aRes Travel Launches New Experiential Packaging Product
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-iReach/ --#160;aRes Travel, the leading provider of a private-label booking engine powering online reservations and ticketing transactions for the travel and tourism industry announced the launch of their newest product - Experiential Packaging.#160; Seen as a game changer in the industry, the much anticipated customized travel package solution is the first of its kind, allowing consumers the ability to create a personalized travel packages with the focus on what to do in that destination.#160; aRes Travels Experiential Packaging combines attraction tickets, tours or activities, with a wide selection of hotels, culminating in the perfect vacation package for every travelers individual budget.
For years, online travel agencies (OTAs) have offered travel packages that include a choice of air, car and hotel forcing the user to choose a minimum of two of the three components to be considered a package.#160; aRes Travel redefines packaging with the belief that the customer comes to a destination for a specific reason; to see an attraction, attend an event or enjoy a specific activity without always the need for air or car rental.#160; aRes Travels booking engine analytics show the majority of trips center around at least one visit to an event, activity, tour or attraction with many travelers within driving distance to their vacation destination eliminating the need to book air or car rental.#160;
aRes Travel has successfully packaged attraction tickets + hotel rooms for hundreds of affiliate sites for more than eight years. The major difference with Experiential Packaging is the presentation of the package information online.#160; The added customization functionality makes building each package a unique experience for the traveler.#160; Our technology team spent over a year compiling the requirements of our customers and their consumers to focus on a compelling destination activity packaging platform to build the best consumer experience for the traveling public, said Alan Suchodolski, President of aRes Travel.
With the launch of Experiential Packaging comes thousands of new packages displayed on aRes Travels vast affiliate base of websites, centering around activities or events that are in most cases the deciding factor to visit a destination. The user first selects what they want to experience in the destination - then the hotel proximity to the particular attraction or point of interest, and continues through the easy-to-navigate custom experience builder to select an attraction and event tickets completing their vacation package.#160; Confirmations and e-tickets are delivered promptly to their inbox.
For more information on aRes Travels Experiential Packaging solution, please go to arestravelinc.com.
About aRes Travel, Advanced Reservation Systems, Inc.
Founded in 1995 and based in San Diego, California, aRes Travel - Advanced Reservation Systems, Inc. provides industry leading reservations and ticketing technology to destination marketing organizations, major attractions, travel marketers and hotels. In addition to technology solutions, aRes Travel provides these same organizations with travel product and fulfillment services.#160; These products are sold to the public via the web and through an in-sourced call center.#160; Some of the top travel sites aRes Travel powers are San Francisco Travel(sanfrancisco.travel), San Diego ConVis (sandiego.org), Destination DC (washington.org), and Travel Portland (travelportland.com).#160; A complete corporate profile can be found at www.aResTravelinc.com.
Media Contact: Carmella Spencer aRes Travel - Advanced Reservation Systems, Inc, 858 300-8632, carmella.spencer@arestravelinc.com
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Madonna to provide halftime entertainment at Super Bowl
Madonna will perform during halftime of Super Bowl XLVI, the NFL announced Sunday night.
The pop legend will be accompanied by performers from Cirque de Soleil, and choreographer Jamie King will collaborate on the production.
This seasons Super Bowl will be held Feb. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, two days after Madonnas new film premieres nationwide.
The Black Eyed Peas performed at last seasons game in Arlington, Texas.
Shopping misfit enjoys his own perks: peace, solitude
Black Friday story, a week late:
Overslept and woke up at 6:30 am Blamed it on the second helping of turkey consumed just before going to bed.
Wandered down to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Let the dog out. Went to get the morning paper. Read it back to front as Ive always done since I was in grammar school. Note: There must be an explanation for this somewhere.
Spent the rest of the day puttering around the house and putting the finishing touches on a small, walnut jewelry box Id rescued from an antiques store. Said touches included -- over several days -- five coats of linseed oil interspersed by repeated sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and lining the thing with batting (yes, Virginia, we males know what batting is) and velvet.
