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Banner stands and roll up banners are beneficial in many ways that are worth taking into account.

Portability

Roll up banners are easily portable since they are lightweight and can be carried with no trouble. Available in cases that are conveniently-sized, they are perfect for people who travel frequently and promote their company’s product at trade show displays and exhibitions. Additionally, they also fulfil the requirements of mobile service providing teams whose jobs require them to travel continually. Along with providing all the information and services to the clients clearly, they also convey a professional impression to the clients.

Attracting customers

Designed specially to attract potential clients, they stand out among the other dull exhibition tools and pull in customers. Roll up banners display high quality images because of the excellent of the banners. The height of the banners increases their visibility while the attractive designs and vibrant colours stand out and attract potential customers. Customers are more likely to become interested and approach your company’s stall to find out more about the products and services offered.

Easily Installable

Roller banners are acknowledged for being easy and hassle free to set up with spring installed mechanisms that allow the banner to be set up within seconds. When comparisons are drawn between exhibition banners and other displays, theys are often preferred by companies since they are time saving and can easily be assembled or taken apart by anybody and do not require any specific skill set. Setting up a banner stand is a one person job and does not require any added labour or technical knowledge.

Managing space

Apart from saving storage space and keeping it for use later, the retractable banner stand does not take up much space even after being set up. Ideally, it can be put in tight spaces to make the most of its compact style, like in an exhibition cubicle. The space saved is available to be put to better use for other advertising tools and displays, increasing your chances to attract customers to your exhibition stand.

Long-lasting

Along with the advertising benefits, banner stands are also a good investment with long term benefits for your company. Why I say this is because retractable banner stands are made using long-lasting, strong plastic and last forever, even after being used over and over again. This quality also makes them suitable for work done outdoors because of their durability.

When looking for a display to improve your company’s marketing that is long lasting, conveniently transportable, and effective, and can be installed without any hassle, as well as meets the aims and goals of the company by bringing in clients, retractable banner stands may be the only answer to your requirements.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its subsets Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) are playing a major role in Data Science. Data Science is a comprehensive process that involves pre-processing, analysis, visualization and prediction. Lets deep dive into AI and its subsets.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science concerned with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. AI is mainly divided into three categories as below

• Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI)
• Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)
• Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI).

Narrow AI sometimes referred as ‘Weak AI’, performs a single task in a particular way at its best. For example, an automated coffee machine robs which performs a well-defined sequence of actions to make coffee. Whereas AGI, which is also referred as ‘Strong AI’ performs a wide range of tasks that involve thinking and reasoning like a human. Some example is Google Assist, Alexa, Chatbots which uses Natural Language Processing (NPL). Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) is the advanced version which out performs human capabilities. It can perform creative activities like art, decision making and emotional relationships.

Now let’s look at Machine Learning (ML). It is a subset of AI that involves modeling of algorithms which helps to make predictions based on the recognition of complex data patterns and sets. Machine learning focuses on enabling algorithms to learn from the data provided, gather insights and make predictions on previously unanalyzed data using the information gathered. Different methods of machine learning are

• supervised learning (Weak AI – Task driven)
• non-supervised learning (Strong AI – Data Driven)
• semi-supervised learning (Strong AI -cost effective)
• reinforced machine learning. (Strong AI – learn from mistakes)

Supervised machine learning uses historical data to understand behavior and formulate future forecasts. Here the system consists of a designated dataset. It is labeled with parameters for the input and the output. And as the new data comes the ML algorithm analysis the new data and gives the exact output on the basis of the fixed parameters. Supervised learning can perform classification or regression tasks. Examples of classification tasks are image classification, face recognition, email spam classification, identify fraud detection, etc. and for regression tasks are weather forecasting, population growth prediction, etc.

Unsupervised machine learning does not use any classified or labelled parameters. It focuses on discovering hidden structures from unlabeled data to help systems infer a function properly. They use techniques such as clustering or dimensionality reduction. Clustering involves grouping data points with similar metric. It is data driven and some examples for clustering are movie recommendation for user in Netflix, customer segmentation, buying habits, etc. Some of dimensionality reduction examples are feature elicitation, big data visualization.

