tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36481379671256089872024-03-18T12:57:44.845-07:00Management GuruInsights, Analysis and Research Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-28186605182826313462013-03-15T08:38:00.001-07:002013-03-15T08:38:37.722-07:00Future of Mobile Landscape in the GCC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HtxGV3iLRWo/UUNAWggcshI/AAAAAAAABJo/Nwcevj8UQP8/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" psa="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HtxGV3iLRWo/UUNAWggcshI/AAAAAAAABJo/Nwcevj8UQP8/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p>Gul</o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">f Cooperative Council or GCC with its high mobile and internet penetration, is on the verge of experiencing a mass scale digital revolution. A part of it could be explained from the fact that these countries enjoy high per capita income coupled with a population skewed heavily towards the younger demographics. This interesting proposition of GCC has propelled us at Mixilion to think, how the landscape of mobile in the region look in the near future? After some brainstorming our team of analysts has figured out few of the following dimensions which may play a crucial role in defining the future of mobile landscape in the GCC. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Mobile Internet</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">- Mobile internet will play a crucial role in the GCC. The growth in mobile internet consumption will be driven by rapid rise in smart phones, tablets and other hand held device penetration. In UAE alone the overall smart phone penetration stands high at 47 percent and is further expected to reach 80 percent by 2016. Similar high penetration exists in other GCC countries as well. For instance in Qatar and Saudi Arabia the overall smart phone penetration is estimated to be around 75 percent and 54 percent respectively. (This should further expand, pertaining to higher income and younger demographics). Internet consumption on mobile devices is surely going to zoom in the coming time. Coming to the nature of consumption, social media, communication, application download and advertisements could have prominent roles to play. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Mobile Applications</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">- A higher mobile internet consumption will eventually give rise to higher mobile applications usage. According to a research conducted by </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif';"><a href="http://www.real-opinions.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: blue;">Real Opinion</span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">, a Dubai based research agency, on an average 6 mobile applications are downloaded every month by a present smart phone user in the Middle East region. (The figure should ideally be higher for GCC). This is will grow further, driven by rising penchant for smart phones. Coming to the categories of applications, besides communication application other popular applications will emanate from the domain of social networking, travel, business, banking, finance and maps and navigation etc. Not to mention religion, music and video. In the paid category, convenience, banking, finance and communication applications could be the leaders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Arabic Content – </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In spite of the fact that Arabic is spoken throughout the GCC as well as Middle East region, there is dearth of good quality digital content in the language. This compels individuals to opt for contents in English, French and other non Arabic languages. However as the mobile landscape is evolving very fast in the region with penetration skyrocketing in the recent time; mobile companies have started taking development of good quality Arabic contents high up on their agenda. More and more telecom companies and mobile media and technology companies are working towards developing good quality Arabic contents. In the near future Arabic should constitute a substantial part of the overall mobile contents in the GCC. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Security: </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Increase in mobile penetration will call on telecom operators as well as media agencies to ensure better security measures. Both individuals as well as enterprises need to be insulated from the ever increasing threat of mobile viruses. A mobile virus may result in unauthorized SMS, calls and loss of data creating serious trouble for organizations and individuals. Hence security is one dimension which will seek a lot of attention from everyone in the mobile ecosystem- operators, regulators, technology firms and consultancies. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The article was originally published in Mixilion, MENA’s 1<sup>st</sup> crowdsourcing platform. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-42561298344741978272013-03-06T20:04:00.000-08:002013-03-06T20:26:24.277-08:00Egypt- Mobile Market Analysis <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2SnXvoPkBE0/UTgTNf4PZOI/AAAAAAAABJY/b8Cbro7nxBM/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" jsa="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2SnXvoPkBE0/UTgTNf4PZOI/AAAAAAAABJY/b8Cbro7nxBM/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Egypt is the biggest Arab country. One of the oldest civilizations in the world, it plays a significant role in Middle Eastern trade commerce and geopolitics. The given research article have been written with the intent of analyzing the telecom sector in the biggest Arab country. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In spite of the Arab crisis which resulted in suspension of telecom services for many days, the sector appears to be very buoyant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The combined growth of the three networks has been 23.1 percent since 2008. The gross profit has been around US $ 6.35 billion by the end of 2011. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">As with any other emerging economy the fixed line market is declining fast and is getting replaced by mobile telephone. With around 83 million mobile subscribers, Egypt enjoys a near about 100 percent mobile penetration. The buoyancy in the market is expected to continue further in the near future which will be driven by data services, next generation services like Long Term Evolution (LTE) and newer technology solutions such as NFC etc. According to a research conducted by Frost and Sullivan the overall penetration will get two fold by 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Key Facts about the Egyptian Telecom Market are as follows- <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The total number of mobile subscriber in Egypt is around 83 million. The total number of fixed line subscribers is around 8.57 million. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The mobile market in Middle East is associated with three players- Vodafone (40.4 percent), Mobinil (35.8 percent) and Etisalat (23.8 percent). In the fixed line space there is just one incumbent player involved named Telecom Egypt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The total number of USB modem users was around 2.83 million by the end of March 2011. Between 2011 and 2016 the overall broadband user base which includes USB modem, smart phones and other portable device users are expected to grow by 12.4 percent every year. By 2016 the total numbers of broad band users are estimated to be around 8.276 million. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">According to Arab Advisor survey which was conducted in September 2012, smartphones constitute 8.4 percent of the total mobile handset. The survey also revealed more than half of the smart phone users use applications out of which around two third prefer apps in English language. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">SWOT ANALYSIS <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Strength</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">- Mentioned below is some of the fundamental strengths of Egyptian telecom sector. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Emerging economy with a substantial population- Egypt’s status as a emerging economy with a substantial population of over 80 million makes it a fertile ground for telecom companies to flourish. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Evolving Market- As discussed above Egypt enjoys a rapidly evolving telecom market, both across vertical as well as horizontal dimensions. The telecom sector is making strong strides in terms of growth and the momentum is expected to continue in the near future as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Young Demographic- In line with the general demographic trends in the Middle East, Egypt’s population is highly skewed towards the younger demographics. The median age of Egypt is 24. Younger demographics with strong penchant for latest technology can ensure growth in value added services. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Weakness </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">– All is not great with the Egyptian telecom sector. It is associated with some fundamental weaknesses as well, which are mentioned below- <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">High prepaid market- Like other African countries Egypt is still a high prepaid market with voice services still dominating. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Low internet usage- Mobile internet has huge potential in Egypt proliferate in the coming time. However presently the market is still not very matured in terms of data usage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Aggressive Pricing- Egyptian market is marked with very competitive pricing strategy played by the three players. This results in high churn out as subscribers jump over from one operator to another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Opportunities</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">- Egypt’s telecom market can make use of the following opportunity in the near future<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Triple License- In 2010 Egypt announced winning bidder for two triple play licenses. One was won by consortium including Mobinil and Orascom media and other was won by Teletech, a consortium led by Vodafone. According to a research conducted by Frost and Sullivan it is expected to raise revenue of USD $ one billion in the next five years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Multiple Tower Sharing- Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority has allowed usage of multiple towers sharing, where a single tower will be shared by multiple operators. As tower building constitutes 50 percent of CAPEX for Egyptian operators, multiple tower sharing may result in reduction in operating cost and better profit margins. Not to mention better roll out of services as the money could be channelized to other technologies such as 4G (LTE).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Expat population- A large no. of Egyptians is living in the Gulf countries. Many of them work as labor force and are often unbanked. In such cases mobile phone could be used to transfer money to their home country. Hence the expat work force of Egypt offers a great opportunity for mobile banking and mobile payment to flourish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Threat</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">- One of the biggest threat to Egypt could be the political system which is still far away from being considered completely stable and intact. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Political Unrest- Beneath a government system led by Mohamed Mursi there are signs of unrest in Egypt. This could be testified by the recent street violence which took 52 lives. The possibility of a political unrest in the near future could be disastrous for the evolving telecom sector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-5246233622043428542013-01-26T00:51:00.000-08:002013-01-26T05:06:52.557-08:00Digital Snapshot of hotels in Qatar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pi24pilJkRg/UQOYwrNdwHI/AAAAAAAABI4/DqBTSiXLZRU/s1600/2006_Qatar_Sharq-Village_large_800.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" oea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pi24pilJkRg/UQOYwrNdwHI/AAAAAAAABI4/DqBTSiXLZRU/s400/2006_Qatar_Sharq-Village_large_800.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span id="goog_301665358"></span><span id="goog_301665359"></span></span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:RelyOnVML/>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:RelyOnVML/>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:RelyOnVML/>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Qatar
is today one of the fastest growing economies across the globe. The small gulf
country with a population of just 1.87 million enjoys a per capita Gross
national income (GNI) of over USD 80,000. Qatar, where the economy has so far
been dependent on vast oil and natural gas reserves is now making swift forays
into various other alternative sectors, hospitality and tourism being one of
them. Qatar’s tourism industry is still in its nascent stage compared to rival
UAE; however it is evolving very fast. Huge investments are undertaken to
develop state of the art hotels, convention centers, restaurants and service
apartments etc. Most of the world class hotels have started building their
presence in country.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Given
the fact the tourism is one of the sunrise sectors in Qatar; our research team
at Mixilion has undertaken a task to do a detailed analysis of the digital
presence of the hotel industry in Qatar. Some of the key insights of the
research analysis go as follow-</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Digital Presence</span></b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- The digital
presence of the various hotels in Qatar cannot be very easily generalized.
The overall digital presence varies from one hotel to another. There are
hotels with very strong digital and social media presence, where as there
are ones were the digital strategy seems to undefined.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Social Media</span></b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Some of the
hotels seem to have a clear cut social media strategy. For instance, W
Doha Hotel and Residence. The hotel has over 12,000 Facebook fans. The
overall content strategy which is a blend of international appeal and the
local charm appears to be very appealing. On the other side of the
spectrum there are many hotels which are yet to realize the importance of
a Facebook page.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Color</span></b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- White is one
of the preferred background colors for the website. However there are
hotels with background color as black and others as well.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Contact Us</span></b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- In the contact
us section, most of the hotels have put their phone numbers, however most
of them (baring few) haven’t put their email ids. However it is essential
to understand the fact that for many, emails are the preferred mode for
initial communication.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Testimonials and
Feedback</span></b><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-
Many hotels in Doha have not realized the importance of testimonials and
feedbacks. Only a very few have put testimonials on the home page of their
website. For a place like Qatar, which is relatively new on the tourism
map, having a testimonial and feedback section can be a brand booster. </span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]--></div>
Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com112tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-51345499393804071172013-01-26T00:45:00.000-08:002013-01-26T05:19:30.055-08:00The Mobile Advertising Market in the Middle East<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9LStQ6VePJQ/UQOXCSLufZI/AAAAAAAABIk/bumOuizrAW8/s1600/90.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" oea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9LStQ6VePJQ/UQOXCSLufZI/AAAAAAAABIk/bumOuizrAW8/s400/90.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">While doing some research work I came across a wonderful presentation by Wael Quader, CEO, </span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif';"><a href="http://www.noqoush.com/noqoush/english/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Noqoush</span></a></span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> a mobile media agency catering to the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. The twenty two minute presentation is quite insightful in the context of mobile advertisement in the MENA region. The fact that Noqoush is audited by </span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif';"><a href="http://www.effectivemeasure.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Effective Measures</span></a></span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">, a premier research agency adds further credibility to the presentation. One can go through the video by following the given link- </span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif';"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHkvAVUFHCo"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The Mobile Advertising Market in the Middle East- Wael Quader.</span></a></span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">As finding quality statistics is a real challenge in the MENA region, I just thought of extracting some key statistics and insights from the video and write a blog- <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Total number of mobile phone subscribers (2012) in Middle East stand at 250 million. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The total number of internet users in Middle East stand at 77 million, out of which around 35 million access internet through mobile phones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">One of the biggest markets in the Middle East in terms of mobile usage is Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It has a subscriber base of 53 million out of which around 11.3 million access internet through phones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Three biggest markets in terms of ad requests are- KSA, UAE and Egypt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Popular mobile application categories include- Games, social messaging, video streaming, music and entertainment and news and sports. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Types of mobile ads include- Simple, dynamic and rich media. Rich Media- 70% of users are interested in rich media. Rich media will play an important role in the near future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Click through rate (CTR) - CTR is a measure of effectiveness of ad campaigns. It is equivalent to the no. of times a click is made on an ad divided by number of impressions. (The number of impression is the number of times an ad has been served). The following graph will give some insight about the CTR for some of the MENA countries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eT5zQba3d5Y/UQOWI8n51AI/AAAAAAAABIY/p-Ud-yNVy5s/s1600/89.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" oea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eT5zQba3d5Y/UQOWI8n51AI/AAAAAAAABIY/p-Ud-yNVy5s/s1600/89.bmp" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> Fig 1: shows the CTR for various Middle Eastern countries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In the given context there are two important points to be noted. 1<sup>st</sup> CTR is not always a sufficient measure for effectiveness of ad campaigns as effectiveness also depends on the number of ads served. For instance Qatar with a CTR of 0.9 seems a better option than KSA which has a CTR of 0.6. However the reason for slightly lower CTR in KSA’s case could be the high volume of ads issued. 2<sup>nd</sup> the statistics given over here are with respect to AdFalcon , Noquosh’s advertising platform and hence cannot be generalized. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-65294898881941893532012-12-09T03:45:00.000-08:002012-12-09T03:45:14.517-08:00Digital Media and Strategic Analysis of Football Clubs in Qatar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4FSMPD0KQD0/UMR4wYfPBpI/AAAAAAAABH0/Oveq_LDqYYE/s1600/Qatar+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" nea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4FSMPD0KQD0/UMR4wYfPBpI/AAAAAAAABH0/Oveq_LDqYYE/s400/Qatar+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Foottball is very popular in Qatar, with large number of clubs located across various regions such as Doha, Al Rayyan etc. In the next ten years Qatar will be conducting the biggest Football event, the world cup in 2022. Govt. is seeking huge investments to develop state of the art infrastructure. Preparations for World Cup 2022 coupled with a young demographics and high per capita income will further boost the popularity of the game. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Keeping all this in mind the article has been prepared. The purpose of the blog article is to provide across the spectrum analysis of Football clubs based out of Qatar. The information in the report could be used to consult Football clubs devising their digital strategy besides managing their brand image and sponsorship deals as well. Findings in this report were drawn from online resources such as club websites, sponsor’s websites, club social media pages, web analysis tools such Alexa, local newspaper websites and other Football related websites and blogs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<u><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">1.0 Qatar: a brief introduction <o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Economy <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Qatar is one of the richest nations in the world. The small gulf state with a population of 1.8 million has been blessed with immense amount of petroleum resources. The overall current GDP is 182.98 Billion USD and per capita GNI (Gross national income) is USD 80, 440. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">As a part of its long term strategy Qatar is diversifying its economy into other alternate areas such as tourism, sports, real estate etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Fig 2: growth of internet penetration in terms of percentages of population for Qatar. Source: World Bank. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xB7H9A9Z6lI/UMRx6JQp_GI/AAAAAAAABHU/RNtiPQW5slU/s1600/Image+1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xB7H9A9Z6lI/UMRx6JQp_GI/AAAAAAAABHU/RNtiPQW5slU/s1600/Image+1.bmp" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> Fig 1: GDP growth rate of Qatar. Source: World Bank<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Qatar: Demographics <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The estimated population is around 1.8 million, with population skewed towards the younger population. Around 22 percentages of population is aged below 14, whereas more than three fourth of the population is aged between, 15 and 64. Only 1.5 percentages of population is aged above 64. The median age is 30.8- 32.9 for males and 25.5 for females. Qatar also has a very high urbanization rate with 96 percentages of inhabitants living in urban area. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Qatar: Mobile and Internet Consumption <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">High GDP growth rate and per capita income coupled with a young population has resulted in high mobile and internet penetration for Qatar. According to World Bank, it is estimated that around 81.6 percentages of population have access </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HyZ7KUOFVdY/UMR24oRRM2I/AAAAAAAABHs/8YYydMIYz2A/s1600/image+2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HyZ7KUOFVdY/UMR24oRRM2I/AAAAAAAABHs/8YYydMIYz2A/s1600/image+2.bmp" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Fig 2: growth of internet penetration in terms of percentages of population for Qatar. Source: World Bank. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Internet is primarily used in Qatar for social networking and connecting with friends. According to a </span><a href="http://www.bayt.com/en/press-release-article-11248/"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">survey</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> conducted by Bayt.com and YouGov, 94 percentages of respondents have a Facebook account. 72 percentages of respondents spend more than three hours online. Other important activities include watching video clips and listening to music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">According to </span><a href="http://www.qatarisbooming.com/2011/04/08/mobile-penetration-in-qatar-at-182pc-says-ict-chief/"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Qatarisbooming.com</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">, Qatar’s mobile penetration stands at 182 percentages, compared to the world average of 76. Qatar is seeking huge investments in the ICT infrastructure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Qatar: Sports </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Qatar is transforming into sports capital of Middle East. It has made huge investments in developing state of the art sports infrastructure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Its efforts in transforming into a sporting hub of international repute, paid off in December 2010, when it was declared that World Cup 2022 will be conducted in Qatar. In the coming years, the gulf state will be seeking huge investments to develop state of the art stadiums, hotels and infrastructure. Qatar is also hosting Hand Ball World Cup 2015. In the recent past it has organized Asian Games 2006 along with international level annual Tennis, Golf and Motor Race events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has also bid unsuccessfully for Olympics 2020<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Basic Observations<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Some of the basic observations that has been observed are- <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a)<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Clubs are cash rich in Qatar and most of them have a healthy mix of local as well as foreign talents- both in sporting as well as managerial work force. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b)<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">It appears that many clubs may not have a very clear sponsorship strategy in place. It can be assumed from the fact that, many clubs do not feature the name of their sponsors on their website. Neither much about the sponsors can be gathered from the internet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c)<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Newer forms of media such as web, mobile and social media are transforming the existing media space. For countries like Qatar, young demographics coupled with high internet and mobile penetration further intensifies the significance of newer media. It appears that some clubs are still not aligned well with web, mobile and social media platforms. This can be partly explained from the fact that many of them are missing out on using polls, forums and shopping carts in their websites. Many clubs do not have focused social media strategy. Also there could be lot of other innovative techniques used such as QR codes, which can help engage fans better with the help of mobile platforms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">d)<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Many of the clubs do not have bilingual websites. It may be difficult to understand, as Qatar has large number of expat population. Also as many clubs want to have international standing in near future, having website in English is unavoidable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">e)<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">It calls upon the some clubs to use more and more corporate social responsibilities in the form of health and fitness awareness programs for the local populace. This will help them engage better with the local populace. Also CSR should be well represented on the club website. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Image Credit: 2014rioworldcup.com</div>
</span></o:p></span></div>
Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-89421247234010288112012-12-02T05:15:00.000-08:002012-12-02T05:16:15.179-08:00African Telecommunication Market- Key Insights<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uoND0g-o1Kw/ULtS3xliauI/AAAAAAAABHE/w87EKF2ISVg/s1600/telecom1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uoND0g-o1Kw/ULtS3xliauI/AAAAAAAABHE/w87EKF2ISVg/s320/telecom1.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">Besides digital media, telecommunication is one of the sectors that have always excited me. Partly it is due to the close relationship it has with the digital media and partly because I have been offered some research assignment on telecom sector in the recent past. Based on my readings I have been doing recently, I have tried to build a small snapshot of the emerging telecom landscape in African continent. Most of the readings are derived from <a href="http://comworldseries.blogspot.co.uk/">Com World Series blogs</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">Mobile penetration in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sub Saharan Africa</b> will reach 54% by the end of 2012, up from 28% in 2007. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">Africa is the fastest growing mobile market in the world. By 2015 the overall investment in the telecommunication sector is expected to reach USD 1.5 billion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">African telecom market is considered to be a very <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">high competition intensive</b> market. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">96 % of Africans are on prepaid traffic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">Often mobile is the sole mean of communication. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">SMS is very popular. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Integration of SMS and OTT can offer a great area for exploration. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">Fraud and error result in 15% of revenue loss in Africa. In contrast it is just 1% and 2.8 % in Europe and North America respectively. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">Revenue per customer is low.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">The <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Inter Operator Rate (IOT)</b> is very high in Africa. It eventually results in high international roaming rates in the sub continent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">In African context, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">music</b> is one of the very important contents. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The overall smart phone penetration in Africa stands at 15 percent, half of the global average of 30 percent. However it is picking up in many low per capita income countries as well. Also many of the countries have started exploring LTE (4G). This includes Egypt, Libya, Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa. It is expected that by 2015, the overall LTE subscription will be around 11.15 million in Africa<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">Technology and telecommunication services in businesses and SME are considered to be high growth segment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The overall smart phone penetration in Africa stands at 15 percent, half of the global average of 30 percent. However it is picking up in many low per capita income countries as well. Also many of the countries have started exploring LTE (4G). This includes Egypt, Libya, Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa. It is expected that by 2015, the overall LTE subscription will be around 11.15 million in Africa. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">As of 4Q, 2010 the biggest African market in terms of subscribers is Nigeria. This is followed by Egypt, South Africa, Algeria and Morocco. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">As of 2Q, 2011 the Seychelles has the highest mobile penetration of 181 percent. This is followed by Botswana (133), South Africa (115), Morocco (110) and Tunisia (108). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">South Africa is one of the biggest markets in the continent in terms of high end services. It accounts for more than 50 % of the fiber optics. In 2013 it will be focusing more and more on high end services such as video streaming, video conferencing, electronic newspaper and money transfer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">Egypt is the biggest market in the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">North African</b> region with 8.82 million mobile (100% penetration) and 7.62 million 3G subscription as of 2011. North Africa’s strengths lay in its youthful and colorful people, high purchasing power (compared to Sub Saharan Africa) and growth prospects in data services. Its challenges lay in intensive competition, saturated market and political uncertainty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';">Telecom service providers should offer a basket of service from which consumers can select desired services. Coming to business customers, they need to play a strong consultative role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Image Credit: <a href="http://focusafrica.gov.in/Senegal_services.html">focusafrica.gov </a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-25930804099936870462012-11-14T23:03:00.003-08:002012-11-14T23:12:22.917-08:00Singapore: Digital Media Statistics <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SOFOIlKIKrI/UKSS1oeywOI/AAAAAAAABG0/gWEK_2j4eyo/s1600/ios-app-store.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SOFOIlKIKrI/UKSS1oeywOI/AAAAAAAABG0/gWEK_2j4eyo/s320/ios-app-store.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">My interest in Singapore is based on three factors. First, I have been impressed a lot by the unprecedented growth it has registered in the last four decades. Once a sleepy town which was expelled out of Malaysia due to various reasons; it has come a long way to evolve as center for trade, tourism and innovation. Second I was commissioned a consultancy assignment early this year, which involved devising a social media strategy for an organization based out of Singapore. This helped me understand the nuances of digital media consumption for Singapore. Third and perhaps the most important reason is my recent association with Jade Magnet, an India based creative crowd sourcing platform. Jade Magnet has a white label brand called id8on particularly created for the Singapore and greater Asia Pacific region. A part of my role with Jade Magnet involves doing some marketing and branding exercise for id8on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">This small analysis has been prepared to give a snap shot of the digital media consumption behavior of Singapore. It could be helpful for digital media consultants, research agencies, business strategists and business owners. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The population of Singapore is 5.184 million. The overall GDP is estimated around USD 239.7 billion and per capita gross national income stands at USD 42, 930 (high income group). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Singapore is a leader in global innovation and ranks 3<sup>rd</sup> in Global Innovation Index after Switzerland and Sweden. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Internet penetration stands at 78.5 percent with over 3.6 million inhabitants having access to internet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The overall mobile penetration stands at around 150 percent as of late 2011. Over three fourth of the mobile subscription comprises of 3G networks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Smart phone penetration stands at 88 percent, i-Phones are the market leader in smart phone segment with around 73 percent market share. Android based operating systems account for 17 percent of the market.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Smart phone usage is more or less equally distributed across different age group, gender and income level. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Internet access via Wi-Fi and 3G network is more or less equally split with Wi-Fi and 3G accounting for 45 and 55 percent access respectively. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Google is the leading search engine with 77 percent market share. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In 2010 the overall e-commerce in Singapore was worth over a billion USD, unlikely for a small country where things are available nearby. It is expected to be fourfold by 2014, according to research conducted by PayPal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">28 percent of the e-commerce activities are from the travel sector followed by fashion (13), IT/electronics (13) and gifts and collectibles (11). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In 2011 m-commerce accounted for 23 percent of online spend. The overall value of m-commerce was USD 382 million where as the spend each mobile shopper was around USD 354. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The city state is adopting Near Field Communication (NFC) faster than any other country. Presently there are over 20,000 shops and taxis accepting NFC. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In April 2010, an average internet user spent 10.5 hours watching video averaging 130 videos. The most engaged demographic segment was 15-24 age group watching 192 videos. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">4 out of 5 internet users have a Facebook account. Five most popular Facebook pages include- LAMC Productions, Singapore Flyer, Resorts World at Sentosa, Justin NG Photography and FlyScoot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">You Tube accounts for over 61 percent of the multimedia traffic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Source: <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/country/singapore">World Bank</a>, <a href="http://www.blackbox.com.sg/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Blackbox-YKA-Whitepaper-Smartphones.pdf">Black Box</a>, <a href="http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/singapore">Social Bakers</a>, <a href="http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2012/article_0014.html">World Intellectual Property Organization</a>, <a href="http://www.experian.com/hitwise/">Experian</a>, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Image Source: <a href="https://devimages.apple.com.edgekey.net/technologies/ios/images/ios-app-store.jpg">Apple</a> </span></div>
