The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Casino giant plans expansion across Asia Posted: 11 Jun 2011 08:16 PM PDT  Venetian Macau Resort Hotel. — AFP pic The gaming giant, which has already constructed massive resorts in Singapore and Macau, is looking to expand to other Asian nations and even to Europe, according to reports from the Global Gaming Expo Asia this week. Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan and Korea are among the company's Asia targets, with boss Sheldon Adelson describing the region as its "first preference." Other targets include Spain, where Las Vegas Sands is said to be eyeing a €15 billion (RM65.5 billion) 'EuroVegas' strip development with 123,000 rooms, either in Madrid or Barcelona. Although Macau overtook Las Vegas in terms of gambling revenue back in 2006, America's 'Sin City' was dealt another blow this week by the news that Singapore is expected to out-earn it this year, despite boasting just two integrated resorts. Macau, a favored destination for Chinese tourists from the mainland, shows no sign of slowing, opening the new 2,200-room Galaxy Macau resort in May. It is already home to The Venetian Macau, a 980,000 square meter development (owned by Las Vegas Sands) which opened in 2007 and remains the largest casino in the world. http://www.lasvegassands.com/. — AFP-Relaxnews Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Victorinox gives Swiss army knife an Asian edge Posted: 09 Jun 2011 10:03 PM PDT ZURICH, June 10 — A Swiss army knife is still a must-have souvenir for any tourist returning from the Alps, but soon it will soon come with an Asian twist. Next month, manufacturer Victorinox will launch a multipurpose model reinterpreted by Japanese designer Kazuma Yamaguchi, who has produced a square version of the traditionally elongated oval-shaped red knife.  Carl Elsener at a product launch in London in this March 25, 2010, file photo. — Reuters pic This is not the first transformation for the Swiss army knife, which comes in 350 versions costing between 9 and 422 Swiss francs (RM32 and RM1,500). "Innovation has always been a key feature of the Swiss army knife", said CEO Carl Elsener Jr in an interview with Reuters at the company's headquarters in Ibach, a small rural town a stone's throw from the shores of Lake Lucerne. Two years ago, Victorinox launched a model equipped with a USB flash drive that allows owners to encrypt data with a password and a biometric fingerprint sensor with temperature control. This 21st century model even allows you to automatically destroy data in case of security breaches — a feature that would appeal to a secret agent or a 2.0 version of MacGyver, the US television character who never parted with his pocket companion in the action series broadcast in the late 1980s. Victorinox has put its reliability to the test by inviting hackers to its flagship stores, offering a large cash reward to anyone who could break its security system. "But so far, no one has prevailed," company spokesman Urs Wyss said. Competitive edge Victorinox, founded in 1884 by Karl Elsener, originally produced knives that did not differ much from competitors. It nearly went bust the first time it worked with the Swiss army after a German competitor offered cheaper products just as Victorinox was about to deliver its first batch of knives. The competitive edge for Victorinox came in 1897 when Elsener introduced a type of spring that enabled the knife to include more functions, such as a pair of scissors, a toothpick and a corkscrew. After World War II, Victorinox knives gained popularity in the United States after US soldiers posted in Europe began buying them and taking them home. Back then, the Swiss army knife benefited from an attractive exchange rate, of an average 4.30 Swiss francs per US dollar, making it an affordable present for family and friends. Today the greenback trades at around 0.8360 per franc. Although these days it's large groups of Chinese tourists who flock to Lucerne, the country's most visited city, and snap up Victorinox products. The family-owned company, which generated a turnover of 500 million Swiss francs last year, exports 80 per cent of its products, while half of sales in Switzerland are to tourists. When the Swiss franc is peaking, the Swiss army knife is seen as an inexpensive alternative to the products traditionally purchased in Switzerland, like watches, especially as Asian tourists like to bring back gifts when travelling to Europe, Elsener pointed out. "They can still buy a box of 10 Swiss army knives to bring back home and spend less than a hundred francs," Elsener said. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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