By William (Bill) Edwards, CEO of Edwards Global Services, Inc. (EGS)
“Nothing is permanent. Don’t stress yourself too much because no matter how bad the situation is….it will change”, courtesy of Leadership First in a LinkedIn post, October 16, 2020
“There are only a finite number of problems but there are an infinite number of solutions”, Simon Sinek, October 16, 2020
“Most leaders focus on finding the right strategy. The best leaders focus on empowering the right people”, Craig Groeschel
Introduction
This biweekly newsletter focuses on what is happening around the world that impacts new trends, health, consumer spending, business investment and travel. A few highlights in issue #15:
We monitor 30+ countries, 40+ international information sources and six business sectors to keep up with what is going on in this ever-changing environment. Our team on the ground covers 43 countries and provides us with updates about what is happening in their specific countries. Please feel free to send us your input and sources of information. Our contact information is at the bottom of this newsletter.
First, a few Personal Comments
As this edition of our biweekly newsletter goes out, the COVID-19 cases are going up in European countries and stabilizing or going down in China, India, Israel, Japan, Melbourne, Australia and the Americas. Our company’s primary business before COVID-19 hit was to take franchise companies into new countries around the world. This involves finding a company in other countries that would invest in bringing the brand to their country. New investment was put on hold from March through June 2020 as companies worldwide tries to maintain their local businesses and keep their current employees safe. Beginning in mid-July and accelerating in September we began to see companies come back interested in making new investments. Today we are busy again with companies in Australia, China, India, Israel, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the United Arab Emirates. These companies look beyond today and even 2021. They are looking to build business that create good jobs for the future. We are awed at human resilience!!!!
“The emerging resilients: Achieving ‘escape velocity: The experience of the fast movers out of the last recession teaches leaders emerging from this one to take thoughtful actions to balance growth, margins, and optionality.”, McKinsey & Company, October 2020
“Ikea to open record number of stores this year despite online shift: Swedish group will focus openings on smaller formats and in city centres….The world’s biggest furniture retailer is set to open more than 50 stores in its current financial year, with a majority in city centres or in a smaller format than its traditional vast out-of-town warehouses, the new chief executive of brand owner Inter Ikea told the Financial Times.”, The Financial Times, October 6, 2020
Restaurant Innovation in these times!!! “A Michelin Starred Meal on a Ferris Wheel” – Hit by a plunge in turnover after foreign tourists vanished, Michelin-starred Hungarian restaurant Costes has staged a skyline dining event on the Budapest Eye ferris wheel to generate sales in a coronavirus-proof environment. Costes owner Karoly Gerendai said that turnover at one of his reopened restaurants is down to about a tenth of pre-lockdown levels, forcing him to look for new ways to do business. “Now that there are not many people either on the wheel or in the restaurant because there are no tourists, the opportunity arose that we could do this,” he said of the event at the landmark attraction in central Budapest.
International Travel Updates
“Catching coronavirus on plane ‘extremely unlikely’ while wearing mask, (U.S.) Department of Defense study finds: A new Department of Defense study, conducted with United Airlines, found that the risk of COVID-19 exposure is “extremely unlikely,” even on a 12-hour flight. Researchers conducted hundreds of tests aboard some of United’s Boeing 777 and 767 aircraft, both in flight and on the ground. They released tracer aerosols from a mannequin equivalent to thousands of coughs and traced how they moved through the cabin. They tested with both the mannequin wearing a mask and not wearing a mask. “The results are in: Your exposure to COVID-19 is almost non-existent on our flights,” United tweeted about the study. The air is changed in the jets even more frequently than in a standard hospital operating room, the study found. It takes just six minutes for 99.99% of particles to be filtered out of the cabin.”, Fox News, October 15, 2020
“Airlines expect a post-coronavirus boom in leisure travel, they just don’t know when: The coronavirus pandemic has laid the airline industry bare, cutting travelers to a fraction of last year’s numbers and even reducing some big names to bankruptcy. But the word from industry executives at the Boyd International Aviation Forecast Summit on Monday was of opportunity ahead, though that was mixed with a serious dose of realistic hardship still to come.”, The Points Guy, October 13, 2020
