Why '4-Stars' is the new '5-Stars' for China hotels

A five-star rating may be the holy grail of the hospitality industry, but top-end Chinese hotels are actively working to rid themselves of this prestigious ranking.
This comes as the luxury hotel sector struggles with shrinking revenues following the government's decision last year to ban officials from spending money at five-star hotels as part of its broader austerity drive.
In 2013, 56 five-star hotels sought to downgrade their ratings to four stars, state press agency Xinhua reported, citing Chen Miaolin, vice president of the China Tourism Association.

Jade | Blend Images | Getty Images
Chen, who is also the chairman of the New Century Tourism Group, parent group to 64 hotels, said he had instructed his five four-star New Century Hotels to bench plans for an upgrade to five stars under pressure from declining turnover.According to Chen, the hotel industry faced a 25 percent decline in revenue in 2013, with 20 of more hotels closing down each month. There are around 4,000 star-rated hotels in the mainland, of which 680 are five-star, he said.
With the lunar new year around the corner, the Communist Party of China (CPC) issued a notice discouraging excessive spending and gifts before and during the week-long holiday, Xinhua reported.As a result, government and state-owned enterprises are no longer throwing their year-end parties in five-star hotel ballrooms, but opting for the office canteens instead."High-end restaurants and hotels are really suffering, as nearly 60 percent of our turnover used to come from governmental departments and state-owned enterprises," Yang Xiaowei, a sales manager at Lijingwan International Hotel in Beijing told Xinhua.
The average revenue that hotels generated from their catering businesses plunged 17.2 percent last year, according to the China Tourist Hotel Association.

Hangzhou Royal Printing Co., Ltd is a leading printer in east China, mainly dealing with books, magazines , catalogues printing and packaging .

 Our production inludes paper box (cardboard box,gift box,cigarette box,wine box, daily goods box, retail packaging, cosmetic box), paper bags (gift bags, shopping bags, wine bags, marketing bags, handbags) and printings of brochures, catalogs, magazines, books (hard cover and soft cover), children’s books, art books, cookbooks, journals, diaries, ring binders, presentation folders, notebooks, calendars, placemat/3D placemat、 postcards/ 3D Postcards, greeting cards , leaflets, booklets, decals ,and etc. We are certified with SGS , Our products are widely exported to more than 30 countries including Australia, Europe, USA and Africa. 

British banker stirs up storm by mocking Singapore’s ‘poor’

 A British expat in Singapore stirred up an Internet storm after his Facebook posts mocking the "poor people" using mass transit went viral, hitting on the city-state's touchy issues of anti-foreigner sentiment and a growing wealth divide.The storm began after Anton Casey, a wealth manager at Crossinvest Asia, posted two photos of his son on Facebook. One showed his son on the subway and was captioned "Daddy, where is your car and who are all these poor people?" and the other showed his son in a silver Porsche with the caption, "Ahhhhhhhhh, reunited with my baby. Normal service can resume, once I have washed the stench of public transport off me FFS!"(Read more: As Singapore gets richer, more people left behind)Although Casey has since issued a public apology, deleted his Facebook account and hired a public relations firm, the Internet storm, which has included alleged death threats, has continued, even sparking a response from a government minister.Many online commentators urged that Casey's permit to remain in Singapore be revoked and others urged that he be charged under the city-state's sedition laws, which prohibit promoting racial tensions.Local media websites reported Casey's employer has said in a statement that the comments were in "poor taste," and that it is investigating the matter and "will take appropriate action."
"Like many Singaporeans, I am terribly upset and offended by what he has posted. Deeply offensive, wrong, and unacceptable," said K Shanmugam, minister for foreign affairs, said in a Facebook post.
"I am glad the community has come together to condemn what he has said," Shanmugam added. "At the same time, I hope that Singaporeans will not attack or flame his family because of his actions. We, Singaporeans, can be bigger than that."

