Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #45

Hotel & Tourism
SMARTreport #45
2020 Winter Edition 21
21
OPENING HIDDEN
DOORWAYS
JoAnn
Kurtz-Ahlers
Owner,
Hidden Doorways
JoAnn Kurtz-Ahlers, owner of
Hidden Doorways – representing
and consulting for exceptional
hotels, yachts and destinations,
each year has a more active,
buzzing stand at ILTM, Cannes. At
the show, we asked her what’s new.
There’s such great development going on
around the globe. More special projects
seem to be opening all the time, and
even our current clients keep expanding.
We are about to take on a new property
in Madagascar, and that will be very
interesting for people doing “post safari”
tourism – especially from Europe and
North America. Six Senses are opening
in the desert in Israel and we are very
excited about that. Our client, Vik retreats,
who were in South America, just took
over a Milan property and brought in
100 artists, putting art installations in all
the guest rooms overlooking the Galleria
area in Milan. Our client in Africa has just
opened up some new small tented camps
in Zimbabwe, which is exciting to see. We
are working a lot in Bolivia. There were
some governmental issues over the past
month or so, which have been resolved,
and we see that as the next new frontier
for travel in a place that hasn’t had a lot
of development. Bolivia is bringing to life
a number of places that never had a lot
of tourism in the past. In Cuba, we have
a very interesting DMC there. A lot of
Americans think you can’t go to Cuba,
but that’s not the case. There are a lot of
interesting things going on!
NEW
INTERNATIONAL
AMBITIONS FOR
RWANDA IN LUXURY
TRAVEL SECTOR
Bisate Lodge, Rwanda
Rwanda is increasingly under the
spotlight as a luxury destination;
reinforced by recent news that
Qatar Airways was to take a 60%
stake in the nation’s new €1.2bn
international airport project.
At ILTM Cannes, Visit Rwanda
hosted a breakfast session
bringing together a number of
key Rwanda-based DMCs and
properties, underlining the will
of the nation’s government to
place this destination firmly in
the luxury nature / adventure
category.
Ariella Kageruka, Head of Tourism
and Conservation Department
for Rwanda, confirmed that
Rwanda was, according to the
World Economic Forum, the #1
safest country in Africa – and #5
globally in 2018.
The number one attraction in
Rwanda remains the Volcanoes
National Park – home to the
world-famous mountain gorillas.
One of the most remarkable
properties alongside the park
is the Bisate Lodge, which was
recently added to the Condé
Nast Traveler’s 2020 Gold List
of exceptional places to stay
in the world. Bisate claims to
be Rwanda’s first “genuinely
luxurious and eco-sensitive
safari lodge”, centred on Africa’s
most immersive wild primate
experience