“Singapore moves closer to Hong Kong ‘air travel bubble’, considers opening borders unilaterally. Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said Singapore will consider more travel bubbles with countries deemed safe even if they do not reciprocate. Plans to open a fifth ‘mega terminal’ at Changi Airport will be delayed by two years due to effects of coronavirus pandemic. Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung on Tuesday signalled travellers from Hong Kong may soon be able to visit without being required to stick to a controlled itinerary or complete a 14-day quarantine.”, South China Morning Post, October 6, 2020
“U.S. Covid-Testing Plan Aims to Open New York-London Travel by Holidays: Airlines, governments hope testing will spur more travel for business and pleasure. U.S. officials are aiming to open travel between New York City and London with shortened traveler quarantine periods as soon as the holidays, according to people familiar with the matter. The growing availability of Covid-19 tests in the U.S. has prompted officials at the Transportation Department, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to revive efforts to establish safe travel corridors between the U.S. and international destinations, the people said. Establishing those routes would require travelers to be tested for Covid-19 before their flight and again upon arrival, allowing them to avoid lengthy quarantines at their destinations.”, The Wall Street Journal, October 1, 2020
“Italy requires more travelers get tested for COVID-19 before visiting: Italy has expanded its list of high-risk countries from which travelers must get tested for COVID-19. Those arriving into the country need to demonstrate that they have taken a test and received a negative result during the previous 72 hours, or they will have to take a test within 48 hours of arrival. The new rule applies to those who have come from, or stayed in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the UK, Northern Ireland, the Czech Republic and Spain in the previous 14 days. The measure has come into effect because Italian health minister, Roberto Speranza, signed a new ordinance, which provides for urgent measures to contain and manage the health emergency. Travelers will need to undergo the test upon arrival at the airport, port or border area, where possible. If not, they must take it within 48 hours of entering at a local health authority and must self-isolate in the meantime at their home or place of residence. They must also promptly report any symptoms they are experiencing to the health authority through dedicated telephone numbers. Those who test positive will be required to quarantine.”, Lonely Planet, October 12, 2020
“The next three nations set to reopen to Australian travellers: Australians could be allowed to jet off to Singapore, South Korea and Japan within six months, an airport boss has claimed. Geoff Culbert, the CEO of Sydney Airport, made the prediction at the Australian Financial Review National Infrastructure Summit on Wednesday. Mr Culbert was speaking about the future of overseas holidays, as Sydney prepares to welcome its first planeload of tourists on Friday as part of the Australia-New Zealand travel bubble. About 200 visitors are expected to touchdown.”, The Daily Mail, October 14, 2020
“United Airlines Launching New Warm-Weather Routes to the Caribbean and Central America: United Airlines is ramping up its winter schedule with more flights to warm-weather destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. In total, the airline is adding eight new routes to increased service to 19 destinations over the coming months as various islands and countries in Central America welcome back American travelers.”, Travel & Leisure, October 16, 2020
“Copa Airlines announced its first increase in international operations since November. The carrier plans to connect Panama City, Panama with 35 destinations all over America. The destinations span over a dozen countries from South America, North America and Central America.”, Airline Geeks, October 15, 2020
“Second Carnival Brand Resumes Cruising in Europe: Carnival Corporation’s (CCL) Germany-based AIDA Cruises took to the seas again on Saturday, October 17, as the line’s first voyage departed from Rome on a seven-day itinerary exclusively visiting Italian ports. Embarkation at the Civitavecchia cruise port……AIDA is the second Carnival Corporation cruise line to resume cruising as part of a phased-in operational restart.”, Cruise Radio, October 17, 2020
Latin America
