"Tourists discover skiing splendor in the Mideast"

Tourists discover skiing splendor in the Mideast
By Zeina Karam
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 5, 2006

FARAYA, Lebanon
When Mart Maastik's friends suggested a ski vacation in Lebanon, he
was hesitant and more than a little skeptical, especially about
security.
"Skiing in the Middle East? I'd never heard of that," the
41-year-old Estonian said while standing in full skiing gear at the
foothills of the Faraya-Mzaar mountains.
But Lebanon, with six ski resorts and a season that generally runs
from December through April, is increasingly drawing not just Arab
tourists, but Europeans, too, industry officials say.
Mr. Maastik, who is in the real-estate business back home, has
skied in Austria, Andorra, France "and almost everywhere else," but he
feels Lebanon's slopes have a different flavor.
"This is quite exotic for us," he said, adding that he was taken
with Lebanon's hospitality and its good weather.
He said he worried about security at first, "but I decided to
forget about politics and come anyway."
Security is a question for many visitors.
Business at the area's biggest hotel, the InterContinental Mountain
Resort & Spa, plunged more than 30 percent in 2005 because of political
instability in Lebanon, said general manager Robert Zogbi. The country
has been bombed at least 16 times since October 2004; the biggest blast
killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri a year ago.
But the five-star lodge, only a few hundred yards from the nearest
slopes, has managed to offset losses. It had a 98 percent occupancy
rate in February, Mr. Zogbi said.
Many foreigners come to Lebanon for the cheaper prices and relaxed
atmosphere. The weather -- less stormy and more sunny during the skiing
season than at many European resorts -- is also an attraction, as is
the nearness of the slopes to the coast and Beirut.
"You can ski in the morning and go fishing or shopping or
sightseeing in the afternoon. It's a very unique advantage," Mr. Zogbi
said.
The best equipped and most popular of Lebanon's ski areas is the
Faraya-Mzaar area, a one-hour drive northeast of Beirut. The resort has
about 20 slopes and 53 miles of ski trails. Other areas include
Laklouk, Zaarour and the Cedars -- the highest of the resorts with an
altitude above 6,600 feet.
Sam Waugh, 22, a learning-support teacher from Britain, said he'd
always wanted to try skiing but was too intimidated to do it in Europe.
So when his brother, who works in a refugee camp in Beirut, suggested
Lebanon, he agreed.
"It's really good. No one laughs when you fall here. No one cares,"
he said as he struggled with his skis.
Although there are no official figures for the number of visitors,
industry officials say the number is growing, drawing tourists from the
Arab world and Europe.
Skiing is catching on as a leisure sport among Arabs, most of whom
live in hot, desert countries.
"We're getting young people from the UAE (United Arab Emirates),
Kuwait, Jordan, as well as Western expatriates living in those
countries," said Nicole Wakim, sales and marketing manager for the
Faraya-Mzaar resort.
An indoor ski dome was opened last year in Dubai in the United Arab
Emirates, complete with snow-making jets and huge air conditioners to
simulate the real thing.
Mr. Zogbi doesn't view that as competition. On the contrary, he
said, it creates new business by encouraging young people from the
Persian Gulf to come to Lebanon's slopes for the real thing.
He said Lebanese resorts have also benefited from tightened
security in Western nations since the September 11, 2001, attacks in
the United States.
"All the Arabs who used to go to foreign countries suddenly became
subject to intense scrutiny. Arabs do not like that and are choosing to
come here instead," he said.
Not everyone comes to Faraya-Mzaar to ski. The snow itself is a big
attraction for people from desert countries.
Tourists from the Persian Gulf, some of them women wearing
traditional black robes, are often seen tossing snowballs at each
other, snapping pictures with their mobile phones or enjoying a ride on
the ski lifts.
"This is so beautiful," said Maha Suleiman, a Kuwaiti woman sitting
with her family on the snow, a dazzling white in the blazing sun. Mrs.
Suleiman said it was her first time in Lebanon, but that she would
return so her daughter could learn to ski.
"Yes, please," squealed Ruqaya, 10. "I want to."
Many Lebanese also come to the resorts just to hang out. At a
restaurant at the foot of the mountains, Lebanese women in tight jeans
and designer sunglasses sit side by side with cigar-smoking men, lazily
enjoying the view.
"It's a charming place. I love Lebanese food -- and Lebanese
women," said a smiling Philipe Lafon, a French businessman who sat
munching a hamburger under a clear blue sky facing the white mountains.
"I will surely be back."