JetBlue Announces Its 30th Airline Partner: Silver

Contract notebook makers see
rise in November shipments
Taipei, Dec. 5 (CNA) Some major contract notebook computer
makers in Taiwan benefited from rush orders in November,
recording a significant monthly growth in shipments, a
research report said Thursday.
In the report, Digitimes Research said that Quanta Computer
Inc. and Inventec Corp. each posted an increase of more than
20 percent month-on-month in their November shipments, driven
mainly by large orders from the U.S.-based brand HewlettPackard Co.
Another Taiwanese firm Wistron Corp. registered a monthly rise
of more than 10 percent in its November shipments, the report
said, noting an increase in the company’s orders from Lenovo
Group in China.
Meanwhile, although Compal Electronics Inc. and Pegatron Corp.
did not show such significant growth, their shipments for
November remained stable, the report said.
Quanta, Compal and Wistron, the top three contract notebook
computer makers in the world, posted a combined 12 percent
month-on-month increase in shipments for November, the report
said.
In addition to the rush orders from HP, the three Taiwanese
manufacturers saw an increase in shipments of commercial and
low costs models, the research group said.
As for the top five notebook computer brands — HP, Lenovo,
U.S.-based Dell Inc. and Taiwan’s Acer Inc. and Asustek
Computer Inc. — their shipments for November rose by a
combined 14 percent from a month earlier on the back of HP’s
strong sales to India, Digitimes Research said.
In a similar report, the panel market information advisory
firm Displaybank said that among the international brands,
only HP bought more notebook computer screens in the third
quarter of this year, compared with the same period of last
year.
Acer, Asustek and Japan’s Sony Corp. recorded a double digit
year-on-year decline in notebook computer screen purchases in
the July-September period, which indicated that global demand
for notebook computers remained weak, Displaybank said.
(By Han Ting-ting, Lo Hsiu-wen, Pan Chi-i and Frances Huang)
Enditem/pc
Taiwan may face shortage of
Ph.D holders by 2024: science
minister
Taipei, Dec. 5 (CNA) Despite an overabundance of doctorate
degree holders in Taiwan at present, a shortage is likely
within 10 years due to the country’s falling birth rate,
Science Minister Cyrus Chu warned Thursday.
Over the next 10 years, more than 10,000 professors currently
teaching at higher education institutions in Taiwan will be
retiring, which will lead to increased demand for Ph.D
holders, Chu said during a consultative meeting on science and
technology development.
At the same time, the number of doctorate degree holders will
be decreasing owing to a serious population decline, he said.
As a result, a shortage of talent in that area is expected to
emerge in Taiwan’s job market by 2014, he predicted.
He proposed that Taiwan try to attract more foreign students
from emerging countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia,
Malaysia and the Philippines and create a friendly environment
to encourage them to seek employment in Taiwan.
Currently, foreign nationals comprise only 5.22 percent of
doctoral students in Taiwan universities, well below Sweden’s
50 percent, France’s 40 percent and the United States’ 29
percent, he noted.
Chu said both Japan and South Korea are working to recruit
more foreign students in an effort to enhance the
internationalization and innovation capacity of their higher
education institutions.
Japan aims to increase its number of foreign students from
120,000 in 2008 to 300,000 by 2020, while South Korea has set
a target of 200,000 by 2020, he said.
Chu also called attention to the low percentage of doctorate
degree holders employed in Taiwan’s business sector, noting
that the figure was only 14.49 percent in 2012.
Echoing Chu’s concerns, Education Minister Chiang Wei-ling
said that on average, only 20 percent of the 3,800 people who
obtain Ph.Ds annually in Taiwan enter the business sector.
He urged Taiwanese companies to employ more doctorate degree
graduates of domestic universities.
At the meeting, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC)
Chairman Morris Chang attributed the low employment rate of
Taiwan’s doctorate degree holders to inadequate R&D investment
by Taiwanese companies.