“LATAM (Airlines) Gradually Restores Passenger Operations: In September, LATAM Airlines Group offered more frequencies to domestic destinations in Chile, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador and restarted the domestic operation in Colombia. On international flights, the novelties were the routes from Sao Paulo to Montevideo, and Santiago to Montevideo, two weekly flights from Santiago to Los Angeles and New York respectively, an increase to three flights a week from Santiago to Madrid, in addition to the Sao Paulo to New York. In Chile, LATAM flew 11 destinations, going from 20 to 35 daily frequencies……In relation to the cargo operation, the load factor was 70.4% (16.9% over that registered in the same period of the previous year). LATAM Cargo has maximized the use of its B-767F cargo fleet and has used passenger aircraft for exclusive cargo transportation.”, Airline Geeks, October 17, 2020
Asia Pacific Countries
“Asia-Pacific countries begin to ease pandemic-related travel bans, but hurdles remain: Asia-Pacific countries including Singapore, Australia, Japan and Thailand are gradually easing some international travel restrictions as coronavirus cases slow, in hopes of helping to revive their economies.”, Reuters, October 11, 2020
Australia
“Melbourne eases lockdown as cases decline: Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne, has loosened lockdown restrictions as new and active COVID-19 continue to decline. From midnight Sunday, Melbourne residents will no longer face limits on the time they can spend away from their homes for education or recreation. Previous restrictions allowing Melburnians to travel only 5 kilometers (3 miles) from home will increase at midnight to 25 kilometers (15 miles).”, AP News, October 18, 2020
“Data from an on-line commercial real estate platform indicates an increase in retail vacancies of 40% in central business districts across Australia compared with the same time last year, according to a media report. Melbourne’s CBD has been the hardest hit with the second lockdown and stage four restrictions impacting businesses already struggling after the first shutdown. Uncertainty surrounds the long-term implications of the pandemic-driven increase in retail vacancies due to the uptake of working from home which could become a lasting arrangement for many CBD office workers.”, Realestate.com.au, September 27, 2020. Compliments of Jason Gehrke, Founder and Director, Franchise Advisory Centre, Brisbane, Australia
Mainland China
“China Economy Grows 4.9% as Rest of World Struggles With Coronavirus: The 4.9% growth figure for the third quarter fell short of expectations but brings China’s trajectory closer in line with forecasts made at the beginning of the year for 2020 growth of between 5.5% and 6%—forecasts made before the pandemic swept across the globe, killing more than a million people and crushing the global economy. The International Monetary Fund is projecting China’s economy to expand by 1.9% in 2020, putting it on track to be the only major world economy to grow this pandemic-hit year.”, The Wall Street Journal, October 18, 2020
The third-quarter expansion builds on the second quarter’s 3.2% growth, which follows a historic contraction of 6.8% in the first three months of the year, when authorities locked down the central Chinese city of Wuhan in a bid to curb the fast-spreading virus.
“China Quarterly Car Sales Shift Out of Reverse for First Time in Two Years: A broader economic rebound in the country is now beginning to wash over consumers. China’s car market recorded its first quarter of year-over-year sales growth in two years as a broad economic recovery bolstered consumer confidence and discounts boosted demand, especially for electric vehicles.”, The Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2020
“China’s Golden Week 2020 – A speedy and robust recovery is underway in China: Chinese consumers have further released their pent-up demand over the eight-day National Day holiday. Their revenge spending provides us an indication of how swiftly consumer appetite and economic activities in China could approach pre-pandemic levels, making it clear to us that a robust recovery is underway. Considering domestic consumption as a substantial contributor for China’s economic growth, we expect that more government policies and initiatives will be directed towards boosting local consumer spending both in the short and long term. With many consumers sticking to their online shopping routine even after the COVID-19 pandemic, online consumption is playing a bigger role in driving the country’s recovery in overall consumption.”, Fung Business Intelligence, October 16, 2020
“How China’s Urban Millennials and Gen Z Live and Spend: In 2019, millennials (born between 1980 and 1994) and Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2009) accounted for almost 40% of the population in China. The proportion of the population living in urban areas reached around 60% in 2019, and is projected to reach 65% by 2025. The demographic landscape and population trends have put a specific segment in the spotlight – urban millennials and Generation Z, which together represent one of the most critical forces shaping the outlook for the Chinese consumer market, as their attitudes towards digital convenience, shopping preferences and lifestyles are driving the growth of the relevant sectors and providing new market opportunities.”, Euromonitor International, October 2020