Semi-supervised machine learning works by using both labelled and unlabeled data to improve learning accuracy. Semi-supervised learning can be a cost-effective solution when labelling data turns out to be expensive.

Reinforcement learning is fairly different when compared to supervised and unsupervised learning. It can be defined as a process of trial and error finally delivering results. t is achieved by the principle of iterative improvement cycle (to learn by past mistakes). Reinforcement learning has also been used to teach agents autonomous driving within simulated environments. Q-learning is an example of reinforcement learning algorithms.

Moving ahead to Deep Learning (DL), it is a subset of machine learning where you build algorithms that follow a layered architecture. DL uses multiple layers to progressively extract higher level features from the raw input. For example, in image processing, lower layers may identify edges, while higher layers may identify the concepts relevant to a human such as digits or letters or faces. DL is generally referred to a deep artificial neural network and these are the algorithm sets which are extremely accurate for the problems like sound recognition, image recognition, natural language processing, etc.

To summarize Data Science covers AI, which includes machine learning. However, machine learning itself covers another sub-technology, which is deep learning. Thanks to AI as it is capable of solving harder and harder problems (like detecting cancer better than oncologists) better than humans can.

You have heard about recruitment agencies, but you may not be aware of what these firms do. Just as the name sounds, recruitment agencies are companies or firms that have a list of job vacancies and a database of people who are looking out for jobs. They match their database of job seekers with job vacancies as and when they come up. These agencies sprung up in America in the year 1893. Fred Winslow started an engineering firm in 1893 and that later on became part of a much broader network called the General Employment Enterprise. The mode of operation of this firm was similar to what recruitment agencies do nowadays. The basic aim of recruitment agencies is to identify, locate and then hire workers on permanent or contractual basis. The temporary agencies handle the recruited people on short term contracts. Many companies like to outsource some of their workload during the peak season or when permanent staffs are on holidays. It is to fill this gap that temporary agencies hire people. There have also been situations where temporary staffs have been upgraded to full time jobs if proved efficient.

There are recruitment agencies that provide services within their country and agencies that provide services to employers abroad. International agencies are known to be present in larger numbers than local recruitment agencies. This is due to the fact that there is always a demand for employment abroad and there are more takers for jobs that come from another country. In fact the highest number of recruitment agencies is sourcing employees for the Middle East, where there is a high demand for foreign workers. The agencies in UAE are on the lookout for persons with varying skills and they usually have a job for people from most backgrounds. With the popularity of internet growing there are many agencies that operate online. Such online recruitment agencies are known to be very successful as the information gets across to the prospective employer and the employee at a much shorter time. There are also many recruitment sites where employers can post their requirement and job seekers can post their bio data onto the website. This gives both the employee and the employee a platform to interact before the final decision is taken. Many such online websites are springing up and are proving to be very successful.

In this modern world, many companies rely on recruitment agencies to find the right person for the job. In general, the agencies do not charge a free from the job seeker. It is the employers who pay the recruitment agencies a fee for finding them an employee that suits their requirement. So as a job seeker you do not end up paying for the agencies services. By going through an agency, you can save time that you would otherwise spend going through classified sections. If you are looking for a job in a particular sector, these agencies are your best bet as they will have a list of jobs that you are looking for and that will help you to land up with a job of your preference. These agencies will also be able to help you in preparing your CV and in preparing for interviews. They can also provide you with valuable feedback on the interviews that you attend and help you by doing mock interviews. Many employers prefer to go through recruitment agencies as they are a one point contact for their recruitment needs. Such employers may not entertain you if you apply to them directly. With so many advantages that a job seeker can avail with the help of a agency, it is a good choice to utilize their services.

With a host of recruitment agencies operating in the market, a job seeker has to exercise some caution before entrusting their future with a recruitment agency. Past records of the agency has to be checked properly and it is better to approach one that has been licensed to recruit people. In the case of online sites, go for reputed sites and check their disclaimer before moving forward. There are many bogus agencies that operate in the market and one has to aware of such agencies. These agencies often request job seekers to pay a nominal amount as registration fee and this is a sign for you to be cautious when dealing with the agency. Be smart and be aware otherwise bogus recruitment agencies can take you for a ride.

Smartphones dominate our attention throughout the day. They have come to change the very nature of how we interact with the world around us, including the way we do businesses.