</div>
</div>
Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-48160191182336430902012-11-12T23:02:00.000-08:002012-11-12T23:33:42.516-08:00Qatar: Digital Media Insights<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bhu_GVXQT7k/UKHt03ei1KI/AAAAAAAABGk/vt7tyiBZtzs/s1600/samsung-galaxy-tab-2-310-main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bhu_GVXQT7k/UKHt03ei1KI/AAAAAAAABGk/vt7tyiBZtzs/s320/samsung-galaxy-tab-2-310-main.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Following are the “Key Insights” derived from the </span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif';"><a href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/en/documents/document/qatar-digital-media-report-2011"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Qatar Digital Media Report 2011</span></a></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">. (The report is based on a survey conducted over 633 respondents from Qatar.) It could be helpful to media companies, researchers, strategist and web and mobile entrepreneurs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Qatar's digital media is considered to be in its nascent stage. However double digit growth is expected for another four years, pertaining to high investment in Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, young demographics and higher technology adoption rate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">95 % of the very large businesses (> 500 employees), 68% of large businesses (>100 employees), 40 % of medium (10-99 employees) businesses and 6 % of small businesses (fewer than 10 employees) in Qatar have web presence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Overall internet penetration in Qatar stands high at 82%. Mobile broadband penetration has increased by 130 % during the time period 2009-10. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Majority of internet user fall under low to mid income groups. More than 90 % of users at least have a high school degree. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">One fifth of the internet users, which include students, housewives and retired person are not involved in labor market. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Internet users in Qatar use internet through multiple mediums such as laptop, desktop and mobile phones. 75 % use laptops, 51% use desktops and 24% use mobile devices to access internet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Majority (89%) of users, access internet from home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Most popular sites in Qatar include social media, search engines, e-newspapers and news channels. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Most popular social media is Facebook (28.3 % penetration) followed by Orkut and Twitter as distant second and third. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The most popular search engine is Google followed by Yahoo and MSN. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The most popular e-newspaper website is Gulf Times followed by Al-Sharq and Al-Raya. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Internet users in Qatar do not tend to watch TV programs or listen to radio songs over internet. However technologies enabling better video streaming can change the trend in near future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">42% of internet users have their native language as Arabic. In spite of this, there is a dearth of good quality Arabic contents both in Qatar as well as in the Middle East region. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Outsourcing of website is very popular as 69 % of companies with website host their website with external vendor. (44% use a local provider where as 25 % use <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>international provider) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Online marketing and e-commerce are gaining popularity. However online advertisements are not very popular. Only 14 % of organizations use the web media to promote their products and services. 40 % of large organizations use online advertisements compared to just 11 % of smaller ones. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Internet security is a major concern as 43 % of users are not assured of the security features over the internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 5.25pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-91829413673898698912012-08-31T23:46:00.001-07:002012-08-31T23:46:41.809-07:00Eureeca.com: MENA's First Crowdfunding Platform <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T5aDBjldqUQ/UEGuW-rql7I/AAAAAAAABFE/JShKLMpwCnM/s1600/Eureeca_MedRGB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="224" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T5aDBjldqUQ/UEGuW-rql7I/AAAAAAAABFE/JShKLMpwCnM/s320/Eureeca_MedRGB.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In the present scenario where the gloom of global economic crisis is yet to be over and banks are tightening their purse strings; alternative fund raising methods like Crowd Funding are picking up fast. It is the method of attracting investment from a crowd of people- each of whom takes a small stake in the business idea by contributing towards an online funding target. In contrast to angel investment where a single (or a few) individual or institution provides majority of investments; Crowd Funding seeds capital from a number of investors. This alternative method of raising capital was 1<sup>st</sup> popularized in USA by <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/">Kickstaretr.com</a>. Crowd funding is not just restricted to the realm of business and can be effectively translated into creative designs and charities. According to <a href="http://www.crowdsourcing.org/">Croudsourcing.org</a>, an organization involved in tracking the industry trends, a capital of US $ 1.5 Billion was raised in 2011 through 450 crowd funding platforms worldwide. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Advantages</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Crowd funding has following advantages: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Can be successfully used for fund raising for multitude purposes such as: businesses, creative projects, product development, disaster reliefs, creative design etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Ensures safety as the process is very transparent and democratic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Helps in accessing capital from a wide range of sources. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Helps in garnering useful feedbacks from the backers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Helps turning investors into brand ambassadors. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Facilitates learning for small investors under the guidance of big and veteran investors. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Effective usage of internet, social media and online payment technologies help in negation of legal, psychological and logistical challenges for money solicitation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Along with advantages, crowd funding is not insulated from some potential threats as well. It can expose an innovative idea to a large number of potential copycats. The tax and regulation involved in a crowd funding system can be sometime difficult to work with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Eurecca.com <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><a href="http://www.eureeca.com/">Eureeca</a> is the 1<sup>st</sup> ever crowd investment platform in the MENA region, which brings together entrepreneurs, investors, business experts under one umbrella. Started by former investment bankers and entrepreneurs, Chris Thomas and Sam Quawasmi, Eureeca is aimed at transforming the SME funding landscape in the region, so far dominated by traditional venture capitalism model. It will help entrepreneurs to source investment from a vast pool of investors, which in return will get equity in the venture. The minimum investment criteria have been kept as USD 100, so that a high degree of involvement and democracy in the system can be realized. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Considered as a very technology and legal heavy system Eureeca.com is being incubated since the last one year. It has get past its beta stage last month in June and will be officially launched in the 1<sup>st</sup> week of September in Dubai, UAE. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">How it Works <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Eureeca will work as a step by step simple process. It appears that, the overall system has been tried to make as democratic and transparent as possible. Initial stage requires entrepreneurs to sign up and submit a proper business plan with exact capital required. The plan is reviewed by an application team. The application team will look into how professional and organized the plan is, and once verified it will be carried forward to the third party compliance team. They will conduct a background check up that will include legal and credit history. In the subsequent step, the business plan will be assigned a template in the Eureeca moment website. This is the stage, when the plan goes live in front of public, which includes investors (both big and small time) and business experts. The investors can communicate directly with the entrepreneur, discuss and vote on the plan. Not to mention, share and discuss with other investors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The proposal remains live for the next three months, in which it is required to raise the desired capital. The window of three months prevents against any overnight decision on part of the investor. Investors can understand the overall plan thoroughly and based on that take a call. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In the overall process Eureeca will get 5 percentages of the transaction amount. This is subject to the investment being materialized completely. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Safeguard of investor’s interest </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'High Tower Text','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Crowd funding is associated with the threat of exposing the idea to a large number of potential copy cats. In order to contain the problem, gating system has been introduced in Eureeca. Initially the entrepreneur can show a little information to a large pool of investors and gradually when the trust builds, further information can be shared with the interested few. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Another remarkable feature is, approval of proposal is subject to raise of exact capital required in the original business plan. If it fails to comply that, the plan is rejected. For instance suppose<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a plan requires an overall funding of USD 500,000 but ends up collecting 450,000 USD, it will not get materialize. The philosophy behind the idea is again about safe guarding investor’s interest. Lack of required capital may not be good for the business and hence jeopardize the investments made by early investors. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The Way Ahead <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Presently there are more than 200,000 SMEs in UAE alone, generating up to 46 percentage of GDP and 86 percentage of employment. In spite of playing a vital role in the economy, SMEs are facing various challenges. Biggest of them is lack of funding. Many SMEs with sound ideas are wiped off due to lack of capital. In such a situation a crowd funding platform like Eurrecca, which leverages on the strength of 2.2 billion internet users spread across globe, for funding can become a game changer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">It can provide the necessary capital for many of the brilliant ideas in the MENA region, hence helping the blooming start up culture in the region. Along with entrepreneurs, there is a huge incentive involved for investors as well. They will be exposed to wonderful ideas and get chance to invest in them. Moreover many small investors can be in touch with more experienced bigger investors and business experts, which can be a great learning experience for them. This will further escalate the entrepreneurial atmosphere in the region. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-35668942070903988872012-05-30T21:03:00.004-07:002012-05-30T21:28:50.343-07:00MENA: a fertile ground for entrepreneurs to flourish<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bH3Uyl_fgg0/T8bxyWFsIxI/AAAAAAAABEM/-FIJD33yO0o/s1600/oa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rba="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bH3Uyl_fgg0/T8bxyWFsIxI/AAAAAAAABEM/-FIJD33yO0o/s320/oa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"> Oasis 500: a leading start-up incubator based in Jordan </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Global trade & commerce are undergoing rapid transformation. In this newly integrated & globalized world, a new wave of change is being witnessed across various regions & geographies. Equipped with education, technology & better credit – a new generation of entrepreneurs are emerging across the globe. One of the regions, which have made strides in the given direction, is Middle East & North Africa (MENA) - a region traditionally known for oil revenue. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the recent past, it had witnessed a lot of young entrepreneurs coming up with new game changing ideas. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Though entrepreneurial culture is in its initial phases, its overall economic & social significance is expected to undergo a rapid escalation, in the near future. This expected escalation- could be explained with the help of inherent strengths – associated with the social-economic & demographic structure of the region. MENA has some unique features that make it a fertile ground for entrepreneurs to flourish. The given analysis will discuss some of the features in details. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Common Language </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">One of the biggest strength of the region is the usage of a common language. Arabic is used for communication across the region. A single language coupled with common cultural heritage, makes the entire region an integrated market. A successful business concept in one country could be successfully replicated across other countries as well. </span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">Strategic Location</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">MENA’s geographical position is a bridge head between the East & West. This makes it a suitable ground for expats to come from different parts of the world- Europe, China, Indian Subcontinent, and South East Asia etc. For instance UAE is home to 206 different nationalities. This ensures confluence of diverse & innovative ideas providing intellectual capital.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Favorable strategic location of MENA region can also ensure access to bigger emerging markets such as Europe, India & China. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">Strategic plans & initiatives</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MENA economies are realizing the importance of economic diversification. Across the region , ambitious plans such as </span><a href="http://dubaiholding.com/Global/en/Documents/Dubai%20Strategy%20for%202015.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Dubai 2015</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">, </span><a href="http://www.tdic.ae/en/media/get/20110814_economic-vision-2030-executive-summary-mandate2propertypdf.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Abu Dhabi 2030</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">, Qatar 2022 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>etc are being rolled out. </span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">These plans are aimed at diversification of economies into various sectors such as – tourism, ICT, heavy industries, real estate’s & SME etc. A common feature across all such plans is to support entrepreneurs by providing financial as well as intellectual support. Once being realized, these plans can be very impactful in driving an entrepreneurial culture throughout the entire region. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Along with such ambitious strategic plans there are also a large number of initiatives such as – </span><a href="http://oasis500.com/"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Oasis 500</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">, </span><a href="http://www.wamda.com/"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: purple;">Wamda</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">, </span><a href="http://khalifafund.sdg.ae/News.aspx"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Khalifa Fund</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">, </span><a href="http://potential.com/sme-evolution/"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">SME Evolution</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">, </span><a href="http://www.yallastartup.org/"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">YallaStartup</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"> etc. These initiatives are aimed at providing across the spectrum services to Start Ups & SMEs such as funding, incubation, consultancy & training etc. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">Young Demographics </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Across the MENA region, population is heavily skewed towards the youth. In Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries, 60 % of the population is aged below 35. Similarly in Egypt & Tunisia youth constitutes a large part of the population. Youths are generally open to new ideas & quickly adopt new technologies. Hence a young demographic is conducive for the growth & development of entrepreneurship. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">Foreign Universities </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Foreign universities are expanding rapidly in the MENA region. For instance Doha Education City, Qatar is home to some of the best educational institutes such as Carnegie Mellon University, Texas AM University, Virginia University etc. Similar expansions are happening in places such as KSA & UAE. Countries like Jordan has witnessed emergence of top quality local universities imparting level of education similar to their Western counterparts. Together, they are expected to exalt the level of education to new heights. This will eventually groom a lot of individuals for innovation based entrepreneurship. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">High Mobile Penetration</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">The entire region is marked with high mobile penetration. According to </span><a href="http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/newslog/Middle+Easts+Mobilesubscription+Count+Will+Cross+250million+Mark+In+2012.aspx"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">ICT Statistics Newslog</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"> by the end of 2012, in Middle East alone, the number of mobile subscription will pass 250 Millions. The average mobile penetration rate is also expected to cross 100%. In the richer GCC, people tend to have multiple handsets, leading to a 100% plus penetration. According to research conducted by “Alexandra Tohme” from Ogilvy- high percentages of users are inclined towards buying applications & surfing internet from their handsets. More on this can be found over here- </span><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/AlexandraTohme/smartphone-research-mena-9323586"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Smart Phone Users Research</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Such factors make MENA region an optimum place for mobile & web technologies based companies to flourish. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">This is surely an interesting phase for various MENA start ups & business ventures. Governing authorities, individuals & consumers, all are willing to experiment. Due to their collective efforts, the region has witnessed many successful start-ups in the recent past such as- </span><a href="http://www.jabbar.com/"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Jabbar Internet Group</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">, </span><a href="http://www.netad-vantage.net/"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Net Advantage</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">, </span><a href="http://en-maktoob.yahoo.com/"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Maktoob</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">, </span><a href="http://nahel.com/"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Nahel</span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"> & </span><a href="http://www.brick2click.com/"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Brick 2 Click </span></a><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>etc. But much more is required to be done. The whole affair is not insulated from challenges. Many of the countries, both in the Middle East as well Maghreb region are undergoing political transitions – a situation which at least in the short run may not be very conducive for start-ups to flourish. Literacy levels are high in many of the countries; but a lot of reforms are required to streamline existing education system with job market. Above all one of the impending challenges for many of the nations is to provide employment to a huge young population ready to join the job market soon. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Eventually solution for such problems lies in the development & encouragement of entrepreneurship across the region. This will not only result in wealth & job creation but also transparency & knowledge creation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">Source: </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Wamda, ICT Statistics, Insights- Mena, The next web</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">Image Source: </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">LAURI’S BLOG </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 150.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
</div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-51036056983467326282012-05-02T07:09:00.000-07:002012-05-02T07:09:31.850-07:00Analysis of Mobile Payment in MENA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Aa0FjULMgA/T6E8J8hgW2I/AAAAAAAABDE/2seSUzfxnoc/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" mea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Aa0FjULMgA/T6E8J8hgW2I/AAAAAAAABDE/2seSUzfxnoc/s400/9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">All around the globe, mobile phones have become an integral part of our daily lives. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are presently 5 Billion mobile phone users across the globe. The role of a handset is not just restricted to talk. It is being used for diverse purposes- text messages, photographs, surf, social network, multi media consumption etc. Another area, where mobiles have made headway in the recent past is payment. Usage of mobile devices to, transfer money or make purchases are mounting up across the globe. The emergence of sophisticated smart phones has given it a further boost. Presently there are 1.08 Billion Smart Phones users around the world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>M-commerce- as it’s commonly known- can be done either by linking the handset to the bank account or by simply topping up. The later part is more popular in many of the emerging economies in Asia, Africa & Middle East- regions marked by high mobile penetration but low penetration of bank accounts. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9min3DqV-K4/T6EnaO4Z7nI/AAAAAAAABB8/izEXIArq22s/s1600/1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" mea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9min3DqV-K4/T6EnaO4Z7nI/AAAAAAAABB8/izEXIArq22s/s1600/1.bmp" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Fig 2: shows the growth of Mobile-payment or M-Payment over the last ten years in us $ billions. Source: Inter Bank Financial service infographics. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Types of mobile payment </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;">Mobile as a point of sale</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">: </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">with the help of a dongle, merchant’s mobile phones can be used for processing credit card payments. </span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;">Contactless payment</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">: works on the NFC technology. NFC, or near field communication is set of protocols, which allow smart phones to communicate with each other or other devices, with in a very small distance. Credit card info or some other loyalty program info could be loaded into the mobile phone – which could be eventually used for making the payment at the point of sales.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;">Direct Carrier billing</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">: </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">phone number is shared with the merchant & the charge appears on the mobile bill. Is costliest among all the existing solution, but ensures a very high degree of security. It’s used more in selling digital goods & applications. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fmdxb-4C3xc/T6EqMOo_vlI/AAAAAAAABCI/4qGCbGYqzDQ/s1600/2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" mea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fmdxb-4C3xc/T6EqMOo_vlI/AAAAAAAABCI/4qGCbGYqzDQ/s1600/2.bmp" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Table 1: Shows the list of various companies active across various types of Mobile payment. Source: Venturebeat.com </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Major Players involved in M-Payment </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;">Payment processing network companies</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">- companies like Visa, MasterCard & American Express are digitizing their wallets. They are also collaborating with device manufacturers to develop NFC enabled mobile payment. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;">Banks</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">: with the help of mobile phones, banking operations such as balance inquiry, payment & transfer of money can be done over the mobile phone. The initial form of Mobile Banking, initiated via SMS was known as SMS banking. Advent of better technologies eventually lead to advance version such as WAP & web based banking. This further graduated to installation of advanced banking application on the mobile phone. These applications ensure better user interface & experience, enhanced security & pre stored user data. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;">Technology startups</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">- lot of application developers & technology startups such as- Square, Zong are emerging with high end technological solution, designed for the mobile payment landscape. Some of the leading players are as follows –</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">a)</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://card.io/">Card.io</a>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had developed an application to process credit card payments through phone. One needs to hold the credit card up to the phone. The camera in the phone will read the details in the card & authenticate the payment without involving any typing. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">b)</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.zong.com/">Zong</a>: a carrier billing solutions, where the phone number is shared with the merchant & the charge appears on the mobile bill. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">c)</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_489625101"> </a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://squareup.com/">Square</a>: are dongles attached to the merchant’s smart phone our tablet & can process credit cards. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;">Network</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"> Operators- operator led money transfer can be an additional source of income for operators. It can be implemented either by linking the network with a bank account of credit card or with the help of top ups. The top ups do not require existing bank accounts. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;">Web Companies</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">- web giants like Google are also entering into the rapidly evolving market of mobile payments. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Present industry scenario </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">As discussed, due to the increase in popularity of M-commerce, many big financial institutions, web companies, payment companies, application developers are jumping on the bandwagon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Visa has made strategic investment in Square (mentioned above)- a mobile payment platform. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Google has launched “<a href="http://www.google.com/wallet/">Google Wallet</a>”- a mobile payment system. The 3 giants in USA- AT&T, Verizon & T-Mobile have joined hand to incubate ISIS- a mobile payment space, expected to be piloted in mid 2012. PayPal has acquired mobile payment provider Zong (mentioned above) for US $ 240 Millions. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
