the devastating consequences from the politically—charged war in the gaza strip spills over into into the business community. plus, travellers continue to spend big, undeterred plus, travellers continue to spend big, undeterred by the high cost of living. we ask why, and where. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. we begin this hour with the war in middle east. in the months since hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented assault on israel in october, killing more than 1,000 people, the death toll on both sides have continued to rise. more than 21,000 people have been killed in the gaza strip by israeli bombardments, the consequences have now spilt over to businesses, as customers in the middle east and elsewhere boycott companies for their perceived support of israel. from new york, the bbc�*s michelle fleury reports. major western brands have found themselves hit by a grassroots

often unplanned boycotts because of their styles on the israel palestine conflict. this includes mcdonald's. the burger chamber came a target —— chain became a target after giving away thousands of free meals to the members of the israeli military. this resulted in boycotts of the brand. 0wners boycotts of the brand. owners and muslim majority countries such as kuwait and pakistan put out statements distancing themselves. in a message on linkedin, mcdonald's ceo wrote that the burger chain is experiencing a meaningful business impacted due to the war and associated misinformation. all of this in the middle east and beyond because of the war in gaza. he added, "this is disheartening and ill—founded," pointing that many of the restaurants are operated by local owners. he didn't elaborate on the scale of the impact, but mcdonald's has around 2000 restaurants in

the region. it isn't the only global brand to face controversy over its response. others include starbucks, showing how tough it is to navigate such a politically charged conflict. the consequences of that war have, as we've reporting, also spilled over into the red sea. the increasing attacks on ships passing through the red sea by the iran—backed houthi militants have drawn condemnation by the head of the un's maritime organisation. its secretary—general arsenio dominguez said there would be negative repercussions from the situation. he was speaking to our transport correspondent katy austin. it is concerning. of course, we all want an ideal war were we don't have this situation. not just on shipping, but on everything in society. trading has a pattern. in the safety of the seafarers is paramount, as well as the ships send the goods we carry out. as we have

spoken on other incidents, we have seen the negative repercussions that it has when shipping gets affected. we are indispensable when it comes to global trade and it is important to also recognise that in order to maintain stability in a war that is going through some challenges. and the longer it goes on, the more worrying? the and the longer it goes on, the more worrying?— more worrying? the more worrying _ more worrying? the more worrying it _ more worrying? the more worrying it will _ more worrying? the more worrying it will become. l more worrying? the more i worrying it will become. we will continue to focus on the solutions, but of course, the sooner we can bring all the participants on the table, instead of having those difficult conversations, the better. the sooner we go back to the shipping trade, will provide the great service for the war. in other business news making headlines this morning, peloton has teamed up with the chinese social media giant tiktok as part

of a strategy to shed its image as a bike company, turning itself into a sports company. the company, which sells stationary bikes and treadmills, grew in popularity during the pandemic when people were in lockdown. that growth has now slowed, with peloton losing 30,000 members in thejuly to september quarter last year. it's now trying to leverage tiktok�*s younger audience. the new partnership will create a fitness hub on the social media platform, featuring fitness videos in collaboration with content creators. retailers are experiencing a lull after a series of sales at the end of last year. there was the singles�* day sales, then cyber monday, black friday and christmas sales — the list goes on. companies are now trying to get people to keep spending. for more on how they plan to do that, i'm joined by ruthjessie from advertising services firm miq. —— according to ruthjesse. -- according to ruth jesse. is a —— according to ruthjesse. is a huge opportunity for marketing. this allows for advertisers to actually create personal information, be it in terms of colours or fonts or even alterations of copies. it

then allows for personalisation. so a mum versus a father might have different responses to different responses to different types. having ai allows for that rapid creation of different types of creative second draw... and it's not just a promotion scheme. i'm sure a lot of advertisers are pretty shy about that. to get our pretty shy about that. to get your reaction, _ pretty shy about that. to get your reaction, the _ pretty shy about that. to get your reaction, the prospect l your reaction, the prospect that could increase inflation. definitely rising concern for consumers. consumers are not letting up understanding. there has been pressure and they're expecting the same thing for less. ~ �* , ., expecting the same thing for less. ~ �* , . , less. we're 'ust a few days into the — less. we're just a few days into the new _ less. we're just a few days into the new year. - less. we're just a few days into the new year. give - less. we're just a few days into the new year. give us| less. we're just a few days - into the new year. give us your outlook. ~ , , outlook. we still feel very ositive outlook. we still feel very positive about _ outlook. we still feel very positive about this -

outlook. we still feel very positive about this year. | outlook. we still feel very l positive about this year. we have seen the recovery in the lot is covered. —— this cover. one of the things many people spent on last year despite the high inflation was travel. with border closures, the industry was one of the hardest hit during the pandemic. but when borders reopened, grounded holiday—makers around now, where is the growth in asia coming from? we got some answers from alan watts, asia pacific president at hilton, at hilton. asia has become really interdependent - asia has become really interdependent on - asia has become reallyl interdependent on asia. asia has become really i interdependent on asia. it asia has become really - interdependent on asia. it tied into japan as interdependent on asia. it tied intojapan as an interdependent on asia. it tied into japan as an example, indonesians in a intojapan as an example, indonesians in a similar into japan as an example, indonesians in a similar pool. malaysians, korea, so there is an interconnectivity with a pan— asian traveller that is at the fundamental level driving what has been pent—up travel demand. if we looked at hotel