When it comes to the travel and hospitality space, mobiles have drastically reshaped their functioning, that too in the favor of the consumer. And, with expectations regarding mobile interactivity rising, consumers have become more demanding regarding the kinds of services they have at their fingertips.

Here are some statistics that will help you grasp the extent to which mobile has penetrated the industry:

• TripAdvisor is the travel industry’s most popular mobile app, with more than 230 million downloads and 150 million monthly active users.
• Mobile bookings in travel have grown by 1700% between 2011 and 2015, moving from 1 per cent to 18 per cent of online revenues.
• 40% of travel sales have come from mobile in 2017, which is posited to reach 50 per cent by 2021.
• 88 per cent of leisure travelers will switch to a different app or website if yours isn’t meeting their needs
• More than 50 per cent of travelers don’t have a set destination in mind when planning a trip – and 60% will search their next trip from a mobile device
• 1 in 3 boarding passes will be delivered via mobile by 2019
• 66 per cent users prefer restaurants with a reward scheme, and 78% will use a mobile app if offered discounts.

The bottom line is, mobile is here to stay. In fact, it will only occupy more importance in the consumer’s daily life, so fine tuning your hospitality venture to make to most of mobile is imperative.

The hospitality industry invests heavily in online marketing (about $6 billion in 2016, to give you an idea) and uses it to engage customers and drive conversions. However, online engagement using only paid advertising is fast losing its appeal.

More and more companies are re-looking their strategy and trying to incorporate the mobile experience at each stage of the travel experience – right from research to sharing feedback about the journey and their stay in a hotel.

The Role of Mobiles in the Research Phase

Earlier, your travel research didn’t necessarily involve surfing the net. You’d call a travel agent after a brief search online, and trust him to get you a discount on the whole ‘package’.

Travelers these days pride themselves on their ‘researching skills’ and their ability to curate a great experience while also bagging the best deals for themselves. And a lot of their research takes them to social networking sites, like Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram and user review platforms like TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet.

This means that you have to incentivize your existing customers to share their journey online. Check-ins, reviews, sharing photos, using customized hashtags, and writing blogs are popular strategies to invite contributions.

But don’t just leave it all up to the guests. Hotels should also actively participate in creating and distributing high quality content. Focus on value-driven stuff that gets your potential consumers to think, “These guys seem to know what they’re talking about when it comes to travel, so I’ll check them out!” And don’t forget to optimize the content for reading on smartphones, because looking up on PCs is so old-fashioned. Also, partner with experts, specialists, and influencers to enrich your content and give it credibility.

Now that you’re creating valuable content, ensure that it’s discoverable on Google. Have a robust SEO strategy so that you feature in top search results. Also, get a Google Business Listing for your hotel, and make maintain NAP (Name, Address, and Phone number) consistency across platforms like Yelp, Yahoo, Foursquare, and TripAdvisor.

A virtual concierge is even better. Guests can access this service on their mobile, allowing them to see the amenities of your hotel, check out local attractions, or even look at upgrade opportunities. You should use the power of video to your advantage to give them online tours as well.

From the Booking to Arrival

There is always a time-gap between the time guests make reservation to the time they arrive at your hotel. This period is rarely utilized by businesses, but with some thought, you can reach out to your guest and offer value added services.

Communicate with your guests on their mobiles, but in a way that isn’t considered spamming. Give them useful information about the locality, introduce them to sightseeing options, and inform them of events happening around the hotel. And should they like something, let them reserve seats using their smartphones.

You can even eliminate the check-in line and other procedures with the help of a mobile app. Guests can choose their rooms, opt for add-ons and have a hassle-free check in to give them greater control over their stay. Not only will this free up your staff for other aspects of the business, you will also earn brownie points for being proactive.

The Hotel Lobby & The Stay

People would ignore your lobby because there isn’t anything there to capture their interest, apart from droll seating arrangements and eerie silence. You can change that, and use this space to actually interact with guests, using mobiles.

SoftBank’s humanoid robot Pepper is one of those innovations that really caught my eye. This robot makes a great way of channeling customers to use the gamut of mobile services that you might have in place, while also paving the way for affiliate services and programs.