</span> </span> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ctVZyVNMhuA/T6EtzubIBaI/AAAAAAAABCU/7Q2b-CsSZeo/s1600/3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" mea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ctVZyVNMhuA/T6EtzubIBaI/AAAAAAAABCU/7Q2b-CsSZeo/s1600/3.bmp" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Fig 3: shows figures for credit card & mobile payments. Source: Visa 2011 annual report. Values are in US $ billions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Mobile Payment in the Mena region</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Middle East & North Africa Region (MENA) is one of the most fertile grounds for Mobile Payment. It basically has two types of market base- </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 57pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">High end customers residing in Gulf countries & other parts of the region, with sophisticated smart phones & high disposable income. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 57pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Unbanked individuals which includes vast population in North Africa & Levant as well as expat workers living in GCC. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can use mobile phones for money transfer, remittances & payment. Mobile technology in convergence with financial institutions & network operators can be a very effective tool for financial inclusion. Such model has been extremely successful in Kenya in the form of <a href="http://www.safaricom.co.ke/index.php?id=250">M-Pesa</a> & requires neither a sophisticated handset nor a bank account. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Advantage Middle East & North Africa </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">High mobile penetration</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">: MENA has an overall mobile penetration of around 90%. By the end of 2012, it’s expected to see 250 Million mobile phone subscriptions. By 2016, additional 100 Million phone subscriptions are expected to be added. In terms of volume Iran is the biggest market, followed by Saudi Arabia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C-WIbimrhwg/T6Ew_Hv5v0I/AAAAAAAABCg/nB-F8UEmVG0/s1600/4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" mea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C-WIbimrhwg/T6Ew_Hv5v0I/AAAAAAAABCg/nB-F8UEmVG0/s1600/4.bmp" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Fig 4: Shows mobile penetration for some of the selected mena countries. (Multiple handsets have not been considered). Source: Insights Mena </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Expat Work Force: </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">In Gulf countries, a large percentage of population comprises of expat population- large no. of which are part of industrial work force. A large volume of remittances are send through them. Saudi Arabia itself witnesses an annual outflow of US$ 100 Billion as remittances. Mobile payment can be a suitable option for money transfer as well as payment, for such workforce- given the fact that many of them do not have bank accounts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Users comfortable purchasing through mobile phone</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">: In MENA region people are credit card shy. Cash & carry culture predominates over credit cards. Fortunately it goes off the mark, in case of mobile payment. A research conducted by Plus 7 on 4000 smart phone users in the region, shows that individuals intend paying by their mobile phones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ENIimMAKnEQ/T6E4bzgoPMI/AAAAAAAABC4/1uyEnexflKE/s1600/6.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" mea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ENIimMAKnEQ/T6E4bzgoPMI/AAAAAAAABC4/1uyEnexflKE/s1600/6.bmp" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Fig 5: shows the percentage of respondents for various countries; comfortable purchasing products on their phone. Source: Plus 7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Other than the above factors, there is lot of other factors- conducive for the growth of Mobile Payments in the MENA region. One of them is the young demography in the MENA region. A vibrant younger population ensures quick adoption of newer technologies. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Given the fact that MENA is a fertile ground for Mobile Payment, many companies, across the globe are entering or planning to enter in to the market. Some of them are Mi-Pay, Mobibucks, and Gemalto etc. The given list table shows, some of the companies – </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZOLwyI2ORyQ/T6EzwIDY1cI/AAAAAAAABCs/I-PYG56plWk/s1600/5.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" mea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZOLwyI2ORyQ/T6EzwIDY1cI/AAAAAAAABCs/I-PYG56plWk/s1600/5.bmp" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">The unique socio-economic factors, coupled with the young demographics in the region makes the MENA region optimum for M-commerce & M-payment to flourish. Many consumers have jumped directly from cash payments to mobile payments, by passing the credit card mode. For many merchants, inclusion of a M-payment system is not just optional but indispensable. But there are some bottlenecks as well. Not all local banks are well equipped to provide M-Payment gateway. There is also, a very serious dearth of local Arabic applications. A lot more needs to be done to consolidate MENA as a strong base of M-Payment. In order to realize this- network operators, technological solution provider, financial institutions & regulators- all need to work in convergence. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;">Source: </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";">Read Write Web, Infosys.com, Mashable, Digby, IBFS, Zawya, Wamda, DailyMenadeals, Thenextweb, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zawya, Wamda, Insights MENA, Venture beat. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;">Image Source: Mobile-financial.com </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"></span></span></div>
</span></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Table 2: shows some of the M-payment providers in the region. Source: Zawya, Wamda</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-64160744471756228162012-04-14T11:52:00.001-07:002012-04-19T06:30:51.414-07:00Cobone Vs Groupon: comparative analysis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EOg6AP3poOo/T4nHFhtsS3I/AAAAAAAABBE/rqAdlak4RO8/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EOg6AP3poOo/T4nHFhtsS3I/AAAAAAAABBE/rqAdlak4RO8/s400/8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;">In the last article we compared, Souq.com & Nahel.com. This one will be dedicated to compare two of the group discount websites- Cobone & Groupon UAE. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;">Cobone: is considered as one of the hottest start up in the region. It has been founded in July 2010, by Paul Kenny, an online media expert who has worked earlier with brands like Emirates, Jumeirah & EMAP etc. Part of Jabbar Internet company , Cobone offers daily deals on best things, to do, eat, see & buy across Middle Eastern cities- Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah etc. Every day it comes up with one exciting deal at discounted price. Individuals need to sign up for the deal by purchasing it. The deal can go live only when enough people have signed up. In case if enough individuals do not sign up, the deal does not go live and the amount gets refunded. According to its website, it has saved more than US $ 44 Million & sold 778,899 deals. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;">For instance on 11<sup>th</sup> April (when the article is written), they have put a deal where by paying 40 AED, sunglasses & frames worth 400 AED could be bought from Maestro Optics. The deal is on, & will go live, only when sufficient number of individuals will buy it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;">Groupon: is a global brand, which provides daily deals across the globe. Originated in 2008, it is spread across 48 countries. Headquartered in Chicago, it got originated from a website called “The Point”. Presently the company is worth more than US $ 6 Billion with more than 3000 employees. In the MENA region, it is active in Dubai, Sharajah & Abu Dhabi. It has entered in the region in 2011, with the name Groupon UAE.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fu52S1Hoaxk/T4m4s9HFkWI/AAAAAAAABAc/9kf6AG2a6IU/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fu52S1Hoaxk/T4m4s9HFkWI/AAAAAAAABAc/9kf6AG2a6IU/s1600/1.png" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Table 1: compares Cobone & Groupon UAE, across some general facts. Source: Cobone & Groupon websites</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zXch4yC3CNY/T4m6I3T3DRI/AAAAAAAABAk/0FCtHFbPYQI/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zXch4yC3CNY/T4m6I3T3DRI/AAAAAAAABAk/0FCtHFbPYQI/s1600/2.png" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; font-size: 8.5pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;">Table 2: compares Cobon.com & Groupo</span></b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;">n.ae websites, in terms of traffic. Source: Google Double click ad planner. Data are for March 2012. </span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;"><br />
</span></u></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eM8_DkxyQFA/T4m9zMeIulI/AAAAAAAABAs/cuC16rVa1aE/s1600/5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eM8_DkxyQFA/T4m9zMeIulI/AAAAAAAABAs/cuC16rVa1aE/s1600/5.png" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;">Table 3: </span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;">Shows the popularity of the two websites Cobone Dubai & Groupon UAE, for various demographic profiles, in comparison to general internet population (for instance: </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #111111; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; font-size: 11pt;">Relative to the general internet population, 25-24 year olds are<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-style: initial; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">over-represented</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> at<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Groupon UAE)</span>.<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;"> </span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;">Source: alexa.com</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qF4sg4CW6vI/T4m_DL8O8oI/AAAAAAAABA0/d3TYvjMTVhE/s1600/6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qF4sg4CW6vI/T4m_DL8O8oI/AAAAAAAABA0/d3TYvjMTVhE/s1600/6.png" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;">Table 4: compares the Face Book pages of Cobone Dubai & Groupon UAE for the last one month. Source: Allfacebookstats.com <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EdOuLjAQQJs/T4nAVOMpDUI/AAAAAAAABA8/9008FSIGSv4/s1600/7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EdOuLjAQQJs/T4nAVOMpDUI/AAAAAAAABA8/9008FSIGSv4/s1600/7.png" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;">Table 5: shows the distribution of “own updates” for the two Facebook pages in the last one month. Source: AllFacebookstats.com </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console';">Analysis <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;">Groupon is an international brand in daily deals, whereas Cobone is an emerging regional brand. Based on the better understanding of local dynamics as well as early mover advantage Cobone has a stronghold. Groupon still needs to put some extra effort in catching up with its rival from Jabbar group.<o:p></o:p></div><div style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Cobone is a truly local player. There contents are available in Arabic. They have multiple payment options. They offer cash on delivery, which is very effective in a region marked by- low credit card penetration & cash & carry culture. </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">Availability of cash on delivery option at the 1st place, eventually helps Cobone convert customers online, in their subsequent deals. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;">Cobone’s strength gets well reflected in terms of popularity of its website. Almost across all the parameters, it is twice as popular as Groupon. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;">One area, where Groupon UAE, seems to have outplayed Cobone Dubai, is Facebook engagement in the last one month. Notwithstanding the lesser number of Facebook members, it has achieved more number of likes & comments. This may be due to more number of photos & videos than Cobone. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;">No matter what the present situation is; the future is expected to be quite competitive. While Cobone will leverage on its understanding of local markets; advantage Groupon lies in its global presence & deep pockets. It has recently acquired “FeeFighters”- comparison<span style="color: black;"> engine which enables small businesses to find the cheapest merchant account provider or credit card processor, and also offers other services like its own Samurai payment gateway. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">According to one of the senior executive from Cobone, products are becoming more & more important besides, experience & service. </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;">The company that is able to develop into a broader "discount eCommerce model" with the best deal sourcing will probably win.</span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><o:p></o:p></u></div></div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-52304928275952352332012-03-13T00:05:00.000-07:002012-03-13T00:05:46.954-07:00Analysis of E-Commerce in MENA , Part 3- Nahel Vs Souq<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7RJsqcCFhrs/T17xeFdf62I/AAAAAAAAA_A/VLz6eoKH3fc/s1600/5.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7RJsqcCFhrs/T17xeFdf62I/AAAAAAAAA_A/VLz6eoKH3fc/s400/5.gif" width="400" yda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">In the last two articles on E-commerce, we analyzed the internet statistics & consumption behavior in MENA region. The subsequent articles including this one will be dedicated to emerging e-commerce websites in the region. In recent past, few successful e-commerce websites- Nahel, Souq, Cobone, Sukar, and Emiratesavenue.com etc - have emerged in the digital media landscape of the region. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">The following analysis will compare Souq & Nahel- two of the leading multiple goods online e-commerce sites active in the region. The scope of comparison will be general facts, web & social media analytics. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">Souq Vs Nahel</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y-s6my4o8yg/T17qgma-33I/AAAAAAAAA-g/q3HI3j4vAVE/s1600/1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y-s6my4o8yg/T17qgma-33I/AAAAAAAAA-g/q3HI3j4vAVE/s1600/1.bmp" yda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 1: compares Nahel & Souq across some general facts. Source: Nahel & Souq websites</span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Uj5my9ROz0/T17t_KqqaaI/AAAAAAAAA-o/Sj_UrPca9C8/s1600/2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Uj5my9ROz0/T17t_KqqaaI/AAAAAAAAA-o/Sj_UrPca9C8/s1600/2.bmp" yda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"> Table 2: compares Nahel & Souq websites. Source: Google Double click ad planner</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-66rmPqxdDJU/T17vZq6-jGI/AAAAAAAAA-w/7vhnMmywQTg/s1600/3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-66rmPqxdDJU/T17vZq6-jGI/AAAAAAAAA-w/7vhnMmywQTg/s1600/3.bmp" yda="true" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 3:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shows the popularity of the two websites, for various demographic profiles, in comparison to general internet population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Source: alexa.com </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RTTUxUXQ3g8/T17wHfGDxnI/AAAAAAAAA-4/3VrH1SyQJ-0/s1600/4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RTTUxUXQ3g8/T17wHfGDxnI/AAAAAAAAA-4/3VrH1SyQJ-0/s1600/4.bmp" yda="true" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 4: compares Nahel & Souq across basic social media parameters. (Note: the Facebook facts for Souq is only for Souq Uae)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Analysis </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Souq has a much wider presence than Nahel, which is focused on UAE/Dubai only. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">The high popularity of Souq could be attributed to- early mover advantage, offices across the region, options for selling as well, broader payment gateway options etc. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Nahel as a brand is more focused on working class educated females from UAE. Contrast to this Souq has a broader presence. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"></div></span></span></span> </div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-60900370783426582932012-03-02T10:34:00.002-08:002012-03-02T10:43:26.917-08:00Jordan: Rising Star of a new Middle East ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f3hTsLjlrH0/T1ESfGqWlSI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/coqSyxRU1zk/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f3hTsLjlrH0/T1ESfGqWlSI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/coqSyxRU1zk/s400/11.jpg" uda="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Jordan is a small Arab state, located on the cross roads of the famous holy land. Politically stable & peaceful, has maintained a low profile in a region- marked with Geopolitical Significance as well as Political Turmoil. It does not reflect the extravagance like UAE, nor does it try yield political influence like Qatar- Pygmy known for punching much more than its weight in the region, with the help of cash rich deep pockets & tactically used media apparatus. It’s neither the “Blue Eyed Boy” of the West like Egypt, nor can it exert economic influence like Saudi Arabia. Notwithstanding the low profile Jordan maintains, the Levant state has been upfront in introduction of political, social & economical reforms; coupled with encouragement of an entrepreneurial culture. Slowly but certainly Jordan is getting transformed as a champion of new Middle East. The given “Report” is focused on Jordan & will analyze it with various socio-economic dimensions; its current transformations & the wide future implications it holds for itself & the region. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Economical & Demographical parameters </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vgvPl_VeMo4/T1EDR5meGwI/AAAAAAAAA8A/rjOm45QTZTY/s1600/1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vgvPl_VeMo4/T1EDR5meGwI/AAAAAAAAA8A/rjOm45QTZTY/s1600/1.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Fig 1: Jordan’s gdp growth rate vis- a- vis world & mena gdp growth rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Source: World Bank</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xgoUXi6orG4/T1EET3JjxFI/AAAAAAAAA8I/3Qqm4go8rJs/s1600/2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xgoUXi6orG4/T1EET3JjxFI/AAAAAAAAA8I/3Qqm4go8rJs/s1600/2.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 1: shows key economical & demographic parameters for Jordan. Source: World Bank </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">Jordan: Tourism Statistics </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Tourism is one of the key constituent of Jordan’s economy. Jordan has an arsenal of marvelous tourist sites to visit – some of the spellbinding archaeological & historical sites from Babylonian, Greek, Roman & Medieval Era; pristine ecotourism sites & exotic natural landscapes. Biggest attraction being Petra, one of the seven wonders of the world- a city carved out of mountains. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VwLBLV35H5g/T1EFgI58p-I/AAAAAAAAA8Q/sHKak-_38mo/s1600/3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VwLBLV35H5g/T1EFgI58p-I/AAAAAAAAA8Q/sHKak-_38mo/s1600/3.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Fig 2: annual international tourist arrival in millions & tourist receipts in Billions for Jordan, between 2004 & 2010. Source: Nation masters, Jordan Times & UNWTO </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">A bridgehead between the West & the East, Jordan is also emerging fast as a medical tourism destination. In 2008, 250,000 foreigners from 84 countries have been treated in Jordan. Major arrival comes from Iraq, Palestine, Sudan followed USA, UK & Canada. Jordan’s strength primarily lies in well trained English speaking medical staffs, better health facilities & cost effectiveness. It is estimated to be 25 percent of the cost of comparable treatments in USA, which includes airlines, lodging & sightseeing. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WgDxS8LF9jM/T1EGyEuLWhI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/tGK7z1dI38g/s1600/4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WgDxS8LF9jM/T1EGyEuLWhI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/tGK7z1dI38g/s1600/4.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Fig 3: compares number of doctors, nurses, dentists & pharmacists per 10,000 people for- Jordan, Middle East & World. Source: Medical Tourism Magazine<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Jordan: Education System</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Unlike its neighbors in the Gulf, Jordan is not blessed with oil reserves. Hence, education & human resource development has been the sole criteria to attain wide scale prosperity, social welfare & higher standard of living. Keeping this in mind, it has put education high up on its agenda. The education system in Jordan aims at providing high standard of learning, based on - universal access, equality & modern information technologies. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Strong steps have also been taken to consolidate Jordan’s excellence in the field of secondary & higher education as well. Some of the key salient features, related to Jordan’s education system are as follows (Source: UNICEF): </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">.Good education facilities have helped Jordan, conclusively transform from an agrarian society to an industrial & urbanized one. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Enormous strides have been taken in every level of education- primary, secondary as well as higher. 20.6% of govt. spending goes to education. This had paid off in terms of high, school as well as college enrollments. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Jordan has 2000 researchers per million, highest among the 57 OIC (Organization for Islamic Cooperation) countries. The average figure for OIC stands at 500 per million.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">In higher education, females outnumber their male counterparts. 42 % of the populations in tertiary age are in tertiary college. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3mr0_Ijp1lk/T1EInJQhhzI/AAAAAAAAA8o/CBe_6cLCy0E/s1600/5.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3mr0_Ijp1lk/T1EInJQhhzI/AAAAAAAAA8o/CBe_6cLCy0E/s1600/5.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Fig 4: shows R/M (researchers per million) & percentage of female in research for selected countries. Source: UNICEF </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7CUPtufbAKc/T1EJaPW1K1I/AAAAAAAAA8w/DeBBw0H9_lI/s1600/6.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7CUPtufbAKc/T1EJaPW1K1I/AAAAAAAAA8w/DeBBw0H9_lI/s1600/6.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Fig 5: shows number of universities against population in millions, for some of the selected Middle East & Mediterranean countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Jordan: Silicon Valley of Middle East? </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Jordan is fast emerging as an entrepreneurial hub in the Middle East. Some of the major entrepreneurial success sagas from the region- Maktoob, Jeeran, and Al Bawa etc, all have its origin in Jordan. Touted as “Silicon Valley” of Middle East, Jordan’s emergence as a start-up hub could be attributed to multitudinous factors- vast data & IT infrastructure, skilled & economical work force, open source communities, Govt. initiatives & support, decent internet & high mobile penetration etc. With negligible natural resources in its disposal, an entrepreneurial culture has also some sort of a necessity for Jordan. </span></span></div><div align="justify" class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WOSEn2ruOTE/T1EK7-WETSI/AAAAAAAAA84/ynmFCcOmd0M/s1600/7.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WOSEn2ruOTE/T1EK7-WETSI/AAAAAAAAA84/ynmFCcOmd0M/s1600/7.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Fig 6: country wise number of start- ups registered with yalla start-ups- most comprehensive data base for start-ups in the region. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Maktoob</span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">founded in Jordan in 1998, it was the 1<sup>st</sup> Arabic E-mail service provider in the region. Acquired by Yahoo in 2009 at US $ 80 millions, it’s presently the official arm of Yahoo in the Middle East region. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Jeeran</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">: </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">an internet service company founded in 2000. Commands 650,000 websites, 120,000 blogs & 6 million monthly visitors. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Al- Bawaba</span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">: is news & media website focused on Middle East. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Edufina</span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">: a website dedicated to provide updates on universities in Middle East. The website aims at becoming a one- stop shop for all the university related information in the region. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Istikana: </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">launched in March 2011, it is an on demand video site. Within 135 days of its inception, it racked up a million visits. Its core competence lies in provision of some old Arab classic videos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">MarkaVip: </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">is an upcoming e-commerce website focused on luxury products. The start- up has successfully pulled in an investment of US $ 2 millions in recently concluded Oasis 500, (a start-up accelerator based in Jordan), angel investments event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Successful start-ups also require successful incubators to provide investment & consultation support. Jordan has been upfront in taking initiatives in this direction. One such attempt is Oasis 500, aimed at bringing start-ups & investors on the same platform. Another is Queen Raina Center for Entrepreneurship (QRCE). Established in 2004, so far has incubated more than 25 technology start-ups in Jordan & benefitted around 25,000 people with- boot camps, workshops & networking activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Other than being a pioneer in digital start-ups, Jordan also has vast potential to morph into an outsourcing hub par excellence. It has a vast pool of English speaking work force salaried 75 % lower than UAE & just little bit higher than India- the global outsourcing giant. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_w6vaOoNdAM/T1EMEPpShMI/AAAAAAAAA9A/48wiEBA47sg/s1600/8.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_w6vaOoNdAM/T1EMEPpShMI/AAAAAAAAA9A/48wiEBA47sg/s1600/8.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Fig 7: shows Jordan’s outsourcing index Vis a Vis, some of the major outsourcing destinations across the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sourcingline.com </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Export</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">In the recent pass Jordan’s trade sector is growing rapidly. In 2011, its overall export is estimated at US $ 8.067 billion with major export partners- USA, Iraq, India, Saudi Arabia etc. Major area of export includes- clothing, fertilizers, chemicals etc. According to “Economy Watch”, an independent think tank, it has signed highest number of free trade agreements across entire Arab world. It has put in place “free trade zones” in partnership with USA & Israel. Qualified Industrial Zones or QIC, as they are known as are aimed to take advantage of free trade agreements between Israel & USA. Produce from these QICs have direct access to American markets, provided they fulfill certain predefined conditions. In 2010, the total textile export to USA, from these free trade zones, jumped to US $ 1.01 billion from a humble US $ 447 million in 2009. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Challenges & the way ahead</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Jordan has come a long way from a country once dependent on foreign aids & tourism, to an emerging centre for technology & trade in the region. But it has its own challenges. One of them is high rates of unemployment among youths. Jordan has a very young demographic. It has made commendable progress in higher education, but is running short of jobs to accommodate its college pass outs. Its problems are very much in line with the problems faced by Eastern Europe in the 90s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order to contain economical & social problems, stemming out of high rate of unemployment, it needs to hasten up employment opportunities for youth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">There are other challenges as well. Its neo liberal policies have so far been counterproductive in bridging up the gap between rich & poor. The manifestations of such policies have clashed with the interests of Trans Jordanian- tribes living in the rural parts of the country & often employed in the public sectors. Its policy frameworks, though a step forward, is still not very impressive. In most of the “Ease of doing business” parameters, it shows a very sub-standard performance. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ljJaq8xNEjk/T1ENv537_rI/AAAAAAAAA9I/Jl4F0GGQVHw/s1600/9.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ljJaq8xNEjk/T1ENv537_rI/AAAAAAAAA9I/Jl4F0GGQVHw/s1600/9.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%;">Fig 7: shows Jordan’s rank in various “ease of doing business parameters” for 2012. Source: doingbusiness.com </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Jordan is nation, deprived of natural resources. But this has been a blessing in disguise. With lesser natural wealth at its disposable, its focus has been more on intellectual wealth. So far it has made rapid progress in this direction. But the story is still in its making, a lot more needs to be done. Jordan needs to uplift its intellectual wealth to unprecedented heights to transform into a technology, trade & innovation hub of international repute. It should look beyond the obvious- observe some of the biggest success sagas from the East- Singapore, Hong-Kong, Japan etc. Jordan shares a lot of similarities with them- small population, lesser natural resources, political stability & big dreams. It needs to seek inspiration for them. </span></span></div></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-3784430242512410632012-03-01T11:24:00.000-08:002012-03-07T02:51:41.575-08:00Comparative Analysis of FaceBook Pages of Dubai & Singapore Tourism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zIXrgQOn3b0/T1ZkH1M4T-I/AAAAAAAAA-Y/5BuNCi5r5JY/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zIXrgQOn3b0/T1ZkH1M4T-I/AAAAAAAAA-Y/5BuNCi5r5JY/s400/10.jpg" uda="true" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">In the present “Social Era”, social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter & Google Plus play pivotal roles in building individual brands. Previously we compared the “Twitter” page of “I Love Dubai” & “YourSingapore”. In this blog post, we will compare their “Facebook” page. Twitter, though an effective marketing tool is still way behind Facebook. Facebook enjoys a user base of 800 million worldwide. It’s the sheer volume of Facebook, which has helped it metamorphosed from a pure play social networking site to one of the biggest digital marketing platform. The tool used will be “AllFacebookStats” & “Simply Measured”& period of analysis will be one month & one week respectively. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1lQHxAPWY0I/T1ZbnmtWDrI/AAAAAAAAA9g/ACoklkYYZXc/s1600/1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1lQHxAPWY0I/T1ZbnmtWDrI/AAAAAAAAA9g/ACoklkYYZXc/s1600/1.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"> Fig 2: shows the count of fans of both the pages. Source: allfacebookstats</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JAMJDAgA36Q/T1ZcQS2BIeI/AAAAAAAAA9o/a5JSOWH2kbc/s1600/2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JAMJDAgA36Q/T1ZcQS2BIeI/AAAAAAAAA9o/a5JSOWH2kbc/s1600/2.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Fig 3: compares the number of fans added for both the pages in the last one month (Selected dates). Source: Allfacebookstats.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v-5-_govnEc/T1Zd-J1_AXI/AAAAAAAAA9w/h6GbxkJfEpI/s1600/3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v-5-_govnEc/T1Zd-J1_AXI/AAAAAAAAA9w/h6GbxkJfEpI/s1600/3.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 1: compares both the pages across various interaction parameters, for last one month. Source: AllFacebook Facts </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vhXs1Bgk2Lc/T1Ze-wIStJI/AAAAAAAAA94/bvjNnV6ybp8/s1600/4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vhXs1Bgk2Lc/T1Ze-wIStJI/AAAAAAAAA94/bvjNnV6ybp8/s1600/4.bmp" uda="true" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Fig 4: shows number of weekly own post for the pages, in the last one month (Here Ws means weeks, starting from 3<sup>rd</sup> week of Jan; since the analysis covers only one month, 3<sup>rd</sup> week of jan & last week </span><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">of feb are not fully covered). Source: Allfacebookstats </span></span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LKp95GzSLw8/T1Zf4CjJqlI/AAAAAAAAA-A/b_7Ugye_9GA/s1600/5.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LKp95GzSLw8/T1Zf4CjJqlI/AAAAAAAAA-A/b_7Ugye_9GA/s1600/5.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Fig 5: shows average interactions (Likes + Comments) per “own posts” on a weekly basis, for both the pages in one last month. Source: AllFacebook Stats </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r-kco6fSGjk/T1ZgcFbrbpI/AAAAAAAAA-I/7HoR-mxTU7U/s1600/6.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r-kco6fSGjk/T1ZgcFbrbpI/AAAAAAAAA-I/7HoR-mxTU7U/s1600/6.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Fig 6: shows the comments & likes on photos & videos in last one week for “I Love Dubai”. Source: simply measured </span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ymH9awKqAhM/T1ZhAmaSyLI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/TqoV1vnpvhI/s1600/7.