“Wealthy shoppers in China more confident in luxury spending outlook than US counterparts: More Chinese luxury spenders see themselves maintaining or increasing their luxury spending over the next 12 months compared to those from the US, report says. US big spenders have mostly splurged on alcohol, dining and hotels during the pandemic, with the Chinese preferring beauty and consumer electronics. Despite the coronavirus pandemic still raging across continents, wealthy luxury consumers in China and the United States are optimistic about their economic well-being, according to a new report by consulting firm Agility Research & Strategy.”, South China Morning Post, October 15, 2020
“China’s inflation hit 19-month low in September as pork prices cool: China’s official consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.7 per cent in September from a year earlier, down from 2.4 per cent in August. China’s producer price index (PPI) shrank 2.1 per cent in September compared to a year earlier, widening slightly from a fall of 2.0 per cent in August.”, South China Morning Post, October 15, 2020
India
“Air India Launches Delhi to Vancouver service: Air India (AI) has announced a 3x weekly service to Vancouver from Delhi. According to Routes Online, the service will operate as AI185 to YVR and AI186 returning to DEL. The … schedule will go into effect on November 1, 2020, and will last until March 12th, 2021…”, Airways, October 12, 2020
“India To Resume International Flights in 2021: The Indian Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri expects that the country will resume international flights by Q1 2021. India extended its imposed travel ban on international air travel until October 31….In the meantime, the Asian nation has progressed on air bubbles, which are temporary flying arrangements, to start a light return of commercial passenger services. India has reached air bubbles with 16 countries and has others under negotiation.”, Airways, October 5, 2020
Italy
“Mask up, or else: Italy’s new covid-19 rules: The Italian government is today due to confirm new measures to contain the spread of covid-19. Like other European countries, Italy has seen contagion rise in recent weeks, although the level of infection is still relatively low. In the two weeks to October 6th, it was under a sixth of that in Spain. But after being hit so cruelly in the spring, Italy will not be taking any chances. A cabinet decree is expected to make masks obligatory outdoors (which is already required in some regions).”, The London Economist, October 7, 2020
“A New Alitalia Is Born, and Its Name is Ita: The new name for the airline, ITA stands for Italy Air Transport (Italia Trasporto Aereo). The carrier has assets totaling €20m and a €3bn budget coming entirely from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MEF). The new business plan initially foresees about 90 aircraft and 6,500 employees, with a focus on integration with Fs (Italian State Railways) and long-haul routes, especially those to the US – the most profitable, said AZ CEO Fabio Maria Lazzerini last month in an audit at the Italian House of Commons.”, Airways, October 10, 2020
Japan
“Japan to Lift Travel Ban to 12 Countries, Including China But Not U.S.: Japan is planning to remove a ban on overseas travel to China and 11 other countries next month, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday. The 11 other countries and regions include Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia, the Yomiuri said. The Japanese government, which currently bans travel to 159 countries and regions, will recommend that travellers refrain from unnecessary and non-urgent visits to those 12 countries, the newspaper said.”, Skift, October 7, 2020
Singapore
“Here’s how Singapore plans to resume international travel safely: For a small country with no domestic air travel market, Singapore ‘can’t wait around for a vaccine’ to revive the crucial aviation industry, said Ong Ye Kung, the country’s transport minister. The tiny Southeast Asian nation is working to establish travel bubbles with countries that have kept the coronavirus outbreak under control, said Ong.”, CNBC, October 12, 2020
United Kingdom
“U.K. Government Form ‘Global Travel Taskforce’ to Recover International Travel: Almost nine months into the global pandemic that has decimated the U.K. tourism, hospitality and aviation sectors, the U.K. government announced on Wednesday the formation of a task force to ‘support the travel industry and the safe recovery of international travel’. The Global Travel Taskforce will report to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and be co-chaired by Grant Shapps the Secretary of State for Transport and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock….The aims of the Global Travel Taskforce are to ‘consider what steps the government can take, both domestically and on the international stage, to enable the safe and sustainable recovery of international travel’.”, Airline Geeks, October 10, 2020
