Michelin couv courteGB

500 English and Irish pubs and “good food-pubs”
are featured in the new guide, Eating out in Pubs.
Published in five languages, the first Michelin Coups
de Cœur Italy guide invites you to discover hotels
and agrotourism destinations for less than 100 euros.
Strategy
● Tourist publications support
Michelin’s brand image, and they help
make it a part of consumers’ daily lives.
In the medium term, ViaMichelin
has a major role to play in this approach
through its digital navigation services,
which enjoy increasingly bright
prospects.
● In a poor travel environment,
Michelin’s publishing operations
increased their market shares.
ViaMichelin maintained its strong
growth momentum, with both sales
and earnings ahead of targets.
Europe
The www.viamichelin.com website,
which has 15 million hits a month, has been
the biggest travel site in Europe*
since October 2004.
*Source: Panel Nielsen//Net Ratings.
Austria
The new Michelin Hotels and Restaurants
Austria Guide is the latest addition to
the European collection, which now has 12 titles.
France
The new spiral-bound Michelin Atlas-France
now offers an additional 50 car routes to take
on France’s most beautiful roads.
Strategy • Fundamentals Businesses Earnings
Publishing and mobility assistance services
Michelin Edition des Voyages:
aggressiveness and creativity
In a lack-luster tourist industry, net sales at Michelin Travel
Publications declined by almost 3%. Nevertheless, editorial
skills and creativity enabled market share to be maintened
or even increased.
Several products were introduced including the Guide
Michelin Austria, which was first aimed at the German
market, the Eating Out in Pubs dining guide in Great
Britain, and Escapades autour de Paris and Paris Enfants,
both part of the Michelin Green Guide’s Thematic
Collection. In mapmaking, tourist routes were added to the
spiral bound Atlas France. Among the publishing successes,
we can cite Michelin Coups de Coeur France, Germany and
Italy, The Guides Gourmands which cover 13 regions of
France and the roadmaps centered on driver safety. Michelin
Editions des Voyages also is unveiling the new Michelin
Voyager Pratique collection, which comprised 11 guides
when first offered for sale in March 2005.
Similarly, the Company continued to reduce its manufacturing
and distribution costs and improve its inventory management
by working together with professionals in the publishing field.
ViaMichelin
ahead of its business plan
ViaMichelin’s is clearly Europe’s leading travel-related
website. The number of hits rose 50%, which has had a
considerable effect on advertising revenue and online sales.
The navigation software for personal digital assistants
(PDA) was very well received. The pan-European deals entered
into with PalmOne and Hewlett-Packard helped contribute
to nearly doubling net sales. Other activities also posted
strong growth rates: ViaMichelin supplies Mercedes Benz
Accessories with on-board navigation CD-Roms adapted to
Blaupunkt platforms and sold through dealers throughout
Europe. ViaMichelin also makes CDs for Becker Platforms
and supplies the Siemens-VDO C-IQ system (content on
demand). In mobile telephony, ViaMichelin’s services will
now be available through a new operator, the Italian Wind.
Although ViaMichelin improved its operating income in
2004, it has not yet reached breakeven.
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