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ymH9awKqAhM/T1ZhAmaSyLI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/TqoV1vnpvhI/s1600/7.bmp" uda="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Fig 7: shows some of the popular posts of “I love Dubai” in terms of likes. Source: Simply Measured </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', sans-serif;">Conclusion & Suggestion</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">In the last section we did an analysis of twitter accounts of “YourSingapore” & “I Love Dubai”. The former had an insurmountable lead over the later. But in case of Facebook, it went spectacularly off the mark. “I Love Dubai” has outplayed “YourSingapore” across all the parameters- post, links, likes, comments, rate of adding fans etc. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">The “I Love Dubai” page suggests- videos are more interactive than photos. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">YourSingapore has bigger fan base than “I Love Dubai. In spite of this, it’s taking a beating is lack of regular updates coupled with lower degree engagement per updates. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">YourSingapore needs to ramp up the number of updates. Moreover updates need to be effective in engaging the users. It can take guidance from its Dubai counterpart. Some of most engaging updates as indicated in fig 7 are related to celebrities, cars & world famous buildings. It calls on “YourSingapore” to do something on similar lines to ramp up, its likes & comments. </span></div></div></div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-82788500652558849992012-02-13T04:42:00.000-08:002012-02-13T04:50:30.843-08:00Comparative Analysis: Twitter Pages of Singapore & Dubai Tourism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s1X51GJZIcc/TzkCG_xPVUI/AAAAAAAAA7g/RmgS1gNIr-4/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" sda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s1X51GJZIcc/TzkCG_xPVUI/AAAAAAAAA7g/RmgS1gNIr-4/s400/6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Singapore and Dubai are two of the “top 10” tourist designations, across the globej. Singapore was 4<sup>th</sup> most visited city in the world while Dubai was 7<sup>th</sup>, in 2010. (enjoyourholidya.com, 2011)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With such a statistics, stating that they are not tourism hubs par excellence will be an understatement. Dubai is world famous for “an arsenal of spellbinding real estate constructions”; while Singapore’s strength lies in its, cosmopolitan culture and status as a world class business hub.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Notwithstanding the geographical and cultural imparity, they share lot of similarities across various cultural, social & economical parameters. One of them is- they have visionary leaderships which emphasize on robust marketing of their respective states. Both Singapore & Dubai are among the most well marketed destinations, across the globe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">Twitter: an effective destination marketing tool</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">The advertisement & brand building across various industry verticals is being transformed, with digital / social media encroaching vigorously onto the space, so far dominated by traditional media. (Print, Outdoors, TV, Radio etc). The tourism industry has also not escaped from this new digital revolution lead by Social Media. These days Social Media plays a crucial role in various areas related to tourism, one of them being branding in the form of- showcase information, handle queries, contain negative perception etc. All the Social Medias, Facebook, Blogs, You Tube, Twitter etc play a pivotal role towards constructing the Brand Identity of a tourist destination. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">One such platform is Twitter. As much 2011, it has 200 million users, with </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">100</span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"> million active & </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">50</span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"> million daily users (jeffbullas.com, </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2011</span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">). It is this sheer number of users that makes this micro-blogging site a great digital marketing platform for tourist destinations. The following blog post will do a comparative analysis of Twitter account of two of the leading tourist destination- <span style="color: #0070c0;">I Love Dubai </span>(Dubai) & <span style="color: red;">YourSingapor</span>e (Singapore). The tool used will be Tweet Stats & Klout. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">Twitter statistics analysis </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_k2LcoK6vV8/Tzj2qZcEDEI/AAAAAAAAA7A/OdGUnIMwu74/s1600/1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_k2LcoK6vV8/Tzj2qZcEDEI/AAAAAAAAA7A/OdGUnIMwu74/s1600/1.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Fig 2: shows no. of Tweets for I love Dubai & YourSingapore over the period of last 19 months. Source: Tweet Stats</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fbmRjl8rf3E/Tzj-qntpgII/AAAAAAAAA7Y/kL55Kc7UNTs/s1600/4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fbmRjl8rf3E/Tzj-qntpgII/AAAAAAAAA7Y/kL55Kc7UNTs/s1600/4.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 1: Compares the two pages across various twitter engagement parameters. Source: Tweet Stats </span></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1s8ndVSJpdQ/Tzj4DZz2xCI/AAAAAAAAA7I/WgT-BQYPf80/s1600/2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1s8ndVSJpdQ/Tzj4DZz2xCI/AAAAAAAAA7I/WgT-BQYPf80/s1600/2.bmp" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"> Fig 2: shows the aggregate daily tweets for both the pages. Source: tweet stats</span></div></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qDwd9I37AQ0/TzkGwjl8FsI/AAAAAAAAA7w/dqp35G25huM/s1600/3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qDwd9I37AQ0/TzkGwjl8FsI/AAAAAAAAA7w/dqp35G25huM/s1600/3.bmp" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"> Fig 3: shows the aggregate hourly tweets for both the pages. Source: Tweet Stats</span></div></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">Klout Score: measure of twitter account influence</span></div></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Every social media channel has its influence. The social media platforms exercise its influence by motivating target audience to Retweet, Share, Like, Comment etc. The more the target audience engages in such activities, the more is the likelihood of influence. Klout is an analytical tool that helps, estimating the degree of influence for various social media platforms. It will be used in the given analysis, to compare the influence of the both the Twitter pages. </span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DeygX3QmihU/TzkD6Za_2XI/AAAAAAAAA7o/OLgKjrnHE_w/s1600/7.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DeygX3QmihU/TzkD6Za_2XI/AAAAAAAAA7o/OLgKjrnHE_w/s1600/7.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 2: compares the Klout scores, no. of people & topic influenced; for both the pages. Klout Score: measures the ability to drive action with the help of retweet and replies.</span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Analysis</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Over all “YourSingapore” has a much better “Twitter Presence”, marked by a very high number of tweets in comparison with “I Love Dubai”. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">“YourSingapore” also receives a much higher engagement from the audience. This is reflected with the high percentages of Retweet & Responses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Notwithstanding, the zoom in mid 2010; the number of tweets has gradually dwindled henceforth for “YourSingapore”. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">In the past few months, both the pages have similar “Twitter Presence”. In fact it’s slightly favored towards the “I Love Dubai” page. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">When it comes to the “Klout Parameters”, there is high parity across the two pages. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"></span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif";">Reference </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Enjoyourholiday.com, 2011, available at <</span><a href="http://www.enjoyourholiday.com/2011/04/18/top-10-most-visited-cities-in-the-world"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.enjoyourholiday.com/2011/04/18/top-10-most-visited-cities-in-the-world</span></a><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> / > </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeffbullas.com, 2011, 11 new Twitter facts, available at </span><a href="http://goo.gl/FEsAo"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">http://goo.gl/FEsAo</span></a><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> > </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"></div></div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-66232077767406496502012-02-06T08:12:00.000-08:002012-04-28T20:58:45.233-07:00Analysis of E-Commerce in Middle East and North Africa - Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O2Ybnin9cAg/Ty_7vwfEYgI/AAAAAAAAA64/MuGCJpLbKM4/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" sda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O2Ybnin9cAg/Ty_7vwfEYgI/AAAAAAAAA64/MuGCJpLbKM4/s320/14.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">The last article dealt with the fundamentals of e-commerce activities in the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA). The given article is next in the series, which will primarily deal with the degree of e-commerce activities across various demographic profiles in the MENA region. The segments, where the average percentage of e-commerce activities is more than 5, will be considered as key segment. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-baCN6tL8Nds/Ty_yBwNOzxI/AAAAAAAAA6g/zAg2AbnPo9E/s1600/10.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-baCN6tL8Nds/Ty_yBwNOzxI/AAAAAAAAA6g/zAg2AbnPo9E/s1600/10.bmp" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 1: shows the percentage of online purchase among the population (includes internet users as well as non users) for the region as well as individual economies across various age groups. Source: Insights MENA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pOalRi5PmYo/Ty_ytrCMgaI/AAAAAAAAA6o/pwHFXWxovc4/s1600/11.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pOalRi5PmYo/Ty_ytrCMgaI/AAAAAAAAA6o/pwHFXWxovc4/s1600/11.bmp" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 2: shows the percentage of online purchase among the </span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">MEN </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">population (includes internet users as well as non users) for the region as well as individual economies, across various age groups. Source: Insights MENA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T9ZLjGKawW4/Ty_zo6bmuwI/AAAAAAAAA6w/JgVNwUbzv44/s1600/12.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T9ZLjGKawW4/Ty_zo6bmuwI/AAAAAAAAA6w/JgVNwUbzv44/s1600/12.bmp" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 3: shows the percentage of online purchase among the </span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Women </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">population (includes internet users as well as non users) for the region as well as individual economies, across various age groups. Source: Insights MENA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Key Insights</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Most of the key market segments are concentrated in UAE & Saudi Arabia. It is somehow even higher in UAE, which not only benefits from high, per capita GDP & internet penetration but also cosmopolitan culture. (UAE houses people from 206 nationalities) Some of the key points pertaining to the e-commerce behavior for various demographic segments in the MENA region, are as follows-</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 42pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">Key market segments (irrespective of gender): </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">UAE (all the age group), Saudi Arabia (25-34, 35-44)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 42pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">Key market segments (men): </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">UAE (all the age group), Saudi Arabia (25-34, 35-44), Jordan (25-34)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 42pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">Key market segments (women): </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">UAE (15-24, 25-34, 35-44), Saudi Arabia (25-34)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 42pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">Jordan’s women segment’s spectacularly off the mark performance:</span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"> Jordan is one of the Middle Eastern countries, which has run a decent show, when it comes to digital media. It’s “MEN” segment has been quite active in terms of e-commerce activities. But the same does not hold true for “WOMEN” segment. The “WOMEN” segment’s performance has been spectacularly off the mark with almost zero e-commerce activities across all the age group. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 42pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">Morocco (15-24) & Saudi Arabia (25-34) women segment outperforms their male counterparts: </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">In the MENA region, where the women still needs some time to catch up with their male counterparts, it is very unlikely that they can outperform them in terms of e-commerce activities. Yet, there are couples of section where the “WOMEN” have outperformed their “MEN” counterparts- Morocco (15-24) and Saudi Arabia (25-34), where in terms of % of average e-commerce activities; they have outperformed their male counterparts. This diversion from the general trend is indicative of slow but certain change in the gender dynamics in the region. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 42pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">Abysmally low e-commerce penetration in the 45+ segment: </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">All across the MENA, excluding UAE, the 45 + segments appears to be dysfunctional in terms of e-commerce activities. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
</span> </span></span></div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-22425067522668418112012-01-29T12:11:00.000-08:002012-04-28T21:01:40.284-07:00Analysis of E-Commerce in Middle East & North Africa - Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n9lkM42BgI0/TyWmzQrL9vI/AAAAAAAAA20/5RsfxoIihe0/s1600/10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n9lkM42BgI0/TyWmzQrL9vI/AAAAAAAAA20/5RsfxoIihe0/s400/10.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">Introduction </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">Fig 1: Insights MENA photo, a website which specializes in studying internet consumption in MENA region. Source: </span><a href="http://www.insightsmena.com/"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.insightsmena.com/</span></a><span style="color: purple;"> en/ </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Internet and the digital world have become an integral part of daily life for a large number of people across the globe. For many, a considerable amount of time daily spends on the web. The digital world is also making strong inroads in the commercial space. According to a survey conducted by “</span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">Neilson”</span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">, 875 million individuals have purchased online, at least once a year. According to “</span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">world internet statistics”, </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">as on 2011, Middle East constitutes only 3.4 percentages of the global users and hence does not contribute much on the e-commerce front. (If North African countries be included, the percentage will go a bit higher). Even though it does not play a very big role so far, e-commerce seems to have a great potential in the near future. The future growth could be fuelled by-high economic growth, young demographics, investments in the ICT infrastructure and political transition. Keeping this in mind, “</span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">Management Guru Blog”</span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">, will do a comprehensive analysis of the overall e-commerce industry in the MENA region. The entire report will be produced in a series, delving into the various aspects of e-commerce in the region. The very first in the series, will a give a brief description of the internet consumption as well as e-commerce activities in the region. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">E-commerce Statistics for Middle East & North Africa (mena)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mSRJwASlWbQ/TyWO4BS1LGI/AAAAAAAAA1s/vEl5OG3kvZU/s1600/1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="147" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mSRJwASlWbQ/TyWO4BS1LGI/AAAAAAAAA1s/vEl5OG3kvZU/s640/1.bmp" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 1: shows the GNI per capita and internet penetration in some selected MENA countries. Source: World Bank.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hVZu0Dep4Eg/TyWY9ualvtI/AAAAAAAAA18/fIGkawmZWXs/s1600/3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hVZu0Dep4Eg/TyWY9ualvtI/AAAAAAAAA18/fIGkawmZWXs/s640/3.bmp" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> Table 2: Shows, mobile internet usage, in terms of percentage. Source: Insights MENA</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lqy3OKDD0SA/TyYXCrazqpI/AAAAAAAAA28/GrS3ctGV260/s1600/4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lqy3OKDD0SA/TyYXCrazqpI/AAAAAAAAA28/GrS3ctGV260/s1600/4.bmp" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Fig 1: shows the average weekly internet consumption by internet users (non internet users are not included in this), in minutes for the entire MENA region as well as for selected economies. The total internet consumption is the sum total of average weekly access via laptop/desktop and mobile. Source: Insights MENA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vC-T2hNI6sQ/TyYXcILMHxI/AAAAAAAAA3E/lLNSpt66fsY/s1600/6.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vC-T2hNI6sQ/TyYXcILMHxI/AAAAAAAAA3E/lLNSpt66fsY/s1600/6.bmp" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Fig 2: shows the percentages of online research and purchases made, across the overall population (includes internet users as well as non users), for MENA region and some selected economies. Source: Insights MENA. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EWkmMw3E_xY/TyYYfYa0P0I/AAAAAAAAA3M/HBtc1xLu_y8/s1600/7.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EWkmMw3E_xY/TyYYfYa0P0I/AAAAAAAAA3M/HBtc1xLu_y8/s1600/7.bmp" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Fig 3: shows the percentage of internet users, who always pay attention to online ads while surfing the web, for MENA as well as other individual economies. Source: MENA Insights. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WXKeq1TpRN8/TyYaTO5AENI/AAAAAAAAA3c/6YBaftqmz88/s1600/9.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="202" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WXKeq1TpRN8/TyYaTO5AENI/AAAAAAAAA3c/6YBaftqmz88/s640/9.bmp" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 3: shows the average weekly frequency, of some selected online activities, for internet users of MENA region and some individual economies of the region. Source: Insights MENA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Analysis </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Some of the key findings of the statistics are as follows:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">High per capita income influences high e-commerce activities: </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Countries like UAE and Saudi Arabia have fared well than their other Arab counterparts, on account of high per capita income. High per capita income results in high penetration of- internet, internet enabled better quality handsets, credit cards etc. This eventually has resulted in high percentages of E-commerce research and purchase activities, in these countries.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">Unique case of Saudi Arabia: </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Saudi Arabia, the largest MENA economy, enjoys a comparatively high internet penetration and internet enabled mobile usage of, 41 and 54, percentages respectively. It has a very high online research percentage of 18 and 42 percentages of internet users claim to always pay attention to online advertisements. In spite of having strong arsenals, the overall percentages of e-commerce stands at moderate five percentages, just one percentage point higher than the overall MENA average of four. It seems, cash based culture and low reliance on credit cards, coupled with under performance in the 45 plus segment, has deterred Saudi Arabia from realizing its full e-commerce potential. </span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">Jordan has huge e-commerce potential: </span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Jordan offers another good case to study. Unlike gulf countries, it does not have any natural oil resources of its own and according to “</span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";">World Bank</span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">” is considered as a developing nation with moderate per capita GNI of US $ 5,790. But, the tiny Levant state is also among one of the most innovative Middle Eastern countries and in the recent years have taken strides in the areas of, innovation and technology adoption. It enjoys decent; internet penetration, average weekly internet consumption and outlook towards e-commerce. A close look to some of the online activities of an average Jordanian internet user provides lot of interesting insights. An average user clicks an online ad, some 5.93 times a week and spends considerable time in research also. But when it comes to buying a product online, seems he hardly engages himself. It might be due to the same factors preventing other countries as well- cash based culture, low credit card penetration and apprehension of using the internet for making payments. Jordan can be considered as one of the huge potential market for e-commerce in the region. With higher credit card/debit card penetration and education campaigns, higher e-commerce percentages could be realized in near future. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Copperplate Gothic Bold","sans-serif";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
</span> </span></span></span></span></div>
</div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-41121449074044247842012-01-16T04:13:00.000-08:002012-01-16T07:27:27.021-08:00Comparative Analysis of Retail Industry of Malaysia & Saudi Arabia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_ZGxDsbrx0E/TxQTEYLbbMI/AAAAAAAAAzI/bz_hiHjMNNA/s1600/20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" kba="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_ZGxDsbrx0E/TxQTEYLbbMI/AAAAAAAAAzI/bz_hiHjMNNA/s400/20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">Fig 1: shows an eXtra store, Saudi Arabia’s leading electronic retail. Source: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>alroyya.com </span></span><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Retail industry is the part of the economy, involved in selling finished products to the end users. Retail shops could be found in wide range of formats, ranging from large hyper markets and department stores, to small convenience stores and general stores. It primarily includes six sub categories: - food & general retail, fashion apparels, fast food restaurants, fast manufacturing consumer goods (fmcg), luxury products and electronic appliances & consumer durables. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">All across the globe, both in the developed as well as developing world, retail industry plays a pivotal role in the national economies. It has a wide range of direct as well as indirect economic significance- ranging from mass level employment generation (both urban and rural) to bringing, speed and efficiency into the entire supply chain system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">The given report intents, comparing retail sectors Malaysia and Saudi Arabia; one an emerging economy and a constitutional monarchy from South East Asia and other an oil rich Islamic Monarchy from the Gulf. Both the nation, share similarities across various socio-cultural as well as demographic parameter. Hence provide a good case to do comparative analysis. They will be compared across following parameters- economics, retail industry outlook, policy frame work, tourism, demographics and transportation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Economics, demographics & infrastructure </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">The following part compares Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, across few of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">general economic, demographic and infra structure</span></b> related parameters. </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vk0Kons8KGI/TxQpQdcUBzI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/VXz5h7ONEQE/s1600/1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kba="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vk0Kons8KGI/TxQpQdcUBzI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/VXz5h7ONEQE/s1600/1.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 1: shows the GDP growth rate of Malaysia and Saudi Arabia vis- a-vis, world’s growth rate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aXq49UnnHbo/TxQqaKBvo2I/AAAAAAAAAzg/ZEnRoyMctl0/s1600/2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" kba="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aXq49UnnHbo/TxQqaKBvo2I/AAAAAAAAAzg/ZEnRoyMctl0/s400/2.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 1: compares Malaysia and Saudi Arabia across various economic parameters. Source: World Bank</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-boSz6AtlbMs/TxQqus5wOZI/AAAAAAAAAzo/Tbbea_p2lmc/s1600/3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" kba="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-boSz6AtlbMs/TxQqus5wOZI/AAAAAAAAAzo/Tbbea_p2lmc/s400/3.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 2: compares Malaysia and Saudi Arabia across parameters related to infrastructure. Source: World Bank. </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Retail industry outlook </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";">Malaysia</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Malaysia, an upper middle income country according to World Bank, enjoys a robust and growing retail sectors. According to Business Monitor International, total retail sales in Malaysia were estimated at US $ 33 billion, in 2009. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like other Asian countries it has penchant for gigantic malls and hypermarkets and is dominated by players such as Giant (domestic), Tesco (UK) and Care four (France). The retail sector in Malaysia is fueled by large proportion urbanized middle class (50% of the population) with high disposable income; a large proportion of youth (42% aged between 10 and 34, as on 2008) and high tourist arrival. Tourism accounts for 30% of retail consumption in Malaysia. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #ffc000;">RECON, 2008</span></b>) </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EMhVy7BvlBk/TxQvGWqufTI/AAAAAAAAAzw/gaCk8MFQ4gE/s1600/4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kba="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EMhVy7BvlBk/TxQvGWqufTI/AAAAAAAAAzw/gaCk8MFQ4gE/s1600/4.bmp" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 2: shows the growth in retail sales vis-a-vis GDP growth rate for 2010. Source: Thestaronline.com<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T1Fib5FY-OU/TxQvddIEjjI/AAAAAAAAAz4/3NGkPZ_Ra5Y/s1600/5.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kba="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T1Fib5FY-OU/TxQvddIEjjI/AAAAAAAAAz4/3NGkPZ_Ra5Y/s1600/5.bmp" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 3: shows the number of outlet and total sales for major retailer in Malaysia for 2009. Source: Malaysia retail annual report, USDA Foreign Network. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";">Saudi Arabia</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Saudi Arabia is the biggest Gulf country and the biggest economy in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) region. The region is marked by growth in retail space, young demographics, high tourist arrival and change of role of women in social sphere. Saudi Arabia, the biggest and one of the freest economies in the region, is considered as one of the most fertile market for the retail industry. Rapidly growing population, brand conscious young demographics (45 percentage of population aged 20-44) and high level of disposable income will be key drivers for the industry, in the kingdom. After oil, banking and telecom; retail is the fourth largest industry in the country, both in terms of number of, establishments as well as employees. It earned a total of US $ 55 billion, from retail sales in 2008, up from US $ 37 billion in 2004. (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #ffc000;">PR Log, 2009</span></b>) The market is dominated by small retail stores, though big retailers, both domestic and international players, are trying to up their ante in the much fragmented retail industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g8q8su_oAfo/TxQvsBvsfOI/AAAAAAAAA0A/UCGo0v4cRDw/s1600/6.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" kba="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g8q8su_oAfo/TxQvsBvsfOI/AAAAAAAAA0A/UCGo0v4cRDw/s400/6.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 3: shows values for various retail industry related parameters. Source: JONES LANG LASALLE, AMEinfo.com<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OrXH5WPc39g/TxQ0JI4HJ2I/AAAAAAAAA0o/VyZ3lyH-AT8/s1600/7.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kba="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OrXH5WPc39g/TxQ0JI4HJ2I/AAAAAAAAA0o/VyZ3lyH-AT8/s1600/7.bmp" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 4: shows the retail sales of Saudi Arabia, in billion US $, over the last few years. Source: AMEinfo.com </span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Presence of major retail brands in Malaysia & Saudi Arabia</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">The following part of the report will compare the presence of few of the leading retail brands in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. The no. of outlets, in some of the cases, has been described in brackets. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nLZYsehG8H8/TxQ2a9U-jSI/AAAAAAAAA0w/AVI46_nY3tY/s1600/8.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" kba="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nLZYsehG8H8/TxQ2a9U-jSI/AAAAAAAAA0w/AVI46_nY3tY/s400/8.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 4: shows the presence of some of the major retail brands in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Source: Mystore411.com and others </span></div><br />
