#4 Edition of Daily Grind

In today’s newsletter:

• $20 billion blow to America’s economy: see how Chinese tourists could cost a $20 billion blow to America.

• Heineken sold its Russian business for €1: incurs a loss of $325 million

• AI investment to approach $200 billion by 2025.

• Medicine to prevent heart attacks and some more…….

Decline in Chinese tourists could cost $20 Billion to America.

U.S. tourism officials are eager for the return of Chinese tourists, who are, by far, the biggest spenders among global travellers. If the situation doesn't return to normal, the cost could amount to $20 billion. Here are some statistics and points to provide clarity:

• Prior to the pandemic, up to 3 million Chinese travellers visited the U.S. annually, contributing over $30 billion to the economy.

• However, this year, due to the pandemic, the number of Chinese tourists is expected to be fewer than 850,000, resulting in a 68% decrease in traveller volume.

• This decline translates to more than $20 billion in lost spending by Chinese visitors in the U.S.

• The impact of reduced Chinese tourism is particularly severe in West Coast cities like San Francisco, where these visitors injected over $1.2 billion into the local economy before the pandemic.

• In contrast to the slow U.S. recovery, Canada has achieved 102% recovery, in part due to waived visa requirements for certain countries.

• Challenges like extended wait times for visa interviews and concerns about gun violence deter potential travellers to the U.S.

• The U.S.-China trade war and ensuing punitive measures have further strained tourism between the two countries.

• While U.S. tourism organisations hope for the return of Chinese tourists, they're working to replace lost revenue with tourists from other countries.

• Encouragingly, Indian travellers have already returned to pre-pandemic levels, contributing positively to the U.S. tourism industry.

In a highly competitive $855 billion global travel industry, the absence of Chinese tourists, who are the highest spenders, raises concerns about the America's competitiveness as a desirable destination.

Heineken sells its Russian business for €1 

Heineken, the known brewing company has successfully completed its departure from the Russian market. This process took an amount of time, around 18 months. It was prompted by Moscows invasion of Ukraine. In a move that attracted attention Heineken sold its operations to the Arnest Group for a symbolic price of just 1 euro resulting in a substantial financial loss of 300 million euros ($325 million).

Despite facing criticism during this period of conflict Heineken made it clear that their priority was to protect their employees. The company had announced their exit plan in March the year due to challenging business conditions. It has finally come to fruition after an extended period. CEO Dolf van den Brink expressed satisfaction that this deal ensures a transition while safeguarding the livelihoods of employees.

This sale includes all of Heineken’s assets in Russia including seven breweries. The Arnest Group has made a commitment to retain all 1,800 staff members for least three years providing them with job security. After disappearing from the market Heineken’s flagship beer will be followed by Amstel in six months time—marking the end of their presence, in Russia.

SNIPPETS

• AI investment forecast to approach $200 billion globally by 2025.

• Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX lays off 12% of it’s staff.

• Oman will invest over $1.1 billion in Bitcoin mining facilities. The mining facility will use gas from oil fields throughout the country that are usually flared.

• Wegovy, a weight loss drug, helps prevent heart attacks, as trials and studies show.

• Rite Aid is preparing to file for bankruptcy in the face of costly lawsuits over its sales of opioids, the Wall Street Journal reports.

• New York city bans TikTok on government-issued devices.

COOL SHIT

• The podcast of the day is "How to Get into Y Combinator, the World’s Best Startup School" by Bloomberg Originals.

• Poison, bribes and murder in the seedy underbelly of 90’s boxing.

• The head of the British museum resigned after a staff member’s termination over missing artifacts, saying he hadn’t taken theft warnings seriously enough.

• Michael Jordan is now worth 3.5billion, richest basketball player of all time.