What never happened was my going anywhere near a shopping mall.
No, Im not against shopping and I also understand that the Christmas season is when many merchants make much of of their yearly profit. Such is what helps drive our economy and Ill soon be out and about buying the gifts Ill be giving this year.
My problem is that Im not a big fan of either commotion or crowds and, from what Ive come to see over the years, Black Friday is all about commotion and crowds.
Ask my wife about this and shell tell you stories about my penchant for finding the nearest quiet area in any crowded store and nervously staying there until shes found whatever she came for.
Remember also that I spent a career going to places where commotion and crowds were several thousand miles distant and regarding that distance as not nearly far enough. Thus, my participation in this tradition would be about as likely as the pope showing up at an exotic dancing venue.
Adding ammunition to my aversion was this years Black Friday story about a woman pepper-spraying several fellow shoppers in order to ensure her obtaining whatever item had made her must-have list. Further, that evening there were the ubiquitous film clips from all over the country showing shoppers charging through doors that opened at oh-dark-thirty.
Just not my cup of tea.
Ive also recently joined the small -- but growing -- segment of society trying to support local businesses that sell quality items (See: Last longer than a celebrity marriage) made in the United States.
On that last, I have to admit that its getting tough, but there are still companies here in America that make and sell darned fine products. Yes, they may cost more, but youll generally find that these companies stand behind their products.
In one case Ive previously mentioned, Id purchased a winter coat back in 1994. It was one that required -- depending on the amount of wear the coat received -- a wax waterproofing treatment be applied every year or so.
Over a period of years, I noticed that the coat had developed an odd smell that wouldnt go away no matter what I tried. I gave up and, in 2008, I took the coat back to the store where Id purchased it (and where it had been made) and asked them what could be done.
The salesperson took the coat, sniffed it, and said Wait here. She then went to the rack, grabbed a new one, handed it to me and said, That should take care of it.
Do note that she didnt ask for a receipt, never questioned where or when Id gotten the coat, and did this without checking with management or requiring me to fill out a form of any kind.
Needless to say, Ill be visiting them again this holiday season to buy an item or three to give as gifts.
I know that Im in the minority here. No problem there either. Others happily do their shopping and thoroughly enjoy the crush and jostle of Black Friday while I, and other shopping misfits like me, enjoy smaller stores with uncrowded aisles.
Still, in my defense, the words Christmas Madness Sale just dont seem to be an apt description of what the season is supposed to be about.
Just saying.
Larry Simoneaux lives in Edmonds. Send comments to larrysim@comcast.net.
RealD and Mei Ah Entertainment Group Limited (MAEG) Announce Agreement for 3D …
HONG KONG LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RealD Inc. (NYSE: RLD), a leading global licensor of 3D technologies,
and Mei Ah Entertainment Group Limited (MAEG), a major Chinese-language
film producer and distributor in the region, announced today an
agreement to install RealD 3D technology on one hundred screens across
the MAEG circuit in China. The deal is part of MAEGâ??s overall efforts to
expand within the Chinese theatrical market with fifty new cinemas and
five hundred screens over the next five years. The first MAEG cinema has
already opened in Tinjian and will be followed by openings in Yangzhou,
Shanghai, Chengdu and more. With this latest agreement, RealD technology
is now available on approximately 460 cinema screens in China with
future commitments totaling 1,200 screens.
RealDâ??s award-winning 3D technology is the most widely used in the
world and I am pleased to have them as a strategic partner
â??With the current demand for 3D in China outweighing the number of
screens available, we look forward to equipping MAEG cinemas with RealD
3D technology as they continue to expand in China,â? said Edman Chan,
RealDâ??s General Manager of Greater China, Southeast Asia and Korea for
Cinema.
â??RealDâ??s award-winning 3D technology is the most widely used in the
world and I am pleased to have them as a strategic partner,â? said
Patrick Tong, Managing Director of MAEG. â??With RealDâ??s superb image
quality, audience members become actual participants in the movie.â?
