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."