KENYA: UBER Drivers Walk Away From Discussions

Reports from Nairobi suggest that the present phase of negotiations between taxi hailing giant UBER and their Kenyan drivers have come to naught when representatives of the drivers walked away from the talks.

Yet new demands by the local management of UBER appear to have triggered the walkout and it has been suggested that a prohibition order on arbitration was the main point of contention, combined with attempts to shift the legal setting from Kenya to Holland.

UBER managers in Kenya got rattled by a series of walkouts by drivers who have demanded better fares after the company, in the face of strong competition by the likes of Little Rides - backed by Kenya's leading telecom company Safaricom - dropped fares to stay in business, but literally putting their drivers out of business with fast diminishing returns for their investment in cars.

The result will very likely be further walkouts by drivers amid more reports that a growing number is walking away from UBER and either joined other organisations of the same kind or else returned to becoming independent operators.

UBER has been under siege in the global arena over negative comments made and recorded by UBER CEO Kalanick and an emerging scandal within the company's headquarters.

Sexual harassment allegations, shareholder troubles and claims of technology theft came hot on the heels of massive financial losses last year, only making matters for the company worse.

Links by Kalanick to the Trump administration also cost the company dearly after over 200.000 UBER users in the US deleted their application link earlier in the year in a rare form of political mass protests again against Kalanick.

Global pundits are already talking of UBER unravelling and by the look of it only the arrogance and impunity of their top bosses is to blame for that.

What the immediate future for UBER in Kenya will hold remains to be seen, so keep watching this space to remain updated on the latest developments.

FRANCE: Uber Fined 150,000 Euros For Misleading Practices In France

A French appeals court upheld charges against taxi app company Uber on Monday, fining it 150,000 euros ($160,000) for “misleading commercial practices”.

In January, France banned Uber’s low-price UberPOP service, which allowed unlicenced drivers to become taxi drivers using their own cars.

Bans have also followed in Belgium, Germany and Holland, though the company’s full-price service using professional drivers remains unaffected in France.

Uber continued to run the low-cost UberPOP service in France for several months after the ban, leading to a spate of violent protests by taxi unions in June that saw cars set alight and several Uber drivers and passengers attacked.

The San Francisco-based company finally shut down UberPOP in July after two of its French bosses were arrested and charged with “misleading commercial practices (and) complicity in the illegal exercise of the taxi profession”.

The appeals court on Monday increased the fine from 100,000 euros that was originally handed down in October 2014.

It argued Uber misrepresented UberPOP by claiming it was a ride-sharing service rather than a normal taxi service.

France was the first country after the United States to have the UberPOP service when it was launched in February 2014.

The constitutional court upheld the ban in September.

Uber has become one of the world’s most valuable startups, worth an estimated $50 billion, as it has expanded to more than 50 countries.

NETHERLANDS: Tourism In The Netherlands Surges – 40% Increase in 15 years

The number of tourists and business travellers visiting the Netherlands has soared by 40% over the past 15 years, the tourism board NBTC said on Thursday.

The 14 million visitors last year spent a total €10.2bn on their visits, of which €2.1bn went on food and drink and €1bn on souvenirs and clothes.

The figures are included in a new report which will be presented to economic affairs minister Henk Kamp. The NBTC expects the total number of visitors to reach 16 million in the next five years. Of last year’s 14 million, 9.6 million were tourists.

Despite the popularity of the Netherlands, more than half the foreign visitors spent fewer than three nights. Amsterdam was the most popular location, with five million visitors.

Other city and beach trips were also on the up. The NBTC is now trying to increase the interest in less well-known parts of the country. ‘That will help us ensure the Netherlands continues to profit from the growth in tourism,’ director Jos Vranken said.

NETHERLANDS: Visitors From Abroad Spent EUR 10.2 Billion On Visits To Holland

City breaks and coast popular

The fourteen million international visitors who came to Holland in 2014 spent EUR 10.2 billion on their visit to our country. In addition to accommodation and travel expenses, they spent EUR 2.1 billion on food and drinks and EUR 1 billion on shopping and souvenirs. This is shown by the Incoming Tourism Survey ‘A closer look at our foreign visitors’. NBTC Holland Marketing presented this survey last week to Minister Henk Kamp of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

City breaks and Coast popular
In 2014, just under 70% of all visitors came to our country for a holiday, a total of well over 9.6 million tourists. City breaks (35%) and holidays along the coast (22%) are especially popular. These tourists spent over EUR 600 per person on their holidays in Holland. In addition, well over 25% travelled to Holland for business purposes; some 3.6 million business trips. These business visitors spent an average of EUR 1,000 on their visits. The major part of the total expenditure, EUR 3.7 billion, was spent on accommodation, while EUR 2.1 billion was spent on food and drink and EUR 1.7 billion on travel to Holland. Almost three quarters of the total amount was spent on these three categories, with shopping and souvenirs ranking fourth.

Short and very good
Most visitors stay for a relatively short period. More than half of all visitors, 55%, stay fewer than three nights. The have rated their stay in Holland increasingly higher over the years. Over 85% of the visitors rate their visit ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’. They indicate that there is room for improvement for the information that is available, the price level and the user-friendliness of public transport.

Marketing and branding
The number of tourists and business travellers who visited Holland went up approximately 40% in the past fifteen years. In 2014, Holland welcomed some fourteen million visitors. By 2020 this is expected to have increased to sixteen million. To take full advantage of the opportunities offered by international tourism, data on the behaviour of international visitors is essential. After all, this information is required to make the right marketing and branding choices for the destination Holland.

“The results of the survey provide pivotal input for our marketing policy for the coming years. Our strategy is aimed at sustainable and smart growth through the spread of tourism. In addition to the well-known and popular places, we also promote the lesser-known regions and places of interest. This helps to ensure that Holland will also benefit from the growth in incoming tourism in the future,” says Jos Vranken, Managing Director of NBTC.

Survey
Every four to five years NBTC carries out a major survey into incoming tourism. The survey explores, among other things, the reasons why the international visitors travel to Holland, their search and book behaviour, activities they undertake in Holland, their spend, and how they rate their visit. Some 4,300 visitors from around the world were interviewed for the 2014 Incoming Tourism Survey.