Business Beyond the Reef

L'Art de Vivre

Dole – That’s France, not pineapple.  We have just spent a week of luxury, cruising the Canal du Nivernais in Burgundy on a hotel barge.  Seven passengers, four crew, including our own gourmet chef.  Stuffed full of wonderful food and drowned in excellent wine.  Gives one a different perspective.

I asked our skipper how the recession had impacted the barge business.  He said that his customers were down somewhat last year, but had come back strongly in 2010.  It was the nationalities that had changed.  The number of American clients dropped drastically and has not yet come back appreciably.  Similarly with his British customers.  But his clientele from Japan, Australia and New Zealand had boomed.  Seems an indicator of relative strength, though I can’t explain the increase from Japan.  Glancing at the visitors book on board, I also noticed a few Singaporeans.

For the record, a Japanese couple (he is a psychologist) and a New Zealand couple (farmers from the North Island) were on the boat with us.  Leaving the barge, when we arrived at our hotel in Dole, the lady at the desk asked us where in America we are from.  When we responded “Hawaii”, she said “that’s not America!”  Hawaii continues to have its own identity and brand worldwide.

Paris – During my current trip to Europe I may file brief posts with observations of what I am seeing or hearing that concern European economies or trade.  Nothing scientific, just my own observations and those of people I speak with.

My wife and I strolled along the Rue du Rivoli the other day.  This is a shopping district, but one more likely to attract the locals than the millions of visitors to Paris.  What struck both of us was the fairly large number of empty shops, reflecting a tough time for retailers.  On the other hand, the tourist areas, such as the small shops and restaurants of the Latin Quarter, had almost no vacancies.  For what is it worth.  (And, no, I am not fooled by the shuttered shops of August, when Parisians are on vacation.)

A fellow traveler from a golfing town in northern Scotland tells us that fewer foreign golfers are arriving this year.  Of those that play, she thinks more are coming on day trips from Edinburgh or Glasgow than in the past, hurting local hotels and restaurants.  My informant also speculates that more U.K. travelers to Scotland this summer are using caravans (trailers to those of you in North America) than in the past – another hit for local hotels and eateries.

• I guess you want to be careful about currency reforms.  North Korea executed a party official this week for screwing up a reform of whatever passes for currency in the country.  Could this be why Beijing is so resistant to change?
• Faced by Asian competition and shifts in fashion, Swiss watch makers have redesigned and repositioned their products – and their exports are beginning to boom despite the recession.  Some good lessons here for all exporters.  I know I love my Swiss watch: slender, light with the clearest clock face I have ever seen.
• Have you noticed that, whenever China gets bad publicity about its products (e.g., dairy products laced with melamine, or improperly handled vaccines), they start criticizing other countries’ goods?  The latest is an attack on the quality of luxury products supplied by Hermès, Hugo Boss, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Tommy Hilfiger, among others.  Aside from the fact that I never feared for my life (only my fashion sense) due to a Hilfiger shirt, doesn’t this criticism come from the world’s top producer of counterfeit luxury products?
• Ah, mercantilism.  Such a lovely word.  I was amused to see Germany’s reaction to French charges against Germany’s trade surplus.  They say that criticism by the French is a compliment.
• It’s nice to see your stuff get picked up elsewhere.  Thursday’s post about Hawaii tourism (Selling Hawaii – or Not) was picked up by ETurbo News and I have been getting good feedback.
• Amid all the dour news about U.S.-China relations, the two countries reached agreement Thursday to re-open the Chinese market to U.S. pork exports.  China had used swine flu as an excuse to close its pork market in 2009, shutting down $275 million in U.S. sales.  It’s back on for now.
• Anybody interested in selling renewable energy equipment in China needs to look at the report issued by the National Foreign Trade Council last Monday: China’s Promotion of the Renewable Electric Power Equipment Industry: Hydro, Wind, Solar and Biomass.