Chang said the situation has created a vicious circle that is
hampering the technological upgrade of these companies.
TSMC, however, does not have such a problem because it hires
around 50 Ph.D holders and 200 to 300 master’s degree holders
every year, he said.
Among TSMC’s 40,000 employees, some 800 hold doctorate
degrees, while 3,000 to 4,000 hold master’s degrees, Chang
said.
He contended, however, that the problem in Taiwan is not so
much the number of Ph.D holders as the fields in which they
are trained.
Taiwan’s education system needs a “complete overhaul” to fill
the talent gap, Chang said.
He said Taiwan does not need to have 148 universities and
colleges or 40 research-oriented universities as it does now,
but instead requires more technical vocational education
institutions.
(By Stacey Wu, Lin Meng-ju and Y.F. Low)
ENDITEM /pc
Taiwan
CPI
November
up
0.67%
in
Taipei, Dec. 5 (CNA) Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) for
November rose 0.67 percent from a year earlier, largely on the
back of more expensive vegetable prices, the government said
Thursday.
The hike in local consumer prices also reflected rising
dining-out costs and fuel prices, the Directorate General of
Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.
Last month, the DGBAS said, prices of meat, fish, household
electricity, Chinese herbal medicine and tourism expenses
remained high, which lifted the CPI.
On a month-on-month basis, the local CPI fell 0.72 percent,
and after seasonal adjustments, the index dropped 0.29
percent, the DGBAS said.
The DGBAS said vegetable prices started spiking in September
as typhoon damage slashed supplies and the bad weather factor
continued to weigh on the vegetable market in November,
despite a gradual recovery in supplies.
In November, food prices rose 2.70 percent from a year
earlier, with vegetable prices up 19.33 percent, meat prices
up 4.48 percent and fish prices up 4.03 percent, while prices
of grains and related products rose 1.76 percent and diningout costs grew 1.08 percent year-on-year.
According to the government statistics, living costs in
November rose 0.76 percent from a year earlier due to an
increase in fuel prices and a second-stage hike in electricity
rates.
However, clothing prices last month fell 2.81 percent and
transportation and communications costs dropped 0.94 percent
year-on-year, which lessened the impact of the higher food
prices to some extent, the DGBAS said.
Tsai Yu-tai, deputy director of the DGBAS’s department of
statistics, said local consumer prices could rise further in
December after his agency took into account a low comparison
base recorded for the same period of last year.
The DGBAS has anticipated the local CPI for the fourth quarter
could rise 1.12 percent from a year earlier.
In November, the core CPI, which excludes vegetables, fruit
and energy, rose 0.20 percent from a year earlier, while the
wholesale price index (WPI) fell 0.95 percent year-on-year in
reflection of lower base metal, machinery, computer and
optoelectronics prices.
In the first 11 months of this year, the local CPI rose 0.83
percent and the core CPI grew 0.70 percent from a year
earlier, while the WPI fell 2.64 percent year-on-year.
(By Lin Hui-chun and Frances Huang)
ENDITEM/J
Maokong Gondola eyeing Hello
Kitty
endorsement
for
ridership lift
Taipei, Dec. 5 (CNA) Urbanites looking to escape the city for
quiet hillside teahouses via the Maokong Gondola will soon
find themselves joined by an endearing travel companion:
Japanese cartoon icon Hello Kitty.
The beloved cartoon cat will adorn the gondola lift’s 145
carriages and four stations starting Friday, a move which
operator Taipei Rapid Transit Corp. (TRTC) hopes will stem the
continued revenue losses incurred by the system since 2010.
As celebrity endorsements go, Hello Kitty is a good match for
the removed district of southeast Taipei, known for its
copious teahouses and rural charm, because the name Maokong
literally means “cat space.”
