Environmental Analysis Of The Tourism Industry - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2814 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Tourism Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? The TUI is a global leading leisure travel group intending to provide customers with a wide choice of differentiated and flexible travel experiences to meet their changing needs. This course work explains the various strategies being used by this organisation. Strategy includes perspective, position, plan, and pattern. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Environmental Analysis Of The Tourism Industry" essay for you Create order Strategy is the bridge between policy or high-order goals on one hand and tactics or concrete actions on the other. Strategy and tactics together straddle the gap between ends and means. In short, strategy is a term that refers to a complex web of thoughts, ideas, insights, experiences, goals, expertise, memories, perceptions, and expectations that provide general guidance for specific actions in pursuit of particular results (Whittington 1993). ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY WITH IMPLICATIONS TO TUI The environment to be analysed is considered to be of two kinds namely the macro environment and the micro environment. The tool used to analyse the macro environment is PESTEL, and the tool used to analyse the micro environment is Porter`s five forces analysis. Porter`s five forces analysis deals with the factors that are outside the industry which influences within the industry, and could predict the profitability. This eventually influences the competencies of the firm. In order to compete effectively, the business should understand its industry and market. Porter has defined the forces contending that a competitive environment is created within the industry by the interaction of five different forces acting on a business. The five forces are rivalry among existing firms, threat of new entrants into market, supplier power, power of buyers, and threat of substitute products or services. Understanding these forces will help to generate the appropriate strategies for the firm to be successful ( Porter 2005). Rivalry occurs between the existing sellers in the market. In the case of TUI, it could be other tourism organisations. Rivalry determines the attractiveness of the customers towards an industry or a specific organisation. For the TUI, the rivalries were Thomas Cook, MyTravel Group, ReweTouristik and First Choice Holidays. Having a market share of more than 32 percent, TUI was the first player in the concentrated market. This indicates the high concentration for TUI in the market. This could be closely related to monopoly that is, the lack of economic competition. The threat of entry for new firm is usually based on the market entry barriers. The barriers for entry into the market could be the scale of economy, cost of entry, distribution channels, cost advantage, government legislation, differentiation etc. TUI was able to stand well in the industry because it had a large scale investment, good tour packages, low cost packages, and good services . All these factors helped TUI to cut off the threat of entry into the market as a new firm. The threat of substitute products or services could be technical threats, where in the latest technology is used to replace a product with some other industry which gives the same level of satisfaction or even better, and same outcome. TUI launched the virtual tour operator Touropa.com selling travel tours online, through travel agencies, television, call centres etc. These are the modes through which TUI obtained the direct sale of travel products through technology. The buyer power has got two important determinants which are the size and concentration of customers. If an industry has to attract a large number of customers, then it should have a greater concentration in the market. TUI can be considered to be a powerful buyer because there is just one buyer or very few buyers and a lot of sellers.TUI bought suppliers such as travel agency chain, airline and logistic services, various leading package holidays, all inclusive holiday club chain etc. TUI was then a leading company in tourism with over 200 tourism brands around the world making it a very powerful buyer. The supplier power is a mirror image of the buyer power. Suppliers of raw materials, labour and services to the firm can be a source of power over the firm if they are unique enough and well established suppliers. Supplier power can exist when there is switching costs, power of brands, possibility of forward integration of suppliers, fragmentation of customers. With regards to the case study TUI does not have powerful suppliers, because they bought most of them such as travel agency chain, airline and logistics services, tour operators etc. Other tour operators appeared to be the most vulnerable because they were handicapped by a high level of fixed assets and less able to manage their airline and hotel capacities. PESTEL ANANLYSIS In analyzing the macro-environment, it is important to identify the factors that might in turn affect a number of vital variables that are likely to influence the organizations supply and demand levels and its costs (Johnson and Scholes, 2001). A number of checklists have been developed as ways of cataloguing the vast number of possible issues that might affect an industry. A PESTEL analysis is one of them that is merely a framework that categorizes environmental influences as political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal forces. Political factors include government regulations and legal issues and define both formal and informal rules under which the firm must operate. The political factors include tax policy, employment laws, environmental regulations, trade restrictions and tariffs, political stability. For the TUI, issues with political factors could be terrorism, taxation etc. Different countries will have different taxation policies. Since TUI w orks on different countries, it will have to manage these policies with a strong management