Singapore workers are unhappiest in Asia: surveyWednesday, 22 Jan 2014 | 6:31 PM ET
The Asia Squawk Box team discusses a new survey that shows Singapore's work force is the unhappiest in Asia. Paul Krake, Founder, View from the Peak: Macro Strategies, also weighs in.
Casey's controversy came as the city-state is already facing tensions over its future. Singapore has one of the biggest wealth gaps in the developed world and foreigners make up around 39 percent of its population, up from around 25 percent in 2000.As the island-state has become more crowded - pushing up property prices and increasing waits for public transport - the government has faced growing opposition to its liberal immigration policies and it has announced a slew of measures over the past year to limit the influx of foreign workers.Some tensions overflowed last month when a mob of approximately 400 foreign workers were involved in the city-state's first riot since 1969. Ten police officers and four civil defense officers were injured.
The government may already be planning to address the tensions sparked by the contrast between its wealthy, who often engage in conspicuous consumption at odds with thriftier local values, and its more ordinary citizens who feel squeezed by a rising cost of living.In the upcoming budget, higher taxes on cars, property and possibly personal income could be on the agenda as the city state takes steps towards a greater redistribution of wealth.
In Singapore, the top individual income tax rate is 20 percent – much lower than in many other developed economies. In Japan for instance, the highest income tax rate is 50 percent.


Play Video
Singapore sees rare riot after fatal car crash
Singapore experienced its first major outburst of public violence in four decades following a fatal traffic incident involving a foreign worker.
Singapore's Gini coefficient – which measures the degree of inequality within a country where zero is complete equality and one is maximum inequality – rose to 0.478 last year, the highest among advanced economies, apart from Hong Kong.
It also ranks as the world's seventh most expensive city in Expatistan's Cost of Living index, which is compiled from prices submitted by users of its online cost of living calculator. High living costs are a major concern for the young, a survey published last week by Singapore Polytechnic found.
There's also likely to be supportive measures for those on lower incomes, analysts said. Earlier this month, Singapore, which has resisted setting an official poverty level, set its first minimum wage: an entry-level wage of S$1,000 for its cleaners.

 Hangzhou Royal Printing Co., Ltd is a leading printer in east China, mainly dealing with books, magazines , catalogues printing and packaging .

Our production inludes paper box (cardboard box,gift box,cigarette box,wine box, daily goods box, retail packaging, cosmetic box), paper bags (gift bags, shopping bags, wine bags, marketing bags, handbags) and printings of brochures, catalogs, magazines, books (hard cover and soft cover), children’s books, art books, cookbooks, journals, diaries, ring binders, presentation folders, notebooks, calendars, placemat/3D placemat、 postcards/3D Postcards, greeting cards , leaflets, booklets, decals ,and etc.  

PVC Mat

PVC Mat is a protective, decorative table table items. Generally use cotton, hemp, bamboo, paper cloth material such as. Beautiful color diversity, more close to people's life, strong friction prevent glass, porcelain slip. Protect by hot desktop is not bad. Environmental protection type PP meal pad, EVA mat is more popular, light green, fashionable, and suitable for printing various patterns on the surface;

Printing Industries Alliance Hosts A Solid and Satisfying “Innovation Forum” on Long Island

Regional printing trade shows mostly are things of the past—just try to find anyone these days who remembers the Graph Tech expos for the Northeast or the Gutenberg Festivals that once tried to take root on the West Coast. Vendors can’t justify the expense of exhibiting at these local affairs, and printers can’t find the time to attend them. Besides, isn’t pretty much everything we need to know about equipment, technology, business trends, and our counterparts in the printing industry available right here on the Internet?

All of the above may be true, but in spite of that, members of the industry still find value in the knowledge-sharing camaraderie that only face-to-face encounters can provide. At its “Innovation Forum” on the evening of March 20, the Long Island branch of Printing Industries Alliance offered about 150 registered attendees the opportunity to come together for just such a program: a business networking exchange for graphic communications professionals, complete with educational sessions and displays by more than two dozen sponsoring exhibitors.

The event, held at the Holiday Inn in Plainview, NY, lasted for only three hours, and the displays consisted mainly of literature on table tops. It may not have been a “trade show” in the strictest or even a loose sense of that term, but it was a welcome demonstration of industry solidarity that PIA president Tim Freeman was correct to call a “win-win” for everyone who participated.

It also was a successful second try at hosting a get-together that Hurricane Sandy forced PIA to cancel when that killer storm blew through the area last October. Since then, Freeman and fellow PIA stalwart Bill Dirzulaitis have been working the phones in an effort to rekindle interest. Freeman gives Dirzulaitis—the former president of what used to be the New York City metro area’s largest printing trade association—much of the credit for driving the turnout.

Freeman also saluted his Long Islanders for being “probably the best group we have” in terms of member activism within PIA, a trade group serving New York State, northern New Jersey, and northwestern Pennsylvania.

