Skiing in Lebanon...?

We had an excellent couple of days at the World Travel Market in London last week. One of the more interesting items we stumbled upon was a press conference held by the Lebanon Tourism Minister HE Fady Abboud.

Lebanon's mountain area is receiving increasing interest, especially from Arab travellers and it even has six Ski resorts! It is one of the only countries in the Middle East where the skiing season runs from December to April and is just a 2-hour drive from Beirut. The skiing village of Kfardebian is becoming increasingly popular, with new boutique hotels that opened this year, and ski resort, Mzaar, is boosting about the opening of InterContinental Mountain Resort & Spa - the only InterContinental hotel in the world with direct access to ski slopes.

In 2010, Lebanon has seen considerable growth in the tourism industry, which can be attributed mainly to the return of stability and peace in the country and to the rapid development of several locatons in the captial and main cities of Lebanon.

Beirut has been number one out of 44 destinations, according to the New York Times and has also been designated as the “World Book Capital City 2010.” With Beirut being the cultural epicenter of Lebanon, Beirutis live life to the fullest here, taking in all the city's gastronomic delights and activities until the early hours of the morning.

While Arabic is Lebanon's official language, English and French are widely spoken. Most Lebanese speak at least two or three languages, and visitors will find no problems communicating, which helps travelers a lot.

This year, Lebanon is unparalled in terms of accolades and attractions and is aiming to receive 2 millions arrivals by the end of this year. The average stay in Lebanon is 9 days, with 77% percent of the tourists staying in Beirut.

The Tourism Minister added “But we cannot cope with a tourist increase of more than 10-15% percent, in our country you get value, good value, for money, and it is also one of the safest countries."

The total European vistors to the country was 453,522, of which UK visitors were the third largest to visit Lebanon, totaling 50,027, after France and Russia.

After long years of depression, Beirut is booming and so is the hospitality industry in the city. HMH opened it first Coral Suites Al Hamra in the heart of city, and CEO Michel Noblet sees an enormous potential in Lebnanon, which is emerging as the leading tourism and business hub in the region.

Earlier this year, a Four Seasons opened a 26-story hotel, which soars above the city and took more than 10 years to build. Before the end of the year, Hilton Hotels will be opening a 162-room contemporary hotel overlooking the city. There also plans to build a US$100 million, 270-room, 5-star Grand Hyatt in the downtown area, in addition to a new Kempinski Hotel, which is under construction.

But does this city need so many global players from the hotel industry? Mrs. Nazira El Atrache, General Manager of the five-star Hotel Le Bristol, Beirut, believes that in terms of competition, every single hotel has its niche. "We will be needing more 3- and 4-star hotels," she said.

The Lebanese financial sector was able to retain the trust and confidence of Arabs and foreign investors, who have a share of over 40% percent in investments in the country. The economic situation is stable and very strong, confirmed the Minister, with more than the largest proportion of these investments being held by locally-established commercial banks, precluding the need for them to acquire risky assests on the international financial market.

"Lebanese is not a nationality – but a profession," HE Fady Abboud stated.

Financial receipts from expatriates all over the world explain the broad increase in the flow of funds to the banking sectors over the past few months. As a matter of fact, the majority of the Lebanese population resides abroad. Nearly 4 million live in Lebanon, whereas 10 million live in South America - altogether 15 million Lebanese are living around the world.

Beirut is famous for its excellent cuisine and is a playground for the rich and famous. Anyone who wants a taste of Lebanon can even find it in one of London's 500 Lebanese restaurants, and don’t forget to order a bottle of good Lebanese wine, preferably from Ksara, Chateau Kefraya, or Chateau Musar.

Lebanon is one of the oldest sites of wine production, dating back 5,000 years to the Phoencians who were tending the vineyards, making wine, and trading with other cities long before the Greek and Romans arrived. The major wineries are located in the Southern Beqaa Valley, an hour-and-half drive from Beirut and its wineries, offering wine tours and wine tastings all year around.