<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Policy </span></span> </span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">One of the key pillars for the growth of any industry in a country is policy and regulatory framework. An open and market oriented policy framework are more likely to stimulate growth and development in the long run. The following part of the report will compare Malaysia and Saudi Arabia across general business environment as well as policy framework pertaining to retail industry.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";">Retail business environment</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";">General business environment</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Saudi Arabian economy is marked by liberal economic policies and free market mechanisms stimulating foreign investments. The kingdom has biggest oil reserve outside Soviet Union and USA and like other Gulf counterparts, aim at diversifying its economy into industrial and service sector. The state generally does not interfere with the inflow and outflow of capital. It incentivizes businesses by providing favorable tax exempts, subsidies, provision of land at low price, exemption of custom duties on export etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #ffc000;">Al A, 2007</span></b>) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">In line with Saudi Arabia, Malaysian economy is also marked with investor friendly business environment. During 1970s, when Malaysian economy was primarily based on mining and agriculture, govt. took diversification measures backed with centralized planning. During 70s to 90s, like other Asian Tigers, Malaysia recorded a strong economic growth. In the present time also govt. plays a pivotal role in the economy, but gradually it is reducing. One of the remarkable features of Malaysia economy is availability of easy credits. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--kynegVN8us/TxQ4Jv_9ccI/AAAAAAAAA04/pSgp6L61_zs/s1600/11.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" kba="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--kynegVN8us/TxQ4Jv_9ccI/AAAAAAAAA04/pSgp6L61_zs/s400/11.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";">Malaysia</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">The key elements of retail industry (especially pertaining to foreign investments) policies of Malaysia are as follows (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #ffc000;">MDTCC, 2010</span></b>)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Aims at modernization of the industry, ensuring growth of the local business at the same time</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">All foreign involvements in retail sector, including; acquisition & merger, expansion, relocation, buying, taking over etc; require permission from Ministry of domestic trade, cooperative and consumerism (MTDCC).</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Work force should be reflective of over all racial composition of Malaysian population. It should ensure development of local inhabitants or Bumiputera.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Regulatory framework for Hypermarket-minimum capital required is US $15.95 million (RM 50 million), at least 30% stake should be provided to Bumiputera within 3 years of incorporation, minimum floor space should be 5000 square meters and 30% of space needs to be allocated for Bumiputera SME product.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Regulatory framework for Departmental store-minimum capital required is US $6.38 million (RM 20 million), and 30% of space needs to be allocated for Bumiputera SME product.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Foreign investment is not allowed in the following- super market/ mini market (<3000 square meters), provision shop, convenience stores, fuel station with convenience stores, etc. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";">Saudi Arabia</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">The key elements of retail industry (especially pertaining to foreign investments) policies of Saudi Arabia are as follows:</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Retail being one of the few sectors, in Saudi Arabia, where 100 percent foreign ownership is not permitted. As per the guidelines, last revised in 2004, the maximum limit for foreign ownership in retail sector is 49 percentages. </span><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Any company in Saudi Arabia, with foreign investment, requires a foreign investment license.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Franchising a popular concept used in the Kingdom. Franchise owners need to be local inhabitants and not 3<sup>rd</sup> party. Many of the leading retail brands such as Baskin Robins, McDonalds, and Burger King Etc operate in the Kingdom in franchise arrangement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Tourism</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Along with local inhabitants, tourism inflow also helps in boosting retail sales. Both Malaysia and Saudi Arabia are successful tourism destination. Religious pilgrimage is the key driver of Saudi tourism, whereas its Malaysian counterpart depends on exotic beachfront resorts, festivals and medical tourism. The following chart compares tourist inflow of Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5N3Temy3WFk/TxQ9iCgHLpI/AAAAAAAAA1A/mAZTTLB5Dng/s1600/12.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kba="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5N3Temy3WFk/TxQ9iCgHLpI/AAAAAAAAA1A/mAZTTLB5Dng/s1600/12.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fig 5: compares the annual inflow of foreign tourists in millions, for Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Source: Tourism Malaysia and Indexmundi. </span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Demographics</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Demographic profile is one of the key drivers of the retail industry worldwide. A young, vibrant and well aware population ensures high spending on retail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wg4pnfzG9gg/TxRBFkaO83I/AAAAAAAAA1Y/qiMd43zTAqU/s1600/13.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" kba="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wg4pnfzG9gg/TxRBFkaO83I/AAAAAAAAA1Y/qiMd43zTAqU/s400/13.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 5: compares Malaysia and Saudi Arabia across demographic parameters. Data are for the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;">year 2010</span></b>. Source:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CIA World Fact book.</span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 330.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Transportation </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">A good transportation network, especially high volume of private motor vehicles, ensures the growth and development of out of town hyper markets. In the absence of motor vehicle people tend to visit nearby retail stores only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">A well developed transport and logistics network does not only help in sales but also ensures better functioning of big hyper market chains. In the absence of good logistic, big hypermarket chains are unlikely to import and circulate retail items in large volume, effectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kpJVSwePI2k/TxRBd89_yYI/AAAAAAAAA1g/qxcAm_APRRQ/s1600/15.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" kba="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kpJVSwePI2k/TxRBd89_yYI/AAAAAAAAA1g/qxcAm_APRRQ/s400/15.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 6: compares Malaysia and Saudi Arabia across transportation parameters (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;">most recent by year</span></b>). Source: nationmaster.com, numbeo.com </span></div></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";">Conclusion</span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">The report has compared Malaysia and Saudi Arabia across various parameters- economics, retail industry outlook, policy frame work, tourism, demographics and transportation. As discussed earlier, both the nations offer a great case to study. They have their own share of agreements as well as disagreements. Some of the key conclusions drawn are as follows: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">In both the countries, retail sector is important constituent of the national GDP and is witnessing high annual growth. The high growth of the retail sector is fuelled by higher disposable income, high percentages of youth and vibrant tourism sectors. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Malaysia is considered as a high middle income country, where as Saudi Arabia, on account of high oil and natural gas reserve, is one of the rich nations in the world. Marked with high per capita income, it is a more fertile ground for luxury retail. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Both are luring big retail brands to operate in their country. Saudi Arabia is a better destination than Malaysia in terms of a number of ease of doing business parameters such as – dealing with construction permit, getting electricity, registering property, taxation etc. Malaysia’s strength lies in the easy credits and high FDI in retail; 70 % against, 49 % in Saudi Arabia</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Malaysia has better infrastructure, logistic as well as telecommunication infrastructure, both considered as a backbone for developing a vibrant retail sector. Saudi Arabian strength lies in availability of gasoline at dirt cheap price and high availability of electricity. </span><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Reference</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">RECON, 2008, Malaysia: a gateway to South East Asia,</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Al Amri, 2007, doing business in Saudi Arabia, available at <</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><a href="http://www.alamri.com/DOING%20BUSINESS%20IN%20SAUDI%20ARABIA.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">http://www.alamri.com/DOING%20BUSINESS%20IN%20SAUDI%20ARABIA.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Doing Business, 2011, home page, available at </span><a href="http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">MDTCC, 2011, Guide lines for foreign participation in the distributive trade, available at <</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><a href="http://www.kpdnkk.gov.my/kpdnkk-theme/images/pdf/WRT_Guideline.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">http://www.kpdnkk.gov.my/kpdnkk-theme/images/pdf/WRT_Guideline.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Masterintelligence.com, 2011, Master card worldwide consumer confidence index, available at <</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><a href="http://www.masterintelligence.com/ViewRegionReport.jsp?hidReportTypeId=2&hidRegionId=1&hidUserId=null"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">http://www.masterintelligence.com/ViewRegionReport.jsp?hidReportTypeId=2&hidRegionId=1&hidUserId=null</span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"></div></div></div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-12669934014970628102011-12-30T03:23:00.000-08:002011-12-30T03:27:40.874-08:00Comparative Analysis: Digital presence of five leading tourism destinations of Asia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CXgQk6-yJRc/Tv2ctgm9SsI/AAAAAAAAAxI/4N3478MUnxQ/s1600/18.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CXgQk6-yJRc/Tv2ctgm9SsI/AAAAAAAAAxI/4N3478MUnxQ/s400/18.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Introduction </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">In the present context, which is marked by the gradual shrinkage of regular and conventional media and arrival of digital media, tourism industry is undergoing a rapid transformation. Digital media has become very significant for the travel and tourism industry. It plays a very crucial role in the entire cycle, a traveler undergoes-selection, planning, information gathering, booking, and visit. The following table gives a list of e-marketing activities corresponding to various stages of travel. (Nguyen N, 2007)</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LuQhNVvxONs/Tv2AT6lcTyI/AAAAAAAAAuI/WuwvuqqZGiw/s1600/1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LuQhNVvxONs/Tv2AT6lcTyI/AAAAAAAAAuI/WuwvuqqZGiw/s400/1.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 1: shows the e-marketing activities corresponding to various stages of travel.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">In order to up their ante in this transformed tourism landscape, it is essential for tourist destinations to have a strong presence across various web platforms- travel websites, social media, social media, and mobile application etc. The following report will analyze the online brand strength of leading tourist destinations from Asia- <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0070c0;">Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai and Istanbul</span></b>. It will do a comparative analysis of the online brand presence across the following platforms- search engines (Yahoo and Google), travel websites (Trip Advisor, Frommer, Virtual Tourist, official tourist websites) and social media (Face Book and You Tube) etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Search engines</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Search engines play a vital role in any form of marketing. The following part provides a simple estimate of search results related to the five locations in Google and Yahoo, two of search engine giants. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oESeX41Xc8k/Tv2Olcg3DXI/AAAAAAAAAvE/tl25g8YMVoU/s1600/6.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oESeX41Xc8k/Tv2Olcg3DXI/AAAAAAAAAvE/tl25g8YMVoU/s1600/6.bmp" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 2: shows the image search results in millions for the five destination in Yahoo & Google </span></div></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0_4GUb1dUpo/Tv2B7meskII/AAAAAAAAAuU/7RHlaENsetA/s1600/2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0_4GUb1dUpo/Tv2B7meskII/AAAAAAAAAuU/7RHlaENsetA/s1600/2.bmp" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 3: shows the image search results in millions for the five destination in Yahoo & Google </span></div></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YZF83jRTCLE/Tv2DBCtH_LI/AAAAAAAAAug/1pZSEQHdy70/s1600/3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YZF83jRTCLE/Tv2DBCtH_LI/AAAAAAAAAug/1pZSEQHdy70/s1600/3.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 4: shows the video search results in millions for the five destination in Yahoo & Google </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Q6myXrRcwU/Tv2DkjXmmEI/AAAAAAAAAus/Jh4GVKZ_5Fc/s1600/4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Q6myXrRcwU/Tv2DkjXmmEI/AAAAAAAAAus/Jh4GVKZ_5Fc/s1600/4.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 5: shows the number of search engine results in millions on typing- name of the destination followed by hotels. Exp: Singapore Hotels</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zZvtWkJkhIg/Tv2M2VmUiPI/AAAAAAAAAu4/PAVJD2lxgBo/s1600/5.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zZvtWkJkhIg/Tv2M2VmUiPI/AAAAAAAAAu4/PAVJD2lxgBo/s1600/5.bmp" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig6: shows search results in million in Google and Yahoo on typing <city name="">places to visit. For exp: Hong Kong places to visit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Official tourist websites</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Websites are the representation of the tourist destinations in the web world. Not only do they build the brand image of the destination but also guide unaware tourist by providing all the relevant information in detail. It helps traveler make travelling decision. Some of the essential requirements of travelers are- direction information/map, visa and policy information, local information, photo gallery, multilingual functions, content categorization, multimedia functions, utility functions etc. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Quan Z, Rich D, 2005)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of all the available websites, the role of an official website is always much more significant, since it represents the official view point. The given part of the report intents to analyze the popularity of official tourist websites of the five destinations both In terms of web analytics as well as qualitative aspects of the website. For web analytics measurement double click ad planner will be used. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Official Websites of tourist destination</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Singapore:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>YourSingapore.com (</span><a href="http://www.yoursingapore.com/"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">www.yoursingapore.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"> )</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Dubai: DefinitelyDubai.com (</span><a href="http://www.definitelydubai.com/"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.definitelydubai.com/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Bangkok: Bangkoktourist.com (</span><a href="http://www.bangkoktourist.com/"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.bangkoktourist.com/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Istanbul: Istanbul.com (</span><a href="http://english.istanbul.com/"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">http://english.istanbul.com/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Hong Kong: DiscoverHongkong.com (</span><a href="http://www.discoverhongkong.com/"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">www.discoverhongkong.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"> )</span><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-stX7ajW6HyE/Tv2Ptfba73I/AAAAAAAAAvQ/fwXrg-MYXAM/s1600/7.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-stX7ajW6HyE/Tv2Ptfba73I/AAAAAAAAAvQ/fwXrg-MYXAM/s1600/7.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 7: shows the total unique visits and page views for the five official sites, over the month of November 2011. The column chart shows unique visits, where as the line graph shows the page views. Source: double click ad planner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HTVz1TDZzFY/Tv2S1dtl0cI/AAAAAAAAAvc/GfTe5OkRnUI/s1600/8.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HTVz1TDZzFY/Tv2S1dtl0cI/AAAAAAAAAvc/GfTe5OkRnUI/s1600/8.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Fig 8: shows the average time spent by a visitor in minutes: seconds. Source: double click ad planner</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K-Uue5cmN8U/Tv2TxXDWl9I/AAAAAAAAAvo/_snokKgj3ss/s1600/9.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="87" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K-Uue5cmN8U/Tv2TxXDWl9I/AAAAAAAAAvo/_snokKgj3ss/s400/9.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 2: compares the home page of the five official websites across some of the basic parameters. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zG_N47PXEyQ/Tv2U9BveMRI/AAAAAAAAAv0/oJdZx7N3g2s/s1600/10.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="87" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zG_N47PXEyQ/Tv2U9BveMRI/AAAAAAAAAv0/oJdZx7N3g2s/s400/10.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">. Table 3: compares the home page of the five official websites across some of the advanced parameters</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">In terms of unique visitors and total page views, discover Hong Kong has an insurmountable lead over others. This is followed by Singapore; others are far behind. Discover Hong Kong is available in 14 different languages, a unique feature missing in other websites. The closest to this, is Definitely Dubai, which is available in 5 different languages. Other than the multilingual function most of the websites provide all the basic function listed in table 1. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the advanced parameters which seem to be the differentiating factor. Yours Singapore has all the five features, followed by Hong Kong with four. The other three have three each. All the five websites have designed very attractive website with lot of multimedia works-videos, photos, flash etc. One of the unique features, of the two successful website is availability of geographical customization- provision of custom made packages for different geographies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Travel websites</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Travel websites play a very significant role in tourism marketing and destination branding. Not only do they provide booking facilities for a gamut of tourism activities but also share reviews for tourist destination in the form of – comments, articles, videos and photos. These travel websites are loved by tourism enthusiast and amateur tourists alike and some of them have huge fan following all across the globe. A larger presence in such websites will ensure stronger brand image for destinations. The given part of the report will compare the five destinations across three of the most popular tourism websites- Frommer, Trip Advisor and Virtual tourist </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";">Frommer</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QDIF3EJ01aY/Tv2VxqKg_5I/AAAAAAAAAwA/8g6_5hKovE8/s1600/11.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" rea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QDIF3EJ01aY/Tv2VxqKg_5I/AAAAAAAAAwA/8g6_5hKovE8/s400/11.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 4: shows the no. of destination guides, communities and photos for the five destinations in Frommer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";">Trip advisor</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5MCZoRuVKKs/Tv2W4flS8bI/AAAAAAAAAwM/XuDjKEE1rd4/s1600/12.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5MCZoRuVKKs/Tv2W4flS8bI/AAAAAAAAAwM/XuDjKEE1rd4/s400/12.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 5: shows the no. of reviews, forums and articles for the five destinations in Trip Advisor.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";">Virtual tourist</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EcGk2OEwEZ4/Tv2XbprI9NI/AAAAAAAAAwY/sWPRtjEU_Fo/s1600/13.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" rea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EcGk2OEwEZ4/Tv2XbprI9NI/AAAAAAAAAwY/sWPRtjEU_Fo/s400/13.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT", "serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 6: shows the no. of tips and reviews, forums and articles for the five destinations in virtual tourist.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">With the help of the three tables it could be concluded that none of the destination emerges as a true winner. There is a lot of variability across the three websites. While Frommer and Trip Advisor are dominated by Bangkok; Singapore has stronghold in Virtual Tourist. Even within the sites there are lots of variations. For instance, Istanbul has the 2<sup>nd</sup> least number of tips & reviews in virtual tourist where as highest number of videos. Another point to be considered is that if there is no winner, there is no loser as well. All the five destinations have substantial presence across the three websites in the form of- reviews, photos, videos, forums and communities. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Facebook</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Digital media landscape is transforming, with social media playing a very pivotal role. One of the most popular social media site across the globe is Facebook or FB. FB which is available in more than 70 languages, has more than 800 million active users across the world. More than 50 percentage of active users log on to FB on any given day .On an average, every user is connected to 130 friends and 80 communities, events etc. (Facebook statistics, 2011) with the help of its phenomenal popularity and sheer volume across the globe, FB provides a very vibrant platform for marketers, to communicate and interact with their target customers. It also plays a very prominent role in building brand image for tourist destinations. The given part of the report will compare the brand strength of the five tourist destinations on FB. Since there are many FB pages related to the destinations and comparing all of them not possible; the given analysis will select the most popular page for all the destinations and do a comparison among them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">The pages are:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Dubai: I Love Dubai<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Istanbul: Istanbul, tours/ sightseeing </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Singapore: YourSingapore</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Bangkok: Bangkok, public places</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Hong Kong: Hong Kong, Attractions, things to do </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U2LgPT68vsQ/Tv2YJc-fzgI/AAAAAAAAAwk/gss9Vs3VNyY/s1600/14.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U2LgPT68vsQ/Tv2YJc-fzgI/AAAAAAAAAwk/gss9Vs3VNyY/s1600/14.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 9: shows number of likes and people talking about the given destinations on their FB pages. Source: FB pages</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Marketing a destination on FB also requires a lot of activities and updates on the group page, besides just having a page. In order to comprehend the level of activities done on each page, a seven day period- 19<sup>th</sup> Dec to 25<sup>th</sup> Dec, has been selected. Under the given period, all the activities- updates, likes, comments and shares have been recorded, as depicted by the following table. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1pi-W9neB4s/Tv2ZCOVyBXI/AAAAAAAAAww/DkZNOYKOP6Y/s1600/15.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" rea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1pi-W9neB4s/Tv2ZCOVyBXI/AAAAAAAAAww/DkZNOYKOP6Y/s400/15.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 7: shows the number of updates, comments, likes and shares during 19<sup>th</sup> to 25<sup>th</sup> Dec, for individual pages of tourist destinations. (Only updates related to tourism has been included)</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">On FB, Dubai seems to have an edge over other destinations. Its page “I love Dubai”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>can be considered as one of the best well managed and organized FB page for tourist destination across the globe. Properly moderated, it comes up with regular updates of photos and videos, reflecting the grandiose and extravagance of Dubai. The beautiful photo graphs, attract a large number user likes comments and shares. Other cities which come close to Dubai could be Istanbul and Singapore (YourSingapore). Istanbul like Dubai, is well moderated but is also fraught with lot of irrelevant updates- political spoofs, funny pictures etc. Another flaw for page “Istanbul” could be predominant use of Turkish language, which deprives it of an international appeal. YourSingapore is another well managed page but needs more updates. For the other two, lot needs to be done. Large number of user generated updates, which includes greetings and adieus, contradict with the professional outlook expected out of such pages. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">You tube</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Another powerful social media tool is “You Tube”. Over 800 million of unique users visit You Tube every month. Over 100 million of users take social actions such as like, share and comment on You Tube every week. (Youtube.com press statistics, 2011) You tube does not only play a pivotal role in branding a tourist destination, but also contains negative perception by interacting directly with the tourists. (Sofia R, Brain H, 2010) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wiBU_YNLLIU/Tv2ZyATgVLI/AAAAAAAAAw8/SRmDB9s784g/s1600/16.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wiBU_YNLLIU/Tv2ZyATgVLI/AAAAAAAAAw8/SRmDB9s784g/s1600/16.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 10: shows the total number of tourism related searches and total views for top 10 searches, for the five destinations. Column chart shows the no. of searches, whereas line chart with data labels show the total no. of views. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Source: You Tube<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Conclusion and Suggestions</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">It could be comprehended from various charts and tables that none of the five destinations emerges as a clear cut winner. However, someone close to the numero uno position could Hong Kong, followed by Singapore. Both the city states appear to be comparatively well equipped in building their brand on the web world. Based on the analysis, there are following suggestion, which could help these states further enhance their brand image -</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Bangkok:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"> with an intake of 10.2 million tourists, it is Asia’s most visited city. (enjoyyourholiday.com, 2011). The city also enjoys a high no of user generated reviews, communities, photos and other user generated contents in travel sites such as trip advisor, virtual tourist etc. However it has comparatively lesser web presence as estimated from the search engine section. In the social media segment it has strong base in You Tube, but needs to use Face Book more aptly. It can also work on its website by adding custom made packages. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Istanbul</span></b><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is the only city in the globe, stretched across two continents- Asia and Europe. In most of the sections, Istanbul has shown a moderate show, neither too good nor too bad. An area where it needs to put some extra efforts could be You Tube. Another could be official tourist page. The English version (the Turkish version is doing good with 2,00,000 visitors over November 2011) which definitely engaging as reflected from the average time spent, is still not attracting large volume of visitors like its counterpart, Singapore and Hong Kong. One possible measure could be annexing a Russian and German version as Turkey receives quite a good number of tourist arrivals from the two countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Dubai</span></b><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">: like Istanbul, Dubai has also showcased moderate performance across most of the sections. One area where it has been exceptional could be FB page “I love Dubai”. With arsenal of spellbinding photographs of Dubai, has been successful in its attempts of engaging and communicating with people. Besides working on platforms like virtual tourists, Dubai can rework on its official tourist site. Adding custom made packages and an Arabic version can help in more traffics. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Hong Kong and Singapore</span></b><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">: are already strong on the web. A simple piece of advice for Hong Kong could be linking social pages with the official tourist website. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Limitations</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">The given report has some fundamental limitations such as:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Search engines: based on the keywords, the number of searches give only an approximate estimation of web content available. More ever the total number of searches keeps on varying with time to time. </span><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Reviews: reviews themselves are not 100 % accurate estimation of the brand presence, since it is not just the numbers but quality of reviews that also matters. More over a negative review can be detrimental to the brand value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Google double ad click: the unique visitors, page views and average time spent, calculated by Google double ad click are just estimation rather than the exact data. However out of many website measurement tools available on the internet, it is considered as the most authentic by many web media evangelist. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Reference</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian; mso-bidi-font-family: Algerian; mso-fareast-font-family: Algerian;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Nguyen N, 2007,tourism trends and the effect of online booking for Vietnam travel market, available < </span><a href="http://www.findvietnamresorts.com/company/advertise/research.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">http://www.findvietnamresorts.com/company/advertise/research.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">> </span><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Quan Z, Rich D, 2005, Usability issue in city tourism websites: content analysis, p-3, available at </span><a href="http://www.arlt-lectures.com/cross-cult-city-tour.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.arlt-lectures.com/cross-cult-city-tour.pdf</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Facebook statistics center, 2011, available at </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Youtube.com, 2011,press statistics, available at < </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Sofia r, Brain H, 2010, the use of you tube as tourism marketing tool, available at < </span><a href="http://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/2315/1/2315.PDF"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">http://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/2315/1/2315.PDF</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Enjoyyourholiday.com, 2011, top 10 visited cities in the world, available at <</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><a href="http://www.enjoyourholiday.com/2011/04/18/top-10-most-visited-cities-in-the-world/"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.enjoyourholiday.com/2011/04/18/top-10-most-visited-cities-in-the-world/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 1: online brand display image. Source: reactorr.com </span></div></div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-58906980084712818632011-12-21T21:01:00.000-08:002011-12-23T00:31:35.549-08:00Uzbek Tourism: a comprehensive Analysis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VwlmXoKt-ZU/TvLx87Fl14I/AAAAAAAAAt8/6TZe-KHtxyM/s1600/12.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VwlmXoKt-ZU/TvLx87Fl14I/AAAAAAAAAt8/6TZe-KHtxyM/s400/12.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"> Fig 1: photo of Uzbekistan. Source: traveltourist.net </span></div> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Uzbekistan is a central Asian country rich in culture and heritage and blessed with exotic landscapes. Prior to becoming a free state in 1991, it was the part of USSR. Though considered as a lower middle income, developing nation; it is enjoying a high GDP growth rate and a high literacy of 99 percentages. It is one of the two doubly land locked (a land locked country surrounded by land locked countries) countries in the world. The other is Liechtenstein. Uzbekistan aspires to become a tourist hub par excellence. The given report will analyze Uzbekistan as a tourist hub, its present status and its future potential. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Uzbekistan: country profile</span></div><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">The following part of report will give a brief description of Uzbekistan across economical and social parameters. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TFrxK2sKWRI/TvLNFKBGAQI/AAAAAAAAAqY/ufxLwOLAPFM/s1600/1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TFrxK2sKWRI/TvLNFKBGAQI/AAAAAAAAAqY/ufxLwOLAPFM/s1600/1.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Fig 2: shows GDP growth rates of Uzbekistan Vis a Vis World, from 2000-10. Source: World Bank</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9kNwgB0HeI8/TvLNl5fw1fI/AAAAAAAAAqk/0U_SRFJ6Mn8/s1600/2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9kNwgB0HeI8/TvLNl5fw1fI/AAAAAAAAAqk/0U_SRFJ6Mn8/s1600/2.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Fig 3: shows the GDP (PPP) of Uzbekistan in US $ billions from 2002-10. Source: World Bank</span></div></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KoyslHCmWI4/TvK6nypg0OI/AAAAAAAAApo/1_Xozi9kOwI/s1600/3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="76" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KoyslHCmWI4/TvK6nypg0OI/AAAAAAAAApo/1_Xozi9kOwI/s400/3.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Table 1: shows values for Uzbekistan for some selected social parameters. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Uzbekistan: Tourism statistics</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">The following charts will show the tourism statistics of Uzbekistan </span></div><br />