team. There were several terrorist attacks in tourist spots like New York, Djerba, Bali, Madrid etc. These attacks had created a feeling of insecurity among the tourists to visit the place again, which eventually affected the tourism industry. Economic factors affect the purchasing power of potential customers and the firms cost of capital. The economic factors include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation rate etc. Tour operators appeared to be the most exposed to the economic crisis due to the high level of fixed assets and less able to manage their airline and hotel capacities. The global economic downturn and health crisis has also had an ill effect on the international travel, thus affecting the TUI. Social factors include the demographic and cultural aspects of the external macro environment. These factors affect customer needs and the size of potential market s. Some social factors include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes, emphasis on safety etc. If a demographic data is collected about tourism and even if the result is positive, it`s not really reliable because, the opinion given during the research could change with changes in the economy of the country. Technological factors can lower barriers to entry, reduce minimum efficient production levels, and influence outsourcing decisions. Some technological factors include, RD activity, automation, technology incentives, rate of technological change. TUI has got the latest technology to convey information through media. TUI has launched the virtual tour operator Touropa.com through which travel tours are sold online, and also with the help of travel agencies, television and call centres. Environmental factors include weather, climate, and climate change, which may especially affect tourism industry. Climatic change could affect the inter national travel, but it`s not a prolonged problem. Environmental factors could also include pollution created by the flight fuel, food packages etc. TUI has got its own flight for travel and it emits co2 which is harmful to the environment. TUI also provides food services and hotel services. If they use plastic food packages it could be harmful to the environment as well. Such factors should be taken into account and tried to reduce as much as possible. Legal factors include discrimination law, consumer law, antitrust law, employment law, and health and safety law. Since TUI works on different countries for import, export and shipping purposes, there might be restrictions or rules and regulations that vary for different countries which could create an inflexible environment for the company. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF TUI When a firm sustains profits that exceed the average for its industry, the firm is said to possess a competitive advantage over its rivals. The goal of much of business strategy is to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. There are two basic types of competitive advantage namely cost advantage and differentiation advantage. A competitive advantage exists when the firm is able to deliver the same benefits as competitors but at a lower cost (cost advantage), or deliver benefits that exceed those of competing products (differentiation advantage). Thus, a competitive advantage enables the firm to create superior value for its customers and superior profits for itself. Cost and differentiation advantages are known as positional advantages since they describe the firms position in the industry as a leader in either cost or differentiation. A resource-based view emphasizes that a firm utilizes its resources and capabilities to create a competitive advantage that ultimately resul ts in superior value creation (Porter 1985). COST ADVANTAGE AND DIFFERENTIATION ADVANTAGE Competitive advantage is created by using resources and capabilities to achieve either a lower cost structure or a differentiated product. A firm positions itself in its industry through its choice of low cost or differentiation. This decision is a central component of the firms competitive strategy. Another important decision is how broad or narrow is a market segment to target. Porter formed a matrix using cost advantage, differentiation advantage, and a broad or narrow focus to identify a set of generic strategies that the firm can pursue to create and sustain a competitive advantage. COST LEADERSHIP STRATEGY IN TUI Cost leadership is a concept developed by Michael Porter, used in business strategy. It `means the lowest cost of operation in the industry. The cost leadership is often driven by company efficiency, size, scale, scope and cumulative experience. A cost leadership strategy aims to exploit scale of production, well defined scope and other economies producing highly standardized products, using high technology. In order to sustain during the slump in tourism, TUI introduced a new cost cutting programme strategy targeting yearly savings which they achieved. They were able to sell low cost holidays even without catalogues, decorations or seats, but customers got information about this and booked for the holiday themselves. TUI was also present in the low cost airline market in Germany and the UK. VALUE CHAIN The firm creates value by performing a series of activities that Porter identified as the value chain. In addition to the firms own value-creating activities, the firm operates in a value system of vertical activities including those of upstream suppliers and downstream channel members. To achieve a competitive advantage, the firm must perform one or more value creating activities in a way that creates more overall value than competitors. Superior value is created through lower costs or superior benefits to the consumer (differentiation). RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES According to the resource-based view, in order to develop a competitive advantage the firm must have resources and capabilities that are superior to those of its competitors. Without this superiority, the competitors simply could replicate what the firm was doing and any advantage quickly would disappear. Resources are the