Approves development of $70 million eco-friendly ski resort
0The northern town of Ehden will soon boast a $70 million eco-friendly ski resort. A consortium led by the Lebanese consulting firm Europtima is developing the project under a Design, Build, Operate and Transfer (DBOT) scheme.
“We will operate the resort for 39 years. Thereafter, everything will be transferred to the municipality of Zgharta-Ehden,” said Ghassan Tayoun, a partner in Europtima.
Tayoun explained that in 2000 the municipality of Zgharta-Ehden issued a request for proposals to develop an eco-friendly ski resort in the highlands of Ehden. In the beginning of 2002, Europtima’s design was selected, but work on the project was delayed because the municipality had to wait for Cabinet approval to rent the land.
In August of last year, the municipality received the necessary approval and entered into a DBOT contract with Europtima. Tayoun said that work on the project was expected to begin this coming spring and be completed in the spring of 2008.
Europtima is renting a total of 40 million square meters of highland, even though the ski resort will encompass just 15 million square meters. “We reserved the 40 million in order to prevent any wild development popping up nearby that would be detrimental to the environment and the project itself,” said Tayoun. Out of the 15 million square meters that will make up the resort, 80 percent will not be touched. “Nature lovers use these highlands for trekking in the summertime. It would spoil the scenery if they had to trek through areas with ski equipment,” said Tayoun.
The whole concept behind the project is environmental preservation. In its effort to safeguard as much of the highland as possible, the major development will be situated in the town of Ehden. In fact, the ski resort will not be accessible by car.
“We are not constructing roads because cars are prohibited in the resort,” said Tayoun. Visitors will be taken to the resort via a cable car system that accommodates up to 3,600 people per hour. It will contain 36 cabin lifts and will depart from a terminal in the town of Ehden.
The other developments in the town include a 200-bed hotel and connecting chalets with a total of 300 beds. “They are geared to mass tourism and would be less expensive than the ones in the hamlets,” said Tayoun, referring to the accommodation at four hubs in the highlands that will make up the actual ski resort.
These hubs will have quaint small-scale hotel developments. The lowest hub will be built at an altitude of 2,100 meters and the highest one at 2,500 meters. The lowest will have a hotel with about 150 beds, a spa and bungalows with a total of 50 beds. The three other hubs will have small inns and bungalows. Each hub will have 60 to 100 beds in total.
Tayoun said that of the $70 million being invested, $30 million was going into ski equipment, and another $8 million was going into the accommodation in the highlands. The remaining $32 million will go into the development in Ehden. Tayoun said the feasibility study showed the project “will start breaking even in the ninth year. Most projects typically break even in the fourth or fifth year.” The reason for this, he said, is the “high cost of environmental considerations.”
The eco-friendly approach to development is costly because it involves “minimum real estate and maximum equipment,” said Tayoun.
“The financial viability of what we are developing on the slopes is not sufficient, so we had to compensate for it with a hotel development in the town of Ehden that runs almost 12 months a year.”
The investors expect the development to generate income year-round, because Edhen is already a popular summer resort. “It is well known for its local cuisine, for the Horsh Ehden nature reserve, and its proximity to the northern branch of the Qadisha Valley,” said Tayoun, who himself comes from Ehden. At the moment, Ehden is entirely dependent on the three-month summer season, he said. Even its resident population spends the rest of the year in Zgharta.
“During the summer in Ehden you can count up to 24,000 people on weekends. In the winter you can count about 100 people. Ehden really doesn’t have anything to offer in the winter for the time being. This project will make Ehden a year-round destination,” he said.
Tayoun believes that the eco-friendly concept will give the Ehden ski resort “an edge” over other resorts.
Natasha Tohme Special to The Daily Star
© The Daily Star 2004