Bekaa's major attraction is Baalbek with some of the largest Roman temples ever constructed located here. The Baalbek International Festival, the oldest and most well-known cultural event in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterrean, takes place in July and August 2011.

Economic Impact of the Royal Wedding

With the announcement of the Royal wedding next year, the press had gone into hyperbole, with many newspapers claiming that the wedding will bring an estimated £1billion bonus to the British economy.

Hold on a minute. How much? There will, we are sure, be an economic surge, due to an increase in merchandising, media spend, advertising and increased hotel and tourism revenue but it is questionable whether that money will be a direct benefit to the UK economy

If such a major event raises revenue for the taxman then it should follow that that revenue should be spent on priority areas such as housing, welfare and health, not on subsidising a wedding of two 28 year old royals.

"But it is highly questionable that the event will boost the economy and we challenge those who say it will to show their evidence."

"We see no evidence that this event will generate any more revenue than a major football fixture - so subsidising the wedding would be no more tolerable than subsidising Wayne Rooney's salary."

"The figures being bandied about by the press this morning look like a lot of wishful thinking and make-believe."

"We would in particular challenge the comments of Sandie Dawe, chief executive of VisitBritain, who has said the wedding would “be an enormous boost for tourism”. We are asking her to retract her statement that the royals generated £500m in revenues for tourism each year as her
organisation's research makes no such claim."




NOTES

According to the FT Stefan Szymanski, economics professor at London’s Cass business school, said there was little evidence of public events lifting the economy, particularly when no new infrastructure is built.

The VisitBritain report published earlier this year said that heritage tourism, not the royal family, raised £500m a year. That is tourism to do with Britain's history, not the monarchy.

Something for the Weekend..

Something a little different for a change.

Nice piece by Niladri Kumar.

We just love the electric sitar.

Five Star Ramallah

An international five-star hotel opens for business today in Ramallah, the West Bank city once synonymous with Yasser Arafat's besieged headquarters and Palestinian militancy.

The Mövenpick Ramallah – part of the Swiss chain – boasts five restaurants and bars, 171 rooms including two presidential suites, a range of luxury banqueting and conference facilities, a heated outdoor pool, a gym and – eventually – a spa.

Aimed principally at a business clientele, though also hoping to attract the growing number of tourists and pilgrims visiting the West Bank, the hotel will be formally opened next week by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, 10 years after the project was begun and demonstrates the increasing political and economic stability on the region.

Its conception coincided with the outbreak of the second intifada. Eighteen months later, Israeli tanks rolled into Ramallah, destroying much of Arafat's presidential compound and pinning him into one wing where he remained under siege almost until his death in 2004.

"Ten years ago, the situation was very different," said Mövenpick's communications manager Katreena Khalil. "But Ramallah has been stable for a while. It's safe, secure and investors are coming fast. We're optimistic."

Daniel Roche, the hotel's French general manager, echoed this confidence. "We see a dramatic change in Ramallah – there are many upscale restaurants and bars opening, lots of construction of beautiful new buildings. Ramallah is booming."

He expected to see a return on the $42.5m (£26.4m) investment "very fast" with good levels of occupancy within a couple of years. Standard room rates will be $160-$200.

Economic growth in the West Bank reached 9% in the first half of this year, according to the World Bank. Much of this was due to the influx of donor funds, bolstered by improved economic management by the Palestinian Authority under its prime minister and former World Bank economist, Salam Fayyad, and the lifting of some checkpoints by the Israelis which have eased movement and access.

But the headline figures and the opening of a swanky hotel mask a complex picture of economic and political uncertainty – and a real threat of renewed resistance if peace talks fail, said Palestinian-American businessman Sam Bahour.

"There is a flurry of economic activity partly because Ramallah is the de facto capital while we wait for Jerusalem to be released and the hub of a lot of donor activity. But the number of cafes does not reflect real economic growth. We still have no access to real economic resources, such as water and borders."

The boom in Ramallah, he said, was "unsustainable growth not based on sound economic foundations" but instead on donor injections.

