New Airline Foreign Ownership & International Tourism

Canada Introduces New Airline Foreign Ownership Rule

The Canada Transportation Act will go through a few amendments and one of them includes foreign ownership limits for airlines. This amendment will increase the foreign ownership limit of airlines to 49 percent (from 24 percent). This change will open up more competition in the Canadian skies and is definitely good news for travellers, both foreign and Canadians.

Airlines Will Not Be Allowed to Bump Passengers In Canada

Another change is coming to the industry under a new passenger Bill of Rights in the wake of United Airlines bumping off a passenger and causing serious injury. Passengers who have purchased tickets cannot be barred or bumped from planes just because airlines oversold tickets. Those who are agreeing to be bumped off voluntarily will have minimum levels of compensation.

Some other proposed changes under these new acts will be to create clear standards of treatment and compensation, such as lost or damaged luggage, delays while siting on the tarmac, voluntarily giving up a seat, etc. These new legislations are expected to take place in 2018.

International Tourism Increases in Canada

Canada’s fifteen-year tourism slump since 9/11 seems to be coming to an end. A recently published report by RBC Economics Research reveals that more tourists are coming to Canada and one in five tourists are coming from other countries than America.

The falling loonie is making visits to Canada more attractive from foreign countries. For example, tourists from China and South Korea were up 23 percent last year. Also, tourists from Mexico and the UK increased sharply, especially from the UK—which stayed at an eight year high last year.

Mega sites like the New York Times and Lonely Planet both currently have Canada on their list of top places to visit for 2017.

CI Financial's Unsolicited, Hostile Bid

CI Financial announced yesterday an unsolicited hostile offer to acquire all of DundeeWealth Inc for $20.25 per Dundee share. This offer follows the news last week that Dundee Wealth had reached a deal with Scotia Bank to sell Dundee Bank for $260 million and 18% of Dundee Wealth for $348 million (27.3 million shares at $12.76 each). Scotia’s offer represents a 5% premium to Dundee’s share while CI’s offer represents a 52% premium.

Not all CI’s bids were successful in the past. Let’s look at both successful and unsuccessful bids.

Successful Bids

CI bought the followings in the past:

1999 - BPI Financial Corporation

2002 - Spectrum Investment Management Limited

Clarica Diversico Ltd.

2003 - Assante Corporation

Synergy Asset Management Inc.

Skylon Capital Corp.

2004 - IQON Financial Management Inc.

Synera Financial Services Inc.

2007 - Rockwater Capital Corporation

Unsuccessful Bids

2000 - Mackenzie Financial Corporation

2005 - Clarington Corp.

Amvescap PLC(AIM/TRIMARK)

The major shareholder of Dundee Wealth is Dundee Corporation. Dundee Corporation owns 55% of the outstanding shares. Ned Goodman and his family created and still operate and control Dundee. It is unlikely that they would give up full control of Dundee Wealth (to CI) but they seem to be comfortable giving up 18% control to Scotia. I will be surprised if this bid turns out to be a successful bid for CI. Whether this bid becomes successful or not, one thing readers can be assured of is that this will not be the last bid attempted by CI Financial as CI has a history of making hostile (and friendly) bids for financial companies.

First Published: Sep 26, 2007

How To Setup An International Business With An eBay And A PayPal Account

International Business – Not Just For The Big Guys

When you hear the words “international business”, it would be normal to think of the companies with billion-dollar turnovers who have offices and possibly production plants in many countries. This is indeed what many people think when they hear those words because, after all, that is largely what it used to mean. Any company which had the money to carry out such a level of International trading would be one of the big ones. However, this has changed, as so much has in the business world, due in no small part to the Internet. As a budding entrepreneur, one of your first thoughts should be “How do I give this an International angle?”. By doing that you can seriously increase your profit margins.

Whatever your business is, there is sure to be some way that you can dress it up for an International market. Indeed, there is a case to be made for the argument that smaller businesses can cater for a wider range of people (if not a larger number) because of the freedom that their independence brings. If you can make your service so personalized that it allows you to offer the same refined items to people from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, it will allow you to take advantage of the massive reach of the world wide web. Although not everybody has the Internet, there are few parts of the world where there is not some level of Internet service. Its importance in terms of transferring information has seen most governments pump lots of money into making Internet capability widespread.

