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Month: April 2017

European tourism growing, says Monaco Tourist Authority

by: Cassandra Tanti
20/04/2017

IMG_7442Monaco’s Tourist and Convention Authority reports that European tourism enjoyed its seventh consecutive year of growth, despite localised challenges, such as the attack last July that took the lives of more than 80 people in Nice.

The most visited region in the world welcomed 620 million international tourist arrivals last year, a modest but welcome two percent increase compared to 2015. Citing the European Travel Commission, the DTC said that Europe proved incredibly resilient to safety and security challenges with the majority of European destinations reporting continued growth towards the end of 2016.

Europe has more than a 50 percent share of the global tourism market, and tourist flows are expected to increase by three percent in 2017.

Iceland enjoyed the biggest growth in 2016, up 40 percent, followed by Cyprus (20 percent) and Slovakia (19 percent).

 

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Frost this week devastates wine harvest

by: Cassandra Tanti
20/04/2017
Wine
Wine Baguettes Red Wine French Drink France Bread
Wine Baguettes Red Wine French Drink France Bread

A spring frost overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, April 20, has devastated large parts of this year’s wine harvest. Particularly hard hit have been Champagne, Burgundy and Languedoc. Many growers are close to despair, because even if some of their crops survive, their vineyards cease to break even.

While last year late frosts had an impact on central France and the Loire, this year entire regions have been affected. Unseasonably warm weather earlier in the month had encouraged buds to appear prematurely, making the problem worse, according to wine professionals.

Also last year, mildew was a particular problem for wine growers, and yields of white wine have been depressed over several seasons. Now the frosts have added to the toll.

When temperatures drop to -2°C or below, damage can be widespread, and there is little that the vineyards can do to protect their crops. In Burgundy, where late frosts are more common, growers employ a range of measures such as lighting paraffin candles or using oil heaters every ten metre, for example. But if the wind rises, these effects are for nought.

The full extent of the damage to the 2017 vintage will become clearer over the next few days.

 

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Monaco seal Champions League win against Dortmund, 6-3 after second leg

by: Cassandra Tanti
19/04/2017
Photo: Facebook AS Monaco
Photo: Facebook AS Monaco

Monaco played a sparkling game at home to Dortmund in the second leg of the Champions League fixture on Wednesday night, winning a well-deserved 3-1 victory.

There had been no escape from the threat of violence in the second leg of the fixture between Monaco and the visitors at Stade Louis II.

As the Dortmund coach was held up for a 20-minute security check on the way to the game, team officials complained that this was a further blow to player morale following the pipe bomb attack on the team bus that caused a one-day delay in the first-leg game that had been due to take place on April 4.

On the field, the visitors remained in with a chance into the second half, but when Germain made it 3-1 in the 83rd minute, after replacing Mbappe just one minute earlier, all hope was lost for the plucky German side.

If there was a star of the match, it was certainly Mbappe, who left the field to a standing ovation. Falcao (17’) and Mbappe (3’) were the other scorers for Monaco. Reus scored for the visitors in the 48th minute.

All 18,523 tickets for the game had been sold, with 3,000 Dortmund fans in the crowd. Real Madrid, Atletico, Juve and Monaco are now through to the semi-finals, with the draw for the games due to be made on Friday.

 

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Top seeds through to third round, Thursday’s line-up

by: Cassandra Tanti
19/04/2017
Nadal Photo: Facebook Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (Official)
Nadal Photo: Facebook Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (Official)

Excitement is mounting at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters as top seeds make their separate ways towards the final rounds. Current Number One Andy Murray beat Gilles Muller 7-5, 7-5 after a slow start while Rafael Nadal won against Kyle Edmund in a much closer match that lasted more almost two hours and twenty minutes to give the nine-time champion victory 6-0, 5-7, 6-3.

Murray admitted to being rusty after an elbow injury, saying he had only started serving properly four or five days before the match.

Meanwhile, third seed Stan Wawrinka beat Jiri Vesely of Czechia 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to make his way into the third round.

Novak Djokovic struggled to advance with 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, against Gilles Simon after 2.5 hours of play Tuesday.

According to many tennis aficionados, Nadal may well be on his way to his 10th Monte-Carlo victory. He stands 58-4 at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters since 2003 and has won $5.5 million at the venue. Such is his expertise, that the Spaniard has been credited with using time as a weapon on court, adjusting the length of each match to suit himself and not his opponent.

thurstennis

 

Solar Impulse co-founder in new venture

by: Cassandra Tanti
19/04/2017

Borschberg

Solar Impulse co-founder Andre Borschberg has started a new venture to develop electric propulsion systems for air transport. According to a report in trade paper Aviation Week, the pioneering pilot has co-founded H55, based in Nyon, Switzerland.

A single-seat electrically-powered prototype has already undergone more than 50 hours of flight testing. The Aero1 is based on Silence Aircraft’s Twister kit plane.

Mr Borschberg has cooperated closely with Air Zermatt pilot Thomas Pfammatter and aerobatic paragliding champion Dominique Steffen, as well as former Solar Impulse members Sebastien Demont and Gregory Blatt in his latest foray into solar powered flight.

Mr Borschberg was the pilot in eight of the 17 legs of Solar Impulse 2’s around-the-world flight, which was completed in July 2016.  His co-founder Bertrand Piccard was the pilot for the other legs.

The record-breaking flight was supported by Prince Albert and the venture’s operational control centre was in Monaco.

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Rybolovlev loses latest round in art case

by: Cassandra Tanti
19/04/2017
Yves Bouvier. Photo: Hpetit21
Yves Bouvier. Photo: Hpetit21

AS Monaco majority owner Dmitry Rybolovlev has suffered a new setback in his ongoing court battles with art dealer Yves Bouvier. Singapore’s highest court ruled on April 18 to stay an ongoing court case, saying that Switzerland would be the more appropriate jurisdiction in which the Russian billionaire should pursue his claim for damages.

Mr Rybolovlev claimed claimed that Mr Bouvier, a Swiss citizen, had committed fraud and breached fiduciary responsibilities.

The Court of Appeal in Singapore agreed with Mr Bouvier’s lawyers that the transactions were governed by Swiss law, as specifically written into contracts for the initial four sales, which took place between 2003 and 2006. Mr Bouvier, who also has major stakes in a number of freeports, moved to Singapore in 2009.

Mr Rybolovlev filed a criminal complaint against Mr Bouvier in Monaco in January 2015, leading to his arrest in the Principality. Mr Rybolovlev has claimed that he was overcharged by about $1 billion on the acquisitions of nearly 40 works of art, while Mr Bouvier’s defence rests on his claim that he was working as a private dealer, and could set his own prices.

In an earlier court case in Singapore, the Russian fertiliser magnate sought to freeze Mr Bouvier’s global assets, but the same court unfroze his accounts in August, 2016. Legal proceedings remain in place in Monaco.

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