occupancy is, they're back to 2019, and that's without the mass travel in china. less time was on china, it was 125 million outbound trips. this year, it's less than 25% of that. if times are good at the moment, that business is still... we stay really close to it. china consumer confidence is something if you're in the industry, something you watch like a hawk. we haven't seen any storm clouds on the horizon. china consumer demand domestically has been tested. it was the best cold week ever. we expected the best chinese new year ever. early inquiries for china outbound is really going to be the story of 2a and 25. that slow surge of the chinese market coming back again. but he put a count of saving over the pandemic or the general transition of the chinese consumer from transition of the chinese consumerfrom products

transition of the chinese consumer from products to services to experience certainly within travel and tourism, that market has a positive outlook. you think of the gdp rates in the growth rates of southeast asia as an example — vietnam, thailand, malaysia, indonesia. the rising wealth in those countries, the entry—level consumers, that will fuel the next travel boom. if our hope and desire for them tojoin us and desire for them tojoin us and state in our brands. genesee, or the younger generation, need to be attractive and communicated to in a way they prefer —— back to. —— gen—z. what's really

important about the new generation if they want to integrate work into their life. we've been pioneering good working so people can work at different hotels in different cities — injapan, and china, and australia — it's been really helpful because i generation wants to work. after a hectic year in 2023, india's listings market could expect an even busier 202a. some of the country's most talked—about start—ups, including those valued at over $1 billion, are preparing for a share sale. our india business correspondent nikhil inamdar has the details. food delivery giants and retailer, just some of the names that are likely to view in india's booming stock market this year. some 60 odd companies raise more than $6 billion through ipo in 2023, and that figure is expected to significantly go up in 202a.

india's market settlement is flashing green right now, but the benchmark in the record gains in regent months. the expectations of the narendra modi government has meant business continuity and political stability. a number of stock market investors in india has surged last year as well, going back 22%. it's pushing companies to strike while the iron is still hot. he will be keeping an eye on that throughout the year. that's it from this addition of asia business report. as for watching. thanks for watching. voiceover: bbc news -

bringing you different - stories from across the uk. jess was 13 when she decided she wanted her own flock of sheep. she started out with three. when i saw my original three for sale, ijust knew i wanted them. now aged 15, she has a block of 1a and counting, and the schoolgirl from lancaster is financing her whole venture her self. girls will be spending money on going out or make—up or something else. yes, well, this is something i've wanted for a long time and i thought about what breed and everything. as you can see, my sheep are quite loving and really cute. she knows looking after sheep isn't always about being cute and cuddly. she recently worked single—handedly to keep one of her lambs alive when its mother abandoned it.

this will shop has brought a number of herfleeces. you had to pay more than the market value for the fleece — why? it was really good quality fleece. you can tell the sheep are looked after. we wanted to support her new venture. is this what you want to do when you finish school? i want to be a farm vet, so obviously, i'll still be involved with livestock and farm animals, butjust in a slightly different way. for more stories from across the uk, head l to the bbc news website. hey, i'm steven with the catch up. tonight — arsenal's knife crime appeal. littler�*s big news. and will britney give me more music? but first, there has been so much talk about when the next general election will happen and when we get to decide who runs the country. well, the prime minister has given a pretty big hint today. rishi sunak says his assumption is that it will be in the second half of the year. labour has accused him of dithering and delaying while the country wants change.

next, a plan by arsenal to tackle knife crime in london. if you're watching their fa cup match against liverpool on sunday, you might notice their players wearing a white kit. a bit like this. it's part of the no more red campaign, and the aim is to keep young people safe from crime through safe spaces and job opportunities. a few other stories now — and we've all been a bit amazed by 16—year—old darts player luke littler, and now he's been chosen to play in this year's premier league. he might have lost last night's world championship final, but still earns 200 grand. not a bad start to the new year. new year, but no new music from britney any time soon. but in an insta post, she says the news is trash and that she'll never return to the music industry. and time to leave you with 10

seconds of elephant recycling. take a look at these guys at berlin zoo having a good old nibble on any unwanted christmas trees. they are demolishing them. i was a bit like this with the selection boxes over christmas, to be fair. you're all caught up. have a great night.

hello, welcome to sportsday. i'm paul scott at the bbc sports centre. here's what's coming up. var controversy once again — dominic calvert—lewin sees red, as everton draw 0—0 at crystal palace in the fa cup. declan rice tells us of his pride in arsenal's attempts to tackle knife crime in london, ahead of their fa cup tie with liverpool. i was iwas ina i was in a fortunate position where i become a footballer, and i was that young kid wants that look up to people like myself. it's an honour. and a smashing return to action — rafael nadal is through to the quarterfinals of the brisbane international.