SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Global Hotel Card, Inc., the first online travel agency to offer a gift card for the incentive industry, loyalty programs, employee reward programs and for retail sale in third-party and online shopping centers, announced today the launch of its new prepaid eGift card product. The Global Experiences Card powered by Viator, a Tripadvisor company, can be used to book more than 350,000 global experiences, activities, and tours. The initial launch is offered through B2B distribution channels in reward, loyalty, engagement and employee incentive programs worldwide.

After nine months of integration development with Viator, the timing for the launch of the Global Experiences Card is ideal, as individuals and families are seeking local activities after experiencing quarantine restrictions. The Global Experiences Card powered by Viator offers activities worldwide based on interests, including wellness, sports, culture, food and beverage tastings and more. Booking options include water sports activities (kayaking, canoeing, boat tours and rafting); theme parks; food and wine tours; spa experiences; museums and much more.

«We are pleased to bring this exciting new gift card to incentive, engagement, reward and loyalty programs,» said Peter Friend, founder and CEO of Global Hotel Card, Inc. «After focusing on hotel-based gift cards for 15 years through our Global Hotel Card Powered by Expedia, our new product is already experiencing tremendous interest from current and prospective B2B clients for their program participants. We’re the first group to offer a co-branded prepaid gift card with Viator inventory to the incentives and loyalty industry. For years there was interest in the category, however the integration of mobile apps and Viator’s broad experiences offering has now made the product commercially viable, and the consumer experience much more successful. The timing was finally right and the Viator partnership was the key to success,» concluded Friend.

The Global Experiences Card website, translated in 15 languages and multiple currencies, provides real-time availability of tours, attractions and events based on current local opening restrictions. Where available, individual experience operators provide up-to-date safety information allowing participants information about hygiene, social distancing and other preventative measures the experience operator has in place.

About Viator
Viator, a Tripadvisor company, makes it easy to find and book incredible tours and activities. With access to the world’s largest selection of high-quality experiences, there’s always something new to discover, both near and far from home. With industry-leading flexibility and last-minute availability, it’s never too late to make any day extraordinary. From must-do moments to who-knew discoveries, Viator is here to make the most of your time off. Visit https://www.viator.com/ to learn more.

About Global Hotel Card, Inc.
Global Hotel Card, Inc. was the first company to launch a Gift card to the incentives, loyalty, and employee engagement programs in 2005 exclusively with the Travelocity hotel gift card, now the Global Hotel Card Powered by Expedia. During the past 15 years, the company has issued more than 500,000 gift cards in over 120 countries worldwide and managed over $75 million in hotel bookings.

Both the Global Experiences Card powered by Viator and the Global Hotel Card Powered by Expedia are available for bulk purchase by incentive, loyalty, engagement, reward and recognition programs along with direct-to-corporate purchases in 20 currencies worldwide. For more information, contact Todd Tomlin at todd (at) globaltravelcards.com.

Media Contact
Peter Friend, Global Hotel Card, Inc.
Email: peter (at) globaltravelcards.com

SOURCE Global Hotel Card, Inc.

GENEVA, 14 October 2020 /PRNewswire Policy/ — Excellencies, dear colleagues, friends,

Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to share a few reflections with you today.

The COVID-19 pandemic is radiating shock waves across countries, their populations and economies.

As you know, Europe is now seeing an increase in reported cases. More cases have been reported in each of the past 6 weeks than at the height of the first peak in March.

Countries at all income levels are affected, and the rapid emergence and spread of the virus has revealed critical gaps in national health systems’ capacities.

The pandemic has disrupted economies and overwhelmed even some of the most advanced health systems, while some of the measures taken to respond to it, such as so-called lockdowns, have badly affected many people’s ability to earn their livelihood.

Even as we use every tool at our disposal to end the pandemic, we must all use this period of crisis as an opportunity to look in the mirror and ask what we must do differently.

Today I would like to suggest three fundamental shifts that WHO believes all countries must make.

First, invest in public health.

In recent years, many countries have made huge investments and advances in medicine, but too many have neglected their basic public health systems, which are the bedrock for preventing, preparing for, detecting and responding to outbreaks.

In other words, too many countries have prioritised the medicalisation of their health systems at the expense of the basic measures that prevent people getting sick in the first place.

WHO believes that the single most important action all countries can take is to invest in essential public health functions.

This includes immunization, surveillance, laboratory capacity, infection prevention and control, health promotion, vector control and improved water and sanitation that can help us be better prepared.

It also includes essential governance functions, such as regulation to ensure quality and accessibility, and taxation to raise revenue.

These common goods for health provide an excellent return on investment. Yet they are regularly underutilized.