Having an Internet business presence is really one of the simplest things on the world. On the most basic level all you really need is an eBay account. If you have a stock of items to sell, or you make things to order, then all you really need to do is list them on the site and set prices, either for auction or using the “Buy It Now” option. If you set up a PayPal account alongside this, then you can receive payment in any currency, allowing you to have a balance in dollars, pounds, euros, dirhams, pesos or any other currency you could name. You can transfer it into your national currency or leave it as it is – but costly money transferring charges can now be a thing of the past.

You do not need to be a faceless conglomerate to make your business viable on an International level. The more trading you do with people in other countries, the more you will understand what plays well in different markets. People are learning every day, and the world is genuinely becoming a smaller place in a figurative sense. Getting an international, online element sorted out could take your business from respectability to fully verifiable success – all you need to do is play it the right way. A little bit of research is all that you require. Then sit back and watch the money roll in, in whatever form it comes.

First Published: June 22, 2009 EntrepreneurJourney.com

What Will Happen to Aeroplan Without Air Canada?

Air Canada Will Start Its Own Loyalty Program

Air Canada is leaving Aeroplan to launch its own frequent flyer program. Things will be business as usual until June 2020. After that, Air Canada and Aeroplan will travel their own paths. Today, I will talk about the future of Aeroplan and what to expect in light of this breakup.

Aeroplan has a network of 5 million members, 75 worldwide partners, and 150 brands. However, most of these members are in Aeroplan for Air Canada, not for Aeroplan itself. A lot of these members not even aware of that Aeroplan is not owned by Air Canada and is actually a separate program. It is questionable how many of these members will stick to Aeroplan once it is is no longer with Air Canada.

Aeroplan will lose access to Star Alliance partners and fantastic redemption opportunities through its partners. Star Alliance is the largest alliance of 27 airlines and some of its partners are airlines like Thai, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss, Brussels Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Air Canada. For example, my business-class flight from Toronto to Asia cost me only $61 instead of $4000/$5000 (watch the YouTube video for proof) and a fantastic redemption opportunity like this on Aeroplan is possible only because of being a member of Star Alliance through Air Canada. On its own without being part of an alliance, Aeroplan will lose lots of its members, as it will not have access to any alliance.

Aeroplan will be able to provide flight redemptions on its own like other proprietary programs such as Scotia Rewards program, BMO Rewards program, or Air Miles. However, it will no longer be able to provide significant value like before to redeem for business class flights.

Air Canada is leaving Frequent Flyer loyalty program Aeroplan. What it means for travel rewards credit cards & programs? How about frequent flyer partners? Financial author Ahmed Dawn's insights.

Banks and retailers will be reluctant to renew Aeroplan contracts once existing contracts expire. Aeroplan will have to work on new credit card partners and retailers to offer its programs once Air Canada leaves.

The end result will actually be good for consumers due to more competition. There will be new credit card offers with hefty sign-up bonuses from both Air Canada and Aeroplan as both of them will fiercely try to grab market share. Also there will be an extensive fight to secure retailers to offer Air Canada or Aeroplan points, thus more opportunities for consumers with more promotions and bonuses. I can’t wait to see all these after 2020.

Simple Tips To Relieve Stress And Rejuvenate Yourself At Work

Stress Relief Tips

A long day of work can be stressful and draining. Follow these simple tips to relieve stress and rejuvenate yourself at work.

• Splash some water on your face to refresh yourself. This is a simple yet effective way to refresh yourself.

• Go out for a walk. A walk in the fresh air can give you renewed energy to stay up at work.

• Eat some fruits or drink their juices. Drinking coffee can give you instant adrenaline boost to feel revived but over time it causes exhaustion. Fruits and their juices can invigorate you without causing any side effects.

• Keep nature or other soothing photos on your desk. Nature photos can reduce stress and improve productivity.

• Avoid greasy fast food for lunch. Greasy food can make you feel tired and sleepy. Brown bag your lunch. Bringing lunch from home will not only save you money but also a lot healthier.
  
  First Published: Aug 30, 2007 ADawnJournal.com