<br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xyP48EzK3Ns/TvLQc4xesMI/AAAAAAAAAq8/l4NwXYO6syY/s1600/4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xyP48EzK3Ns/TvLQc4xesMI/AAAAAAAAAq8/l4NwXYO6syY/s1600/4.bmp" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Fig 4: shows the tourism receipt for Uzbekistan for 2007-10, in US $ millions. Source: Euromonitor</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3aAJpqO9BZs/TvLk7Net40I/AAAAAAAAAso/MSOJlwO1RYo/s1600/5.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3aAJpqO9BZs/TvLk7Net40I/AAAAAAAAAso/MSOJlwO1RYo/s1600/5.bmp" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Fig 5: shows total no. of world heritage sites in Uzbekistan in comparison to other countries in the nearby region of Central Asia, Europe and Middle East. Source: UNESCO</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tm39RLYlyDA/TvLlbGqIqGI/AAAAAAAAAs0/qKWFHhBvDnI/s1600/6.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="76" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tm39RLYlyDA/TvLlbGqIqGI/AAAAAAAAAs0/qKWFHhBvDnI/s400/6.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Table 2: Hotel statistics for Uzbekistan. (Figures are based on the data generated by a website called “Sairam Travels” & may not be exactly correct.)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-63ZE3AoIv3g/TvLl3JDkfvI/AAAAAAAAAtA/v7pomKf0IoM/s1600/7.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-63ZE3AoIv3g/TvLl3JDkfvI/AAAAAAAAAtA/v7pomKf0IoM/s1600/7.bmp" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Fig 7: shows the aircraft departure statistics (most recent by countries). Source: nationmaster.com </span></div></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C3tfQuIAerc/TvLmP5r4bYI/AAAAAAAAAtM/UzoG9IIZ56A/s1600/8.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C3tfQuIAerc/TvLmP5r4bYI/AAAAAAAAAtM/UzoG9IIZ56A/s1600/8.bmp" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Fig 8: shows the per capita emission of CO2 in Metric Tons for Uzbekistan, in comparison to other countries in the nearby region of Central Asia, Europe and Middle East. Source: World Bank</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Uzbekistan: types of tourism</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Uzbekistan has huge potential for developing into an exotic tourist destination. The Central Asian country is blessed with plethora of archaeological sites and exotic landscapes. The govt. of Uzbekistan is seeking huge investments in developing infrastructure and promoting the county as a great tourist destination. Around 85 percentage of the tourist visiting the nation are 55 or above. (eturbonews.com, 2011). They like the calm and serene atmosphere of Uzbek cities and come here for visiting archaeological sites and monuments dating back to Alexander & Zoroastrian era. Major tourist cities are- Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva etc. Major tourism period is April, May and September, October. The major types of tourism in Uzbekistan are as follows:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 45pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Cultural and Historical tourism: tourism in Uzbekistan is primarily centered on cultural tourism. Situated on the cross roads of Silk Road, Uzbekistan is home to around 4000 historical and architectural monuments. It has a plethora of archaeological sites to offer- mosques, mausoleums, palaces, forts, ruined Buddhist temples, monasteries & statues etc. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Recreational, Adventure and Nature tourism: Uzbekistan has a wide range of contrasting landscapes & natural beauties - mountains, valleys, desserts, forests, rivers etc. It offers various types of adventure activities such as- trekking, mountain climbing, water sports, river rafting, safaris, bird watching, hunting, fishing, horseback riding etc. It also has lot of mineral rich springs; hence making it great potential hub for recreational tourism.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 45pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Business tourism: this fastest growing central Asian country is a potential hub for business related/ MICE activities (meetings, incentive travels, conferences and exhibitions). Fast GDP growth rate, plenty of oil, natural gas and minerals along with an availability of a gamut of cultural & natural offerings can transform it into a regional business tourist’s hub. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Religious and Spiritual tourism: many tourists visit Uzbekistan for religious and spiritual purpose. It has a wide range of religious sites such as mosques, tombs, Sufi shrines etc. There are more than 160 Muslim relics located in Uzbekistan. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Dental & Medical tourism: Uzbekistan has established state of the art dental clinics in Tashkent and other major cities in the country. These clinics are equipped with top quality, instruments & human expertise. One of the remarkable feature of these clinics are that- these are much economical than clinics in Europe and Russia. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">UZBEKISTAN: WEB PRESENCE</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">The following charts and figures will show the web presence of brand Uzbekistan. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B3XZqli8LrQ/TvLnp24dDJI/AAAAAAAAAtY/E4AixdQPFrk/s1600/9.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B3XZqli8LrQ/TvLnp24dDJI/AAAAAAAAAtY/E4AixdQPFrk/s1600/9.bmp" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Fig 4: shows the number of search results in millions, for Google and Yahoo, on typing, tourism in <name country="" of="" the="">. All the nations in the list are developing nation, with population lying between 2o to 40 millions. </name></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKdOExZFPW0/TvLoED7K4hI/AAAAAAAAAtk/MWmJOj04Wsw/s1600/10.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKdOExZFPW0/TvLoED7K4hI/AAAAAAAAAtk/MWmJOj04Wsw/s1600/10.bmp" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Fig 9: shows number of reviews in Trip Advisor, related to various countries along with Uzbekistan. Source: Trip Advisor. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QGAzqJaPnwI/TvLo6543skI/AAAAAAAAAtw/lnBdAPucmxg/s1600/11.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QGAzqJaPnwI/TvLo6543skI/AAAAAAAAAtw/lnBdAPucmxg/s1600/11.bmp" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Fig 10: shows, number of search result in You Tube, on typing <country name="" tourism="">, for instance: Poland tourism. Source: You Tube. </country></span></div></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">UZBEKISTAN TOURISM: SWOT ANALYSIS</span></div></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">The following part will do a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity and threat) analysis of tourism industry in Uzbekistan. <b></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Strengths</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Uzbekistan<b> </b>is witnessing high GDP growth rate. Since 2005, its GDP is growing with more than 7 percentages. <b></b></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"> It has plethora of archaeological sites and natural beauties to offer.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">It enjoys strong social infrastructure. For instance the literacy rate is exorbitantly high at 99 percentages. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">The cities of Uzbekistan are known to be calm and peaceful, often loved by cultural lovers and senior tourists.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Strategically Uzbekistan is placed on the cross roads of the silk route. Situated in central Asia, it is close to Europe, cash rich Gulf States as well as emerging powers like Russia, China and India. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Govt. at Uzbekistan is keeping tourism high up on their agendas. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Weakness </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">So far the tourism receipt and arrival have been abysmally low. Uzbekistan still has a long way to go to catch up other major tourist destinations such as Turkey, UAE and Greece in the region.<b></b></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Uzbekistan is definitely placed in a strategic location, favorable for tourism industry, but it also a region blessed with some heavy weights of tourism industry. The Middle East & Central Asia region has two of the top 10 visited cities of the world- Dubai & Istanbul. (enjoyourholiday.com, 2011) <b></b></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Uzbekistan’s tourism industry has abysmally low web presence; as depicted by figure 8,9 and 10, it is even much lower than places like Syria and Romania, not considered as popular tourist destination. <b></b></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Across the world there is a perception that Uzbekistan offers only cultural & archaeological sites to visit. The adventurous and recreational aspects are still vastly unknown. (eturbonews.com, 2011) <b></b></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">It lacks state of the art airlines, convention centers and hotels to bolster its ambition. For instance take the example of small Gulf state UAE, which has got some world class airlines, hotels and convention centers such as- Emirates, Etihad, DWTC, ADNEC, Burj al Arab, Emirates palace etc. In contrast to this, Uzbekistan does not have such resources. <b> </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Opportunities </span></b></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">The govt. of Uzbekistan is implementing strong measures to promote it as a tourist destination. This will surely influence the industry in the coming time. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">There are many unexplored tourist places in Uzbekistan. With the help of better marketing strategy, there true potential could be realized.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">With large amount of mineral sources and spring in the mountain region, Uzbekistan has huge potential for recreational tourism.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">There are also lot of potential for other forms of tourisms- medical (dental), business and adventure.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Uzbekistan is close to 3 of the 4 BRIC nations (Russia, India & China) both geographically as well as culturally. These nations moving along high growth trajectories will constitute a major portion of the outbound tourism in the coming time. Geographical proximity along with well integrated communication strategy can help Uzbekistan win a substantial pie of outbound tourists from these nations. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Threat</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Many countries in the neighboring countries are also keeping tourism high up on their economic agenda. From Qatar to Turkey everywhere ambitious development plans are being incubated such as- Qatar 2022, Turkey 2023, Abu Dhabi 2030, Dubai 2015 etc. Once the plans will get realized, tourism sector across Central Asia & Middle would become very challenging. Such a competitive space may not be favorable for Uzbek tourism industry to up it's ante in the region.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">UZBEKISTAN TOURISM: Road map to success</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">After analyzing the statistics of Uzbekistan, followed by a “SWOT” analysis; it could be inferred that it has all the potential of becoming a successful tourist destination. it is blessed with a large number of archaeological sites and natural treasures. It also has modern tourism infrastructure and is moving across high growth trajectories. In spite of the inherent potential, the statistics so far has been very disappointing. One of the prime reason could be the Uzbekistan has been grossly misunderstood as a nation and as a tourist destination; primarily may be due to minimal efforts in marketing Uzbekistan on part of the concerned authorities. The following part of the report, will discuss a few strategies, which might lead Uzbekistan to success.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Communication, Communication & Communication </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Uzbekistan seems to be suffering from lot of ignorance from tourists across the globe. In spite of having a unique cultural identity, it seems to be perceived as yet another USSR state. Though tough and challenging, it is impediment for Uzbekistan to build a unique brand proposition for itself, which can be done only by more and more communications. It needs to establish itself as one of the fastest growing Central Asian countries, situated on the cross roads of East and West. Uzbekistan is a country which is not only blessed with plethora of archaeological sites and natural treasures; but also armored with modern tourism infrastructure. But until unless, the idea will not be communicated to the myriad tourist spread across the globe, the tourist statistics are not going to get a boosting. So, one of the very 1<sup>st</sup> thing it is supposed to do is, advertise and market itself- strongly, largely and widely. Let the world hear the herald of a new tourist destination! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">The concluding part of the debate will be discussing few of the possible measures, which Uzbekistan can take to transform itself into successful marketing destination. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Strong Web presence</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">The present landscape of communication is getting transformed. The strong space enjoyed so far by traditional media such as prints, TV and Radio broadcast is encroached upon by the digital media. Unfortunately Uzbekistan still does not seem to be equipped well enough, to adapt itself to the new media landscape. It has an abysmally low web presence across all the major web platforms. Even countries like Syria or Romania, primarily not considered as popular tourist destinations have much stronger web presence than Uzbekistan. In the present time, Uzbekistan cannot afford to have a low web presence. It needs to implement a fully fledged digital media marketing strategy; utilizing regular web platforms such as- websites, banner ads, articles etc; along with social media platforms such as- Face Book, blogs, You Tube etc. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Cater to China & India</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">China and India are among the fastest growing outbound tourism markets in the world. With a collective population of around 2.4 billion and high GDP growth rates; they are going to influence the future of tourism heavily. In India outbound tourism expenditures have grown from US $ 1.3 billion to US $ 8.2 billion in 2007. Outbound tourist departures have grown from 3.7 million in 1997 to 9.7 million in 2007 (European Travel Commission, 2009). In case of China it is even much stronger. According to figures released by China Tourism Authority (CTA), China had witnessed an international departure of 51 million, growth of 20 % over last year (Dragon Trail, 2011). Uzbekistan is geographically close to both of them and had shared cultural ties with both the emerging giants since ages. It is high time to leverage it. A unique marketing strategy catering to the two emerging giants can be a good pay off in near future. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Statistics should be made public </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Statistics on Uzbekistan are not readily available, even they are not considered very reliable. There are many popular web platforms such as- Budgetyourtrip.com, cost of living index website etc, often used by a large number of tourists worldwide, where data pertaining to Uzbekistan is missing. Similarly, in the annual WEF travel and tourism competitiveness index; an annual report comprising of travel and tourism statistics of almost all the nations in the globe; Uzbekistan is absent. Non availability of data in such an important publication can be detrimental to Uzbek tourism industry and its aspirations. Uzbekistan needs to come up with relevant data and circulate it across all the relevant platforms both off and online. Even if the data are not very attractive, it will help consolidate the image of Uzbekistan as a liberal, modern and globalized state. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Reference</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">1><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Eturbonews.com, 2011, Uzbekistan working to attract youth to stretch tourism season, available at <a href="http://www.eturbonews.com/25816/uzbekistan-working-attract-youth-stretch-tourism-season"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.eturbonews.com/25816/uzbekistan-working-attract-youth-stretch-tourism-season</span></a> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">2><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Enjouyyourholiday.com, 2011, top 10 visited cities of the world, available <a href="http://www.enjoyourholiday.com/2011/04/18/top-10-most-visited-cities-in-the-world/"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.enjoyourholiday.com/2011/04/18/top-10-most-visited-cities-in-the-world/</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">3><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Eturbonews.com, 2011, Uzbekistan working to attract youth to stretch tourism season, available at <a href="http://www.eturbonews.com/25816/uzbekistan-working-attract-youth-stretch-tourism-season"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.eturbonews.com/25816/uzbekistan-working-attract-youth-stretch-tourism-season</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">4><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">European Travel Commission, 2009, abstract, available at < <a href="http://www.etc-corporate.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=236"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.etc-corporate.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=236</span></a> ></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">5><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Dragon Trail, 2011, China soaring towards new tourism records, available at <a href="http://www.chinatraveltrends.com/2011/11/china-soaring-towards-new-tourism-records-more-than-2-billion-domestic-and-over-50-million-outbound-travellers-in-the-first-nine-months-of-2011/"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.chinatraveltrends.com/2011/11/china-soaring-towards-new-tourism-records-more-than-2-billion-domestic-and-over-50-million-outbound-travellers-in-the-first-nine-months-of-2011/</span></a> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div></div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-52876166010708840522011-12-11T07:31:00.003-08:002011-12-12T10:03:50.995-08:00Comparative Analysis of the three rising stars of Asia- Hong Kong, Singapore & Dubai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_v1X_m0cXTw/TuX7P6kFyjI/AAAAAAAAAog/U6Dgx8KPzYM/s1600/Singapore_Skyline_at_Night_with_Blue_Sky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" oda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_v1X_m0cXTw/TuX7P6kFyjI/AAAAAAAAAog/U6Dgx8KPzYM/s400/Singapore_Skyline_at_Night_with_Blue_Sky.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> Fig 1: Skyline of Singapore. Source: Wikipedia <span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai are three major city states, of international standing in Asia. All of them have undergone a phenomenal growth in the last few decades and plays a very pivotal role in the economy of their respective nations and even regions. Considered among some of the best marketed destinations in the globe; they bring in a huge amount of investments along with human capital. All these three city states constantly feature among the list of top 10, most visited cities in the world. The following blog will do a comparative analysis of the following places across a wide range of qualitative as well as quantitative parameters.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Introduction </span></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Dubai</strong></span>: is one of the most well marketed destinations, across the globe. In the three decades, the small emirate has seen itself leapfrogging from a sleepy town to one of the biggest success saga of Middle East. Placed between the cross roads of East and West, Dubai is also sometimes known as the gateway of the Middle East to the world. The biggest strength of Dubai lies in its visionary and extremely efficient leadership and liberal culture, helping it attract expats from all over the world. It is among the very first Gulf States, that has successfully diversified its economy into various sectors such as-tourism, real estates, retail, trade, media, financial services etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The very first thing that comes to mind with brand Dubai is the state of art real estate constructions. Dubai boasts some of the biggest, most expensive, state of the art buildings, hotels and real estate assignments- Al Burj, Burj Khalifa, Palm islands etc. Other than these world famous<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>landmarks Dubai offers plethora of state of the art shopping malls, amusement parks, museums, resorts and spa, golf courses, sports stadiums, convention centers etc. </span></div> <br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Singapore</strong></span>: the small city state which once got freedom in 1963 from Malaysia; is not only among one of the most visited cities across the globe; but also an epicenter of trade, commerce, finance, technology and innovation. Considered among the biggest success sagas of 20<sup>th</sup> centuries, Singapore had witnessed an average growth rate of 7.9 percentages, since 1963.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Singapore’s success story is based on four pillars- liberal govt. policies, skilled workforce, state of the art sea ports and strategic location. During the time of 60’s and 70’s when this tiny state was suffering from high unemployment, liberal policy frame work was put in place, along with investments in labor incentive industries. In the later stage, Singapore successfully transformed itself from a labor incentive industry to an innovation driven industry. Today it is home to around 500 financial institutions and most of the MNCs of the world. It also has a numero uno position in the “ease of doing business index”. (<strong><span style="color: orange;">World Bank data, 2010</span></strong>) Singapore is also great tourist hub with state of the art hotels, resorts, shopping malls, casinos etc. In 2009, it received 9.7 million tourists and was among the list of most visited cities in the world. (<strong><span style="color: orange;">annual report on tourism statistics 2009, 2011</span></strong>) </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <strong><span style="color: red;"> </span></strong></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><strong><span style="color: red;">Hong Kong</span></strong>: it’s a place where East meets the West. Before being handed over to China in 1997, Hong Kong was under British Rule. Even today other than foreign relations and military defense, it maintains a high degree of autonomy. In contrast to mainland China, it enjoys a capitalist structure marked by free trade and low taxation. It is considered as one of the freest economies of the world. Famous economist Milton Friedman once described that if someone wants to see free economy, he should go to go to Hong Kong. Like Singapore it is a major trade and financial center. Like the other three Asian tigers (Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea) Hong Kong underwent industrialization during 60’s and successfully transformed into a service sector economy during 80’s. In 2010 service sector has accounted for 92.5 percentage of GDP, against Industry contributing just 7.4 percentages. (CIA World Fact Book, 2010). A blend of Chinese and Western culture, Hong Kong is also a fabulous tourist destination attracting tourists from all over the globe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Demographics</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">All these three places are trade centers and financial capitals of their respective regions, besides being great tourist destinations; there by attracting a large number of expats- businessmen, travelers, working professionals, academicians, celebrities etc. According to the survey conducted by Dubai Statistics Center in 2006, 17 percentages of the population consists of local Emiratis. 71 percentages of the population consist of Asian which mainly includes- Indian, Pakistani, Srilankan, etc. 3 percentage of population has been categorized as Western.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In contrast to this in Hong Kong, according to 2006 census 95 percentages of the work force is Chinese followed by Filipino (1.6 percentage), Indonesian (1.3 percentage) and others 2.1 percentage. (<strong><span style="color: orange;">Index Mundi, 2011</span></strong>). In Singapore out of the total population of 5.08 million, 3.77 million are Singapore residents against 1.31 million foreign residents. (Comprising of tourists) Out of 3.77 million, residents 3.23 million are citizens where as 0.54 millions are permanent residents. Major ethnic communities include Chinese, Malay, and Indians etc. 0.3 percentage of the population can be categorized as Western.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<strong><span style="color: orange;">Department of statistics Singapore, 2011</span></strong>)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><br />
<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6DONTzbdOx0/TuTU8nIG2rI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/4cM0DkT9nQI/s1600/Singapore%252CSanghai.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" mda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6DONTzbdOx0/TuTU8nIG2rI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/4cM0DkT9nQI/s400/Singapore%252CSanghai.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 2: compares the population of three states for the year 2010. Source of data: Dubai Statistics center, Singapore Statistics center and CIA World fact book.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--WTtzmKL10I/TuTVtTOgq6I/AAAAAAAAAlY/5CxyhyII1ic/s1600/1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" mda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--WTtzmKL10I/TuTVtTOgq6I/AAAAAAAAAlY/5CxyhyII1ic/s400/1.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Eras Medium ITC;">Fig 3: shows the population of the three city states in millions, over the period of time. Source of data: Hong Kong year book, Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Department of Statistics Singapore</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hwXN2hJ_bro/TuTiO9MNGmI/AAAAAAAAAmA/N3ZSGXwYik8/s1600/4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="113" mda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hwXN2hJ_bro/TuTiO9MNGmI/AAAAAAAAAmA/N3ZSGXwYik8/s400/4.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Table 1: compares the three city states across various parameters. Reference year: 2010; Source of data: US department of State, Index Mundi etc</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xflN_GkJUvo/TuTZHVm7R8I/AAAAAAAAAlg/hwV1TP61nW8/s1600/2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="76" mda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xflN_GkJUvo/TuTZHVm7R8I/AAAAAAAAAlg/hwV1TP61nW8/s400/2.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"> Table 2: compares the three city states across geographical parameters. </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Algerian; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Economics </span></b></div><br />
<br />
The following section will compare the three city states across some of the economic parameters- Gross Domestic product (GDP), Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), Cost of living Index etc. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FyvcU79sBP4/TuTldn0yHmI/AAAAAAAAAmI/hMesVpw3s50/s1600/5.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" mda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FyvcU79sBP4/TuTldn0yHmI/AAAAAAAAAmI/hMesVpw3s50/s400/5.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 3: showing the GDP of the three city states, US $ billions, for the year 2010. Source: CIA Fact Book, Al Arabia news.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XLj-duzr-UI/TuT7uuFZrmI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/2T1M4FFQKWM/s1600/6.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" mda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XLj-duzr-UI/TuT7uuFZrmI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/2T1M4FFQKWM/s400/6.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Eras Medium ITC;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 4: showing the GDP growth rate of the three city states in the past few years. Source: World Bank, Dubai Statistics Center.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VBxeo_QxNUo/TuT-F_7JzEI/AAAAAAAAAmY/MDLZfubjUkc/s1600/7.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" mda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VBxeo_QxNUo/TuT-F_7JzEI/AAAAAAAAAmY/MDLZfubjUkc/s400/7.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 5: showing FDI inflow of the three city states in US $ billions, over the last 6 years. Source: World Bank, Dubai Statistics center.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kgGDR9ejCco/TuXevUdLH3I/AAAAAAAAAnQ/I5yIvxtmDXk/s1600/8.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="82" oda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kgGDR9ejCco/TuXevUdLH3I/AAAAAAAAAnQ/I5yIvxtmDXk/s400/8.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Table 3: compares the 3 city states across various cost of living indices. Source: NUMBEO</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Tourism statistics</span></div><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Other than being epicenter of trade, commerce and financial activities, the three states are also considered among some of the greatest tourist destinations in the globe. Constantly featuring among the top 10 most visited cities in the globe, they have some of the most magnificent hotels, resorts, casinos, convention centers, amusement parks etc. The following line graph of the report will compare the 3 city states in terms of annual tourist arrivals</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Grql13T2gEI/TuXgtCyc72I/AAAAAAAAAng/5q9Izw3SwSQ/s1600/11.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" oda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Grql13T2gEI/TuXgtCyc72I/AAAAAAAAAng/5q9Izw3SwSQ/s400/11.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 6: showing annual arrival of tourists in millions. Source: Dubai Tourism and Commercial Marketing (DTCM), Press releases by Hong Kong tourism board, Singapore Tourism Board. The comparatively higher figure for Hong Kong is on account on Chinese travelers, which account for approximately 2/3<sup>rd</sup> of tourist arrival.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">BRAND ESSENCE</span></div><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span><span style="font-family: Algerian;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">This part of the report will try figuring out one word, which can describe the brand of these city states.</span></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Dubai had successfully ventured into wide range of activities ranging from various forms of tourism (leisure, shopping, sports, cultural, dessert, business etc); trade, businesses, industries etc; but one word describing brand Dubai can be <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">luxury</span></b>. It’s a place where modern day dynamism blends well with traditional Arabic tranquility. Be it the state of the art hotels or resorts; shopping malls or villas; everywhere Dubai reflects luxury. For Singapore, that one word could be <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">innovation</span></b>. Singapore is the hub of high tech innovation. According to Global Innovation Index 2011, Singapore has been ranked as 3<sup>rd</sup> most innovative nation in the world and 1<sup>st</sup> in Asia. (Sgentrepreneurs.com, 2011). Similarly one word that can reflect the brand essence of city state Hong Kong could be <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">liberty</span></b>. Hong Kong is one of the most free and liberal states in the world. It practices liberty in almost every sphere of life- economic, social, political, etc. It offers a top notch living conditions or its residents. Ranked 13<sup>th</sup> on the Human Development Index, it is one of the best places to live. Singapore has a rank of 26, whereas Dubai (UAE) has a rank of 30. (<strong><span style="color: orange;">Human Development Index and its Component, 2011</span></strong>) </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JAFjNRZ-44k/TuYiOXrWF5I/AAAAAAAAAo4/ayNdRonhcjw/s1600/12.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" oda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JAFjNRZ-44k/TuYiOXrWF5I/AAAAAAAAAo4/ayNdRonhcjw/s320/12.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Fig 8: Shows the brand essence of the three city states in one word.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">ANALYSIS & conclusion</span></div><br />