Indeed, many aspects of the current crisis can be attributed to disinvestment in core public health functions, as well as short-sighted social, economic and environmental policies.

Second, take a One Health approach.

The pandemic has highlighted the intimate links between the health of humans, animals and planet, which we can only address with a One Health approach.

Any efforts to improve human health are doomed unless they address the critical interface between humans and animals, and the existential threat of climate change that is making our earth less habitable.

WHO recently published our “Manifesto for a Healthy and Green Recovery”, with policy prescriptions for protecting natural resources, investing in water and sanitation, renewable energy, healthy food systems, and liveable cities.

It includes more than 80 specific actions for governments at all levels.

Third, go beyond the health sector.

The title of this session is rethinking health systems. I respectfully suggest that is far too narrow.

We will not prevent the next pandemic by focusing only on health systems.

The pandemic has affected every sector, so it stands to reason that every sector must be involved in the recovery, and in preparedness.

We must also address the reasons get people sick and die, in the air they breathe, the food they eat, the water they drink, and the conditions in which they live and work.

Just as the pandemic requires an all-of-government, all-of-society response, so does promoting and protecting health.

Invest in public health. Take a One Health Approach. And go beyond the health sector.

These are the fundamental shifts I believe our world must make, both to safeguard against future health emergencies, and to promote and protect the health of everyone, everywhere.

Thank you.

SOURCE World Health Organization (WHO)

GENEVA, 14 October 2020 /PRNewswire Policy/ — Excellencies, dear colleagues, friends,

Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to share a few reflections with you today.

The COVID-19 pandemic is radiating shock waves across countries, their populations and economies.

As you know, Europe is now seeing an increase in reported cases. More cases have been reported in each of the past 6 weeks than at the height of the first peak in March.

Countries at all income levels are affected, and the rapid emergence and spread of the virus has revealed critical gaps in national health systems’ capacities.

The pandemic has disrupted economies and overwhelmed even some of the most advanced health systems, while some of the measures taken to respond to it, such as so-called lockdowns, have badly affected many people’s ability to earn their livelihood.

Even as we use every tool at our disposal to end the pandemic, we must all use this period of crisis as an opportunity to look in the mirror and ask what we must do differently.

Today I would like to suggest three fundamental shifts that WHO believes all countries must make.

First, invest in public health.

In recent years, many countries have made huge investments and advances in medicine, but too many have neglected their basic public health systems, which are the bedrock for preventing, preparing for, detecting and responding to outbreaks.

In other words, too many countries have prioritised the medicalisation of their health systems at the expense of the basic measures that prevent people getting sick in the first place.

WHO believes that the single most important action all countries can take is to invest in essential public health functions.

This includes immunization, surveillance, laboratory capacity, infection prevention and control, health promotion, vector control and improved water and sanitation that can help us be better prepared.

It also includes essential governance functions, such as regulation to ensure quality and accessibility, and taxation to raise revenue.

These common goods for health provide an excellent return on investment. Yet they are regularly underutilized.

Indeed, many aspects of the current crisis can be attributed to disinvestment in core public health functions, as well as short-sighted social, economic and environmental policies.

Second, take a One Health approach.

The pandemic has highlighted the intimate links between the health of humans, animals and planet, which we can only address with a One Health approach.

Any efforts to improve human health are doomed unless they address the critical interface between humans and animals, and the existential threat of climate change that is making our earth less habitable.

WHO recently published our “Manifesto for a Healthy and Green Recovery”, with policy prescriptions for protecting natural resources, investing in water and sanitation, renewable energy, healthy food systems, and liveable cities.

It includes more than 80 specific actions for governments at all levels.

Third, go beyond the health sector.

The title of this session is rethinking health systems. I respectfully suggest that is far too narrow.

We will not prevent the next pandemic by focusing only on health systems.

The pandemic has affected every sector, so it stands to reason that every sector must be involved in the recovery, and in preparedness.

We must also address the reasons get people sick and die, in the air they breathe, the food they eat, the water they drink, and the conditions in which they live and work.

Just as the pandemic requires an all-of-government, all-of-society response, so does promoting and protecting health.

Invest in public health. Take a One Health Approach. And go beyond the health sector.

These are the fundamental shifts I believe our world must make, both to safeguard against future health emergencies, and to promote and protect the health of everyone, everywhere.

Thank you.

SOURCE World Health Organization (WHO)

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Inhalio announced today that is offering an advanced Mobility Scent 3.0 diffuser demo kit to equip rideshare companies, automotive OEMs, and Tier-1 suppliers with a next generation solution to better understand how the science-of-scent in vehicles can deliver enhanced well-being and customer experiences. The Mobility Diffuser Demo Kit is an all-in-one solution that includes a dry-air scent diffuser, two mobile phones with pre-loaded apps, cloud management, and four custom scent cartridges that are formulated to kill airborne viruses, eliminate bad odors, improve passenger moods, and relieve motion sickness. The kits are available to qualified customers worldwide.