And there is little sign of prosperity being extended to small towns and villages in the West Bank where unemployment and poverty levels are high, movement is restricted, and harassment and violence from settlers is on the rise.

The Mövenpick hotel would probably eventually become profitable, although it would take a long time, Bahour said. "This is a high-risk market. Under the influence of occupation, none of us can plan profitability when we don't even know whether we can make a meeting on time [because of checkpoints]."

The hotel has recruited 260 staff locally – only six jobs are filled by foreigners – who have undergone intensive training to meet international standards of hotel service. Some will be making the daily commute to Ramallah from Jerusalem or Bethlehem, requiring passage through Israeli-controlled checkpoints. With an unemployment rate in the West Bank of almost 20%, there was stiff competition for the jobs.

Roche believes that the opening of the Mövenpick will lead to further job opportunities as investors draw encouragement from the international chain's confidence. "I'm not saying we are pioneers, but this is something new in Ramallah," he said. "People here need this to happen."

airBaltic to sell TV sets in flight

Forget your Yves St Laurent and your Swiss Railway watches; airBaltic are now selling TV sets during their flights!

Latvian national airline airBaltic will sell discounted TV-sets during the flight to its passengers. Tero Taskila, airBaltic Chief Commercial Officer said: “For airBaltic it is important to find new ways of offering a better service to our customers. Selling latest Flat Screen TV-technology at aggressively discounted prices is yet another step towards airBaltic becoming a megastore for passengers who are looking for good deals –from flights, hotels to sunglasses, electronics, and even flowers for someone special. The saving of EUR 240 per TV-set compared to the retail price is worth a family holiday in selected airBaltic destinations."

The flat-screen TV-set is made available for sale exclusively on board airBaltic aircraft. Passengers make a purchase of discounted TV sets while in flight. The purchased TV-sets are shipped for free to EU Member States.

Last week airBaltic announced its plan to become the first airline in Europe to introduce iPads for inflight entertainment. airBaltic is also the world‘s first airline to introduce bouqets of roses for sale.

For the airline‘s focus on innovations and achievements in creating new trends, airBaltic last week won a special Pacesetter Award 2010 from the Jury of the Budgies World Low Cost Airline Awards.

Kulula-Air wins with the jokes.

Kulala-air.com is a low-fare 737 carrier based in South Africa. The airline started in 2001 and recently took delivery of a new 737-800 with an unusual paint scheme.

Apologies if this has already been all over the internet but this is a brilliant bit of marketing that Richard Branson would be proud of. Suddenly everyone has heard of this otherwise unknown no-frills carrier. Top marks to them.

Of course this isn't their regular livery but it is brilliantly done..

The entire plane is covered with details about the plane, including arrows pointing to the more interesting parts.

"The big cheese" describes the captain's window. An arrow points to the aircraft's registration, calling it the "Secret code."

Even the toilet is pointed out, with the description, "Loo (or mile-high initiation chamber)."

The black box, seats, stabilizer and rudder are also pointed out and include a bit of clever commentary as well.

Good stuff!

More pics:

McDonalds Around the World

Today, McDonalds has over 32,000 outlets in 117 countries and serve more than 60 million people each day.

Whether you view this as a great democratisation, providing affordable fast food for all, or the worst example of globalisation, dumbing down local culture and habits, is a matter for debate. (We know were we stand!).

It is interesting nonetheless, to see how McDonalds has tailored its offerings in different markets. Here's our favourites..

McDonald's

Hungary

McDonald's first opened in Hungary 22 years ago, when a Big Mac cost 43 forint (27 cents). Travellers can buy a burger at Budapest's Western Railway, where McDonalds have set up shop under the marble arches of the former Royal Waiting Hall. The restored 19th century structure was originally designed by Eiffel & Cie of Paris to welcome dignitaries arriving by rail, including the beloved Princess Elisabeth, or "Sissi," as people remember her.

