The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Nepal launches Great Himalayan Trail Posted: 01 Oct 2011 01:41 AM PDT  An aerial view of the Himalayan Mountains featuring Mount Machhapuchre from Pokhara, some 200km west of Kathmandu. — AFP/Relaxnews pic Billed as the ultimate trek, the arduous hike over Nepal's mighty Himalayas stretches from Taplejung in the shadow of the world's third-highest peak, Mount Kanchenjunga, to Humla at the border with Tibet. "This is a completely new product and we hope that it will help boost the tourism industry," said Sharad Pradhan, a spokesman for the Nepal Tourism Board. "It will also help cement Nepal's reputation as the ultimate destination for adventure seekers. Adventure tourism, as a niche, is new to us but this is definitely an attractive package," he said. Adventurers who complete the 1,700-kilometre trek will encounter a huge variety of cultures from the mainly Buddhist Tamang people of the central Langtang region to the ancient animist practices that mix with Hinduism in the far west. It will take experienced trekkers around five months to complete, although it can also be broken down into smaller sections. Nepal hosts thousands of trekkers and mountaineers annually. The country has eight of the world's 14 peaks over 8,000 metres, including the world's highest, Mount Everest, at 8,848 metres. The Everest region offers several trails that range from 10-day to three-week packages. The Annapurna Circuit, Nepal's most popular, is a 300-kilometre, three-week trek that rises to 5,416 metres and passes through two river valleys. — AFP/Relaxnews |
| Jimmy Choo plans huge China expansion Posted: 30 Sep 2011 08:43 PM PDT BEIJING, Oct 1 — Jimmy Choo founder Tamara Mellon said the upscale shoemaker hopes to open up to 50 stores in China over the next five years in what she dubbed an "exciting" market for high-end goods. China is the world's fastest-growing market for luxury products and an ongoing economic boom is creating new dollar billionaires every year in a huge explosion in wealth.  A shopper peers through the window of the Jimmy Choo store on Bond Street, London. The British company plans to open 30 stores in China by 2016. — AFP pic "Our (China) business has increased 100 per cent (in terms of profits) in the last year on the existing locations we have," said Mellon, who was in Beijing as part of a British delegation to the Chinese capital's first design festival. She said the British firm — whose shoes cost anywhere from US$300 (RM930) to US$1,600 — would open at least 30 stores in China by 2016. "But the potential over the next five years could be up to 50," she told AFP. In comparison, Jimmy Choo has just 40 stores across the United States. Forbes magazine said earlier this month that China had a total of 146 billionaires this year — up 14 per cent from 2010, and second only to the United States with 413. The brokerage firm CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said in January that China would account for 44 per cent of worldwide sales of luxury goods by 2020 — bigger than the entire global market is now. Mellon said that many of China's rich were only in their 30s and 40s — relatively young compared with other markets. "The wealth here is... very young, which is great because they love luxury, they love fashion, so this is a very exciting market." She said that consumers of luxury products have also changed over the past few years. "What we found a few years ago was that... men were making money, men were buying brands, they were shopping. Men's brands did phenomenally well much sooner than women's brands," she said. "Now, there are a lot more women who are working and who are shopping. The market is really taking off now." — AFP-Relaxnews |
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