The given report had tried analyzing the three city states of Asia across various parameters related to demography, economy, tourism etc. With the help of various charts it could be seen that Dubai is still catching up with the Singapore and Hong Kong and will take some time to reach their level. Dubai is an Emirate with extremely big ambitions. For instance by 2015, the Dubai Tourism and Commercial Marketing aims at reaching an annual tourist arrival of 15 million. Though time will tell how far Dubai will excel to realize this ambition; but if realized Dubai will be the most visited tourist destination in the world. Similarly in other spheres also the 2nd largest emirate of UAE holds huge ambitions. Exp: Jebel Ali, the largest man made harbor is also undergoing expansion and once completed in 2030, it is expected to be the biggest container port in the world.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The social and economic structures of these three city states have their own similarities as well as differences. Singapore and Hong Kong are quite synonymous to each other in terms of knowledge economy, high degree of social freedom & liberty and international trade centers; Dubai offers a slightly different case. Though Dubai has successfully diversified its economy (presently Hydrocarbons account for only 2.1 percentage of GDP, contrary to 1985, when it had a giant share of 55 percentages) into real estate, trade and tourism; it is still far behind from becoming a knowledge economy. Similarly in terms of demographic break up, Dubai’s economy is completely dependent on expats, in contrast to local Emiratis which constitute only 17 percentage of population. (<strong><span style="color: orange;">Dubaidreams.net, 2011</span></strong>). It is the other way round in Hong Kong and Singapore. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GNQGhJW0nFU/TuYirkk-7HI/AAAAAAAAApA/dpB_X58mEEY/s1600/13.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" oda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GNQGhJW0nFU/TuYirkk-7HI/AAAAAAAAApA/dpB_X58mEEY/s400/13.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Table 4: shows the diminishing percentage of oil in Dubai’s GDP. Source: USA Today, AME info.com, Dubai Chamber of Commerce</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">Dubai has its own advantage. It is yet to realize its full potential and hence has a long way to go. In the form of its ambitious 2015 plan, it aims at implementing strong social and economic reforms and transformations. It is one of the fastest growing Emirates and prior to the economic crisis that led to real estate bust; it was enjoying a double digit growth rate. Considered as an epicenter of trade, finance, investments, culture and tourism in the Middle East region, it had help attracting a lot of investments, trade and human capital for the region. </span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">If IT and Technology defines Singapore and Hong Kong; real estate defines Dubai. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is marked by luxury, which gets reflected in the wide range of high profile construction projects incubated by the Emirate. One of the reasons, it can accommodate such projects, is the availability of large amount of free space. While Singapore and Hong Kong are becoming vertical cities, Dubai still enjoys a population density of 408 per square Kilometer, much lesser than most of the major cities in the world. It is also comparatively economical in comparison to the other two cities. (as shown in table 3). In a nutshell, Dubai has carved a unique niche for itself. Created amidst a dessert, it has successfully transformed itself from a sleepy oil rich emirate, where once hydrocarbon accounted for more than 50 percentage of GDP to one of the most economically diversified and socially liberal state in the region. </span></div><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC", "sans-serif";">In terms of political structure Dubai and Singapore share a similar kind of structure. Both of them are blessed with visionary political leadership, which played a pivotal role in their exorbitant growth. They have got an extremely efficient political and bureaucratic apparatus, known for executing big projects swiftly. Contrary to this in Hong Kong, govt. has a minimal role to play in the economic ambit. In fact Hong Kong has one of the most liberal economies across the globe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Eras Medium ITC;"><br />
In spite of having differences across various economic and social parameters, there are lots of things common in the three states. On Economic front, all of them have liberal economic policies marked by low tax and tariff rates, helping them attract a large amount of investments and top notch human capital. All of them have shown phenomenal growth rate in the recent past. They share a lot of similarities in terms of landscape and geography. They are islands, have extended coastlines, and are situated in strategic locations, which helped them morphed into excellent trading centers. Not blessed with much of exotic natural landscapes, they made huge investments in developing state of the art hotels, beach resorts, golf courses, convention centers, shopping malls; there by transforming into magnificent leisure and business tourism destination. High tourist arrivals have also been very advantageous for their retail sector. On social front, all three of them are marked by open and liberal cosmopolitan culture, attracting expats from all over the globe and providing a platform to grow and flourish. This ability of attracting diversified human resource from various parts of globe had eventually been very beneficial to them. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The three city states converges as well as diverges across different parameters; but one thing that is common to all is the phenomenal success story they have scripted for themselves in such a small interval of time. They came from nowhere and today are destinations of international standing. These city states, developed from scratch, are product of- strategic planning, die hard entrepreneurial spirit and openness towards change. Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai-these are the rising stars of the East, without any substantial past, but definitely with an illustrious present and future. <br />
</span> </div></div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-6512437254888808092011-11-19T05:18:00.000-08:002011-11-22T07:02:15.779-08:00Analysis of digital media in the Middle East and North Africa Region<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z307UNKxTec/TsesVUY8V1I/AAAAAAAAAlE/XDb1ZJxNVSA/s1600/Social-Media-Optimization-Marketing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z307UNKxTec/TsesVUY8V1I/AAAAAAAAAlE/XDb1ZJxNVSA/s320/Social-Media-Optimization-Marketing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; text-align: left; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; text-align: left; text-indent: -24px;">Fig 1: logos of various social media. Source: </span><a href="http://www.middleeastsocialmedia.com/" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -24px;">http://www.middleeastsocialmedia.com/</a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Introduction<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Algerian;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">The competitive dynamics of the media industry is being transformed throughout the world. All across the world, the popularity of traditional media channels such as print media, TV broadcast and Radio broadcast are depleting and is being replaced by the digital media. Not only is the digital medium encroaching upon the space of the traditional media; but also changing the dynamics of revenue model- so far enjoyed by the traditional media. Even in the digital media itself, lot of changes are happening. The traditional boundaries, between media companies, telecom operators, handset manufactures and internet service provider is getting blurred. Everyone is trying to encroach upon each other’s space. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">The digital media in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is still in its nascent stage, as compared to other developed parts of the world such as Western Europe and North Africa; but given the fact that huge investments are made in ICT infrastructure, internet and mobile penetration are increasing at a rampant speed and a new wave of political change is happening all across the region, digital media seems to have a huge potential to grow in the region. The following research article will do an analysis of Digital media, its present state and its future prospect; in the MENA region. It will take help from reports from sources such as: Booz and Company, PWC, Arab Media Outlook, Spot On PR, Neilson etc. </span><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Advantages of digital media:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Digital media offer some unique advantages, which traditional media such as TV & Radio broadcast and print media cannot offer. Some of the unique advantages are:-<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Economical</span>: digital media is very economical. Having a brick and mortar shop will cost a lot; in contrast to this having a web presence is much cheaper. It does not cost much to develop and market a website. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Curtails geographical barriers</span>: a very remarkable feature of digital media is that, it could be accessed from any part of the globe. Geographical barriers often create challenge for traditional media sources such as newspaper and magazines in disseminating information, but digital media, which has a virtual presence, could be accessed from any part of the world. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">C<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">onvenience</span>: Digital media is always convenient to use. With the help of a laptop,i-pad or other hand held device plethora of content could be consumed. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Content can be consumed as well as produced at the same time</span>: with the help of web 2.0 platforms, content can be viewed/consumed as well as produced at the same time. Web 2.0 provides two way communication platforms. Not only does it communicate directly to the end users, but also allow the consumers to share their opinion, feedbacks etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Consumer Insights</span>: with the help of web based analytics, digital media can give a lot of detailed insights, pertaining to consumer behavior and demographics- consumption pattern, duration, geography etc. One remarkable feature is that, all such valuable data could be obtained at a negligible cost.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -24px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Target Marketing</span>: digital media helps in capturing the target audience.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Disadvantages of Digital Media:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Along with advantages, digital media also has some disadvantages such as <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Revenue from advertisements is not easy in the digital media. It’s easy to have a web presence/ digital presence, but it is as difficult to generate revenue out of it.Monetization of digital media is a challenge, through out the globe. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Generating revenue always takes a large amount of time. Revenue can follow only, after creating a sizeable customer base. For instance, even Facebook took five years to break even. The revenue from marketing could be generated only after securing huge customer base. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Not everyone is very comfortable with digital media, especially when it comes to money transaction. A large number of individuals are wary of transferring money over the internet. More over the web medium has also been the source of lot of frauds. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> Consumers expect a lot of free content on the web. When it comes to paying for the content, many individuals are not very willing to pay. They just want stuffs for free. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">DIGITAL MEDIA: global trends<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Globally more than 50% of the internet consumption comprises of 5 nations: USA, China, India, Brazil and Russia. As described earlier a lot of creative rearrangements are happening in the media sector, all across the globe. Some of the major global trends in the digital media are as follows (<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Morgan Stanley, 2009</span></b>) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">E-commerce: major products which are purchased online globally are- computer products, electronic items, event tickets, hotel bookings, tour packages, books, music/video etc, toys etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Consumptions of internet on mobile are catching up fast with consumption on desktop. According to Morgan Stanley report, by 2013-14 more users will be consuming internet via mobile devices, rather than desktop computer.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Social Media: social media users are surpassing the regular email users. People refer spending more time on social media rather than on regular emails.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Adoption of newer and better telecom services such as 3G will further consolidate the stronghold of mobile medium.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Digital media in Middle East<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">In contrast to other parts developed world, digital media in MENA region is still not very matured but is surely one of the sectors, which is poised for a high growth in the coming time. As a region, MENA has its own advantages and its own challenges. Presently there are 65 million internet users in the MENA region, which is expected to increase to 80 million by 2012. (<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">AMIR, 2011</span></b>) Other than global heavyweights such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook and regional players such as Kooora, Maktoob etc; the region is also witnessing the arrival of online marketing firms such as Al click, Eastline Marketing etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Advantages of Middle East<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">The Socio Economic structure of the entire Middle East has lot of inherent advantages, which can boost the growth of online media companies in the region. Some of them are (<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Booz & Company, 2009</span></b>):<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">A uniform, homogeneous market: the Middle East might have many small nations, across the region but, all share the common Arab heritage and enjoy high degree of commonality across various socio-cultural dimensions. Hence the Middle East could be considered as a homogeneous mixture of around 300 million individuals. The idea of uniformity becomes more apt in case of digital media because; unlike regular media such as print and broadcast which are restricted to national boundaries due to regulatory barriers; online media can have a pan Arab presence.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">High mobile penetration: these days a large amount of digital contents are being viewed with the help of mobile devices. MENA region enjoys a high degree of mobile penetration with states like UAE and Saudi Arabia enjoying a mobile penetration of 200 and 125 percentages. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">High literacy rate: Many of the MENA states are taking education, high up on their agendas. Some of the MENA states enjoy a high degree of literacy. For instance: collectively the six gulf state enjoys a literacy rate of more than 75 percentages. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Several MENA nations are extremely rich: many of the oil rich MENA nations, especially Gulf States are extremely rich and enjoy high per capita GDP. For instance: Qatar, where per capita GDP is around US $ 78,000. By 2015, Gulf States and Egypt are expected to have 13 million households in middle to high income brackets. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Investments in the ICT infra structure: rather than depending on oil MENA nations are realizing the urgency of economic diversification. One thing which is high up on their agenda is ICT infrastructure. All across the MENA huge investments are being made to develop state of the art ICT infra structure. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Demographics: the younger generation is more inclined towards the digital media. Somewhere around, 55 percentages of Arab population, is less than 25 years of age, which shows that there is a huge potential for the digital media to flourish in the Arab world.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Algerian; text-indent: 0px;">Challenges for digital media in Middle East & north africa</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Along with advantages, MENA also has lot of challenges, providing hindrances to the growth of digital media in the sector. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Low broad band connectivity: it is expected that broadband connectivity will increase in the coming years; but the present penetration of 12 percentages is much lower than other developed parts of the globe. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DnfaUqI3cMs/TsdpSg4pH3I/AAAAAAAAAjU/rhrrfbW29ao/s1600/fig+1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DnfaUqI3cMs/TsdpSg4pH3I/AAAAAAAAAjU/rhrrfbW29ao/s400/fig+1.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig2: broad band penetration in different geographies. Source: Arab Media Outlook 2009-13</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Dissimilarity in ICT infrastructure across the region: even though the region shares socio cultural heritages, there is a high degree of economic asymmetry across the whole region. There are cash rich small Gulf States; North African bigger states like Egypt and Morocco which are comparatively more integrated with the world economy; developing states like Jordan and Syria with almost no oil and reserve and states like Libya and Algeria with high oil deposits but high population as well. This asymmetry is also reflected in a wide range of economic parameters such as mobile penetration, internet penetration, broad band connectivity, kind of network technology being used etc. For instance, in emerging markets like Syria and Sudan broadband penetration is less than 1 percentage; in Morocco and Jordan it is 12 and 15 percentages respectively where as in rich Gulf States like UAE and Qatar it is 69 and 84 percentages respectively. This inherent heterogeneous nature of the ICT infrastructure across the region makes it difficult for organizations to adopt a single digital marketing strategy. (<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Arab media outlook 2009-13, 2009</span></b>)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Gap between presence and revenue: any business model does not make any sense, until unless it cannot generate constant stream of revenue. In the MENA companies are finding it tough to en cash their digital presence. For instance: 85 percentages of Arab newspapers have digital presence as well, but digital media constitutes just 2 percentages of their advertising revenue. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3iMEkdaoVlw/TseAf6NjEjI/AAAAAAAAAjc/qD_cmjqhXoo/s1600/fig+2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3iMEkdaoVlw/TseAf6NjEjI/AAAAAAAAAjc/qD_cmjqhXoo/s400/fig+2.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 3: shows the breakup of digital media revenue (in US $ million) in the MENA region, for 2009. (Source: Booz & Company) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p6exL9gjeKk/TseBGPjduvI/AAAAAAAAAjk/iMsfHraCqqE/s1600/fig+3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p6exL9gjeKk/TseBGPjduvI/AAAAAAAAAjk/iMsfHraCqqE/s400/fig+3.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 4: percentage wise break up of online advertisements in MENA region. Source: Booz & Company, 2009.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cIovr9m09Eg/TseBnWRYpnI/AAAAAAAAAjs/Olk1dMRk6kc/s1600/fig+4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cIovr9m09Eg/TseBnWRYpnI/AAAAAAAAAjs/Olk1dMRk6kc/s400/fig+4.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 5: percentage wise break up of mobile advertisements in MENA region. Source: Booz & Company, 2009.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Online shopping activity is abysmally low: according to a research conducted by Neilson (comprising of 1,246 individuals from four countries- UAE, Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia) less than 1 percentage of individuals prefers engaging themselves in online shopping. (<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Arab Media Outlook 2009-13 , 2009</span></b>) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Monetization of the online content, which is somehow a challenge all across the globe, is quiet challenging in the MENA region. The prevalence of a cash based culture and low penetration of credit & debit card penetration makes it more difficult. (<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Arab Media Outlook 2009-13 , 2009</span></b>) </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Algerian;">Internet consumption behavior of MENA users</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Algerian;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">In order to analyze the prospect of digital media in MENA region, it will be helpful to have a brief overview of internet consumption behavior of people from the region. In order to understand this better, the blog will be taking the help of a research conducted by, <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Effective Research</span></b> in conjunction with <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Spot on PR</span></b>, in July 2010. The research has been conducted over a base of 2587 individuals, out of which 69 percentages comprised of Egyptians and 20 percentages comprised of individuals from GCC. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RaQoI002qHk/TseEC7MhynI/AAAAAAAAAj0/L-hHSu1dPds/s1600/fig+5.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RaQoI002qHk/TseEC7MhynI/AAAAAAAAAj0/L-hHSu1dPds/s400/fig+5.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig6: shows the common activities on internet in the MENA region. Source: <b>Neilson</b>, the survey comprised of 1,810 individuals from 4 countries- Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Lebanon. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Education level of individuals surveyed:</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; text-indent: -24px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jRWQrbUrzT8/TseGXZjaDNI/AAAAAAAAAj8/vu6lKogL4_g/s1600/6.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jRWQrbUrzT8/TseGXZjaDNI/AAAAAAAAAj8/vu6lKogL4_g/s400/6.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; text-indent: -24px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig7: shows the education level of respondents surveyed, in terms of percentages. Source: Effective Research and Spot on PR.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Place of internet access</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V_GPT6349zU/TseMYsi6NZI/AAAAAAAAAkE/Otpna-97_Bo/s1600/fig+6.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V_GPT6349zU/TseMYsi6NZI/AAAAAAAAAkE/Otpna-97_Bo/s400/fig+6.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig8: shows the place of access of internet, for the respondents, in terms of percentages. (Source: Effective Research and Spot on PR, 2010) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Respondent’s, Usage of Social Media Platform:</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i3zgQrkAygM/TseNlEotwDI/AAAAAAAAAkM/ZZ-23etkqLc/s1600/7.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i3zgQrkAygM/TseNlEotwDI/AAAAAAAAAkM/ZZ-23etkqLc/s400/7.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 150%;">Fig9: shows respondent's usage of various </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">social</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 150%;"> media platforms.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">(Source: Effective Research and Spot on PR, 2010)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">Respondent’s daily consumption of other</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"> media channels.</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"><br />
</span></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d8tj5JmCWjM/TsePYS38WWI/AAAAAAAAAkU/170JNu6cCe0/s1600/8.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d8tj5JmCWjM/TsePYS38WWI/AAAAAAAAAkU/170JNu6cCe0/s400/8.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig10: shows percentage of correspondents consuming various media channels on a daily basis (in case of magazine, weekly figures have been taken). Source: Effective Research and Spot on PR.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Disposition towards Internet Marketers</span></b>:<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CWex5T24or8/TseQKJVMYLI/AAAAAAAAAkc/ZKraRpjODcU/s1600/10.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CWex5T24or8/TseQKJVMYLI/AAAAAAAAAkc/ZKraRpjODcU/s400/10.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig11: respondent's disposition towards internet marketers. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Source: Effective Research and Spot on PR.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Important Conclusions</span></b>:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Important conclusions, drawn from the report are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Majority (more than two third) of internet users from the region seems to be, graduate or above.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Internet is primarily used from home.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Facebook seems to be very popular across the region. The tremendous popularity of Facebook is followed by other local brands such as Kooora, Maktoob etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Internet users from the MENA region simultaneously use a wide range of other media channels as well, such as newspaper, magazine, radio, TV, mobile applications etc <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Challenges for Digital Media:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Less ad spending on digital media: so far digital media contribute a miniscule share of just 2 percentage of overall ad spending in the MENA region. In 2008, the digital advertisement investments per capita in the MENA region was just US $ 2 compared to the global average of US $ 27. (<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Booz & Company, 2009</span></b>) </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UZBZ8fMT2K0/TseX-05hHOI/AAAAAAAAAkk/UJwD--cCSEY/s1600/11.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UZBZ8fMT2K0/TseX-05hHOI/AAAAAAAAAkk/UJwD--cCSEY/s400/11.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 12: shows per capita digital ad spend across various countries in 2008. Source: Booz & Company, 2009. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Internet penetration is comparatively low: internet penetration is increasing in the Middle East region at a very fast pace and the present penetration of 28.8 percentages is higher than the global average of 26.6 percentages. Although when compared with other developed parts of the globe; it appears to be very low. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KC2-P9LS1pw/TseZUmLNL2I/AAAAAAAAAks/01zTQf6wiG0/s1600/12.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KC2-P9LS1pw/TseZUmLNL2I/AAAAAAAAAks/01zTQf6wiG0/s400/12.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 13: shows internet penetration in various geographical regions (Source: Internet World stats, 2010)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Social media angle <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">The understanding of digital media in the MENA region will be incomplete without understanding the “Social Media” angle. Social Media is one of the fastest growing segments of media in the MENA. Not only does it make sense for business in present as well as in future; but also plays a pivotal role in socio-political sphere of the region. The best exemplar could be the latest Arab revolution, which started from Egypt & Tunisia and spread across the entire region. Social Media sites such as Facebook and Twitter played a major role in the revolution, eventually forcing the incumbent governments to step down. In a wide range of activities such as; creation of popular pages such as “We are all Khalid Said”, meant for addressing the political concerns of the common people; communicating across the user network to stage a mass protest on 25<sup>th</sup> January to post revolution analysis and public opinion building on key issues; everywhere social media has been the key player. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Facebook</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Facebook or FB is the most popular, social media in the MENA region, very much in line with the general popularity, which it enjoys across the globe. The region has somewhere around 15 million FB users, with GCC countries accounting for some 5 million users (<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Spot On, 2010</span></b>) Other than English, other popular versions of FB are French and Arabic.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TOo9cmopURU/TsebazP8miI/AAAAAAAAAk0/l2x2YNzBvr4/s1600/13.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TOo9cmopURU/TsebazP8miI/AAAAAAAAAk0/l2x2YNzBvr4/s400/13.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig14: shows the percentage wise break up of FB users in the MENA region. Source: Spot On<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">The Arabic interface has been added in March, 2009. It helped FB capturing a whole new range of user segment. With a year of its inception, it added 3.5 million users to the existing base. The French version of FB has a total of 3.7 million users and is more popular in francophone countries such as- Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia etc. The top five user communities of FB in the region are- Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia and UAE. These five countries, comprise of 70 percentages of FB’s market in MENA region. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aEnzjeiSUxs/TsehcuUJ4AI/AAAAAAAAAk8/tVkT2q86N5I/s1600/15.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aEnzjeiSUxs/TsehcuUJ4AI/AAAAAAAAAk8/tVkT2q86N5I/s400/15.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 15: percentage wise break up of FB using population of various MENA nations. Source: Spot On<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Algerian;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">As discussed earlier, the online media/digital media segment in Middle East is in its nascent stage but the future seems to be bright. The following factors will drive/influence growth of digital media in the future:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"> </span></b></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Young Demographics will influence growth</span></b>: one of the biggest advantages that MENA is having is its young demographic. More than 55 percentage of population is aged less than 25. This young generation will be heavily influencing the growth of digital media in the region.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Broad band penetration</span></b>: broad band penetration, especially in comparatively bigger states like Egypt and Saudi Arabia will drive growth of digital media in the region. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"> </span></b></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Europe could be a role model</span></b>: though digital media has enough presence in both social as well as economical spheres of the region, the advertisement revenues are still not very high. In this regard Europe of 2000s could be perfect role model, when the advertisements revenue where low there as well. But with the growth of more and broadband and mobile penetration, it got emancipated. With increasing broadband penetration and adoption of better mobile technologies; MENA can undergo the same growth trajectories. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Arabic and local Content</span></b>: in order to digital media (as well as other media sources to an extent) to succeed, one area that needs to be addressed is developing local content. According to survey conducted by Neilson, 62 percentages of respondents prefer browsing the web in Arabic rather than English; but the region has dearth of Arabic/local digital content. (Unlike newspaper, where 90 percentages of content are local in nature). In spite of the fact that international brands like Yahoo and Facebook enjoy a high degree of popularity in the region due to their brand value and 1<sup>st</sup> mover’s advantage; the fact cannot be discounted that there is a penchant for local content both on and off the web. Hence in order to succeed in the coming future, it is essential to emphasis on the development of more and more local content. This requires funding, govt. support as well as developing local talent. (<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Arab Media Outlook 2009-13, 2009</span></b>) <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Creating right cultural environment for web entrepreneurs to succeed: in order to develop the online media sector in Middle East, a possible step could be developing something similar to Silicon Valley. This will help nurturing young talents to develop web based start ups. In the MENA region one possible role model could be Jordan, which is taking similar initiatives. Jordan is transforming itself into a knowledge economy by- generating 6000 ICT graduates every year, attracting venture capital for web based start ups and taking a comparatively tolerant stand on media sector including the blogosphere. (Arab Media Outlook 2009-13, 2009) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Nurturing Talent: one of the most essential pillars for developing the digital media in the region could be having the right talent base. Though many of the Arab/ Gulf countries are taking initiatives, but there is further room for improvement. The students from the region need to be trained on a wide range of subjects such as- digital media, gaming, animation etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Reference</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">1><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Morgan Stanley, 2009, Internet trends report<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">2><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Arab Media Outlook 2009-13, 2009, simulating local content in Arab Media Industry, p-169 <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">3><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Arab Media Outlook 2009-13, 2009, simulating local content in Arab Media Industry, p-172 <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">4><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">AMIR, March 2011, P-3 <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">5><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Booz & Company, 2009, Winning in MENA new media scene<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">6><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Booz and Company, 2009, Winning in MENA new media scene, p-17<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">7><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Arab Media Outlook 2009-13, digital media, p-68 <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">8><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Spot On, 2010, Middle East and North Africa Facebook demographics. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">9> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Arab Media Outlook 2009-13, digital media, p-169 </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Eras Medium ITC";">1><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Eras Medium ITC","sans-serif";">Arab Media Outlook 2009-13, digital media, p-181 <o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-66624702279223192942011-11-05T08:54:00.000-07:002011-11-05T10:29:47.222-07:00Comparative Analysis of the tourism sector of the Gulf countries and Nordic countries<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C2O68Fw8eA8/TrVxOtl4TvI/AAAAAAAAAjM/X7Bd17Hk-5w/s1600/tourism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C2O68Fw8eA8/TrVxOtl4TvI/AAAAAAAAAjM/X7Bd17Hk-5w/s320/tourism.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> Fig 1: Travel & Tourism competitiveness report (Source: The Armenian Observer Blog)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">In the world of tourism, geographical clusters play a very important role. Attractiveness of individual states does not only depend on them, but a large part of it also depends on the attractiveness of the whole region as a tourist destination. This concept is more applicable in small states. Bigger state like India and China or heavily popular and strongly marketed states like Dubai or Singapore are quite independent of their regions but for other places regional clusters do play a very significant role. For exp: Jordan’s attractiveness as a tourist destination will be dependent on the attractiveness of Arab world / MENA region.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">It has following impacts:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 46.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Marketing and Branding: helps in the marketing of the whole cluster/ region. If a region has quite a good number of tourist destinations, then it helps in promoting the whole region as a tourist destination, eventually helping in promoting, often overlooked locations. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 46.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Complimentary packages: these days’ tourists prefer tour packages comprising two or more nations. Hence availability of a good number of tourist destinations in single region helps in developing better tour packages. For exp: lot of tourists visiting UK prefers combo packages comprising of England, Ireland, and Scotland. Tourists visiting South East Asia prefer combo packages comprising of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 46.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Regional cooperation: Tourism is a highly capital intensive industry and it requires huge investment in infrastructure as well as marketing. Regional economic cooperation among the nations in a region enables in developing better infrastructure- in the form of hotels, resorts, roads, airports etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><div style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">The following blog article will do a comparative analysis of two geographical cluster- Gulf countries and Nordic countries. Both the clusters consist of economically well off nations with small population and surface area. Hence they provide a good case to do comparison. The documents used for this are – The Global Competitiveness report and World Economic Forum travel and tourism competitiveness. (Some of the terms have been directly used from WEF report. Their meanings have been explained in the end. ) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"></div><div style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Algerian; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">COMPARISON OF Economic & social indicators FOR THE SIX GULF STATES<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Algerian; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--cFU-21LHEY/TrVdFCYKF5I/AAAAAAAAAhE/XBiyue7Snpk/s1600/2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--cFU-21LHEY/TrVdFCYKF5I/AAAAAAAAAhE/XBiyue7Snpk/s400/2.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Table 1: Showing population of the six Gulf States. (Source: WEF, travel and tourism competency report 2011.)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Demi ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Aggregate Population: 37.8 Million<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Demi ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Aggregate Surface Area: 2423.2 (000 SQ KM)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Demi ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F5yXZO_LA0o/TrVdTaJQkYI/AAAAAAAAAhM/O1WLDiLke9g/s1600/3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F5yXZO_LA0o/TrVdTaJQkYI/AAAAAAAAAhM/O1WLDiLke9g/s400/3.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 2: Pie chart showing GDP of individual Gulf States. (Source: WEF travel and tourism competency report 2011.) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Demi ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Aggregate GDP: US $ 863.6 Billion</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Demi ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-enkQNZdF0Gk/TrVd7S8H0bI/AAAAAAAAAhc/rH_jGsZJxPk/s1600/4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-enkQNZdF0Gk/TrVd7S8H0bI/AAAAAAAAAhc/rH_jGsZJxPk/s400/4.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 3: Showing per capita GDP (PPP, US $) .Source: WEF, travel and tourism report, 2011. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WoKDLECyDqA/TrVdu1uFVFI/AAAAAAAAAhU/VxIVt8n_xnU/s1600/5.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WoKDLECyDqA/TrVdu1uFVFI/AAAAAAAAAhU/VxIVt8n_xnU/s400/5.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Fig 4: Showing environment performance index of the six Gulf States. (Source: WEF, travel and tourism competency report, 2011.) </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">The Gulf States are comparatively small states with Saudi Arabia being the biggest and most populous while Bahrain being the smallest and least populous. Saudi Arabia on account of being the biggest state is also the biggest economy, followed by UAE. Qatar, one of the fastest economies of the world enjoys the highest per capita GDP among the Gulf States. Other Gulf States shows a high degree of uniformity in terms of per capita GDP with per capita GDP lying between US $ 25,000- 35,000. The average environmental performance index is 127, with UAE showing the highest value of 152 and Saudi Arabia showing the lowest value of 99.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Algerian; font-size: 16px;">Tourism statistics of gulf state</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Algerian; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CntuYneIGWU/TrVebdJurTI/AAAAAAAAAhk/HCgtSSSVg5I/s1600/6.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CntuYneIGWU/TrVebdJurTI/AAAAAAAAAhk/HCgtSSSVg5I/s400/6.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 5: Showing T&T industry and economy receipt (US $ Billion) of the six Gulf Nations. Source: (WEF, travel and tourism competency report, 2011.)</span></i><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n2irE4YNcZM/TrVey31LNxI/AAAAAAAAAhs/lgV2BoUxWOo/s1600/8.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n2irE4YNcZM/TrVey31LNxI/AAAAAAAAAhs/lgV2BoUxWOo/s400/8.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 6: Showing, per capita T&T industry and economy receipt (US $) of the six Gulf Nations. Source: (WEF, travel and tourism competency report, 2011.)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yGgnmS9HfMY/TrVgNznuWMI/AAAAAAAAAh0/P25iOpdFk5c/s1600/9.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yGgnmS9HfMY/TrVgNznuWMI/AAAAAAAAAh0/P25iOpdFk5c/s400/9.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Table 2: Showing the overall competencies of six Gulf Nations. Source: WEF travel and tourism industry report 2011. </span></i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Analysis</span></b>: </span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Dubai is considered as gateway of, Middle East to the whole world and it gets reflected in the above figure. In both categories- Tourism receipt as well as tourism receipt as a percentage of GDP, UAE holds a numero uno position. UAE is followed by Saudi Arabia which receives a considerable amount of tourism receipt on account of conducting the very famous Hajj festival, where Muslim pilgrims from all around the globe come to Mecca. For most of the other Gulf nations, tourism still does not seem to be playing any significant role. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ucRvPg7itRk/TrVsh-lX41I/AAAAAAAAAh8/7QhmgJjUXB8/s1600/10.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ucRvPg7itRk/TrVsh-lX41I/AAAAAAAAAh8/7QhmgJjUXB8/s400/10.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Table 3: Showing population and surface area of the five Nordic nations. (Source: WEF travel and tourism competency report, 2011)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mavBqpOnzxA/TrVs9smuR0I/AAAAAAAAAiE/x8WvMXFHDOQ/s1600/11.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mavBqpOnzxA/TrVs9smuR0I/AAAAAAAAAiE/x8WvMXFHDOQ/s400/11.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 7: Showing the GDP (US $ Billion) of the five Nordic Nations. Source: (WEF travel and tourism competency report, 2011)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ui0FeB0EnMA/TrVtI86FelI/AAAAAAAAAiM/LZwRB61vC3Q/s1600/12.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ui0FeB0EnMA/TrVtI86FelI/AAAAAAAAAiM/LZwRB61vC3Q/s400/12.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 8: Showing the per capita GDP (PPP, US $) of the six Nordic Nations. (Source: WEF, travel and tourism competency report, 2011)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-90PUAQnccRw/TrVtXWCCWFI/AAAAAAAAAiU/ZNBLL1GbAvs/s1600/13.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-90PUAQnccRw/TrVtXWCCWFI/AAAAAAAAAiU/ZNBLL1GbAvs/s400/13.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 9: Showing environmental performance index of the six Nordic Nations, 2011. (Source: WEF, travel and tourism competency report, 2011) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Like Gulf countries, Nordic countries are also small nations with Iceland being the smallest and Sweden being the largest. Considered as one of the safest and happiest places in the globe, these states enjoy very low rate of crime, high per capita GDP and high standard of living. Most of the nations have per capita GDP in the range US $ 35,000-40,000, with Norway being an exception. The Nordic nation has a per capita GDP of US$ 51,980. One of the remarkable features of the Nordic nations is exceptionally good environmental performance index. The Numero Uno position in this ranking, which comprises of 139 nations, is with Iceland, smallest Nordic nation. Al most all the nations other than Denmark are ranked within 15 in this ranking. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YLKvX1l00zc/TrVt0Psj0uI/AAAAAAAAAic/_BRWeV1eRnE/s1600/14.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YLKvX1l00zc/TrVt0Psj0uI/AAAAAAAAAic/_BRWeV1eRnE/s400/14.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Table 4: Showing Travel and Tourism competency, of the five Nordic Nations. (Source: Travel and Tourism Competency 2011.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Average attractiveness: 5.1<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YUFpyAl9gQc/TrVuIb-7u-I/AAAAAAAAAik/iyNndLkQ7ms/s1600/15.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YUFpyAl9gQc/TrVuIb-7u-I/AAAAAAAAAik/iyNndLkQ7ms/s400/15.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 10: Showing T&T industry and economy receipt (US $ Billion) of the Five Nordic Nations. Source: (WEF, travel and tourism competency report, 2011.)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mvmrcw3sJe0/TrVuXsEx5sI/AAAAAAAAAis/MCPy28kEDC4/s1600/16.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mvmrcw3sJe0/TrVuXsEx5sI/AAAAAAAAAis/MCPy28kEDC4/s400/16.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 11: Showing, per capita T&T industry and economy receipt (US $ Billion) of the Five Nordic Nations. Source: (WEF, travel and tourism competency report, 2011.)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Algerian; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Comparison</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Algerian; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B9e8kReuAcc/TrVumcS9afI/AAAAAAAAAi0/l_LaoWjq6fM/s1600/17.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B9e8kReuAcc/TrVumcS9afI/AAAAAAAAAi0/l_LaoWjq6fM/s400/17.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Algerian; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> <o:p></o:p></span><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Table 5: Comparison of Gulf and Nordic Nations across various parameters. (Source: WEF travel and tourism report, 2011)</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VFFQkRbXmJo/TrVuyPQD-OI/AAAAAAAAAi8/MV7XnLmng44/s1600/18.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VFFQkRbXmJo/TrVuyPQD-OI/AAAAAAAAAi8/MV7XnLmng44/s400/18.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 12: Comparison of Gulf and Nordic Nations across T&T industry and economy receipt. (Source: <i>WEF travel and tourism report, 2011)</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EUQtK45-KHE/TrVu-A3yMWI/AAAAAAAAAjE/Jl-lc1YDcNk/s1600/19.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EUQtK45-KHE/TrVu-A3yMWI/AAAAAAAAAjE/Jl-lc1YDcNk/s400/19.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><i> <o:p></o:p></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Fig 13: Comparison of scores of Gulf and Nordic Nations across, various WEF competitive parameters. (Source: </span><i style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">WEF travel and tourism report, 2011)</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><i><br />
<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Analysis</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">: On being compared, the Nordic nations surely score better than the Gulf countries in almost all the parameters, socio-economic as well as statistics pertaining to tourism. Nordic nations have bigger aggregate GDP and enjoy higher per capita than the Gulf countries. An area where the Nordic nations have done exceptionally good is environmental performance and there seems to be a wide gap between the two clusters, across this parameter. Coming to T&T industry receipt, Nordic nations have received US $ 37.3 billion against US $ 22.93 billion received by Gulf countries. An important trend which could be seen over here is that, when compared across T&T economy receipt, the difference has narrowed down. Nordic nations have received US $ 114.83 billion against US $ 103 billion received by Gulf countries. The reason for this small difference could be the multibillion dollar tourism development projects, being incubated all across the Gulf. Given the fact that oil will not last for long, Gulf countries are realizing the significance of economic diversification and tourism is high up on their agenda. In nations where tourism does not contribute much in the GDP, huge investments are being made in developing state of the art tourism facilities. Qatar- the tourism industry in the state estimated at US $ 961 million in 2010 constitutes just 0.9% of the GDP but on account of some of the extravagant tourism development assignments, the overall economic impact is estimated at US $ 9,348 millions, constituting 8.4% of the GDP. (WEF_TravelTourismCompetitiveness Report, 2011) When compared across various WEF competitive parameters, Nordic nations again have a considerable edge over their Gulf counter parts. Comparatively lean across parameters such as T&T business environment and infrastructure and high across others such as human cultural and natural resources and regulatory frame works. With an average score of 5.1 in the overall competitiveness, the Nordic nations are among the top performers in the overall WEF ranking, consisting of around 139 nations where as with an average score of 4.3, Gulf countries are among the “slightly better than the average band”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Since both the clusters share a lot of similarity, in terms of various socio economic parameters, Nordic nations, with a better performance with the Gulf countries, could be a good role model for the Gulf countries. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Use of key terms</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 20.25pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">The <b>T & T</b> competitiveness index is a measurement of factors that make a country, an attractive tourist destination. It consists of <b>T&T regulatory frame work, T&T business environment, T&T human cultural and natural resources. </b>Countries are ranked on a scale of 1 to 6, with one being the lowest and 6 being the lowest.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><b><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">T&T regulatory frame work</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> consists of Policy rules and regulation, environmental sustainability, safety and security, health and hygiene and prioritization of travel and tourism. Countries are ranked on a scale of 1 to 6, with one being the lowest and 6 being the lowest.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><b><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">T&T business environment</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> and infrastructure consists of air transport, ground transport, tourism, and ICT infrastructure along with price competitiveness. Countries are ranked on a scale of 1 to 6, with one being the lowest and 6 being the lowest.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> <b>T&T human cultural and natural resources</b> consist of human resources, affinity to tourism, cultural and natural resources. Countries are ranked on a scale of 1 to 6, with one being the lowest and 6 being the lowest. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><b><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">T&T industry </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">as a narrow perspective of T&T activity that captures the production-side<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> Industry contribution that is, direct impact only (WEF report, p-105)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">The <b>T&T economy </b>is a broader perspective of Travel & Tourism that takes into consideration the direct as well as the indirect contributions by traditional travel service providers and industry suppliers within the resident economy. (WEF, p-105)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 20.25pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">Reference<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;">WEF_TravelTourismCompetitiveness Report, 2011, Qatar-Country/Economy profile, p-316 <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Eras Medium ITC', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div></div></div>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3648137967125608987.post-87893254683081233252011-07-16T09:04:00.000-07:002011-07-16T12:23:34.067-07:00Turkey and UAE as Trade Partners: Generalist Overview<smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-reivR5svM3w/TiHIp4el0XI/AAAAAAAAAgo/OzrVRHmUckc/s1600/Turkey-Flag.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-reivR5svM3w/TiHIp4el0XI/AAAAAAAAAgo/OzrVRHmUckc/s320/Turkey-Flag.gif" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> <i style="color: purple;">Fig 1: national flag of Turkey (Source: senojflags.com) </i> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Turkey and UAE are undergoing a very interesting phase in their bilateral relationship, with trade between them undergoing a rapid escalation in the last few years. Though still in its crawling phase, the bilateral trade between the two nations has witnessed a significant growth. According to a study conducted by researcher Ahmed Al-Ananbeh of MoFT’s Department of Analysis and Trade Information, bilateral trade between the nations has increased from US $ 2.074 billion in 2006 to US $ 7.99 billion in 2008. Both Turkey and UAE offer a great case study to explore- one an oil rich Gulf state, with a small population, considered richest among the world in terms of per capita income; other an emerging economy of great geo political significance, placed between the crossroads of Europe and Asia, with a predominantly western orientation. UAE is presently the 3<sup>rd</sup> largest export destination for Turkey, with Turkey’s export to UAE increasing from US $ 2.892 billion in 2006 to US $ 7.473 billion in 2008. There had also been a gradual increase in UAE’s non oil export and re export to Turkey. In 2010 Turkey accounted for 1.4% of UAE’s non oil trade with the world. Other than trade both the nations are also exploring business opportunities with each other. Presently UAE’s investments in Turkey are worth US $ 5.01 billion and turkey’s investments in UAE are worth US $ 6.51 billion. (<b style="color: orange;">moft.gov.ae, 2011</b>)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">In the light of growing relationship between the two nations, “<b style="color: red;">Management Guru</b>” blog will write a set of articles, exploring the various facets of the relationship. The very 1<sup>st</sup> blog in the series will just give a generalist overview- country profiles, nature of trade, attractiveness of both the destinations etc. This will be followed by further articles attempting a detailed analysis of the trade consisting of individual items, future prospects, areas of improvements, alternative scenarios etc. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Turkey and UAE: country profiles</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The following part will compare the two nations across various social and economical parameters along with the graphical representation of data pertaining to the trade figures of both the nations. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Table 1: - compares Turkey and UAE across various social and economic parameters</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t9qS7mmNgzk/TiGvj_XdQ6I/AAAAAAAAAgM/QOhURRr_2io/s1600/table+1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img border="0" height="184" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t9qS7mmNgzk/TiGvj_XdQ6I/AAAAAAAAAgM/QOhURRr_2io/s400/table+1.bmp" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <span style="color: purple;">Source of data: CIA fact books, Euro Monitor etc.</span><span style="color: purple;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qOtQw5eV49Q/TiGwq2lXeSI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/b3OZg4F2VeI/s1600/fig+1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qOtQw5eV49Q/TiGwq2lXeSI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/b3OZg4F2VeI/s1600/fig+1.bmp" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Fig 2: Value of Import for UAE in US $ billion, over the period of years. Source: National Bureau for Statistics, United Arab Emirates </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t9qS7mmNgzk/TiGvj_XdQ6I/AAAAAAAAAgM/QOhURRr_2io/s1600/table+1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img border="0" height="147" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t9qS7mmNgzk/TiGvj_XdQ6I/AAAAAAAAAgM/QOhURRr_2io/s320/table+1.bmp" width="320" /></span></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZeGyK2_MHOg/TiGxQTkGt6I/AAAAAAAAAgU/0DtMzKF-YdE/s1600/fig+2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZeGyK2_MHOg/TiGxQTkGt6I/AAAAAAAAAgU/0DtMzKF-YdE/s1600/fig+2.bmp" /></span></a></div><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Fig 3: Value of non oil Export and Re Export for UAE in US $ billion, over the period of years. Source: National Bureau for Statistics, United Arab Emirates</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">UAE Turkey: Trade Statistics</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Table 2: Data pertaining to total weight of Export of Turkey to UAE and vice versa </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oeSm7tX_UDM/TiGyj1leYQI/AAAAAAAAAgY/dcCF8YSXnR8/s1600/table+2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img border="0" height="161" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oeSm7tX_UDM/TiGyj1leYQI/AAAAAAAAAgY/dcCF8YSXnR8/s400/table+2.bmp" width="400" /></span></a></div><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <span style="color: purple;">Source of data: National Bureau of Statistics, UAE </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Table 3 : Data pertaining to total value of Export of Turkey to UAE and vice versa </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GP9sW1U-KB4/TiG1AwnP_nI/AAAAAAAAAgc/Fsl3BcG0wys/s1600/table+3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img border="0" height="161" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GP9sW1U-KB4/TiG1AwnP_nI/AAAAAAAAAgc/Fsl3BcG0wys/s400/table+3.bmp" width="400" /></span></a></div><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <span style="color: purple;">Source: National Statistics Bureau, UAE</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Nature of Trade between Turkey and UAE</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Major exports from Turkey to UAE include aluminum, precious stones, food stuffs and beverages, plastics followed by animal products, chemicals, vegetable products etc. The following pie chart shows the percentage wise break up of major export items from Turkey to UAE in 2010.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8NzWXREqAWc/TiG2CaTHsMI/AAAAAAAAAgg/icYY1P8B-lY/s1600/fig+3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8NzWXREqAWc/TiG2CaTHsMI/AAAAAAAAAgg/icYY1P8B-lY/s1600/fig+3.bmp" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <i style="color: purple;">Fig 4: percentage wise break up of Turkish export to UAE in 2010</i></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: purple; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">In the given figure </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">(a stands for base metals and their articles; b stands for pearls stones and other precious metals; d stands for others; c stands for articles of woods; e stands for food stuffs; g stands for textile and textile articles; c stands vegetable products; f stands for plastic, rubber articles; h stands for chemicals and allied products) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Total value of non oil exports from UAE to Turkey is US $ 160 million. in 2010. The major export items are – Pearls and precious stones followed by plastics, rubber etc. The following pie chart gives a percentage wise break up the UAE’s export to Turkey</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TySvAOHI6L8/TiG4qTu4j3I/AAAAAAAAAgk/gBfZCJKn9fU/s1600/fig+4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TySvAOHI6L8/TiG4qTu4j3I/AAAAAAAAAgk/gBfZCJKn9fU/s1600/fig+4.bmp" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <i style="color: purple;">Fig 4: percentage wise break up of UAE's export to Turkey in 2010</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">(In the given figure A stands for pearls and precious stones; B stands for articles of stones, Mica etc; C stands for plastics, rubbers etc; D stands for products of chemicals, E stands for food stuffs and beverages; F stands for others.) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Future Prospect </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Presently the trade between Turkey and UAE is in its crawling phase, with GCC and UAE comprising a comparatively smaller share in Turkey’s overall trade in the MENA region. But it has huge latent potential with both the nations taking strong measures to boost their relationship further. In Q1 2011, the total trade volume between them stood over US $ 1.3 billion, 50 % increase compared to the same period last year. (<b style="color: orange;">Khaleej Times, 2011</b>). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The following part of the blog will evaluate the future prospect of trade between Turkey and UAE.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Turkey’s attractiveness</span></b></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Turkey is an attractive, trade partner and investment destination for UAE. Turkish attractiveness is due to a wide range of Economical, Socio-Cultural, Legal and Geographical factors, stated below (<b style="color: orange;">Middleeastelectricity.com , 2011</b>) - </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">With a GDP growth rate of 8.2% in 2010, it is presently among the fastest growing European nations.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Strategically well placed between the cross roads of Central Asia and Europe, it is well connected with 1.5 billion lucrative consumers in the region.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">60 % of its population is aged less than 30, providing a huge and sustainable consumer base.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Turkish annual trade standing at US $ 320 billion in 2010, constituted 1 % of the world trade.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Turkey has strong presence in the MENA region making it easier for UAE to build further relationship.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Since both UAE and Turkey are Islamic societies and UAE had also been once part of the bigger Ottoman empire- both the nations share rich and glorious Islamic heritage and there should be comparatively less cultural differences between them.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> UAE nationals do not require VISA before their arrival to Turkey; they can apply for a VISA once they arrive.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.25pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Turkey is geo graphically close to UAE. Istanbul port is at a distance of 6700 KM from Dubai (Jebel Ali port ) where as the aerial distance is just 2995 KM. (The higher port distance is on account of ships travelling via Suez Canal to reach each other)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">UAE’s Attractiveness</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Like Turkey, UAE also offers attractive business opportunities, for an emerging economy like Turkey. Other than the common cultural and geographical factors that it shares with Turkey, UAE’s strength lies in the following-</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">UAE is among the richest nations in the world. With a GDP per capita of US $ 40,000 in 2008, it was ranked as the 19<sup>th</sup> richest nation in the world. (<b style="color: orange;">World’s richest countries.com, 2009</b>). With an annual disposable income of US $ 120 billion (2010) it offers a lucrative and elite consumer base. (<b style="color: orange;">Euromonitor International, 2011)</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">UAE had been one of the fastest growing economies of the world in the last decade. Due to global economic slump, followed by real estate crisis, GDP was hit hard in the last couple of years. But with oil prices’ increasing again, the economy is back on track. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Dubai, 2<sup>nd</sup> largest Emirate of UAE enjoys the status of a regional distribution center and is the 3<sup>rd</sup> largest re export center after Hong Kong and Singapore. Dubai has strong ambitions of transforming into a global trade hub. Jebel Ali port with an annual capacity of 11.6 million TEUs, is undergoing expansion and is expected to handle 55 million TEUs by 2030. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">UAE is strategically placed between the cross road of East and West and North and South.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">With the help of flagship carriers like Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways, UAE is well connected to whole world.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">· </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">With ambitious plans- Abu Dhabi 2030 and Dubai 2015- UAE is aggressively trying to transform and diversify its economy, thereby providing ample business opportunities for its trade partners.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Though both the nations seem as attractive trade partners, the future for them is also fraught of hindrances Lot of Turkish people are interested in visiting Turkey for trade; for which they need to apply for visa before their arrival. (The same does not hold true for UAE nationals visiting Turkey). Downside of UAE is that though it is one of the richest nations in the world, its small population of 4.7 million does not represent a very big consumer base. Turkey has bigger market bases- Russia, EU nations, Poland- in its nearby vicinity. There are other areas of concern that has to be taken care of in order to bolster the burgeoning trade between the two nations. </span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">References </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><smallfrac m:val="off"><dispdef><lmargin m:val="0"><rmargin m:val="0"><defjc m:val="centerGroup"><wrapindent m:val="1440"><intlim m:val="subSup"><narylim m:val="undOvr"></narylim></intlim></wrapindent></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">1> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">1>Moft.gov.ae, 2011, moft releases study on UAE Turkey trade exchange, available at </span></span><a href="http://www.moft.gov.ae/en/det.aspx?detid=262&resourceid=30"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">http://www.moft.gov.ae/en/det.aspx?detid=262&resourceid=30</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">2> 2> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Khaleej Times, Turkey targets 20 % rise in food trade with UAE, available at </span></span><a href="http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/business/2011/July/business_July203.xml&section=business&col="><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/business/2011/July/business_July203.xml&section=business&col=</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">3> 3> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Middleeastelectricity.com, 2011, Turkey-UAE investment reach $ 10 billion in 2010, available at </span></span><a href="http://www.middleeastelectricity.com/Global/Middle_East_Electricity/pdf/TurkeyUAEinvestmentshit10bin20104Mar11GN.pdf"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">http://www.middleeastelectricity.com/Global/Middle_East_Electricity/pdf/TurkeyUAEinvestmentshit10bin20104Mar11GN.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">4> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">4> World’s richest countries.com, 2009, home page, available at </span></span><a href="http://www.worldsrichestcountries.com/"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">http://www.worldsrichestcountries.com/</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></div></div></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac></defjc></rmargin></lmargin></dispdef></smallfrac>Management Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09028948574303442127noreply@blogger.com5