If you're catching an early train you can ask for the "Wrap Omelettel," a tortilla stuffed with an omelet and chicken and "McBuri" (hash browns).

Hoang Dinh Nam, AFP/Getty Images

Philippines

The McDonald's Philippines menu has integrated dishes that locals enjoy such as a McSpaghetti, a combination of noodles and hot dogs topped with a sweet tomato sauce and grated cheese. The Chicken McDo combines chicken with the spaghetti while the McDonald's breakfast menu also features Longganisa (Philippine chorizo) served with rice.

McDonald's

Japan

If there is a country that embraces pop culture more that the U.S., it must be Japan, where Pokemon and Nintendo are prominent McDonald's tie-ins. McDonald's debuted in Japan in 1971 in the Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo's Ginza district.

Thousands of restaurants followed, making the country one of McDonald's top markets. The Ume Nuggets (Chicken McNuggets with sour plum sauce), and the French Fries with barbecue, seaweed, or Italian basil seasoning are hugely popular.

The Koroke Burger, served in the winter, is a sandwich made of mashed potato, cabbage and katsu sauce. Another seasonal item is the Tsukimi Burger (literally moon-viewing burger), with a beef patty topped with bacon, a poached egg, and mayonnaise-ketchup sauce; it is served before and during tsukimi or autumn moon season. (The egg represents the moon.)

The McDonald's drinks menu includes tea, soft drinks (Fanta is popular here), Qoo (a non-carbonated juice drink produced by Coca-Cola especially for the Japanese market) and green tea-flavored milkshakes.

Michael Yeung, flickr

China

In 1990, the first McDonald's restaurant opened in the Special Economic Zone of Shenzhen, Guangdong province. In 1992, the world's biggest McDonald's (over 700 seats) opened in Beijing, but was later demolished along with adjacent buildings to make way for new construction.

In China, where chicken is the favoured fast food, McDonald's had to compete with the already-established and very popular KFC. But McDonalds plans to increase its presence from about 1,100 outlets to 2,000 by the end of 2013.

Reflecting the growing interest in all things western, McDonald's menu does feature beef burgers along with the more widely accepted chicken burgers, which use thigh meat, rather than the breast meat used in the West. Chicken McNuggets come with a chili garlic sauce, as well as with the traditional BBQ, Sweet 'n' Sour, and honey mustard sauces. In a nod to tradition, the Chinese New Year meal features a Grilled Chicken Burger, curly fries, a horoscope of the 12 zodiac animals of Chinese astrology and traditional red packets, or gift bags, for monetary gift-giving as good luck.

France

Despite some high-profile protests organized by anti-GM activist José Bové, McDonald's is thriving in France since 1972. With over 1,100 outlets, many of which are in Paris, France is one of McDonald's most profitable markets, serving 1.7 million customers daily. McDonald's menu, featuring such French-inspired dishes as Croque McDo (a toasted ham and Swiss sandwich akin to the classic Croque Monsieur), has become popular with young people.

McDonald's most recent affront to the Gallic sensibility is the chain's invasion of the hallowed Louvre Museum, the former royal palace that holds many of the world's greatest art treasures including the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. McDonald's opened last year in the underground approach to the museum, the Carrousel du Louvre.

Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Getty Images

Italy

So great is the red tape involved in doing business in Italy that even McDonald's resisted for many years before opening in Rome's historic Piazza di Spagna in 1986. The restaurant is one of the world's fanciest McDonald's, with a marble interior that seats 800 people and a tasteful gold McDonald's sign on the exterior and no visible Golden Arches.

Still, the opening set off a food fight extraordinaire, with some critics proclaiming "the death of Italian cuisine." This McDonald's restaurant, close to the famous Spanish Steps, inspired a Turin gourmet named Carlo Petrini to launch a protest that became the international Slow Food movement, which favors local, organic cooking over processed products.

The controversy reignited earlier this year when the Italian Minister of Agriculture put the government's seal of approval on McDonald's new McItaly burger, which uses all Italian beef, Asiago cheese and artichoke spread.