And while the exhibits may have been small, the names behind them weren’t, with HP, Xerox, Heidelberg, KBA, and other national and local providers lending their prestige to the gathering as they interacted with their Long Island  customers. HP earned extra attention by hosting the open bar and buffet that refreshed attendees throughout the evening.

A pair of educational sessions addressed topics that are. or should be, of high interest to printers on Long Island and everywhere else: opportunities in high-volume inkjet production; and strategies for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in an environment that, sooner or later, may require most print business owners to choose between selling their firms or absorbing other companies.

Fred Simonson, a consultant with Gimbel & Associates, surveyed available high-volume inkjet printing technologies and offered guidelines for investing in them. To achieve ROI with one of these presses, he said, a printing company should be capable of placing at least 10 million pages per month on it in one of the “sweet spot” product categories for inkjet: transactional printing, direct mail, and books.

According to Simonson, the investment in an “entry level” inkjet press can run from $2 million to $2.5 million when the costs of the controller, software, pre- and post-feeders, training, and other necessities are factored in. Given a sustained workload in the right applications, he said, the economics of print manufacturing with equipment of this kind can be “very favorable—but you need to drive that printer all the time.”

Printers also must remember that the interaction of water-based ink, paper, and heat in an inkjet production run sometimes “does some strange things” to the quality of what’s being printed. “You’re literally changing the physics of that sheet of paper” when put

HP Will Not Participate in Ipex 2014

.“HP has decided not to participate in Ipex 2014, as we are shifting our marketing and sales focus to more local and application-specific events, as well as to customer business-development programs such as Dscoop-sponsored events that help our customers profitably grow their businesses.”

This annoucement comes as a surprise after the large presence HP had at drupa. HP reported “record results” from the show that “surpassed results from any other graphic arts tradeshow in its history.”
Cary Sherburne is talking with HP executives to get a more strategic view of the marketing shift. Watch WhatTheyThink for details 

 Hangzhou Royal Printing Co., Ltd is a leading printer in east China, mainly dealing with books, magazines , catalogues printing and packaging .
Our production inludes paper box (cardboard box,gift box,cigarette box,wine box, daily goods box, retail packaging, cosmetic box), paper bags (gift bags, shopping bags, wine bags, marketing bags, handbags) and printings of brochures, catalogs, magazines, books (hard cover and soft cover), children’s books, art books, cookbooks, journals, diaries, ring binders, presentation folders, notebooks, calendars, placemat/3D placemat、 postcards/3D Postcards, greeting cards , leaflets, booklets, decals ,and etc. We are certified with SGS , Our products are widely exported to more than 30 countries including Australia, Europe, USA and Africa.

73% of online adults in the US now use social networking sites

 73% of online adults in the US now use social networking sites

A new study released by The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project found that 73% of survey respondents actively use social media with 42% using multiple social networking sites.

Facebook had the most engagement, followed by LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram. Facebook usage was high across all demographics. However recent studies have suggested teens and young adults are ditching Facebook for Twitter and private social networks like Snapchat. An eMarketer study recently concluded that Facebook is the social network of choice for Gen Xers.

LinkedIn, which focuses on professional and working relationships, had the highest usage by college grads and internet users in higher income households.

Understanding the demographics of each social networking site is important factor when planning cross-media campaigns that include a presence, advertising or promotion on a social networking sites. 

Royal Printing Co., Ltd is a leading printer in east China

 Hangzhou Royal Printing Co., Ltd is a leading printer in east China, mainly dealing with books, magazines , catalogues printing and packaging . Royal has brought in multiple sets of printing facilities from abroad and has recruited proficient technicians at all working phase ( pre-press, printing and binding), which turns out to be a great success.

 Our production inludes paper box (cardboard box,gift box,cigarette box,wine box, daily goods box, retail packaging, cosmetic box), paper bags (gift bags, shopping bags, wine bags, marketing bags, handbags) and printings of brochures, catalogs, magazines, books (hard cover and soft cover), children’s books, art books, cookbooks, journals, diaries, ring binders, presentation folders, notebooks, calendars, placemat/3D placemat、 postcards/3D Postcards, greeting cards , leaflets, booklets, decals ,and etc. We are certified with SGS , Our products are widely exported to more than 30 countries including Australia, Europe, USA and Africa.