“Working from home tips: how to cope without the office: The office is closed and you’re back on Zoom in the kitchen. Anna Maxted asks the experts how to stay sane….Burnout is generally recognised by the World Health Organisation as a work-related phenomenon, but, says Siobhán Murray, a psychotherapist (twistingthejar.com) and the author of The Burnout Solution, ‘it can also be defined as emotional, mental and physical exhaustion brought on by emotionally demanding situations’.”, The Times of London, October 9, 2020
“Tesco profits surge 29% amid pandemic: The new chief executive of Tesco said this morning that his job would be to maintain momentum after online food sales doubled and pre-tax profits surged during the coronavirus crisis. The UK’s largest supermarket has posted a 28.7 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £551 million in the six months to the end of August. Sales, excluding VAT and fuel, rose by 6.6 per cent to £26.7 billion. Operating profits fell 15.6 per cent to £1.037 billion, dragged down by losses in its banking division.”, The Times of London, October 7, 2020
United States
“Global Outlook Brightens as U.S. Consumer Imports Reach Pre-Pandemic Levels: U.S. trade deficit in August was largest since 2006 on recovery of consumer-goods imports…..International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, in a Tuesday speech ahead of annual IMF and World Bank meetings next week, said the global economy won’t contract this year as much as the IMF projected in June. “The picture today is less dire,” Ms. Georgieva said in London. “We now estimate that developments in the second and third quarters were somewhat better than expected, allowing for a small upward revision to our global forecast for 2020.”, The Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2020
“The number of new businesses in America is booming: No other rich-world country is experiencing the same rise in entrepreneurship. Based on a different survey Goldman Sachs, a bank, finds that the share of respondents starting a new business in the past three months has also risen sharply. Other evidence shows that about as many Americans now work for themselves as before the pandemic, even as overall joblessness remains high.”, The London Economist, October 10, 2020
“Rental Recalibration: Landlords and tenants alike are adjusting: As the country continues to navigate through the pandemic, commercial property renters are facing an increasing struggle to reshape their business models to move outside their traditional brick-and-mortar spaces, while the residential industry moves business toward property management companies and away from independent landlords……Landlord-tenant relationships often can be strained. However, to keep tenants in their homes and help landlords plan for late payments amid the pandemic, the property management industry has grown more flexible. With data suggesting that rent collection is down only 3–5% since March, the rental market has not been affected as severely as many had expected.”, Franchising.com, October 9, 2020
Brand News
“Stories from the Covid-19 Front Lines: Update with Susan Boresow, President of Title Boxing Club.”, an interview with one of the leaders in the US fitness franchise sector on how they made it through COVID-19. Franchising.com, October 2020
“Focus Brands Chief Commercial Officer, Dan Gertsacov, Is Making Digital Real In The Restaurants: The multi-brand restaurant portfolio is a relatively new business model, fueled in large part by private equity, and Focus Brands is one of its pioneers. With seven brands and more than 6,000 locations globally, the Focus franchise ecosystem benefits from this breadth and scale. It’s realized through good ol’ purchasing power but also attracting the talent and leadership of someone like Dan Gertsacov, who was previously at Google before joining the largest independent McDonald’s franchisee, Arcos Dorados Holdings, to lead both marketing and digital. In the following interview, we talk about building a 21st-century restaurant tech stack and multi-brand marketing function, while staying grounded in the purpose and local connection that each brand has with its customers.”, Forbes, October 7, 2020
“Beyond Meat launching limited-time plant-based burger at 210 KFC China locations: Beyond Meat and KFC first tested the Beyond Burger at select China locations over the summer. It will be available more widely for three weeks.”, Market Watch, October 12, 2020
Articles And Charts About Doing Business in The Times Of COVID-19 and Beyond
“Now Is the Time To Reassess Our Quality of Life – and Our Work/Life Balance: Our formerly notoriously fast-paced, frenetic lifestyle and demanding routines have come to an abrupt halt. It’s said that out of every tragedy come renewed strength and fortitude. The good news: the destructive, insidious pandemic aimed at destroying us is actually bringing our society closer together and enabling us to reassess the quality of our lives. After so much suffering and devastating loss of health, loved ones, jobs, and entire businesses, we are going through a metamorphosis of sorts, gaining a new appreciation and respect for time and, possibly, life itself. People re-examining how they spend their time, reevaluating priorities, purpose, and life plans abound.”, Franchising. com, October 7, 2020
“VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY: CONSUMER HEALTH”, Euromonitor study on the impact of the pandemic on consumer health, October 2020
“Offices have a future — but what about other workplaces? Most of the technologies that white-collar workers have relied on in recent months — Zoom, Skype, Teams — have been around for years. It took a pandemic, though, for them to become widespread: at the start of the outbreak, about two-thirds of those working in the US and UK did so remotely. Does this working-from-home revolution mean we no longer need workplaces? Of course not. As the pandemic has gone on, it has become clear that offices are very likely to remain a fixture of future life.”, The Financial Times, October 18, 2020
“Why 4 Technologies That Boomed During Covid-19 Will Keep People Home More After A Vaccine: To test the staying power of technologies that became vital during the coronavirus pandemic, the Oliver Wyman Forum conducted a survey of almost 6,900 consumers in eight countries. Here, based on our data, we show why the pandemic has guaranteed four solutions — video conferencing, grocery-shopping apps, telehealth, and e-learning — mass markets big enough to ensure their commercial growth and permanent integration.”, Forbes, October 7, 2020
“Identifying Digital Trends In Emerging Markets: COVID-19 put the world in a unique position, forcing consumers to change their daily habits and businesses to prioritise innovation to remain competitive. Brands are changing the way they communicate with consumers, and in some cases revolutionising the products they offer….In 2020, significant business transformations introduced new consumers to technologies like digital services, online financial payments and e-commerce….Compared to more developed markets, consumers in emerging markets lag both in technology adoption and availability of services because they lack familiarity and trust…..As a result of the pandemic, consumer online habits increased in both emerging and developed markets. This white paper examines how the pandemic impacted the availability and use of online products and services, as well as successful business innovation and adaption case studies in emerging markets.”, Euromonitor, October 2020
“‘Feel-good food’ is now a social currency for Gen Z: Young Gen Zers aged 15 to 25 are actively looking for greater transparency on food and its origin, expecting brands to produce food that they feel good about eating, a recent study shows.”, Inside FMCG, October 16, 2020, compliments of Jason Gehrke, Founder and Director, Franchise Advisory Centre, Brisbane, Australia
“Who Is the Emerging-Market Consumer in the Postpandemic Era? Nine months into the COVID-19 pandemic, and six months since our initial consumer sentiment survey in emerging markets, consumers’ behavioral patterns are starting to take shape. People are adapting, and while the dust is yet to settle, we already see early signals of a new reality. While deep concerns about COVID-19 persist, the prevailing attitudes are shifting from fear to acceptance….As more time passes and the pandemic persists, it is becoming clear that consumers’ activities are taking a starkly different shape than those before COVID-19.”, Boston Consulting Group September survey
Who We Are And What We Do
Edwards Global Services, Inc. (EGS) provides a complete International solution for U.S. businesses Going Global. From initial global market research and country prioritization, to developing new international markets and providing operational support around the world. Our U.S. based executive team has experience living and working in many countries. Our Associate network on the ground overseas covers 40+ countries.
Founded in 2001, Edwards Global Services, Inc. (EGS) takes U.S. businesses global and currently has activity in 25 countries. Our Clients are all consumer-faced brands. Edwards Global Services, Inc. (EGS) has twice received the U.S. President’s Award for Export Excellence
Find out more about the services we provide U.S. companies Going Global at: www.edwardsglobal.com
William Edwards, CFE, is CEO and Global Advisor of Edwards Global Services (EGS). He has 46 years of international operations, development, executive and entrepreneurial experience and has lived in 7 countries. With experience in the franchise, oil and gas, information technology and management consulting sectors, he has directed projects on-site in Alaska, Asia, Europe and the Middle and Near East. Mr. Edwards advises a wide range of companies on early to long term global development of their brands.
For global cross business sectoral updates and advice on taking your business global, contact Mr. Edwards at bedwards@edwardsglobal.com or +1 949 224 3896.