Categoría: Marco carvajal

Transaction Allows Hard Rock® to Expand its Existing London Portfolio

LONDON, Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Hard Rock International announced today that the world-renowned entertainment and hospitality brand has acquired the casino premise license from The Ritz Club in London, UK. This transaction will allow Hard Rock to seek out and establish a new casino premise in London, continuing Hard Rock’s expansion into major gateway cities around the world.

«We look forward to expanding our brand offerings within London and bringing our award-winning hospitality, gaming and entertainment to the birthplace of Hard Rock,» said Jim Allen, Chairman of Hard Rock International.

As one of the world’s most recognizable brands, this strategic move sets the stage for the creation of a casino that will complement the other Company offerings in international gateway cities like Hollywood, FL, New York, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid and many more.

For more information and continuous updates on Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos around the globe, visit www.hardrock.com.

About Hard Rock®:
Hard Rock International (HRI) is one of the most globally recognized companies with venues in 69 countries spanning 240 locations that include owned/licensed or managed Hotels, Casinos, Rock Shops® and Cafes.  HRI also launched the Hard Rock Digital joint venture in 2020 to focus on online and retail sportsbook and interactive gaming. 

Beginning with an Eric Clapton guitar, Hard Rock owns the world’s most valuable collection of music memorabilia at more than 86,000 pieces, which are displayed at its locations around the globe. In 2020, Hard Rock International was honored as one of Forbes Magazine’s Best Employers for Diversity.  In 2019 and 2020, Hard Rock was named Forbes Magazine’s Top Employers for Women.  Hard Rock destinations are located in international gateway cities, including its two most successful flagship properties in Florida and home to the world’s first Guitar Hotel® in South Florida, Global Gaming’s 2020 Property of the Year. The brand is owned by HRI parent entity The Seminole Tribe of Florida. For more information on Hard Rock International visit www.hardrock.com or shop.hardrock.com.

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– ABP UK introduces EVs to its UK fleet

– The move was supported by Rivervale

– DRIVE’s ODO platform underpinning ABP’s transition to EVs

LONDON, Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — DRIVE Software Solutions («DRIVE»), a leading provider of fleet management technology, is pleased to announce that it has supported ABP UK in its transition to EV-usage within its operating fleet of vehicles. The move was facilitated by Rivervale Leasing («Rivervale») which has been a customer of DRIVE’s for over 2 years and provides ABP UK with their vehicle solutions. https://ododrive.com

ABP UK is part of the ABP Food Group, one of Europe’s leading food processors. It has converted 15% of its UK commercial vehicle fleet to EV, working with Rivervale and DRIVE to ensure that this transition is seamless and value-added. ABP is intent on expanding the EV proportion of its fleet across its operations and is likely to review the position throughout 2021. https://abpuk.com

Rivervale is one of the UK’s leading vehicle leasing brokers. Working with the UK’s biggest independent leasing companies, such as LEX Autolease, Leaseplan UK and Arval UK, Rivervale offers access to over one million quotes on over 5,000 models from more than 35 different manufacturers. It has adopted the DRIVE ODO system in order to facilitate its management of this fleet and its use by Rivervale’s customers. https://www.rivervaleleasing.co.uk/car-leasing/

Commenting on the move to EV and DRIVE, Vince Pemberton of Rivervale said:

«The introduction of EVs to commercial fleets is growing exponentially as managers understand increasingly the benefits of this fuel-type. Critical to this expansion is the ability to manage both the fleet and the individual vehicles. Rivervale has partnered with DRIVE in providing ODO to its customers, such as ABP. We understand that commercial customers require increasing levels of information processing when managing fleets, particularly when these fleets are transitioning to EV. ODO is designed to do just that; providing real-time intelligence so that this transition is seamless.»

Robert Gorby, Chief Commercial Officer at DRIVE, added:

«Our relationship with Rivervale has been instrumental in the recent development of ODO. The extent of its fleet and the requirements of its customers play to the functionality of our system. Specifically, using ODO, leasing companies and fleet managers can realise fully the benefits of EV transition through the provision of ODO’s data and management information.»

For more information, please visit www.ododrive.com.

About DRIVE Software Solutions

Drive Software Solutions’ developed technologies are responsible for the management of 1.5 million vehicles in 55 countries around the world. From bespoke software platforms and consultancy for individual corporates to ODO, our cloud delivered solution for fleet management, DRIVE is at the forefront of the automotive mobility sector.

DRIVE runs in the Oracle cloud, giving businesses a bespoke platform to manage their fleet and their drivers on the go at anytime, anywhere, using all devices. 

Time to optimise your fleet. www.ododrive.com

About Rivervale Leasing

Rivervale are the UK’s leading vehicle leasing company for personal and business customers. They specialise in new vehicle leasing for cars, vans and minibuses.