McDonald's has tried to assimilate with a menu that includes salads like a Caprese (tomato and fresh mozzarella) and a Shrimp and Salmon salad.

Rene Volfik, AP

Czech Republic

After the fall of communism, the new Czech Republic embraced everything the west had to offer including McDonalds. Czechs have been fans from the day McDonald's opened in Prague in 1992.

McDonald's has even opened its doors directly below Prague's Museum of Communism, so that after learning about totalitarian regime that controlled Czechoslovakia from 1948 until 1989, visitors can enjoy a taste of fcapitalism, American-style.

A regular McDonald's menu item is the McCountry, a pork sausage patty served with lettuce, tomato, onion and mayonnaise on a plain bun. So is Smažený Sýr, a slice of cheese coated in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, and then fried.

Daniel Berehulak, Getty Images

India

India has provided the greatest challenges to McDonalds forcing them to offer the McVeggie, a "burger" that isn't a burger at all, but rather a sandwich made with peas, carrots, green beans, red bell pepper, potatoes, onions, rice, and a special Indian seasoning topped with lettuce and vegan mayonnaise, all on a sesame seed bun.

The Filet-O-Fish is the only sandwich that is prepared exactly the way it is in the U.S. Also on the menu is the the Chicken Maharaja Mac sandwich, made with two grilled chicken patties and topped with onions, tomatoes, cheese, and a spicy mayonnaise. When Chicken McNuggets were introduced in May 2009, they sold so well that some stores ran out.

David Silverman, Getty Images

Israel

At McDonald's in Israel, you can get a hamburger but you may not be able to get a cheeseburger, as a number of restaurants are kosher. The first McDonald's opened in 1993 and the first kosher McDonald's opened in Mevasseret Zion in October 1995.

At the kosher restaurants, the familiar yellow and red signs have been replaced with the McDonald's name in blue and white in Hebrew and the word "kosher." All McDonald's restaurants here use kosher beef, chicken and other products and the beef used is leaner than elsewhere, with only 9% fat (versus 20-24% in the U.S.). The burgers are not cooked on a griddle, but charcoal-grilled, catering to Israelis' preference for healthier foods. They've even created their own version of a Middle Eastern favorite with the McShawarma -- turkey, tahini and pickles wrapped in lafa bread.

Package industry pioneer passes away

Vladimir Raitz, co-founder of Horizon Holidays and creator of the air package holiday, has died aged 88.

Raitz was born in Russia, but left as a child as part of the mass Jewish emigration in the 1920s.

He had the idea for package holidays while in Corsica in 1949.

The first charter flight flew from Gatwick to Corsica in May 1950, taking six hours including a refuelling stop in Lyon, with the first package holidaymakers sleeping in tents.

Horizon organised the first package holiday to Palma in 1952 and the Costa Brava in 1954.

The business grew significantly over the next 20 years until it was sold to Clarksons Holidays in 1974.

We had the pleasure of working with Vladimir during our time at Air Malta.

84-year old set to cross Atlantic on a raft

84-year old British adventurer Anthony Smith has big plans for 2011. In January of next year, he and three other men, will attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean aboard a raft made out of plastic gas pipes. Setting out from the Canary islands, they'll cover more than 2800 miles, in 60 days, finishing up in the Bahamas sometime in March. If successful, it'll be the culmination of a dream that Smith has waited nearly 60 years to see realized.

The former RAF pilot has led quite a life of adventure. Back in 1963 he became the first Briton to cross the Alps in a hot air balloon and he has explored east Africa by balloon as well. He is also an accomplished filmmaker and the author of more than 30 books. The ocean crossing has been his goal for most of his life however, and five years ago he took a big step towards making it a reality when he took out an advertisement in the Daily Telegraph that read: "Fancy rafting across the Atlantic? Famous traveller requires 3 crew. Must be OAP. Serious adventurers only."