firm-specific assets useful for creating a cost or differentiation advantage and that few competitors can acquire easily. The following are some examples of such resources: Patents and trademarks Proprietary know-how Installed customer base Reputation of the firm Brand equity Capabilities refer to the firms ability to utilize its resources effectively. An example of a capability is the ability to bring a product to market faster than competitors. Such capabilities are embedded in the routines of the organization and are not easily documented as procedures and thus are difficult for competitors to replicate.TUI has got efficient distribution chan nels and good economies of scale which are considered to be the attributes that other organisations cannot imitate. The firms resources and capabilities together form its distinctive competencies. These competencies enable innovation, efficiency, quality, and customer responsiveness, all of which can be leveraged to create a cost advantage or a differentiation advantage. STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF TUI A firms strengths are its resources and capabilities that can be used as a basis for developing a competitive advantage. Examples of such strengths include patents, strong brand names, good reputation among customers, cost advantages from proprietary know-how, exclusive access to high grade natural resources, favourable access to distribution networks. The absence of certain strengths may be viewed as a weakness. For example, each of the following may be considered weaknesses lack of patent protection, a weak brand name, poor reputation among customers, high cost structure, lack of access to the best natural resources, lack of access to key distribution channels. In some cases, a weakness may be the flip side of a strength. Take the case in which a firm has a large amount of manufacturing capacity. While this capacity may be considered a strength that competitors do not share, it also may be a considered a weakness if the large investment in manufacturing capacity prevents th e firm from reacting quickly to changes in the strategic environment. LIMITATIONS OF THE TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS Â Porters model is a strategic tool used to identify whether new products, services or businesses have the potential to be profitable. However it can also be very illuminating when used to understand the balance of power in other situations. Â Porter argues that five forces determine the profitability of an industry. At the heart of industry are rivals and their competitive strategies linked to, for example, pricing or advertising but, he contends, it is important to look beyond ones immediate competitors as there are other determines of profitability. Specifically, there might be competition from substitute`s products or services. These alternatives may be perceived as substitutes by buyers even though they are part of a different industry. An example would be plastic bottles, cans and glass bottle for packaging soft drinks. There may also be potential threat of new entrants, although some competitors will see this as an opportunity to strengthen their position in the market by ensuring, as far as they can, customer loyalty. Finally, it is important to appreciate that companies purchase from suppliers and sell to buyers. If they are powerful they are in a position to bargain profits away through reduced margins, by forc ing either cost increases or price decreases. This relates to the strategic option of vertical integration, when the company acquires, or mergers with, a supplier or customer and thereby gains greater control over the chain of activities which leads from basic materials through to final consumption. Further limitations are that it is not necessary that new business models and the dynamism of the industries, such as technological innovations and dynamic market entrants from start-up will completely change business models within short times. For instance, the tourism industry is considered as being competitive and also being revolutionized by innovation that indicates Five Forces model being of limited value since it represents no more than snapshots of a moving picture. Therefore, it is not advisable to develop a strategy purely on a model basis, but to examine it in addition to other strategic frameworks of analysis. Â Nevertheless, that does not mean that Porters theories became invalid. What needs to be done is to adopt the model with the knowledge of their limitations and to use them as a part of a larger framework of management tools, techniques and theories. The model assumes that all business relationships are competitive, and that industry boundaries are stable over time, ignoring innovation and entrepreneurship(Grant 2007). Limitations of PESTEL model is that they come to some conclusion which is not exactly what the organisation is looking for, but the ways as to how the organisation could be improved. SWOT framework has a tendency to oversimplify the situation by classifying the firm`s environmental factors into categories in which they may not always fit. The classification of some factors as strengths, or weaknesses, or as opportunities or threats is somewhat arbitrary. For instance, a particular company culture can either be strength or weakness. A technological change can either be a threat or an opportunity. The firm should be aware of these factors and develop a strategic plan to use them to its advantage. CONCLUSION Strategy is that which top management does that is of great importance to the organization. The above study is about the environmental analysis of the tourism industry with implications to TUI. The tools that has been used to analyse are Porter`s five force model and PESTEL model. A study about the competitive advantage, strength and weakness of TUI is also done along with the limitations of the tools that has been applied to analyse. Competitive advantage of the TUI is its cost leadership strategy and it has been successful with this strategy so far. Even with the changing business environment TUI would most likely be successful for its strategy.