RealD is the worldâ??s most widely used 3D cinema technology with over
18,700 screens equipped with RealD 3D in approximately 60 countries
around the world.
About RealD Inc.
RealD is a leading global licensor of 3D technologies. RealDs extensive
intellectual property portfolio is used in applications that enable a
premium 3D viewing experience in the theater, the home and elsewhere.
RealD licenses its RealD Cinema Systems to motion picture exhibitors
that show 3D motion pictures and alternative 3D content. RealD also
provides its RealD Display, active and passive eyewear, and RealD Format
technologies to consumer electronics manufacturers and content producers
and distributors to enable the delivery and viewing of 3D content.
RealDs cutting-edge 3D technologies have been used for applications
such as piloting the Mars Rover.
RealD was founded in 2003 and has offices in Beverly Hills, California;
Boulder, Colorado; London, United Kingdom; Shanghai, China; Hong Kong;
and Tokyo, Japan. For more information, please visit our website at www.reald.com.
About Mei Ah Entertainment Group Limited (MAEG)
www.meiah.com/index.php?lang=en
Cautionary note on forward-looking statements
This press release includes forward-looking information and statements,
including but not limited to: statements concerning the anticipated
rollout of RealD 3D technology across the MAEG theater circuit and the
growth of the cinema industry in China. These statements are based on
RealDâ??s current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of
assumptions concerning future events. Such forward-looking statements
are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and
other important factors, many of which are outside RealDâ??s control that
could cause actual results to differ materially from the results
discussed in the forward-looking statements. RealDâ??s annual and
quarterly reports include a more detailed discussion of the risks and
uncertainties that may cause that could cause actual results to differ
materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements.
RealD undertakes no obligation to update publicly the information
contained in this press release, or any forward-looking statements, to
reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date they
were made, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
 2011. RealD Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Royals’ offseason shopping nearly done as winter meetings begin
Bruce Chen will be in a Royals uniform for two more seasons after agreeing to a new contract with the team.
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Cathay Pacific Expects ‘Busy’ Christmas Travel, Weak Cargo
Cathay Pacific Expects ‘Busy’ Christmas Travel, Weak Cargo
December 05, 2011, 11:12 PM EST
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By Susan Li and Jasmine Wang
(Updates with closing share price in seventh paragraph.)
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Asia’s largest international carrier, expects a “very busy” Christmas travel season that will help offset a continued cargo slowdown.
“The Christmas season is looking quite ok,” Chief Executive Officer John Slosar said today in a Bloomberg TV interview in Hong Kong. “All flights are very busy.”
The carrier, based in Hong Kong, boosted passenger numbers 3.8 percent from a year earlier in October, as economic growth in China and the rest of Asia spurs demand for business and leisure travel. That helped the carrier withstand an 18 percent plunge in cargo tonnage caused by U.S. and European retailers ordering fewer goods ahead of the holidays shopping season.
“Somebody canceled Christmas as really the cargo volume hasn’t been there,” Slosar said. Demand will continue to be “soft” into the first few months of next year, he said.
Freight volumes surged in 2010 as U.S. and European retailers rushed to rebuild inventories following the end of the global recession.
The carrier, which gets about a third of sales from cargo, will boost freight capacity as much as 20 percent next year as it adds new Boeing Co. 747-8 freighters following production delays. Passenger capacity will increase 13 percent, the airline told analysts last month.
Cathay gained 0.6 percent to HK$13.64 at the close in Hong Kong trading. The stock has lost 36 percent this year, compared with a 17 percent decline for the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
The carrier also last week agreed to give Hong Kong-based staff a 5 percent pay increase next year, along with a one-month bonus. The Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union, which represents more than 5,800 cabin crew, accepted the offer.
