Four Seasons, Hilton and Marriott top second annual Digital IQ Index: Hotels

A brand’s site remains hotels primary revenue generator. Hotel brands indicated they would spend 34 percent of their 2011 online budgets on site redesigns and optimization; however, the second annual L2’s “Digital IQ index: Hotels” research demonstrates that the industry is slow to adopt best practices. Four Seasons, Hilton and Marriott Top the Digital IQ … Read more

Booming luxury markets helped Hermes to report record profits

Hermes luxury handbags and silk scarves were sold in 2011 like hotcakes. Hermes reported a record year in 2011 with a 40.9-percent rise in net profit which helped push up its shares 3.01 percent in early trading, informs AFP. Hermes reported record sales, and a net result of 594.3 million euros ($787 million). The luxury … Read more

46th Annual Vinitaly – 3,500 sommeliers and 4,200 exhibitors

46th Annual Vinitaly: The wine-growing sector is still driving the Italian agro-foods field 46th Annual Vinitaly Fair, Italy’s answer to France’s Vinexpo takes place March 25-28 in Verona. Vinitaly is an event devoted to international wines and spirits, winemaking and wine business. Last year’s event attracted more than 4,000 exhibitors, and 156,000 visitors from 100 … Read more

US millionaire households rose by 200,000 to 8.2 million

America’s Millionaire Population Grows by 200,000 The number of millionaire households in the U.S. has increased for the third consecutive year, but remains below the pre-recession high of 9.2 million in 2007, according to the 2012 Affluent Market Insights released by Millionaire Corner. US millionaire population rose by 200,000 to 8.2 million in 2011, up significantly from … Read more

Louis Vuitton is seeking compensation over the Warner Bros ‘Lewis Vuitton’ offending bag

The offending bag from last year’s The Hangover II movie Louis Vuitton luxury house is asking for compensation over the use of the “Lewis Vuitton” bag in Warnes Bros’ “The Hangover Part II” (2011, USA, directed by Todd Phillips), which grossed £367m and is the most successful R-rated comedy of all time at the global box … Read more

Tax increases in France may damp the feel-good factor, a driver of luxury-goods consumption

France accounts for about 8 percent of the total annual luxury-goods sales, according to consultant Bain & Co. French election frontrunners President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist candidate Francois Hollande have both pledged tax increases. The measures may damp the feel-good factor, a driver of luxury-goods consumption, as has happened elsewhere in Europe, according to CA … Read more