Seasoned skiers and snowboarders tend to sort their own trips, normally only relying on agents for flights. Seasoned skiers and snowboarders tend to sort their own trips, normally only relying on agents for flights.


Locally, the short hop to Lebanon means those wishing to test out the slopes can trial it on a day excursion from Beirut: “Lebanon is a perfect destination to try out skiing, being a short haul destination,” explains Heinrich. “But the product is very different there with small resorts. The trend we have seen is for travellers to base themselves in Beirut so they can travel out to the slopes to ski during the day and then party in the city at night.”

BIT has launched packages to Lebanon in the past two years, and Clabburn says these are proving popular: “Faraya Mzaar has enough ski areas to keep most avid skiers occupied for three to four days, and we are seeing clients combine ski with Beirut and also visits to Baalbek and the Neckar valley.”

Websites such as SkiLeb.com have helped to boost the sector, helping to consolidate ski and accommodation information in one site - with the recent introduction of the Mzaarville family chalets and the Auberge Suisse budget hotel widening the options beyond the reknowned InterContinental Mzaar.

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In addition, the destination makes a good introduction to skiing for school and other groups — another area of potential identified by Lebanese inbound operators: “We are seeing group bookings from the GCC, as well as an interest in the incentive packages we offer, and even team building opportunities,” says Joseph Kanakry of Vent Nouveau.

According to Mohsin Z Kidwai, general manager, retail for Orient Travels, there is a limited market for student travel: “We have done some packages, mainly in Switzerland and Austria, which were tailor-made for several higher colleges here and this is a good start in what is a limited market currently.”

Emirates Holidays too has noted this trend: “We are getting interest from groups and schools, and in fact there are ski clubs in Dubai who organise trips,” says Heinrich. “FITs will opt for the smaller hotels we feature in our brochure, but groups need alternative facilities and so we can look for bigger resorts for them — it is definitely a growth sector we are looking at.”

With the interest in ski and winter breaks growing in the local market, product knowledge will be essential for any agent looking to break into the market. This must go well beyond a flight timetable to middle Europe, and encompass elements such as when the season starts, the quality and quantity of snow, the variety of slopes and gradation of difficulty, altitude of the resort, après ski and resort facilities, as well as ski passes, rental equipment, airport-resort transfers and insurance.

Overall, the consensus is that travel for winter breaks, whether for skiing and adventure or more sedate experiences, is set to take off, confirms Heinrich. “We have always recorded an annual increase of between 10 and 20% since we launched. This year, we expect much more as more and more people become curious about winter snow and the opportunities.”