US Economy Gets Boost from Native American Gaming
A recent study conducted by economic research firm InteCap, Inc. shows a clear economic benefit to both Native American tribes and the overall U.S. economies.
Dr. Alan Meister, director of InteCap conducted the study and found that in the 30 states that house 359 Indian gaming facilities, a total of US$13 billion was recorded as direct revenue and US$5.5 billion was paid out in wages. The facilities employed 298,000.
"The total contribution made by Indian gaming to the whole U.S. economy
is quite significant," Meister said. "In addition to the direct gaming revenues benefiting the tribes, all the related jobs and businesses and federal, state and local tax revenues benefited the whole country.''
The study, titled "The Economic Impact of Indian Gaming in the United States," measured direct and indirect economic benefits and is the first of its kind. It did not address any social impacts on either American Indians or the nation as a whole.
Canada Wins Race For Best E-Government
Research conducted by consulting firm Accenture aimed to rate national governments throughout the world on their ability to harness the Internet to help them do business and administrate effectively online in the third annual "Realizing the Vision" report.
Twenty-three countries were rated based on a set of criteria by a team of Accenture professionals. The study found that Canada's e-government retained its title as having the best initiatives and making the most progress moving the government online. The other countries in the top 10: Singapore, the United States, Australia, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Finland, Hong Kong, Germany and Ireland.
In 2001, only two e-governments received over 40 percent in the category of overall maturity of the online services offered, as compared to 2002 when 13 governments scored a similar percentile.
Las Vegas Shows Recovery in Tourism Sector
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported last week that early signs are indicating something of a recovery in tourism revenues that have slacked off since the events of Sept. 11.
Some of the encouraging signs are a 12.8 percent increase in convention attendance; an increase in the economic impact of the conventions of 15.7 percent; weekend occupancies in hotel rooms increased to their highest levels since August 2001 to 95.4 percent; and daily traffic on Interstate 15 is up 17.9 percent in February and up 15 percent on the year, offsetting the 8.5 percent decline in airline passengers in February compared to the previous year.
Another important note in the report regards international tourism in Las Vegas. In 2001, over 5 million Japanese tourists visited the United States and spent more than US$14 million; 511,000 of those tourists went to Las Vegas. Japanese tourism dropped 60 percent immediately after Sept. 11 and is down 19 percent on the year.
Brazilian Residential Online Activity Increases
According to a recently released report by Ibope eRating Institute, the Brazilian Internet audience has increased significantly in 2002.
In March of this year, the Institute recorded 7.2 million active residential Internet users (meaning they went online at least once in the month), which represents a 9.25 percent increase over February. Time spent online also increased to exceed nine hours per user in March.
One of the reasons cited for the increase in Internet usage is the availability of 24 hour-per-day reality shows. Over 1.3 million Internet users in Brazil visited the "Casa dos Artistas" reality show site from their residence.
UK Shoppers Keen on the Internet to Save Time
A study conducted by Barclays Bank reveals a definite affinity to online shopping for the majority of U.K. Internet users.
According to the study, U.K. Internet shoppers profess they save an average of 63.6 hours per year by shopping online and 57 percent assert that shopping online saves them money.
Fifty-one percent said they liked shopping online because it meant they didn't have to leave home and another 39 percent said they liked it because they could avoid speaking to other people.
China Takes Second Place in Home Internet Usage
A report by Reuters and conducted by research firm AC Nielsen shows that China has moved into the second position behind the United States in total number of residential Internet users.
An equivalent of 5.5 percent of China's total population has access to the Internet, but that is enough to put them in the No. 2 spot with 56.6 million households, behind only the U.S. with 166 million homes. Japan is a close third at 51.3 million homes accessing the Net.
Over 56 percent of the Chinese home Internet users use a standard 56k modem to dial into the net, and only 14 percent have broadband access at home. Less than 10 percent of those polled in China have made a purchase online.