The vehicles supplied are brand new, many of which are in stock and ready to be delivered within only 14 days. Vehicle delivery is free of charge to any home or work address within mainland UK.

The way to get your next vehicle has changed, whether it’s for private leasing or business leasing use, Rivervale are the first to offer a vehicle leasing dealership to both the high-street and online.

Do it the right way. Do it the Rivervale way.

https://www.rivervaleleasing.co.uk/car-leasing/

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For more information, contact:

Robert Gorby 
+44 (0)7861 234984 
robert@ododrive.com 

Scott Fulton 
scott@fulton-associates.com 
+44 (0)7788 144993

ELKHART, Ind., Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — With millions of travelers switching to electric vehicles, customers are starting to look for electric chargers along their most popular routes. The owners of these vehicles often experience range anxiety, carefully eyeing their battery level while counting down the miles until they can reach another charging station. Starting today, customers travelling the Indiana Toll Road have access to fast-charging stations, marking the beginning of an electric charging network across the 157-mile road.

The first two charging stations are available in Rolling Prairie at the recently rebuilt Wilbur Shaw and Knute Rockne travel plazas. ITR Concession Company (ITRCC), the operator of the Indiana Toll Road, partnered with Martell Electric to bring an advanced electric charging infrastructure to the plazas. Customers stopping for coffee or a meal will have access to Level 3 Charging, also known as «DC Fast Charging.» These charging stations can provide compatible vehicles with an 80% charge in just 30 minutes – enough time for travelers to be able to stretch their legs and forget about range anxiety.

The new chargers have online connectivity, synced with the EVConnect cloud platform, which makes it possible for drivers to search for and locate charging stations directly from their phones. A smartphone app also enables secure payments, provides active charging data, and delivers real-time notifications when the vehicle is fully charged.

The electric charging infrastructure is built for the future: As more electric vehicles travel the road, additional chargers can be deployed with minimal upgrades. ITRCC CEO Nic Barr said electric charging matches ITRCC’s vision for environmental sustainability, while also meeting the customers’ needs.

«We know electric vehicles travel our road, and we’re happy to give them a place to charge up,» Barr said. «As more customers switch to electric, we’ll be ready to deploy more charging infrastructure to our other travel plazas, meeting our customers everywhere they go.»

In addition to deploying an electric charging infrastructure, ITRCC is evaluating the use of electric vehicles for its employees. A new Chevy Bolt was purchased for staff as part of a pilot program to determine the feasibility of a wider electric vehicle rollout. If the program is successful, additional vehicles will be purchased to further electrify the ITRCC fleet.

About the Indiana Toll Road
In operation since 1956, the Indiana Toll Road stretches 157 miles across the northernmost part of Indiana from Ohio to the Illinois state line, linking Chicago with the largest cities on the eastern seaboard. The Indiana Toll Road – managed by ITR Concession Company LLC (ITRCC) – and its nearly 300 employees are proud to operate a safe and efficient roadway while providing high-quality customer service to serve thousands of patrons every day. ITRCC is indirectly owned by IFM Investors, which is a uniquely-structured global fund manager with a strong track record as a responsible steward of some of the world’s biggest transportation infrastructure assets.

Contact: Bill McCall
Director of Communications
574-651-2415
bmccall@indianatollroad.org

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SOURCE ITR Concession Company

Online sales inquiries increase 59%; car buying experience puts prospective customers in the driver’s seat

ARMONK, N.Y. and LONDON, Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — IBM [NYSE: IBM] and Audi UK, one of the world’s leading premium automotive manufacturers, collaborated to redesign Audi’s website to deliver a far more engaging digital customer experience. During the course of 2020, Audi has seen a 59% increase in UK online sales inquiries despite an almost 30% industry decline in new UK car sales during the pandemic.

With 90% of its car purchases starting online, Audi UK turned to IBM iX, the business design arm of IBM Global Business Services, to help it reimagine its customers’ digital journey from initial inquiry to ownership. COVID-19 has made «contact-less» online experience paramount as car dealerships had to close or limit in-person operations.

Audi UK’s digital transformation unified its mobile and desktop shopping experiences, enabled by a cloud platform and supported by the latest marketing insights data from Adobe Analytics and agile software development practices.

Audi UK tailors the customers’ online experience to their prime motivations for car-buying – be it price, driving experience, technology or safety. Visitors are now asked fewer questions, can reach relevant information more quickly and are offered more contact options to take their inquiry further than they could before.  Audi UK broke its own online sales inquiries record three times in June 2020 alone.

Antony Roberts, Head of Digital at Audi UK, says: «In a matter of 12 months, our leads have grown exponentially and our sales conversions have improved. We have gone from being poor in terms of the data analytics to being incredibly rich. Through our collaboration with IBM, Audi UK now has the most effective cloud-based online platform across the entire VW Group, building a smarter experience for customers interacting with our brand.»