10 Facts About Elasmosaurus, Ancient Marine Reptile

The Significance of Suicide in Hamlet Free Essays

The Significance of Suicide in Hamlet The concept of suicide is one that is greatly contemplated and discussed by Hamlet and other characters in William Shakespeare’s play. It can be seen through two of Hamlet’s soliloquies and his overall demeanor throughout the play. Hamlet has many issues that he must deal with such as the death of his father and the marriage of his uncle and mother. We will write a custom essay sample on The Significance of Suicide in Hamlet or any similar topic only for you Order Now These two incidents led Hamlet to consider the extreme act of suicide to escape the fate that he had been bestowed. Although Hamlet did not commit suicide, in the end the path that he took inevitably led to his suicidal intentions and his eventual downfall. The contemplation of suicide threatens Hamlet and various characters in the play leading to the demise of the characters and the kingdom of Denmark. The sudden and tragic death of King Hamlet left the kingdom of Denmark and more importantly his son, Prince Hamlet, in a state of distress; as a quick fix to this problem Claudius married Gertrude. In the beginning of the play, after Hamlet’s confrontation with Claudius, he states in his soliloquy that, â€Å"O, that this too too solid flesh would melt / Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d / His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God! God! †(Act I, Sc. 2) Hamlet clearly expresses his Christian beliefs and his fear of being punished for â€Å"self-slaughter. † He believes that it is better to live in his current state then be damned to hell in the afterlife. One may view this outburst as his method of venting or an over exaggerated teenage rant. For it seems that Hamlet is not capable of dealing with the death of his father or the marriage, however incestuous it may be, in a reasonable and non-destructive way. The appearance of his father’s ghost sparked a fire inside of Hamlet; he took it upon himself to avenge his father’s death; a deed that he would not be able to complete if he committed suicide. Hamlet’s Christian beliefs may have held him back from an untimely death at first but his craving for revenge overpowered everything else, driving him to live on. Hamlet was not the only person that struggled with his life and developed a disturbed psyche, the most notable character being Ophelia. Many factors led to Ophelia’s death, one of the reasons being Hamlet’s so-called fake craziness which drove him to ruin his relationship with Ophelia, but it wasn’t the only factor that led to her downfall. Ophelia’s father and brother, warned her against Hamlet, and even though she heeded their warning it led to her ultimate demise. Some people speculate that Ophelia was pregnant and in the Elizabethan era that this play takes place; suicide was the preferred method of â€Å"abortion† or a solution to premarital sex. Preceding Ophelia’s death, she was in a mental state of distress and disturbance; this may have been a reason that led to her death. She may have viewed suicide as the only escape from her cruel, harsh life after Hamlet denied her and after the death of her father; taking into account that her death may have been an accident. She was given a very forced funeral, the priest even stating that, â€Å"As we have warrantise: her death was doubtful. †(Act V, Sc. 1) Had her death been truly recognized as a suicide she would not have received a burial and her body most likely would have been left in the river to rot. The death of Ophelia was devastating to Hamlet, for when he heard of her death and saw her pale body in the casket, he admitted to Laertes and the clown that he did in fact love Ophelia. This deepened his depression, but strengthened his need to avenge his father. The controversy behind her death and the mock funeral that was held for her only further led Hamlet to lose faith in humanity and his own life. One of the greatest obstacles Hamlet faced was how he was going to avenge a murder without committing a crime. Although he wanted to avenge his father’s death, he did not want to do so under circumstantial evidence, he wanted to be completely sure that Claudius was the culprit. He underwent his plan by persuading the troupe to perform a play reenacting the killing of King Hamlet. Claudius’ sudden departure from the room proved to Hamlet that his suspicions were true. This incident pushed Hamlet closer to death. His thoughts and conscience were clouded by the need to kill his father’s murderer. Hamlet believed that if he committed this act he would find his resolve. He believed that he could not leave the world without finishing this task, but once he had done this, there would be nothing more except his questionable Christian faith and fear of the unknown to keep him in the light and away from the darkness; which in the end might not have been enough. Hamlet’s iconic quote, â€Å"To be, or not to be: that is the question,† (Act III, Sc. 1) is the greatest example of his suicidal debate. Hamlet questions why it is not a common act for people to commit suicide, for individuals to escape reality and their current problems. He cannot fathom why a person would endure the tragedies of life throughout the years and whether it is nobler to do so or nobler to end it all. Albeit his Christian beliefs, Hamlet believes that the real reason is fear of the unknown. Death is an intangible force that