China's Lunar New Year travel bonanza

FRANCE 24 English

The annual Lunar New Year festival is the busiest travel period in the world. Our correspondent in China walk us through how domestic travel may be a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy economy. We also find out about Gemini, Google's newly branded chatbot, Hermes's soon to be more expensive products, and how Americans are expected to spend $1.7 billion on Super Bowl festivities.     Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00 Let's bring in the business news and get a sense of what's been going on starting with China's lunar

00:06 New Year holiday in full swing the eight-day holiday begins officially tomorrow.

00:11 Solange Mejian is here. Solange talk us through this is a big moment in the Far East.

00:16 It is. What makes this festival so significant is that it is the busiest travel period in

00:24 migration actually in the world with a record 9 billion domestic trips that are expected.

00:32 But it remains to be seen if all of this frenzy will give a much-needed economic bump to China.

00:39 For currently consumer prices there continue to fall. In January they fell at the fastest pace

00:45 in 15 years and on Thursday data showed that for the fourth consecutive month there's been a decline.

00:51 So travel and spending over the holiday could give a much-needed a bright spot in the other

00:57 otherwise gloomy economy. Our correspondent Yena Li and Jasmine Ling have this report for you.

01:02 Making memories in the city known as China's winter wonderland. Harbin where temperatures

01:11 can drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius has become more popular than ever. According to the latest

01:16 numbers the northern city's annual ice festival raked in five times more visitors than last year.

01:22 Maybe it's because people didn't have much fun in recent years.

01:26 Now they have the chance to spend money.

01:29 I heard that Harbin really made efforts with the decorations this year.

01:34 I'm from this province so I often come here to visit.

01:37 Traveling but not too far from home and sometimes in the most frugal ways possible.

01:44 Online the term city walk has gone viral with some tourists looking for slow immersive experiences.

01:52 Others prefer what's known as special forces tourism

01:59 trying to squeeze in as many places as possible in the least amount of time.

02:03 In Beijing guide Li Peijie offers a simplified version of group tourism.

02:10 He drops clients off at scenic spots and picks them up a few hours later

02:15 leaving them to roam around on their own.

02:17 Today his travel agency is taking some 300 people to the Great Wall of China.

02:23 Travel agencies are surely going to be doing more of this so-called free time or no mandatory

02:30 shopping experiences like what we're doing now because the feedback of the tourists is really

02:35 positive. Whatever the format domestic tourism has bounced back since Covid-19.

02:42 The hospitality industry stands out in the country's otherwise sluggish economy.

02:46 Chinese consumers have been turning their backs on large investments such as homes

02:50 focusing instead on short trips and eating out.

02:53 Now for the markets. Here in Europe it is a mixed bag today.

03:00 This comes as investors are digesting a slew of new corporate earnings reports.

03:05 In Paris stocks were slightly down. This for example after L'Oreal shares fell by more than

03:10 7% following a lower than expected sales report. Both the London FTSE and the Frankfurt DAX

03:17 were slightly up this afternoon. Now to another French giant Hermès.

03:22 It is having a good quarter. Its shares hit a record high today and in its fourth quarter report

03:28 the luxury goods brand announced that it is quarterly sales of 3.36 billion euros while

03:35 they outpaced its competitors. But that does not mean that Birkin bags are going to suddenly become

03:41 cheaper. Hermès plans to raise its prices between 8 and 9% this year.

03:45 Moving on now to some tech news. Google has just launched a new app to try and remain

03:53 a top player in the artificial intelligence race. It has decided to rebrand its chatbot

03:58 with a new name Gemini. It hopes to monetize this boosted technology that replaces its previous

04:04 bot BARD. While there is a basic free version of Gemini, Google is selling a more advanced

04:10 app subscription as well. Yet as Antonia Kerrigan explains to us, the app could potentially compete

04:16 with Google's own and much used search engine. Out with BARD, in with Gemini, Google's new AI

04:26 app. In their ads they're making big promises. Conversational, multimodal and helpful support

04:31 in the everyday. You can take a picture of your flat tire and ask for instructions,

04:37 generate a custom image for your dinner party invitation or ask for help in writing a difficult

04:43 text message. It's an important first step in building a true AI assistant. It's the latest

04:49 installment in the artificial intelligence race. After Microsoft backed OpenAI, launched ChatGPT

04:55 in late 2022, the technology allowed Microsoft to take its Bing chatbot live. Google launched

05:02 BARD soon after but was widely described as playing catch up in a race where Microsoft was ahead.

05:08 The new Gemini app, though, is part of Google's wider AI project and is powered by technology

05:14 they claim now outperforms its competitors on most key metrics and can even outthink the smartest

05:21 people. Gemini Advanced, powered by Gemini Ultra 1.0, will cost users $20 a month. The search

05:28 engine remains Google's forte and allows it access to mountains of data, which is a technical

05:34 advantage in this race. But the tech giant may be wary of artificial intelligence services killing

05:39 the search engine. So far launched only in the US, Gemini's new app will be available in Asia-Pacific

05:46 countries next week. The European rollout remains to be seen as Google wrestles with EU regulations

05:52 on artificial intelligence. And finally for me, another festive moment much like the Chinese

05:58 Lunar New Year and one with a big economic boost too. Frenzy in the United States is in full swing

06:04 for Sunday's Super Bowl in Las Vegas. With the average seat price going for a whopping $10,000,

06:10 only a select few can afford to be at the games, but some 200 million adults are expected

06:16 to watch in bars and at home and to watch on television. According to the National

06:20 Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend $17.3 billion in match festivities. That is $86

06:29 per person at the oh so many Super Bowl parties across the United States. So, very quick question,

06:35 have a guess how much the tickets cost when they first opened the Super Bowl in 1967? I'd love to

06:40 know. Do you know? $10. No, wow. Now $10,000 a ticket. Incredible.

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