the devastating consequences from the politically—charged war in the gaza strip spills over into the business community. 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. israeli bombardments have killed more than 21,000 on the gaza strip according to the hamas—run health ministry. 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 stance on the israel—palestine conflict. this includes mcdonald's. the burger chain came a target became a target after videos online showing them giving away thousands of free meals to the members of the israeli military. this resulted in 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 2,000 restaurants in the region.

it isn't the only global brand to face controversy over its response. 0thers 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 spilt over into the red sea. the 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 0rganisation. 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. notjust on shipping, but on everything in society. trading has a pattern. and the safety of the seafarers is paramount, as well as the ships and 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 more worrying it will become. we will continue to focus on the solutions, particularly with regions in the area, but of course, the sooner we can bring all the participants on the table, having those difficult conversations, the better. the sooner we go back to the shipping trade, will provide the great service for the world. in other business news making headlines this morning, peloton has teamed up with 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 sales — the list goes on. for more on how they plan to do that, i'm joined by ruthjessie from advertising services firm miq. is a huge opportunity for marketing. this allows for advertisers to actually create personal information, be it in terms of colours

orfonts or even iterations of copies. it then allows for personalisation. so a mum versus a father might have different personas and responses to different types. having ai allows for that rapid creation iteration of different types of creative second draw in consumers. and it's notjust a promotion scheme. if it is just promotions, it cuts into bottom lines. i'm sure a lot of advertisers are pretty shy about that. to get your reaction, the prospect that could increase inflation. it is arising concern for consumers the rising cost of living. consumers are not letting up on spending. there has been pressure and they're expecting the same thing for less. we're just a few days into the new year. give us your outlook.

we still feel very positive about this year. we've seen economy recover in the last quarter in terms general consumer spend and in the region and speaking with different counterparts from specific thailand and indonesia, these emerging markets are excited about the recovery. one of the things many people spent on last year despite the high inflation was travel. travel—starved holiday—makers ray stone airports when borders open. whereas growth from? we got some answers from alan watts, asia pacific president at hilton. asia has become really interdependent on asia. it ties into japan as an example, indonesians into singaporeans. malaysians, koreans, 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 look at hotel occupancies, they're back to 2019, and that's without the mass travel of 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 to come. 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. year on year, china consumer demand domestically has been fantastic. it was the best golden we ever. we expected the best chinese new year ever. early inquiries for china outbound is really going to be the story of �*24 and �*25. that slow surge of the chinese market coming back again.

whether you put that count of saving over the pandemic or the general transition of the chinese consumerfrom products to services to experience certainly within travel and tourism, that market has a positive outlook. you think of the gdp rates and 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. it's our hope and desire for them tojoin us and stay in our entry—level brands. then they can join our loyalty programmes and move up. gen z, or the younger generation, like customers, need to be attracted and communicated to in a way they prefer what's really important

about the new generation is they want to integrate work into their life. we've been pioneering gig working so people can work at different hotels in different cities — injapan, and china, and australia. it's been really helpful because that generation wants to work when they want to. they don't when they don't. 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. 0ur india business correspondent nikhil inamdar has the details. food delivery giants and retailer, just some of the names that are likely to debut in india's booming stock market this year. some 60—odd companies raise more than $6 billion through ipos in 2023, and that figure is expected to significantly go up in 202a.

india's market sentiment is flashing green right now, with the benchmark in the record gains in recebt months. the expectations of the narendra modi government has meant business continuity and political stability. the number of stock market investors in india has surged last year as well, going back 22%. that along with rich evaluations and a number of ipos being oversubscribed last year is pushing companies to strike while i own is still hot. and meet their stock market listings. nikhil inamdar, bbc news, mumbai. he will be keeping an eye on that throughout the year. that's it from this addition of asia business report. thanks for watching.

voice-over: bbc news, - bringing you different stories from across the uk. so we are currently inside greenside community centre. which is where we do a large majority of our classes. we have been here for a couple of years now and in an effort to have a bit of an attraction, i have agreed to box 25 rounds against 25 members. i have had to say to everyone, "have you ever hit someone before?" make it a good laugh, make it very entertaining. we offer boxing training classes but with our kids we incorporate a lot of social training and a lot of fitness education as well. so a large proportion of kids that train with us are autistic or adhd. i am, our other katy coach is. we incorporate a lot of those elements into our session. i have been boxing training for years. so good for you. i was absolutely terrified when i came but they make this so much at ease when you turn up. they are all a good bunch.

all friendly and it is incredible. i think i originally went because i wanted to lose weight. 0bviously team sports were a write—off for me. being someone who gets that tunnel vision, ijust found something i was able to obsess over. it did not rely on your ability to communicate with other people, it did not rely on your ability to make eye contact or anything like that. for more stories from across the uk, head 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. there have been reports she's working on an album, 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 am obviously in a fortunate position where i have 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.