cannot and will not be explained. Humans fear concepts they do not understand, so they would not willfully venture into unknown territory. One cannot foresee what lies beyond death, heaven, hell or nothingness and Hamlet realizes this, posing the question, â€Å"For in that sleep of death what dreams may come. †(Act III, Sc. ) Individuals feel they must attain truth and sanctity from their lives and ultimately our consciences get the better of us. â€Å"†¦conscience does make cowards of us all†¦ thus the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought. †(Act III, Sc. 1) The events that occurred around Hamlet may have pushed him towards the brink of death, but the y also allowed him to realize that life was worth living. Avenging his father’s death was Hamlet’s prime purpose in the play. He believed that if he in fact did commit â€Å"self-slaughter† that his father would have died in vain. His duty in life from then on was to investigate Claudius and avenge his father. During his return to Denmark, after being forced to leave, Hamlet witnesses Fortinbras and his army on their way to defeat King Claudius and reclaim their pride and power. Despite Fortinbras being an enemy of his country, Hamlet sees how ambitious and driven the man is. This allows Hamlet to realize that life is precious and that if Fortinbras can have that amount of motivation, so can he. â€Å"Witness this army of such mass and charge / Led by a delicate and tender prince / Whose spirit with divine ambition puff’d. †(Act IV, Sc. ) He now possesses a new goal that he feels he must complete; warn his country of the Norwegians attack. Death overtook the entire kingdom of Denmark and Hamlet’s entire family. The final scene of the play when Hamlet fights Laertes shows the internal corruption of the family and the kingdom. In a sense every person that died in the play committed suicide. Laertes’ scheme with Claudius backfired on him and his death was caused by being slashed with his own poisonous blade. Gertrude drank the poisonous drink and although she was not aware of the poison she drank the drink willfully, even after being told by Claudius not to. Claudius died from his own poisonous sword, albeit it was forcefully thrust into his chest by Hamlet, he was without a doubt murdered by his own plan. Hamlet delayed his quest for vengeance and almost ran away from his mission; this delay led to his battle with Laertes and ultimately his demise. The sight of Hamlet dying made Horatio consider following him, he wanted to drink the poison and follow his friend into the afterlife, even if he did commit â€Å"self-slaughter†, the death of his friend was too much to bear, but Hamlet convinced him otherwise, so he may tell his story for years to come. But let it be. Horatio, I am dead / Thou livest; report me and my cause aright / To the unsatisfied. †(Act V, Sc. 2) These deaths left a bad taste in the mouth of the kingdom of Denmark and displayed the true colors of the royal family. From the beginning Hamlet and his family were on the path that would eventually lead them to their end. With the death of King Hamlet and the inc estuous marriage of Claudius and Gertrude, Hamlet’s life and the fate of the kingdom spiraled into madness. The play ended in various deaths and tragedies representing the true significance of suicide in the play of Hamlet. How to cite The Significance of Suicide in Hamlet, Essay examples

Business Communication for Shanghai Media Group- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theBusiness Communication for Shanghai Media Group. Answer: Television Shanghai has a number of TV channels which are moderated by the Shanghai Media Group. All television channels are completely owned subsidiary of this medial group. SMG owns total of 15 networks of satellite and cable channels. Channels such as Dragon Television are the main stream channel broadcasted in Chinese. China has 1.115 billion TV viewers showed in its statistical data which comprises of 93% of its total population (Chinachannel.co 2017). Channel Young is another channel which is for the youth of China comprising of 0.5% viewership (Chinachannel.co 2017). DocuTV is a documentary channel with 4% viewership of the entire TV viewer population (Chinachannel.co 2017). Bus Stop Shanghai is an overpopulated city of China. It is a commercial hub with loads of automobiles running on the roads. Public transportation is the main mode of conveyance adopted by the citizens of Shanghai. Recently there has been observed a spike in the number of bus travelers in Shanghai. As per the recoded data of 2005, 25% of the total population of Shanghai used buses for their transportation which has now surged to 39% as per the recent data survey in 2015 (statista.com 2017).This has brought down air pollution to some extent in the city of Shanghai. WeChat The average numbers of WeChat users have significantly increased in recent years. This has increased the flow of money transferred through WeChat in the last year. Average ages of the users have also diversified and the time spent in using WeChat has spiked significantly which has become 66 minutes in a day (Chinatoday.com 2017). WeChat is used for work by 83% of the users. Shanghai has 93% of its users who use WeChat pay for their purchases (Chinatoday.com 2017). Percentage of people who said that they do not carry cash and pay via WeChat is 44.5% (Chinatoday.com 2017). This data was given by Penguin Intelligence (Chinatoday.com 2017). Taobao It is said to be the second choice in terms of online shopping websites available in Shanghai. The current statistics of Taobao denotes it dominance in the Chinese market. It has 529 million monthly users and 149 million mobile users who frequently visit Taobao (chinawhisper.com 2017). 