«Inhalio pioneered the concept of a Wellness Ride™ – a breakthrough for mobility companies looking to give their customers healthier, and new emotive in-vehicle experiences,» said Keith Kelsen, CEO of Inhalio. «This demo kit gives mobility companies the ability to explore the scent narrative and how our patented data-centric scent solution can deliver a safer in-vehicle experience for passengers and drivers by reducing airborne bacteria and viruses, eliminating odors, relieving mild-to-moderate cases of motion sickness, and by providing mood mapping scents that can be keyed to improve passenger moods.»

The Mobility Scent 3.0 Diffuser Demo Kit provides an all-in-one solution that is targeted to a wide range of product innovation teams including business development, engineering, marketing, operations, customer experience, and product development. The kit enables rideshare, OEM, and Tier-1 companies to directly experience the application of scent across a variety of in-vehicle applications. The Demo Kit is a premier, next-generation scent system that is specifically designed to provide teams responsible for product innovation or customer experience with advanced scent creation, precision diffusion, and online cloud control and management. Inhalio brings more than 25 years of scent development and delivery knowledge and innovation to mobility company labs.

By offering a Wellness Ride, rideshare companies, OEMs, and Tier-1 manufacturers can improve customer satisfaction, increase per-ride revenue, create more brand loyalty, and further differentiate their rideshare service from competitors. Using the Inhalio Digital Scent 3.0 Platform, rideshare companies can quickly and conveniently deploy dry-air mobility or embedded scent diffusers into their fleets and increase ride-fee revenues by offering a Wellness Ride.

Using their smartphone, passengers can select one of four in-vehicle scents directly from the rideshare company’s app to promote wellness, eliminate odors, or reduce mild cases of motion sickness. Using the Inhalio rideshare scent reference architecture and APIs, Inhalio gives rideshare companies decades of expertise and know-how in deploying scent delivery and management systems with the additional capability of collecting, analyzing and understanding rider trends and gaining business insights. Unlike other scent systems, Inhalio delivers a convenient multi-scent dry-air diffuser, intelligent control and management, and detailed cloud-based user insight data engine.

Multiple types of advanced, dry-air intelligent scent cartridges are available that are integrated into the Scent 3.0 Digital Platform, including:

• Air Sanitizing Cartridges – Special active ingredients that are safe-to-breathe and known to kill airborne viral pathogens are used to create this in-vehicle air-sanitizer. The V-313485™

scent cartridge can be diffused while passengers are in the vehicle to limit the aerosol exposure and transmission of viruses and reduce potential in-vehicle contamination.

• Malodor Cartridges – Scents designed to include specific malodor ingredients that react with odors to eliminate nasty smells caused by body odor, smoke, and urine; as well as odors caused by organic acids such as pet odors, sweat, and vomit.
• Motion Sickness Relief Cartridges – By combining ingredients that are known to reduce the effects of motion sickness into a special scent formula, these scent cartridges can reduce the number of motion sickness incidents, as well as improve recovery times for passengers.
• Mood Mapped Scent Cartridges – Inhalio has harnessed the world of mood-mapped scent ingredients to create a new level of in-vehicle emotive experiences. Mood mapped scent cartridges can trigger positive emotions and make passengers feel more alert, relaxed, calm, or rejuvenated, as well as be culturally adjusted.

The Mobility Diffuser Demo Kit is available now for order to qualified teams in Shared Mobility markets; please contact sales@inhalio.com to determine your eligibility and the price in your territory.

About Inhalio:

Inhalio is a global leader in cloud-based digital scent technology. The Inhalio Digital Scent 3.0 Platform is transformative to personal wellness and well-being by diffusing scents that sanitize airborne viral pathogens, eliminate malodors, and create mood-mapped experiences. We focus on the science of scent using a data-centric process of precise scent infusion, molecular dry-air diffusion, and detailed customer insights. http://www.inhalio.com

SOURCE Inhalio, Inc.

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla., Oct. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Friendly Kia is offering fall savings and sales this October in preparation for the arrival of the highly anticipated 2021 Kia Sorento. The automotive world has been swirling over the anticipation of the 2021 Sorento and the local dealership is preparing for the influx of new models.

From now until Nov. 2 Tampa Bay locals can take advantage of money-saving deals and discounts available on new Kia inventory at the dealership. Friendly Kia is even offering a $300 Visa gift card incentive on top of select lease and purchase deals.

