Hotels.com®, the expert in online hotel booking and home to more than 20,000 hotel destinations worldwide, released its biannual Hotel Price Index™ (HPI®), reporting on the most popular travel destinations and the average price paid by travelers while visiting those destinations.
The HPI is a regular survey of hotel prices in major city destinations across the world, based on hotels.com bookings. Prices reported are those actually paid by customers (rather than advertised rates) during the calendar year of 2011. On a global scale, hotel prices increased by 4 percent on average in 2011 over 2010, while average prices in North America increased 5 percent year-over-year, continuing the process of steady recovery from the lows of 2008. Entering the third consecutive year of moderate price rises for guests, the global average price is still lower than it was in 2005, such was the depth of the financial crash-inspired trough.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52873-hotels-com-price-index-five-percent-rise-in-2011-in-north-america
Stiefel, a GSK company, announced today that Hats On For Skin Health, its global campaign with the International League of Dermatological Societies (ILDS), has raised enough funds to produce 15,000 sun-protective hats for albinos living in East Africa and has already distributed more than 2,000 hats. The hats are being distributed from Tanzania, where estimates are that 98 percent of albino children will die before the age of 40 from cancers of the skin – a direct result of the sun’s damaging rays. Worldwide, albinism affects about one in 20,000 people. However the incidence of albinism in Sub-Saharan Africa is significantly higher than in the rest of the world, specifically in Tanzania where the incidence is one in 1,429.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/55030-stiefel-gsk-ilds-hats-on-for-skin-health-campaign-east-africa
A new survey says Americans’ confidence in their ability to afford a comfortable retirement remains at historically low levels in the face of job uncertainty and financial insecurity.
The 2012 annual Retirement Confidence Survey, released today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) in Washington, and co-sponsored by the Principal Financial Group, finds only 14 percent of Americans are very confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement¹. Workers with the most debt have the least confidence.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/54549-principal-financial-group-retirement-confidence-survey-job-insecurity-ebri
The Audi Group once again set records for deliveries, revenue and key earnings data in the fiscal year 2011. The brand with the four rings sold more than 1.3 million cars in the past year, at the same time increasing revenue to €44.1 billion. Operating profit for the Audi Group rose to over €5.3 billion in the past fiscal year. The operating return on sales climbed from 9.4 to 12.1 percent.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/audi/53778
Hiring in professional fields is likely to continue rising in the second quarter but at a slower pace than forecast for the first quarter, a new Robert Half survey shows. A net 2 percent of executives interviewed for the Robert Half Professional Employment Report plan to add full-time staff in the second three months of 2012, down from 10 percent last quarter. The biggest trend in the survey is the increase in the number of respondents who anticipate no change in hiring activity: 89 percent versus 78 percent last quarter.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/53178-robert-half-professional-employment-report-2nd-quarter-hiring-projections
Epson America, Inc. today expanded its portfolio of business-class products offered through the ImageWaySM Partner Program with high performance, professional quality printing solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses that increase productivity and offer a low total cost of ownership. Epson’s WorkForce® Pro C Series single function and multifunction Workgroup Color Printers deliver up to 50 percent lower printing costs when compared to color laser printers1, increased reliability with a best-in-class three-year warranty, professional quality prints, and robust duty cycles for durability.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/54489-epson-imageway-partner-program-workgroup-single-and-multifunction-printers
UBMStudios, the world leader in digital events, environments and communities, is capitalizing on the rapid growth in Marketing-as-a-Service (MaaS). According to the BtoB “Marketing Services: What Marketers Want From Their Media Partners” research report, 55 percent of marketers have used b2b media companies for marketing services in the past 12 months. Additionally, CMO Survey’s August 2011 research shows that nearly 75 percent of respondents currently outsource marketing activities. These studies highlight that companies are making investments in outsourced marketing due to bandwidth and increased areas of marketing specialization.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/49987-ubm-studios-capitalizing-on-the-growth-of-marketing-as-a-service
Amway parent company, Alticor Inc., announced global sales exceeding USD$10.9 billion for the year ended December 31, 2011.
The results represent 17 percent growth over 2010 annual sales of USD$9.2 billion. This is the sixth consecutive year of growth for the company, which has posted sales increases 11 out of the past 12 years.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/amway/49574
Achieving another wireless connectivity milestone, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) today introduced the WiLink™ 8.0 product family: a collection of 45-nanometer single-chip solutions that integrate up to five different radios, and set the stage for next-generation mobile Wi-Fi®, GNSS, NFC, Bluetooth® and FM transmit/receive applications. The WiLink 8.0 architecture supports various combinations of these technologies, allowing for customized solutions to address the unique needs and price points of all mobile markets. Each chip variant comes in a compact WSP package that can be mounted directly on a PCB, and includes all required RF front ends, a complete power management system, and comprehensive coexistence mechanisms. At the system level, the five-radio WiLink 8.0 chip offers a 60 percent cost reduction, 45 percent decrease in size and 30 percent lower power consumption compared to traditional multi-chip offerings. Complete details: www.ti.com/wilink8.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/54040-texas-instruments-ti-wilink8-5-in-1-wireless-connectivity-next-gen-mobile
According to a recent national survey, 17.1 percent of Americans lack health insurance, and more than nine million of the nation’s uninsured rely on federally qualified health centers (FQHC), non-profit community clinics and free clinics each year for primary care. While these clinics serve the critical health care needs of the uninsured, patients oftentimes cannot afford the medications prescribed by the clinic’s physicians, or navigate a fragmented system that only offers partial solutions. This is a particularly growing problem for America’s working poor.
Today, Medco Foundation and Dispensary of Hope (DOH), a not-for-profit pharmacy-focused social venture for the uninsured, introduced a new, national initiative to substantially improve the supply, delivery and management of critical prescription drugs to thousands of uninsured Americans who are managing a chronic illness.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/54424-medco-dispensary-of-hope-prescription-drug-program-clinics-uninsured
Today Schick® unveils the latest in a series of product innovations. The new Schick® Xtreme3® Eco™ is the first disposable razor to use 100 percent recycled plastic in the production of its handle and 100 percent post-consumer paper in its packaging. Manufactured and shipped out of the company’s 99.9 percent landfill-free facility in Milford, CT, Schick® estimates they’ll be saving over 103,000 pounds of virgin plastic material and 15,500 pounds of virgin paper from going into landfills each year by using recycled materials in the new razor.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/54429-schick-xtreme3-eco-friendly-razor-design-to-keep-plastic-out-of-landfills
Despite sluggish recovery by the nation’s economy, the restaurant industry is projected to expand in 2012, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast released today. Total restaurant industry sales are expected to reach a record high of $632 billion in 2012 – a 3.5 percent increase over 2011, marking the second consecutive year that industry sales have topped $600 billion.
In addition, the restaurant industry will continue to fuel U.S. employment in the year ahead as the nation’s second largest private sector employer. Overall restaurant industry employment will reach 12.9 million in 2012, representing 10 percent of the total U.S. workforce.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52982-national-restaurant-association-2012-restaurant-industry-forecast
