve collected together a few snippets which I’m hoping you’ll find interesting. I wonder how many of them you know already…

Dirty money
There’s an unexpected benefit to making only bank-to-bank transfers, cutting out physically handling cash. A study in the US found that 94 percent of banknotes are contaminated with bacteria (mostly benign) and seven percent with dangerous pathogens, such as those that cause pneumonia. And further scientific research showed that 90 percent of American banknotes have been contaminated by cocaine. That’s something to think about the next time you receive your change.

In the eurozone, when the extent of the problems facing Spain’s banks was revealed last year, talk of the country having to re-adopt the peseta began to surface. But did you know that in the north-west of Spain some villages had already re-introduced their former currency? It started in 2011 when shopkeepers in Mugardos in Galicia allowed hard-up residents to pay for goods with any pesetas they had left over from before Spain joined the euro in 2002.

The Bank of Spain’s failure to set a time limit for exchanging pesetas into euros at its own branches in Madrid meant the shopkeepers just needed to travel to the Spanish capital to exchange the pesetas they accepted into euros. In 2012, another village in the region, Salvaterra, followed suit and the idea then spread to a village in the neighbouring Castile la Mancha region. The Bank of Spain estimated last year there are still €1.7bn worth of pesetas unaccounted for, but most of these probably left Spain years ago in the bottom of visiting holidaymakers’ suitcases…

Despite the trade in old pesetas, it is the UK, or London, that has the largest share of the global foreign exchange market, accounting for 37 percent of daily trading. The FX market operates 24/7. When it opens on a Monday morning in Hong Kong, it is still Sunday night in San Francisco; then throughout the day markets begin trading in Tokyo, Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris, London, New York, Chicago, and finally the west coast of the US. When the markets close in Los Angeles and San Francisco on Monday evening, Hong Kong is one hour away from beginning foreign exchange trading on Tuesday. The top ten traded currencies in terms of value and in descending order are: the US dollar, euro, yen, pound sterling, Aussie dollar, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Swedish krona and New Zealand dollar.

Take note
Tough times call for tough measures, which is why the US $1 bill could be heading the same way as the £1 note – the shredder. Towards the end of 2012, congressional auditors calculated that doing away with dollar bills and replacing them entirely with dollar coins could save taxpayers $4.4bn over the next 30 years. A $1 coin typically costs about 30 cents for the US Mint to produce – the government then sells them to Americans for a dollar each, a financial gain called ‘seigniorage’. These coins typically last around 30 years. In contrast, producing paper bills is cheaper – at about five cents apiece – but they also wear far more quickly.

In 2011 the Bank of England received 25,684 claims for the reimbursement of damaged banknotes, together worth £15.21m. Breaking this down, 13,873 of the claims were for torn notes, 5,478 for chewed or (partly) eaten notes, 2,099 for washed notes, 2,998 for contaminated notes and 1,236 for notes damaged in a fire or flood. This was a significant fall on 2010, when 30,093 claims were made, worth £18.78m.

What’s in a name?
There’s a story behind every currency’s nickname. The US dollar is often the ‘Greenback’, a term introduced during the Civil War when banknotes were first printed with a special green ink that was harder to forge than black ink. The Canadian dollar is often called the ‘Loonie’ after the loon – a bird pictured on its $1 coin. And the term ‘Quid’, for the pound sterling, has been around since the 1600s, possibly derived from either the Latin ‘quid pro quo’, which roughly translates into ‘this for that’, or its origins may lie with the former Royal Mint papermill in Quidhampton. In the world of FX trading, currency pairs have nicknames too – the £/$ is known as the ‘Cable’ after the trans-Atlantic telegraph cable that was used to transmit the value of the exchange rate between Britain and the US.

It wasn’t so long ago that the world’s largest single currency bloc was ‘Quid’ based. Rewind to the first half of the 1900s, and Britain and most of its colonies used sterling as their local currencies, and those that didn’t had a currency pegged to it. These countries formed the ‘sterling bloc’, or ‘sterling area’, together with a few others that preferred to peg their currency to sterling following Britain’s departure from the gold standard in 1931. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the British Government introduced legislation that formalised sterling bloc countries into a single exchange control area. The bloc was phased out between 1972 and 1979.

Charles Purdy is MD at Smart Currency Exchange

Boston top

Posted on by Ben Debski

From the downtown core to the outlying neighbourhoods, visitors find that Boston is a city of intriguing diversity. With a mixture of colonial charm and urban sophistication, the city is rich in history, as well as great dining and nightlife, extraordinary shopping, championship, professional and college sports teams, and a vibrant arts and cultural community, making it a dynamic meeting and convention destination.

Well connected
Several factors make it such a great destination for international meetings and events. The first is the ease of access into and around Boston. Logan International Airport is served by major domestic and international carriers and currently offers domestic service to 79 destinations and international service to 36 destinations. More than 1,500 flights a day arrive at and depart from the airport, and Boston continues to be the shortest non-stop flight from Europe into the US. Logan International Airport is just three miles from the city and has now completed its $4bn modernisation project, including new terminals, new roadways, and a new harbour tunnel connecting the airport to the city centre.