Like most organizations, Audi’s IT architecture was built over many years and had become challenging to maintain. Applying the agile, user-focused IBM Garage Methodology, the Audi and IBM iX team co-created a strategic roadmap for their digital transformation, resulting in new customer-centric tools designed to enhance the user experience. IBM implemented Adobe Experience Manager along with Adobe Analytics to facilitate faster content-led experiences on their website that helped enable Audi to make business and customer-experience decisions based on data rather than assumptions, with a full view into how consumers interact with the new site:

• IBM built the Audi analytics platform using Adobe Analytics which has helped provide actionable marketing insights, and pinpoints site performance improvement opportunities, resulting in Audi reducing customer submission errors by 90%.
• Audi content editors are now able to complete everyday changes themselves, freeing developers to focus on more complex tasks. Audi has created libraries of reusable components that has reduced initial setup time of new features from weeks to minutes.
• Adopting more agile practices, developers are now able to deliver functionality up to 75% faster than before; new solutions built this year include a test-drive booking application, a vehicle maintenance scheduler and a part-exchange calculator.

Debbie Vavangas, IBM Global Garage lead, IBM iX, said: «Audi has prided itself on its commitment to apply smart design across its business. With the COVID-19 pandemic up-ending the way consumers make large purchases, there was a critical need to apply its design principles to its customers’ digital experiences. By embracing cloud technologies and data analytics, Audi UK helped accelerate its digital transformation with an online platform that delivers a smarter, more engaging experience that puts customers in the driver’s seat.»

Notes to editors

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) announces, in its UK January 2021 report, a 29% fall in new car registrations in 2020: https://www.smmt.co.uk/2021/01/uk-automotive-looks-to-green-recovery-strategy-after-29-4-fall-in-new-car-registrations-in-2020/

The 59% increase quoted above represents the growth in fully qualified sales inquiries generated on www.audi.co.uk during 2020 over the previous year, which were passed to Audi sales or its business partners.

About Audi UK
Headquartered in Milton Keynes, England, Audi UK, a premium automotive manufacturer, operates 115 Audi Centres in the UK. Founded in 1885, Audi currently serves approximately 2 million customers and employs more than 90,000 people globally. Approximately 175,000 customers and 10,000 employees are based in the UK. Audi UK operates under parent company Volkswagen Group.

About IBM
For further information about IBM iX services visit: https://www.ibm.com/services/ibmix/ 
For further information about the IBM Garage visit: https://www.ibm.com/garage

Media Contacts
Marisa Conway
IBM External Relations
conwaym@us.ibm.com

John Galvez
IBM UK External Relations
john.galvez@uk.ibm.com

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yot3NNcNQkg
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ARMONK, N.Y. and LONDON, Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — IBM [NYSE: IBM] and Audi UK, one of the world’s leading premium automotive manufacturers, collaborated to redesign Audi’s website to deliver a far more engaging digital customer experience. During the course of 2020, Audi has seen a 59% increase in UK online sales inquiries despite an almost 30% industry decline in new UK car sales during the pandemic.

With 90% of its car purchases starting online, Audi UK turned to IBM iX, the business design arm of IBM Global Business Services, to help it reimagine its customers’ digital journey from initial inquiry to ownership. COVID-19 has made «contact-less» online experience paramount as car dealerships had to close or limit in-person operations.

Audi UK’s digital transformation unified its mobile and desktop shopping experiences, enabled by a cloud platform and supported by the latest marketing insights data from Adobe Analytics and agile software development practices.

Audi UK tailors the customers’ online experience to their prime motivations for car-buying – be it price, driving experience, technology or safety. Visitors are now asked fewer questions, can reach relevant information more quickly and are offered more contact options to take their inquiry further than they could before.  Audi UK broke its own online sales inquiries record three times in June 2020 alone.

Antony Roberts, Head of Digital at Audi UK, says: «In a matter of 12 months, our leads have grown exponentially and our sales conversions have improved. We have gone from being poor in terms of the data analytics to being incredibly rich. Through our collaboration with IBM, Audi UK now has the most effective cloud-based online platform across the entire VW Group, building a smarter experience for customers interacting with our brand.»

Like most organizations, Audi’s IT architecture was built over many years and had become challenging to maintain. Applying the agile, user-focused IBM Garage Methodology, the Audi and IBM iX team co-created a strategic roadmap for their digital transformation, resulting in new customer-centric tools designed to enhance the user experience. IBM implemented Adobe Experience Manager along with Adobe Analytics to facilitate faster content-led experiences on their website that helped enable Audi to make business and customer-experience decisions based on data rather than assumptions, with a full view into how consumers interact with the new site:

• IBM built the Audi analytics platform using Adobe Analytics which has helped provide actionable marketing insights, and pinpoints site performance improvement opportunities, resulting in Audi reducing customer submission errors by 90%.
• Audi content editors are now able to complete everyday changes themselves, freeing developers to focus on more complex tasks. Audi has created libraries of reusable components that has reduced initial setup time of new features from weeks to minutes.
• Adopting more agile practices, developers are now able to deliver functionality up to 75% faster than before; new solutions built this year include a test-drive booking application, a vehicle maintenance scheduler and a part-exchange calculator.