Pepper can be programmed to chat with customers, answer questions and give directions – its functionality is like Amazon’s Alexa. With Pepper, however, there’s a robot in front of customers that can dance, look around, play music, light up, blush and even take a cool selfie with passersby.

Pepper can even capture email addresses and phone numbers, and can be programmed to send customers messages with links to your mobile app, loyalty programs and other things pre-and-post their stay at the hotel. With Pepper, you can capture the data you need to create a truly personalized experience for your guests, which is the reason for most hotels now looking at mobile favorably.

Finally, your App

Maybe you were wondering when we would get to this, since we’ve covered pretty much everything else. We won’t try and convince you why you need an app, but know that having a mobile site isn’t enough. Apps themselves take your customer engagement to the next level, and given the competition in the industry, you should leverage your mobile advantage as much as possible.

An ideal app should have the following characteristics:

• Ergonomic Design, intuitive User Interface
• Careful selection of essential features
• Brand consistency
• Cross-platform compatibility (iOS, Android etc.)
• Convenient booking options
• News – Local and industry related
• Analytics at the back end
• Image gallery / virtual tour
• Floor plan
• Loyalty program integration
• Event Calendar
• Flight information, weather updates, dynamism
• Social network sharing prompt

As technology becomes increasingly personalized and mobile, your engagement in the realm of hospitality should not fall behind. While these suggestions are extensive, consider implementing a few (if not all) of them to see the kind of boost you receive in your engagement – personal experience is the best teacher.

All things said and done, mobile engagement truly lets you interact with your guests in a personalized and more proactive manner, which does wonders for your brand image. In addition, it also lets you rise above the competitive clutter, which sounds like a win-win to me!

It is vital to take note of the Bali visa requirements outlined below and also contact your local Indonesian embassy before going to Bali to see if there are any changes in the visa requirements as Indonesian countries can be very stern with regards tourists who over stay their visa date. Finishing off your holiday by landing up in a Balinese or any Indonesian jail for a foreigner could be a nightmare come true. With so many Bali tours and leisure activities available when on holiday in Bali it is easy to get tempted to stay longer that you initially intended, but it is truly not a good idea.

Although these countries are quite forgiving to the western way of doing things, you’ll be imprisoned if you can’t pay the hefty fine that may be imposed for overstaying. Overstaying your visa is charged at US$20 each day for over stays up to 60 days, anytime over 60 days are your will be liable to five years imprisonment or a fine of 25 million Indonesian Rupiah. If you do intend to stay longer than your visa allows, then you can fly to a nearby country like Thailand or Vietnam fairly cheaply and re enter Bali to renew your visa.

Before you enter Bali make sure you are familiar with the different money denominations. The local currency utilized in Bali is the Indonesian Rupiah (IDR), The Indonesian Rupiah money denominations are:

Paper Notes: 100, 500 , 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000.

Coins: 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000.

Short term visa free entry of thirty days is available to people holding passports of the following 11countries : Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. Your passport must be valid for at least six months from the date of entry into Bali and you will need to show an onward of return ticket.

Short term visa on arrival (VOA), 7 day or 30 day visas are available for the following countries at a cost of $10 and $25 respectively. Once again a passport with more than six months left on it and a return ticket must be shown to get the visa. The countries are : Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Laos, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Suriname, Taiwan, Holland, U.A.E., UK and the U. S. of America.

All of the countries noted below will need to contact the Bali embassy in their country to get prior permission to enter Bali. Without a visa in advance you will not be permitted to go into the country. The countries are Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Cuba, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq, Israel, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.

Apart from the short term visas that are available, there are other more long term visas that may be applied for before traveling to Bali. It is better to make an application for these visas in your own country, even though they may be a little more expensive they will generally be processed faster. You’ll find a Balinese embassy in most countries that you can apply through. Some of the commonest long term visas that people make an application for are, business visa, social-cultural visa, job visa and limited stay permits (KITAS).

When you first arrive at one of the Bali hotels that you have selected to stay in contact your local government agency and tell them you have arrived and once again when you leave. This is recommended by all governments and it is just to ensure that you are safe and they will know if you haven’t left on the due date. This way at least you’d be contacted in the event you forget when you’re supposed to leave, you would be surprised how many times this occurs.