Once in the city, delegates find that Boston has excellent access to air, rail, and bus connections. Its two convention centres feature the fastest airport links in the country.

Boston is known as ‘America’s walking city’, but when you can’t get around by foot, the city is easily accessible by the ‘T’ − Boston’s public transportation system. What’s more, planners and delegates find that Boston is a very safe city to move around in.

Knowledge and nourishment
Boston is also a world centre for education, technology and life sciences. Known also as the ‘Athens of America’, Boston’s medical and educational institutions have helped make it an international hub of intellectual activity. The metropolitan’s 35 hospitals and more than 60 colleges and universities can be a vast resource for your meeting or organisation. There is also access to world-renowned financial and biotech institutions located in the Greater Boston area.

Boston and Cambridge offer upscale, international, and eclectic options for the taste buds, and each unique neighbourhood is home to a whole different dining scene. Great new restaurants join the mix on a regular basis, keeping things fresh and cutting-edge. The area also boasts a variety of hotels to suit the needs of any group – from five-star boutique lodges and independently owned properties, to all of the major domestic and international chains, Boston offers something for everyone.

Corporate vision and ethos
The Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau (GBCVB) strives to continually position Boston as a world-class destination for meeting planners, delegates and leisure visitors. By offering exceptional, award-winning customer service, the staff and community never fail to give clients and visitors inspiring and sustainable experiences.

The award-winning GBCVB makes it easier than ever for professionals to meet in the Greater Boston area. No one knows more about the region than staff at the GBCVB; from assisting with putting together requests for proposal (RFP) to sending them out through the online RFP system that distributes directly to hotels, attractions, transportation companies and over 1,200 GBCVB members, the GBCVB sales department ensure all of a planner’s needs are met. GBCVB staff can assist planners with: complimentary RFPs for all of your meeting needs; site inspection; attendance building promotions, including participating in your convention one year prior; destination collateral; housing services; and a concierge and restaurant services desk during your convention.

Leader in international meetings
The GBCVB has unveiled a five-year strategy to double the number of international visitors to Boston and Cambridge. In 2011, Boston welcomed an impressive 1.3 million overseas visitors – an 11 percent increase on 2010, according to the US Department of Commerce. Boston and Cambridge also hosted a record number of 44 international meetings in 2011, according to the International Congress and Convention Association.

In 2012, Boston was named Best Destination for MICE, North America by Business Destinations magazine and, most recently, the GBCVB was named Best Convention Bureau in North America in the Annual MICE Report Awards 2012. Boston is on track for another double-digit growth year with international visitation numbers up 12 percent year-on-year to September 2012.

“Our double-digit growth hasn’t happened by accident,” said Pat Moscaritolo, president of the GBCVB. “Six years ago, we formed a partnership with the Cambridge Office for Tourism, the Massachusetts Port Authority, the Massachusetts Lodging Association, the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism and Mayor Menino’s Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events, for the purpose of attracting more international meetings and visitors to the region. We also collaborated on marketing programmes with member hotels, attractions and venues. Clearly this effort has paid off for our destination.” Moscaritolo added that it is not enough for the hospitality community to work together: “While we have been successful in our collaborative efforts, we can not reach our goal of doubling international arrivals without increased airline service to the region and continued visa reform. Reforms and expansion of the visa waiver programme could represent 800,000 new overseas visitors and $1.5bn in new visitor spending for New England alone.”

Specific targeted initiatives have been customised for each market and new partners will be sought out to help create demand for the region in an effort to drive increased air service. Working collaboratively with existing partners, the GBCVB will incorporate marketing, public relations and direct sales efforts to double international visitor growth to the region. Strategic initiatives include: a new tradeshow booth and expansion of participation in major tradeshows such as IMEX, EIBTM, AIBTM and IMEX America; the creation of an international client advisory committee; in-market client events as well as the coordination of sales missions and other public relations activities, which serve to build awareness for Boston as a meetings and leisure destination.

Sustainable practice
The cities of Boston and Cambridge have invested millions of dollars in cross-sector conservation initiatives, involving massive energy efficiency implementation. The GBCVB are committed to sustainable practice and are able to promote the efforts of area hotels, restaurants and convention centres in making the region green.

Work is also being done with ‘T’ to promote the use of public transportation to and from events, as well as the commitment to providing digital and online resources for delegates and planners, thereby reducing printing costs. GBCVB now offers an iPhone app version of the Visitors’ Guide to Boston, allowing users to find great deals, search the event calendar and purchase tickets to attractions. Meeting attendees can search ‘what to do’ while they are in town, and quickly purchase advance tickets to many of Boston’s great tours, cruises, excursions, museums, the Red Sox and more. Delegates can purchase tickets on their mobile device and simply show the page for electronic entry to a number of attractions.

This American city has it all. Whether it’s great dining, world-class shopping, or the vibrant arts scene, it’s easy to see why Boston is the ideal place for any meeting or event.

For more information: email: spappas@bostonusa.com; Tel: 001-617-867-8222