--Editors: Neil Denslow, Garry Smith
To contact the reporter on this story: Susan Li in Hong Kong at sli31@bloomberg.net; Jasmine Wang in Hong Kong at Jwang513@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Neil Denslow at ndenslow@bloomberg.net
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Holiday shopping season takes off; consumers are ready to spend
CHICAGO, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Consumer enthusiasm last weekend has US retailers crossing their fingers that spending momentum will keep up through the holiday season.
Typically, retailers rack up 20 percent of their annual sales in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Black Friday deals had consumers scurrying for bargains, with 226 million of them spending an average $398.62 each. That represented a hefty 6.6 percent increase from last year, ShopperTrak reported. MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse said for the four-day weekend, spending was up 8.7 percent compared with last year, totaling $50.06 billion. The National Retail Federation put the total at a record $52.4 billion.
With 21 shopping days left, can it last?
Thats the question retailers are asking as they tweak marketing plans: If sales keep up, there will be no reason for deep discounts to reduce inventories before Jan. 1; if they dont, bargains will abound in the days before Christmas and the week after.
The whole shopping equation is changing as merchants look to technology to push their wares. Two shopping malls -- the Promenade Temecula in Southern California and Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Va. -- had planned to track shoppers by monitoring cellphone signals but shelved those plans following calls from New York Sen. Charles Shumers office.
A shoppers personal cellphone should not be used by a third party as a tracking device by retailers who are seeking to determine holiday shopping patterns, Shumer said in a statement. Personal cellphones are just that -- personal. If retailers want to tap into your phone to see what your shopping patterns are, they can ask you for your permission to do so.
CNNMoney reported other malls that used the tracking service Black Friday said they would make it easier for shoppers to opt out and Sharon Biggar, chief executive officer of Path Intelligence, which provides the tracking software, noted Internet retailers routinely track customers movements online without seeking permission.
We are simply seeking to create a level playing field for offline retailers, and believe you can do so whilst simultaneously protecting the privacy of shoppers, she said.
At the moment, the outlook for Christmas 2011 is good. The Conference Board reported last week consumer confidence is up -- back to where it was in early summer, apparently bolstered by a few ticks downward in the unemployment rate, which fell to 8.6 percent in November, and virtually flat inflation.
Granted, the economy is still sputtering, but slight increases in the employment rate mean fewer workers fear layoffs, ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin said. While consumers are still extremely value-conscious, they clearly responded to retailer price reductions and door-buster promotions.
The NRF said the weekend set shopping records.
More consumers than ever turned out for retailers Black Friday promotions, a promising sign for the economic recovery, NRF President and Chief Executive Officer Matthew Shay said.
The NPD Group Inc. reported much of that buying was self-gifting -- both on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
BIGResearch, which conducted the NRF survey, reported 28.7 million people shopped online and at stores on Thanksgiving Day, up from 22.2 million last year, and 86.3 million hit brick-and-mortar stores for Black Friday deals, with the number of midnight shoppers up 9.5 percent.
The appetite for these early openings is only getting stronger among holiday shoppers, and retailers did a great job providing Americans just what they wanted ... the ability to shop on Black Friday without having to get out of bed before dawn, BIGResearch Executive Vice President Phil Rist said. Consumers are clearly demonstrating their desire to spend this holiday season, and shopping early and often seems to be their new mantra as they seek the best value for all their holiday purchases.
The NPD Group Inc.s Marshal Cohen attributed much of that shopping to frugal fatigue.
Consumers have been saving up and not shopping for months waiting for these deals and they scored, he said.
Retailers provided a running start to the shopping season, opening stores earlier -- some stores at 10 oclock Thanksgiving night, with some even open Thanksgiving Day -- and starting promotions earlier in the week to build on increased retail sales in the two weeks preceding.
BIGResearch said department and discount stores were the biggest beneficiaries of consumers largesse, followed by clothing, drug, grocery, electronics and craft stores.
Many consumers dont just buy anymore. The NRF said 37.4 percent research products and compare prices on their tablets and smartphones as they peruse the merchandise.
