In spite of the traditional thaw in Japan- China relations, tourism inflows have increased significantly between the two. Chinese tourist arrivals to Japan has increased to double the previous year, thus spawning numerous travel jobs. This has partly been possible due to the weakening Yen and the rise of duty free shops in the country. The growth of the Chinese middle class has fuelled increasing spending patterns among the people. Japan’s gain has been seen as a loss for Hong Kong which has seen numbers decrease due to the tensions with mainland China thus adversely impacting tourism jobs there.

Social media today has become among the top sources for recruitment especially MBA jobs. Before recruiting thecorporate strategymust be clear as to what kind of employees are needed and where they will fit best at. Social media gives peek into personal lives and that may be good meter to gauge employability through studying traits. Only those people must be recruited who are already aware and believe in the product / service the firm is offering. Online trade groups and forums offer perfect arena to conduct market research on potential employee profiles. Focus groups and niche clubs exist on the social media from where recruitment can be easier.

The art of recruitment has been complicated due to digitization, yet the same also provides opportunities not available formerly. Certain procedures must be incorporated into the corporate strategy of the firm’s recruitment policy to get best possible results. As per business research conducted by Glassdoor, the average number of days to close a placement has doubled in just a few years. Thus patience is key. One must use aggregators like LinkedIn especially for management jobs. While posting is free, the paid subscription allows much faster and more efficient filtering. Recruitment advertisements need to be written more crisp these days especially as keywords have become crucial. As with digital marketing, similarly in the process of hiring, consistency must be maintained. So ‘management consulting’ must not veer to ‘managerial consulting’ as this small change will make it that much more difficult to identify right candidates. Finally, recruiter must be prepared to face plethora of applications as its far cheaper and easier to apply and take a chance than it used to be. There exists template formed responses which must then be sent to the applicants post quick filtration. 

Public speakers most enjoy the challenge of facing the audience from up a podium. However, sometimes public speakers cannot locate the next major event and this is where social media can prove to be a major aid. As permarketing research conducted, more than seventy percent of respondents polled, acknowledged the usage of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Yet a similar figure responded to not use email as a means of digital marketing. Email marketing is possibly the most effective and safe. Social media cuts research time especially if one uses Bluetrapp to help schedule relevant articles online. Advertisements work well on Facebook as instead of simply boosting a post one can simply choose users with whom to personally share. Lists must be created on both Twitter and Facebook of users to follow in order to cut through the jamboree of people on social media. While some feel that things change way too fast in social media, the Forbes app on the same helps keep track of latest changes. 

While traditionally, we analyzed data on an annual or seasonal or at most daily activity, now due to the business analysis provided by Google, we are getting minute-by-minute updates. It is like a microscopic analysis which provides us information on what kind of keywords are searched for at different times of the day. This business research will allow firms to zero in and launch marketing campaigns for times of the day most suitable. During evening hours for example, searches increase on topics such as fashion and shopping and this data will help aligncorporate strategy of retail chains’ marketing. This tool can even aid policy makers as data suggests crimes increase after local football teams lose games. Surprisingly no lunchtime trends seem to appear in the USA while they are quite visible in countries such as UK, Belgium and Japan. 

In this era of digital marketing, large firms have massive budgets for their online presence yet smaller ones are getting crowded out. Thus Melon Studios has developed a tool called ‘Page for Promotion’ (PFP) which specifically intends to help SMEs. The idea is to gauge users’ interest levels in various subjects and them being posted with information on similar product available but by a smaller player. It will appear as a post and not an advertisement. The developers are a startup who have received funding from angel investors.

The fall of the Euro against the US Dollar has proved to be a boon for American tourists, flocking in great numbers to Europe this year. Prices are about a fourth less than last year with the Euro heading to almost parity level with the Dollar. Marketing research conducted by Gallup shows that about four-fifths of Americans had a favourable opinion towards France, the country that is attracting maximum tourists from the USA.  Italy and the Netherlands are other popular destinations. This has led to jamming of tourism lines as Americans are queuing up in large numbers to reach the old world. Thus prior bookings have become necessary now.