From that advertisement, Smith found his crew, and he'll now be joined on the voyage by 57-year old yachtsman David Hildred, 61-year old hot air balloonist Robin Batchelor, and Andy Bainbridge, who at 56, is the young man of the group. Bainbridge is an experienced sailor and long time friend of Smith.

The raft is being built out of 13-yard sections of pipe that will have both ends sealed, trapping the air inside and making the craft buoyant. There will also be two small shelters, built from pig huts, that will provide the crew a respite from the elements, and a small fence will line the outside of the boat to prevent them from falling overboard. The simple boat has been dubbed the An-Tiki, a nod to Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki, and will have an "elderly crossing" sign on the sail.

Smith and his team hope to take advantage of the strong trade winds that arrive in January so that they can avoid the Atlantic storm season and finish the voyage on schedule.

This should really be the Tourist Ad for the USA!

Peter and Blake, two young filmmakers, and founders of Conscious Minds Productions, recently launched grassroots work Project Beaker with their director friend Sam.

Armed with just a camera, tripod, tape measure and a string with a blown-up paper protractor, the trio captured one guy's journey walking from the streets of New York to San Francisco. 2,750 still frames, 14 days, and 2 pairs of Levi's jeans later is their video love letter.

So now you need to watch the clip. The song is Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Black Box Inventor Dies..

David Warren, the Australian inventor whose "black box" flight data recorder revolutionised the safety of air travel and aided countless crash investigations has died aged 85.

His own father died in a plane crash and he hit upon the "black box" idea while probing a 1953 disaster involving the world's first commercial jetliner.

"Without any explanation, without any witnesses, without any survivors ... it was a really baffling mystery," Warren said in a 2003 interview.

Warren, who died on Monday, was the first European child born on Groote Eylandt, a remote Aboriginal island in Australia's northeast, in 1925.

His father was among 12 people on board the "Miss Hobart" mail plane that vanished over the southern Bass Strait in 1934, one of Australia's earliest air disasters.

Then just nine years of age, Warren was left with his father's last gift to him, a crystal radio set, which he used to listen to broadcasts after lights-out in his boarding school dormitory.

Building radios soon became his schoolboy hobby, but a World War II ban on amateur radio led Warren to dump his nascent ambitions as a "radio ham" in favour of chemistry, his ultimate career path.

He first hatched the idea of cockpit voice and data recording while investigating a 1953 crash of the Comet, the world's first commercial jet, basing his design on a miniature pocket recorder he had seen at a trade fair.

"I put the two ideas together," he said.

"If a businessman had been using one of these in the plane and we could find it in the wreckage and we played it back, we'd say, 'We know what caused this.'

"Any sounds that were relevant to what was going on would be recorded and you could take them from the wreckage."

After an initial lack of interest from authorities, Warren built a prototype "black box" in 1956. It was able to store four hours of voice recordings and instrument readings.

The idea was slow to catch on, with Australia's Department of Civil Aviation advising Warren that his "instrument has little immediate direct use in civil aviation".

Military authorities went further still, with the Royal Australian Air Force dismissing it as unnecessary and likely to "yield more expletives than explanations".

It took a lunchtime demonstration of the device to a visiting British official in 1958 for the potential of his design to be recognised and christened the "black box" -- a reference to its technical mastery.

"One of the people in the discussion afterwards said, 'This is a wonderful black box'," Warren said. "A black box was a gadget box. You didn't have to understand it but it did wonderful things."

It was 10 years before black boxes -- in fact brightly painted to make them easy to spot at crash sites -- were made mandatory in Australian aircraft. "Our driving force was air safety so we felt that it's succeeded in that regard," he said in 2003. "It's a very satisfying feeling."

We're always on the look-out for great marketing ideas and here's a great one from Thai Airways whose revenues have suffered due to the recent political unrest.

Their great ruse to raise additional revenues is to sell their in-flight food to people who aren't flying!!!

Their target, it seems, is the typical business traveller who has had a 'good in-flight experience' but has no time to prepare the food at home..

An example we're sure will be closely followed by BA and many other airlines!