NPD Group reported 28 percent of consumers said they shopped online Cyber Monday, up from 21 percent last year -- and buying was also up, with 16 percent saying they made purchases, compared with 12 percent in 2010. Stores even got a boost.
However, per consumer spending took a hit last Monday, down to an average $187.83 compared with $276.71 last year.
Cyber Monday turned into Hyper Monday as both online and brick-and-mortar got healthy increases due to more shoppers even though they spent less, said Cohen, chief industry analyst for fNPD Group.
Electronics benefited most from the buying frenzy, up 10 percent from last year, NPD said.
Shopping Local: Grosse Pointe Style
The calendar has flipped to December. That means Christmas shopping has begun in full force. Before you head out to Somerset or Partridge Creek, do what I did. Shop local. And by local, I don't mean just the Village.
Of course there are many fine stores that offer wonderful holiday gift options in the Village, but there is plenty to offer elsewhere within the Pointes too. And by shopping local, you will not be sacrificing your options, either. In fact, life can be a lot simpler and more fun by staying in the Pointes to do your shopping. Consider this:
- The Pointes, from the north end to south end, have an amazing amount of fabulous restaurants for your holiday dinners (or lunches). They also offer a great option for gift cards for friends and family who live in the area. Make their life easier and buy them a gift card for a local restaurant.
- Spas, spas and more spas. Receiving a spa service is one of the great indulgences in life, whether it is a facial, a massage, a pedicure or an eyebrow waxing. The Pointes offer many fine spas that offer top-of-the-line services for that special woman in your life.
- Niche shopping. If you want big department stores, you will have to go outside of the Pointes. But if you want unique, quality gifts, the Pointes have just what you need, from the eye-dazzling sun catchers available at Wild Birds Unlimited to creative items to pamper your pet available at Pointe Pets Supply.
I am a firm believer in supporting our local businesses. They are the lifeblood of our community, after all. For a well-rounded shopping experience: Take a walk. Park your car on Mack Avenue between Moross and Vernier and walk. You will soon discover all of the great specialty shops that make the area, well, special.
My personal favorite is the Detroit Custom Framing amp; Gallery, located next to the GP Dog Wash, at about the midway point between Moross and Vernier, on the west side. While we're sure plenty of framing goes on at this business, the gift items are the true hidden gem here. This business offers handmade art items, jewelry (some inexpensive, some a bit pricier), glass ornaments, soaps and candles, along with stunning small (or larger) unique pieces of art to hang on a wall. I went in there the other day and bought two gifts ... and one for myself!
For the girl in your life, stop in at Girlie Girl, situated on the east side of the street just north of Cook Road. Full spa services in a very girlie atmosphere is a hit for all tweens, teens and, ahem, more mature women. Be sure to check out their clothing, candles and jewelry, too. I tried out some of their hand lotion, too. The next day my hands were still soft!
Pointers love their sports, whether it's the Red Wings, Tigers, Spartans or Wolverines. For the sports fan in your life, The Pointe After is your answer. Stop in at their new location, about 1/3 mile north of Moross on the west side, and you will find jerseys, T-shirts, baseball caps and even baby clothes with team logos. Although the lead-time for adding letter is usually 2-3 weeks, the staff will do their best to accommodate your needs.
If you have a coffee fan on your list, know this: Coffee drinkers love good coffee. Walk into Caribou Coffee north of Moross and you will have absolutely no problem coming up with great ideas for any java lover. Maybe it's a pound of Reindeer Blend coffee, a new traveler mug (Caribou gives 50 cents off each coffee order if you bring in your own mug!), some dark chocolate covered espresso beans or a knit cap. You just have to stop in to see what they have.
These are just a few suggestions of how and where to shop on the north end. I could go on and on, mentioning Lou's Pet Shop, Breadsmith (great hostess gifts!) and Small Favors. But you've got to walk it to see it. Then you'll know what I do. Shopping local is the way to go.
Next week, youll get a peek into shops at the south end.