61.7% of the total transactions take place via mobile phones. 70% of the Taobao users are within the age range of 20-30. A Taobao user opens this mobile application 7 times in a day (chinawhisper.co 2017). 10,000 people use the service Taobao Live which amounts to 140 million hours of viewing the streaming videos on the mobile app (chinawhisper.com 2017). Tmall Tmall is the famous shopping website of China which is said to be the third choice after Alibaba who is the leader in the business. Some statistics will show the current status of Tmall and its business in Shanghai. The number of users of Tmall was recorded to be 500 million in 2015 (expodatabase.com 2017). Total number of categories of the products available on Tmall is 3700. At this shopping website people of Shanghai can find 14,500 international brands which comes from 63 countries of the world. 56% of its global sales come from U.S (expodatabase.com 2017). Trade Shows China being the top exporter and importer of fashion apparels hosts more than 10 trade shows which are displayed by beauty contests. Some large scale and famous trade show such as China International Fashion Fair is help twice in a year first in the month of March and second one in October. It hosts 800 local exhibitors and 400 foreign exhibitors and is visited by more than 1 lakh people. Foreign exhibitors come from 10 different countries to showcase their products. Beauty contests are the mode of display of apparels put on by the contestants of the contest. Magazines Readership of magazines in Shanghai is quite intense. A number of magazines are published and circulated in Shanghai one of which is Zhiyin magazine which contains true and emotional stories of marriage life. It has huge monthly circulation of 6.8 million. Major readers of this magazine are undereducated and lonely housewives. Banyutan is second famous magazine based on political news which is published by Chinese Communist Party. About 3.6 million copies of every edition is sold. Qingnian Wenzhai magazine has its contents based on celebrity life stories, quotes, jokes and anecdotes. It has a circulation of 1.5 million per edition. Newspaper Chinese newspapers come in the list of top 100 most read newspapers in the world found out by the survey done by World Association of Newspapers. Reference News is the oldest newspaper of China with a daily circulation of 3 million. Their content are mainly based on global politics and also contains material of health, lifestyle and education. Peoples Daily is a wing of Communist Party of China and has a circulation of 4 million per day. It is also edited in multiple languages. China Youth Daily is the best newspaper of mainland China with a daily circulation of more than 5 million. Weibo Weibo is the second most popular mobile application after WeChat and is the top ranked news application in mainland China. 72.4% times Weibo is used for receiving trending news, 65.5% times for obtaining interesting content and 59.7% times in getting useful information and help in any matter (Chinachannel.co 2017). 62.8% of Weibo users believe that it is fastest in presenting news as compared to other apps (Chinachannel.co 2017). 26% users take help of Weibo to find nearby information and 21.7% users would refer it for reading reviews and comments on music, videos, restaurants and hotels (Chinachannel.co 2017). 87.3% users consider this app as best in the market for news reading (Chinachannel.co 2017). Alipay Alibaba is the biggest digital company of the world claimed by many surveying companies. Alipay is the part of Alibaba which is an online payment system. It is the most widely used payment modes on internet by the people of mainland China. Total amount transacted by it is $519 billion with 400 million users (Chinachannel.co 2017). Daily users of Alipay are recorded to about 100 million and have strength of 270 million active mobile users. 42.3 billion Online transactions have been recorded to be completed till date by the rate of 175 million transactions per day (Chinachannel.co 2017). References Chinachannel.co 2017.Homepage - China Channel. [online] Chinachannel.co. Available at: https://chinachannel.co [Accessed 20 Sep. 2017]. Chinainternetwatch.com 2017.China Internet Watch: Internet News, Trends, Insights. [online] Chinainternetwatch.com. Available at: https://www.chinainternetwatch.com [Accessed 20 Sep. 2017]. Chinatoday.com 2017.China General Information, China Information, the People's Republic of China. [online] Chinatoday.com. Available at: https://www.chinatoday.com [Accessed 20 Sep. 2017]. chinawhisper.com 2017.China Whisper - You know China from here!. [online] China Whisper. Available at: https://www.chinawhisper.com [Accessed 20 Sep. 2017]. expodatabase.com 2017.Trade show: CHIC - China International Fashion Fair Shanghai. [online] Trade show: CHIC - China International Fashion Fair Shanghai. Available at: https://www.expodatabase.com/tradeshow/chic-china-international-fashion-fair-66924.html [Accessed 20 Sep. 2017]. statista.com, s. 2017.China: amount of magazines sold by month 2017 | Statistic. [online] Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/278298/amount-of-magazines-sold-in-china-by-month [Accessed 20 Sep. 2017].