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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.