The Lebanese business monthly, Lebanon Opportunities ,in its February 2007 issue, features the re-launch of Europtima's ski resort development, Ehden 3000.

The magazine under the headline, Europtima To Re-Launch Ski Resort, says that,

"A consortium led by the French-based consulting firm Europtima will re-launch next month a ski resort project in Ehden with an initial investment of $60 million.

The project, which was expected to be launched in 2006, will include hotels and chalets to accommodate 800 beds, allowing skiers to lodge in Ehden. Twelve chair lifts, three ski lifts, and one cable car will be included in the project. The two-phased project will be launches this spring. The ski resort will be set on 15 million square meters of land rented from the municipality.

Europtima is leading a consortium that includes three other French companies, Transmontagne, T.I.M, and POMA. Europtima will operate the resort for 39 years before handing it back to the municipality under a Design, Build, Operate and Transfer scheme (BOT). The project will take a total of four years to complete".

What I liked about this project when I first heard about it was that it seemed to be conceived with the intent of integrating the local community into the project in several senses. Given that it will use land owned by the municipality, you'd imagine that that would be be inevitable - but given the way things get done so often in Lebanon, I don't think any of us would be surprised by the contrary!

When it first appeared, it was to involve creating a resort on a plateau above Ehden, with a hotel and chalets built to create a little village. What was interesting was that 1) the construction was to be concentrated, preserving the area to a great degree, and 2) the resort was to be linked by the cable car to Ehden, and was to provide for the renovation of houses in Ehden itself to create small hotels and bed-and-breakfasts. I hope that (latter) part of the project has been maintained. Does anyone know?

On a related note, it's always struck me that village life in places like Damour and Jieh could benefit immensely if the work done on the new beach resorts involved some planning for integration with the local community - both in providing employment and in working to relate, somehow, the resorts with the town/village-scapes. We always seemed to drive from Beirut to one of the beaches and then directly back to Beirut, without any connection at all to, for example, Jieh, and the contrast with the luxury and planning of the resorts and the less prosperous, and completely unplanned streets just outside was jarring and irritating as a sign of an opportunity lost. Does anyone know what the impact of the beach resorts on the local towns and villages is/was? Byblos may be an example of a partial vision (Edde Sands leading to Edde Yard which may lead to reviving the souks, for example).

What's the latest on this project?

^^ i think its cancelled

Not sure if this project is still on, but Europtima's website mentions it and has a rendering:

http://www.europtima-cee.com/eo-manager/projects/images/Kroum_Village_-_Lebanon.jpg

http://www.europtima.com/project_details.php?lang=En&pid=1078

^^ isn't that a render of Sannine Zenith ???