Debbie Vavangas, IBM Global Garage lead, IBM iX, said: «Audi has prided itself on its commitment to apply smart design across its business. With the COVID-19 pandemic up-ending the way consumers make large purchases, there was a critical need to apply its design principles to its customers’ digital experiences. By embracing cloud technologies and data analytics, Audi UK helped accelerate its digital transformation with an online platform that delivers a smarter, more engaging experience that puts customers in the driver’s seat.»

Notes to editors

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) announces, in its UK January 2021 report, a 29% fall in new car registrations in 2020: https://www.smmt.co.uk/2021/01/uk-automotive-looks-to-green-recovery-strategy-after-29-4-fall-in-new-car-registrations-in-2020/

The 59% increase quoted above represents the growth in fully qualified sales inquiries generated on www.audi.co.uk during 2020 over the previous year, which were passed to Audi sales or its business partners.

About Audi UK
Headquartered in Milton Keynes, England, Audi UK, a premium automotive manufacturer, operates 115 Audi Centres in the UK. Founded in 1885, Audi currently serves approximately 2 million customers and employs more than 90,000 people globally. Approximately 175,000 customers and 10,000 employees are based in the UK. Audi UK operates under parent company Volkswagen Group.

About IBM
For further information about IBM iX services visit: https://www.ibm.com/services/ibmix/ 
For further information about the IBM Garage visit: https://www.ibm.com/garage

Media Contacts
Marisa Conway
IBM External Relations
conwaym@us.ibm.com

John Galvez
IBM UK External Relations
john.galvez@uk.ibm.com

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SOURCE IBM

The Bahamas Poised to Seamlessly Integrate New CDC Order into Existing Protocols

NASSAU, Bahamas, Jan. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Yesterday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that all air passengers flying to the U.S. from a foreign country will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 viral test (PCR or Antigen test), taken no more than 3 days prior to the flight. This new regulation will apply to all travellers ages 2 and older, including U.S. citizens and international travellers. The order will go into effect on January 26, 2021.

Furthermore, any person who has tested positive for COVID-19 in the last three months must be prepared to show documentation of recovery, which consists of proof of their positive viral test, coupled with a letter from a healthcare provider or a public health official, providing clearance to travel. Airlines will be responsible for confirming the negative test result or documentation of recovery for all passengers before they board, and will deny boarding to any person who does not provide documentation of a negative test or recovery, or chooses not to take a test. 

The Government of The Bahamas has successfully implemented stringent measures to protect its citizens, residents and visitors, and is well positioned to adhere to this new order, seamlessly integrating the CDC’s testing requirements into The Bahamas’ existing COVID-19 protocols. Currently, visitors to The Bahamas who stay longer than four nights and five days are required to take a rapid antigen test on the fifth day of their stay, with a number of testing sites throughout The Bahamas approved to administer tests. This means travellers and residents alike, readily have access to the viral tests, now required to enter the U.S.  

«The Bahamas Government will continue to work in accordance with the CDC to curb the spread of COVID-19, which has been our top priority since the onset of this global pandemic,» said Dionisio D’Aguilar, The Bahamas Minister of Tourism & Aviation.  «Our journey has not been without bumps in the road, but we have made great strides in combatting this virus as evidenced by the very low case numbers we have now achieved. Visitors to our shores should have peace of mind knowing that we are making every effort to keep The Bahamas safe, and can now offer a turnkey, affordable and reliable testing process that meets U.S. requirements.»

All U.S. travellers to The Bahamas as well as Bahamian citizens and residents are required to abide by the CDC’s protocols to enter the U.S. An overview of these requirements, as well as FAQs, can be found on the CDC website.

For a list of approved COVD-19 testing sites in The Bahamas, as well as a full overview of The Bahamas’ travel and entry protocols, please visit Bahamas.com/travelupdates.

Due to the fluidity of COVID-19, the Government of The Bahamas will continue to monitor cases across the islands and loosen or tighten restrictions as needed. The Bahamas is an archipelago with more than 700 islands and cays, spread over 100,000 square miles, which means conditions and instances of the virus can be different on each of the 16 islands available to welcome visitors. Travellers should check the status of their island destination before travelling, by visiting Bahamas.com/travelupdates.

PRESS INQUIRIES
Anita Johnson-Patty
Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation
ajohnson@bahamas.com

Weber Shandwick
Public Relations
Bahamas@webershandwick.com

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SOURCE Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation