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Key contributor to Canadian economy
Canada's gaming industry is a key contributor to the country's economy, according to a new study by the Canadian Gaming Association.
The study, called the 2010 Economic Impact of the Canadian Gaming Industry, found that legalized gaming revenue has nearly tripled to $15.1-billion in 2010 from $6.4-billion in 1995. It covers everything from casinos to video lottery terminals to horse racing to bingo.
With total industry revenues of $16-billion, (which would include non-gaming revenue from other hospitality-related items like food and beverage, entertainment and accommodation), its business now exceeds the revenues generated by magazine and book sales, social establishments, spectator sports, movie theatres and the performing arts combined, the study found.
As well, the study found that the gaming industry directly supports more than 128,000 full-time jobs in Canada, with indirectly related employment pushing that total to 283,000 jobs. That translates into $12.5-billion in labour income.
The study also found that gambling contributes $8.7-billion in annual funding to government, community programs and charity initiatives.
As well, it said that the industry's contributions total more than $31-billion in gross output and $14-billion in produced goods and services.
The study did note that recent growth has been slower, with the current industry revenue figure up from $14.8-billion in 2006. The study attributed the more modest recent increase to a combination of industry maturity, the state of the economy, more competition and restructuring of some provincial gaming programs.
Nevertheless, "in the past 15 years, we've seen tremedous investment across Canada to turn gaming facilities into entertainment destinations, which has generated not just economic benefits for the provinces, but employment opportunities as well," said Canadian Gaming Association president and CEO Billl Rutsey in the release.
The study noted that most goods and services needed to sustain operations are now produced or offered in Canada. And there is a chain reaction to keep the industry running.
A seed-funding degree of separation from Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber
Enflick Inc., the company behind free text-messaging application Text Now and smartphone cross-platform instant messaging app PingChat!, has secured more than $1-million in seed funding.
Among the contributors: Troy Carter, manager of Grammy award winner Lady Gaga, and Scooter Braun, who manages phenom Justin Bieber.
Other investors included Freestyle Capital and the Menlo Talent Fund.
The Waterloo, Ont.-based company, which will use the funding on further product development, also earned a companies-to-watch award as part of the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 awards.
And the surveys say...
Customer service counts
Eighty-five per cent of Canadians say they have not completed a business transaction or intended purchase because of bad customer service, according to results from American Express Canada's annual Global Customer Service Barometer.
Nearly seven in 10 (69 per cent) of consumers will spend more with a company, on average 12 per cent, that they believe provides excellent customer service, according to the survey of 1,060 Canadian consumers.
And they'll equally punish bad service: along with the more than five in six who will turn away from a bad customer-service transaction, 49 per cent say a bad service experience has the most effect on their impression of a brand -- more than the 40 per cent who say it can make a good impression. Nine in 10 said that their experience with customer service has an effect either way on their impression of a brand, and more than half would be willing to try a new brand or company to get better service.
A quarter are willing to drive a longer distance and 20 per cent are willing to sacrifice convenience to find great service.
More consumers -- 64 per cent -- are likely to talk to friends about a bad experience than the 52 per cent likely to talk about a good one. And word will spread to more people: an average of 16 friends will hear about bad service versus nine that will hear about good, according to the annual survey conducted in 10 countries.