TRTC said the decorations will be up for a year under its
Hello Kitty-centered campaign, which will lift off with a
garden party this weekend. Free rides on the gondola lift will
be offered to some 300 “disadvantaged individuals,” said Ling
Chi-yao, chief of TRTC’s Media Relations Section.
The company is holding out hope that Hello Kitty will give a
much needed boost to the 4.03-kilometer-long gondola line,
which has lost NT$360 million (US$12.2 million) due to low
ridership and high maintenance costs since it reopened in
2010.
The Maokong Gondola suspended operation in late 2008, just one
year after it opened, after the foundation at a support pillar
was damaged during a typhoon.
Service resumed in 2010, but low public interest has left it
unable to recoup losses.
A full-fare ticket costs NT$50 for a one-way trip on the
elevated gondola line, which takes about 25 minutes to get
between the terminal stations at Taipei Zoo and Maokong, a
height difference of 275 meters.
(By Lee Hsin-Yin)
ENDITEM/WH
Taiwan’s exhibition industry
to continue growing
Taipei, Dec. 5 (CNA) Taiwan’s convention and exhibition
industry will continue to grow this year as the government
maintains its efforts to improve the country’s global
competitiveness, an official of the Bureau of Foreign Trade
(BOFT) said Thursday.
BOFT Chief Secretary Paul Wang said his bureau has been
striving to enhance Taiwan’s industry structure and
transformation and strengthen its service sector.
The total industry output for Taiwan’s convention and
exhibition sector is forecast to exceed NT$33.8 billion
(US$1.14 billion) this year, extending its strong growth over
the past few years, Wang said at a press conference to
announce the results of a pilot program of the local
convention and exhibition industry.
“The convention and exhibition service industry has been
compared to an `industrial locomotive’ that can not only
stimulate sales of intangible services and tangible goods, but
also help establish a global image and serve as a critical
factor in improving our industry’s
competitiveness,” Wang said.
international
He noted that the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center, which received
investment of NT$3 billion from the Ministry of Economic
Affairs, is expected to open in April next year to enhance the
convention and exhibition hardware of southern Taiwan.
“From next year, our industry will be able to offer hosting
both in the north and south of the country,” Wang said. “This
should generate substantial synergistic benefits for the
convention and exhibition industry.”
As the global convention and exhibition marketplace shifts its
focus from Europe and North America to Asia, Taiwan enjoyed
the second-highest growth of 33.6 percent in Asia in gross
exhibition space sales between 2008 and 2012, according to the
2012 Asia Exhibition Industry Report.
In 2012, Taiwan was ranked sixth in Asia in terms of
exhibition space sales, hosting a total of 74 international
exhibitions, representing an annual growth of 1.61 percent,
the report said. (By Jeffrey Wu)
ENDITEM/J
Healthy girl
A zookeeper checks the health of five-month-old panda cub
Yuanzai in Taipei on Sunday. After the check-up, zoo officials
said Yuanzai, the first giant panda cub to be born in Taiwan,
is in good health. Photo provided by Taipei Zoo Dec. 8, 2013
Taiwan expects to benefit
from WTO trade facilitation
deal
The Taiwanese delegation to the World Trade Organization conference in Bali, Indonesia.
Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) A new package of trade measures agreed
upon Saturday at a World Trade Organization (WTO) conference
is expected to reduce trade costs by 15 percent for developing
countries and 10 percent for developed countries, Economics
Minister Chang Chia-juch said Saturday.
Chang said in a telephone interview with CNA that Taiwan,
which is considered as a developing country, strongly
supported the trade deal clinched Saturday in Bali by 159 WTO
members in what was hailed as a rare victory for the
multilateral trading system.
The deal on trade facilitation reached at the conference was
important for Taiwan because it has not signed many free trade
agreements and is not a member of the World Customs
Organization, and consequently needs multilateral deals to
knock down barriers to trade, Chang said.
Reports from Bali said the agreement on trade facilitation
would help reduce transaction costs, cut red tape, improve
transparency, and simplify and streamline customs and port
procedures, among others.
