Château Ksara once again wins Cannes gold
Château Ksara, Lebanon’s leading winery once again won a gold medal at the 16th Mondial du Rosé in Cannes for its 2018 Sunset bottle. This year, over 1,000 wines from more than 20 countries were submitted to 67 judges from 18 nations. Made with Cabernet Franc and Syrah, it was...
Meet the world’s first AI created whisky
Together with Finnish tech company Fourkind and Microsoft, Mackmyra is creating the world’s first whisky developed with artificial intelligence (AI). The distillery’s machine learning models, powered by Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and AI cognitive services, are fed with existing recipes (including those for award-winning blends), sales data, and customer preferences. With this data the AI can generate more than 70 million recipes that it predicts will be popular and of the highest quality.
Key ApartHotel Beirut wins big
The Key ApartHotel, one of Beirut’s newer hotels located in the capital’s Museum District is a four-star deluxe destination featuring fresh sleek colorful designs, international works of art and bespoke furniture. While to first-time guests the hotel may seem designed for the young generation, it nonetheless was designed to accommodate...
Accor Hotels launches two new projects in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Construction works for two Accor Hotels, a Novotel and an adagio, have begun in Abidjian, Ivory Coast. The project was designed and developed by Lebanese architecture and design firm Bits to Atoms led by Architect Guillaume Credoz, in collaboration with Claude Missir interiors (interior design), Fouad Hanna and Gilbert Tambourji...
Beit El Hamra opens its doors to all
Hamra is Beirut’s most cosmopolitan quarter. Since the 1950s, its sidewalk cafes, shops, nightlife and educational institutions have made it a lively part of the city any time of day. In line with that spirit, this beautiful 1950s yellow villa is outfitted with vintage furniture, swathed in original fabrics and...
World Travel Awards 2019 Middle East winners
Abu Dhabi is reinforcing its standing as a world-class events destination as it hosted the most important night of the year for the Arabian travel and tourism industry. The World Travel Awards Middle East Gala Ceremony 2019 took place at Warner Bros. World™ Abu Dhabi , with the key players and VIPs from across...
Exclusive: Meet Chef Stéphane Jego
In an exclusive interview with Chef Stéphane Jego from L’Ami Jean, Hodema consulting services sits down with the chef at Liza Beirut for a one on one Franco-Libanaise culinary exploration.
IXSIR scores highest grade ever given to a Lebanese wine
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, is a bimonthly wine publication based in the United States, was founded in 1978 and is considered one of the industry’s most renowned references and this year marked a great victory for IXSIR. The latest ranking saw all three entries by the brand receiving a score in the 90s. Describing...
Managing shareholder exits in family businesses
The release comes at a time when many family businesses in the region are transferring control to the third generation family members, raising the need to set robust governance and succession frameworks.
Gulf hospitality operators attracting younger Muslim travelers
Gulf hospitality operators looking to increase their share of the growing halal tourism market should diversify and digitize their offerings to suit younger generations of Muslim travelers, according to experts speaking at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2019. Representatives in attendance came from Wego, DinarStandard, Shaza Hotels, Tripfez, Serendipity Tailormade,...