The fan-favorite 2021 Kia Soul LX is eligible for a 36-month lease deal with $179/month payments and $2,699 due at signing. A variety of lease incentives are available this month for the family-ready 2021 Kia Telluride, with some offers as low as $329 per month for 36 months. Lease incentives and opportunities are available for well-qualified buyers and customer credit is subject to approval prior to offer signing.

Individuals looking for new Kia vehicle purchase options will find the finance opportunities this month at Friendly Kia fit the bill. The dealership is offering special APR financing as low as 0% on select vehicles, including some 2021 Kia Forte, 2021 Kia Sedona, 2020 Kia Niro, 2020 Kia Optima, 2020 Kia Rio and 2020 Kia Sorento models.

Anyone can view the entire lineup of lease and finance incentives available now at the dealership by visiting Friendly Kia online, friendlykia.com. Friendly Kia is located at 5819 US-19, New Port Richey, FL 34652 and is open seven days a week. The Friendly Kia sales department has normal business hours Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. – 8 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Sundays from 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.

SOURCE Friendly Kia

SALFORDS, England, Oct. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Learning Academy of Rapiscan Systems®, a leading manufacturer of security inspection equipment, has been awarded an ‘Outstanding’ grade as a certified training provider by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) UK.

The Learning Academy provides certified training globally to an average of 3,000 students per year, having trained approximately 9,800 security professionals to date. The Academy supplies a range of training and educational programs to suit individual customer requirements, including Threat Recognition and accredited UK Security Training across Rapiscan’s range of security and inspection technologies and areas of expertise.

CAA Accreditation utilizes a formal certification framework with strict criteria. This includes requiring a Management and Governance structure of training content, enacting specific policies around Learning and Development to enhance the learning experience, putting in place a stringent Quality Assurance model across all areas of course delivery and providing support tools for all students that include dyslexia screening and additional assistance as required.

«Passing the audit process is a challenge for any training service provider, but passing with an ‘outstanding’ result across all framework areas makes me immensely proud,» explains Brian Reid, Global Director Training and Education. «We pride ourselves on offering informative, industry-leading training across our product range, in line with the highest possible standards and with EU regulation. The CAA Award reflects these high standards, but most importantly the hard work of our Learning Academy team.»  

«Going forward, as the aviation and transport industries recover from the current global health crisis, operator skills are likely to fade,» Brian continues. «Training and skill building will be essential to ensure that security screening operators return to top-form. With increased numbers of staff working remotely, virtual training and learning from home will be key. As the only security manufacturer able to deliver fully CAA accredited end-to-end training solutions, from initial introductions to concepts through to actionable skills and certification, our Outstanding CAA Certified training is here to support companies and learners across the industry.»

To find out more about the Rapiscan System’s Learning Academy and wider product range, visit https://www.rapiscansystems.com/en/

SALFORDS, England, Oct. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Learning Academy of Rapiscan Systems®, a leading manufacturer of security inspection equipment, has been awarded an ‘Outstanding’ grade as a certified training provider by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) UK.

The Learning Academy provides certified training globally to an average of 3,000 students per year, having trained approximately 9,800 security professionals to date. The Academy supplies a range of training and educational programs to suit individual customer requirements, including Threat Recognition and accredited UK Security Training across Rapiscan’s range of security and inspection technologies and areas of expertise.

CAA Accreditation utilizes a formal certification framework with strict criteria. This includes requiring a Management and Governance structure of training content, enacting specific policies around Learning and Development to enhance the learning experience, putting in place a stringent Quality Assurance model across all areas of course delivery and providing support tools for all students that include dyslexia screening and additional assistance as required.

«Passing the audit process is a challenge for any training service provider, but passing with an ‘outstanding’ result across all framework areas makes me immensely proud,» explains Brian Reid, Global Director Training and Education. «We pride ourselves on offering informative, industry-leading training across our product range, in line with the highest possible standards and with EU regulation. The CAA Award reflects these high standards, but most importantly the hard work of our Learning Academy team.»  

«Going forward, as the aviation and transport industries recover from the current global health crisis, operator skills are likely to fade,» Brian continues. «Training and skill building will be essential to ensure that security screening operators return to top-form. With increased numbers of staff working remotely, virtual training and learning from home will be key. As the only security manufacturer able to deliver fully CAA accredited end-to-end training solutions, from initial introductions to concepts through to actionable skills and certification, our Outstanding CAA Certified training is here to support companies and learners across the industry.»

To find out more about the Rapiscan System’s Learning Academy and wider product range, visit https://www.rapiscansystems.com/en/

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rapiscan-systems-learning-academy-earns-caa-outstanding-award-for-security-training-301152196.html

SOURCE Rapiscan Systems