“We are very happy with the agreement on trade facilitation,”
he said, adding that he believed the clinching of the new deal
called the Bali Package would help restore confidence in the
negotiating functions of the WTO.
Any multilateral agreements are beneficial to Taiwan because
it has been at a disadvantage in promoting bilateral and
regional integration, Chang said.
If the WTO member delivers on its negotiating function, then
Taiwan, as a member of the organization, will be less
dependent on joining regional economic integration and
negotiating bilateral trade agreement, Chang said.
Even with Saturday’s success, Taiwan will continue to seek
membership in regional economic blocs, the minister said.
Chang also said Taiwan’s delegation to the WTO conference held
bilateral talks with Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Vietnam and
Myanmar on the sidelines of the forum.
Beyond the specific deals reached Saturday, the agreement has
kept alive the possibility that a broader agreement to create
a more level playing field for rich and poor countries can be
reached in the future, Chang said.
The Doha round of WTO negotiations, which began in 2001, have
been for the most part a failure, with talks stalled over
major issues with the emergence of trade protectionism in
recent years.
(By Huang Chiao-wen, Y.L. Kao, Sofia Wu and Luke Sabtier)
Enditem/ls
The
2012
report
of
the
Observatory for Tourism in
Brussels is now available
The 2012 annual report of the
Tourism Observatory in Brussels, drawn up in partnership by
and between VISITBRUSSELS, Wallonie – Bruxelles Tourisme and
Flanders Tourism.
This document is the result of the gathering and processing of
data supplied by, among others, the FPS Economy, the French
Community Commission (COCOF), MKG Hospitality, Tourmis and
tourism service providers such as museums and attractions; it
is drawn up in accordance with an efficient methodology
recognised by all the Brussels tourism sectors.
The figures and graphs of these reports show certain major
trends in 2012:
• In spite a period of economic crisis, and thanks to strong
growth these last two years, Brussels has managed to stabilise
and even to register slight growth (+0.1 %) in the number of
night stays;
• Urban tourism is progressing
comparison with other sectors;
very
satisfactorily
in
• Leisure tourism has shown some weaknesses but a very clear
recovery raised the
figures again in the last months of 2012;
• Night stays by foreign customers are up and account for 8
0.6% of the total.
Among the factors to be taken into account in this positive
development, the hotel offer grew thanks to 5 new hotels (424
rooms) which opened in 2012. The new projects planned for 2013
and the subsequent years confirm the interest of
the sector for the development of tourism in Brussels and make
it possible to stay the course in meeting the challenge taken
up in 2010 to double the number of night stays so as to reach
10,000,000 by 2020.
Brussels professional tourism is standing firm in the face of
world economic difficulties and can be rightfully proud of its
2.4% growth under these circumstances – a result that
consolidates its position as Europe’s number 1 country for
congresses of associations (UAI).
And, as it is important to be attentive to trends in this
important economic sector, tourism players are regularly
informed throughout the year by Barometers that gauge
fluctuations in night stays, the hotel occupancy rate and
attendance in museums and attractions.
All these monthly reports are available at all times on the
website of the Tourism Observatory in Brussels:
www.visitbrussels.be (Menu : “Observatory”)
Frédéric Cornet
Manager Observatory for Tourism in Brussels
Click here to download the full Annual Report of the
Observatory for Tourism in Brussels 2012.
Sortie
de
la
brochure d’EXODIS
Si
le
nouvelle
troisième
novembre est
annuel
des
jeudi
de
le rendez-vous
amateurs
de
Beaujolais Nouveau, le deuxième
jeudi du mois de décembre est le
rendez-vous incontournable des
professionnels du Tourisme :
BTEXPO, les 11 et 12 décembre.
Exodis – tour-opérateur de niche, spécialiste du voyage en
Israël et actif depuis 2009 sur le marché Belge et
Luxembourgeois – y sera présent pour la quatrième année
consécutive et a choisi cette rencontre professionnelle pour
présenter sa nouvelle brochure « EXODIS 2014 ».
Le cru 2014 a subi un relooking et s’est enrichi d’un éventail
de nouveautés car Israël et Exodis ont encore bien plus, que
des sites religieux, à faire découvrir.
LA BROCHURE 2014 ET SES NOUVEAUTES
CIRCUITS
Idéal pour un premier séjour en Israël, les deux circuits
accompagnés (guide francophone ou anglophone) de 8 jours/7
nuits en demi-pension, sont parfaits pour avoir un aperçu des
lieux et sites incontournables de ce pays à vocation
historique. Sur demande, ces circuits peuvent également être
proposés avec guide Néerlandophone pour des groupes de minimum
15 personnes.
FLY & DRIVE
Pour ceux désireux de visiter le Nord et le Sud d’Israël en
toute indépendance, la formule « Fly & Drive » permet de
découvrir le pays à son propre rythme. L’hébergement (hôtels,
Kibboutz) à chaque étape est élaboré à l’avance par Exodis.
EXTENSIONS / AVENTURE & SPORTS
Une extension vers la Jordanie, l’autre perle du Moyen-Orient,
est proposée au départ de la station balnéaire Eilat,
Jérusalem ou
Anglophone.
Tel
Aviv
avec
accompagnement
d’un
guide
Dans le Désert du Néguev, les amoureux de nature et d’aventure
pourront faire de belles excursions telles que du 4×4,
trekking, vtt, balades à dos de chameau. Deux logements y sont
proposés : le « Camel Ranch » au cœur du désert et le « Desert
Eco Lodge » aménagé sur les bords du cratère « Ramon » offrant
un panorama unique.
En opposition à l’aridité du désert, les kibboutz,
incontournable Israélien, représentent de véritables oasis
offrant aux touristes une expérience sociale unique de vie
collective.
CULTURE
Côté culture, Exodis propose des packages permettant
d’assister à l’opéra « La Traviata » qui se produit en plein
air au pied de la majestueuse forteresse de Massada, site
classé au patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco.
OFFRE HOTELIERE
Parmi l’offre hôtelière de qualité entre 4 et 5 *, quelques
derniers nés de l’hôtellerie israélienne: ‘Calibri Light’,
serif;”> : le Royal Beach ***** Tel Aviv, le légendaire RitzCarlton ***** à Herzliya, le tout nouvel hôtel design Arthur
**** à Jérusalem.
CITY TRIPS
Tel Aviv, la ville blanche, soudée à l’ancien Tel Aviv ‘Jaffa’
se veut la ville qui ne dort jamais avec son atmosphère
unique, son rythme, ses bars et restaurants. Exodis le met en
avant comme produit phare ‘City Trip’ suivi par Jérusalem qui
vaut également le détour, le temps d’un long weekend.
DESTINATION SOLEIL
Plusieurs stations balnéaires s’étalent le long des 300
kilomètres de côte méditerranéenne. Les plages de Tel Aviv,
Herzliya, station balnéaire en pleine effervescence; le golfe
d’Eilat sur la mer Rouge à l’extrême sud d’Israël, Haïfa, les
sites uniques comme La Mer Morte…
PAYSAGES HORS DU COMMUN ET HISTOIRE
Le désert du Néguev, les montagnes boisées de la Haute Galilée
(la petite Suisse d’Israël) avec le Mont Carmel, le Lac de
Tibériade ou encore le Parc National d’Ein Gedi avec sa
cascade dans le désert et de nombreux sites historiques qui
jalonnent les quelques 30 siècles d’histoires et souvent
classés « Patrimoine culturel de l’Unesco » traversent la
nouvelle brochure comme un fil rouge.
Wilfried Lauwers, CEO Exodis se réjouit : « Israël est une
destination qui rencontre de plus en plus de succès auprès des
voyageurs Belges. La fréquence des vols journaliers ne cessent
de croître. Chaque jour 2 à 3 vols directs de compagnies
aériennes différentes partent de Belgique … On peut réellement
parler d’un véritable regain du tourisme en Israël. Chez
Exodis, on le ressent et on s’en réjouit. »
Israël, attendez-vous à l’inattendu
A PROPOS D’EXODIS
Exodis appartient au groupe Jetexpress dirigé depuis plus de
30 ans par Wilfried Lauwers. Il a été créé fin 2009 suite au
rachat du groupe Isbel, agence spécialiste sur la destination.
‘World’s Leading Luxury AllSuite Hotel Award’ for Tower
Club at lebua
December 2013: We are pleased to
announce that Tower Club at
lebua, Bangkok was voted the
‘World’s Leading Luxury AllSuite Hotel’ at the Grand Final
Ceremony of the World Travel
Awards 2013, held in Doha, Qatar
at the end of November. Chief
Marketing Officer Valerie Marina Barrios and Director of
Public Relations Caron Lau were present to accept the award on
behalf of lebua Hotels & Resorts, and were warmly greeted by
the President and Founder of World Travel Awards himself,
Graham E. Cooke.
The Grand Final Ceremony, this year also marking the 20th
Anniversary of the World Travel Awards, was the conclusion of
WTA’s year-long quest to determine the outstanding travel,
tourism and hospitality brands, companies and organizations
worldwide, across six continents and involving more than 9,000
nominees.
The premier global travel award program has become recognized
as the provider of the ultimate accolade amongst the travel
sector, and is hailed as ‘The Oscars of the Travel Industry’,
with winners setting the benchmark to which all others aspire.
These awards are based on a global vote by qualified
executives working within travel and tourism and consumer
travel buyers from 171 countries.
Tower Club at lebua is also the proud recipient of ‘Asia’s
Leading Lifestyle Hotel 2013’, ‘Asia’s Leading Luxury AllSuite Hotel 2013’ and ‘Thailand’s Leading Luxury All-Suite
Hotel 2013’ awards.
For lebua, these awards are yet further proof that
international standards are being met, and sometimes exceeded,
ultimately for the approval and satisfaction of our guests. We
look forward to having the privilege of providing our guests
with these same exacting standards far into the future.
About lebua Hotels & Resorts:
lebua Hotels and Resorts is a growing international luxury
brand that operates distinctive hotels, fine restaurants and
bars. Led by visionary CEO Deepak Ohri, Bangkok-based lebua
takes a unique approach to hospitality that aspires to tap
into a deeper level of exchange with guests to create
emotional connections. This occurs when every moment spent
with us is uniquely memorable, infinitely personal, and simply
exceptional – and we believe that life’s truest luxuries are
those that are built around these moments.
Stunning dining and beverage venues play an integral part in
forging these emotional connections. At The Dome at lebua, our
collection of restaurants and bars atop our Bangkok-based
flagship properties, the vistas are breathtaking and
unmatched, and the caliber of mixology, food preparation and
innovative cuisine attracts epicures from around the world.
These include Sirocco, the world’s highest open air
restaurant; Sky Bar, named “the most stunning rooftop bar
you’ll ever see” by the New York Times; and Mezzaluna, the
city’s fine-dining mecca.
lebua’s award-wining lodging collection includes Bangkok’s
best-performing luxury hotels (Tower Club at lebua and lebua
at State Tower), three magnificent properties in India (Devi
Garh by lebua, Udaipur; lebua Resort, Jaipur; and lebua Lodge
at Amer, Jaipur), and an exclusive property in New Zealand
(Lake Okareka Lodge by lebua). lebua is considering hotel
management contracts in city and resort destinations worldwide
and plans to expand its destination dining concepts to major
international locations.
For
more
information,
please
visit www.lebua.com or www.facebook.com/lebua