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Monaco ranked one of most expensive destinations in the world in 2022

by: Luke Entwistle
28/12/2022

Monaco has been ranked as the 10th most expensive destination in the world in 2022, with the average cost of a trip to the Principality totalling over €10,000.

Based on travel insurance policy sales for trips insured between January 1st and November 27th 2022, Monaco is one of the most expensive destinations in the world, according to Squaremouth.com. However, for the second consecutive year, it is African destinations that top the list. 

Congo has been ranked as the most expensive destination. The average cost of a trip to the Central African nation is nearly €32,500. The next most expensive is Botswana, where the average cost of a visit is nearly €18,000.

Antarctica remains a popular and expensive destination, whilst Zimbabwe, Tanzania, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the Marshall Islands, Kenya and the Central African Republic are all more expensive destinations than the shores of Monaco. 

In 2019, the last non-Covid affected calendar year for tourism, an estimated seven million tourists visited the Principality, although only around 600,000 of those spent the night within Monaco’s borders, according to Monaco statistics source IMSEE. 

 

Photo credit: Cassandra Tanti, Monaco Life

Eat out, chuck out era comes to an end in Monaco

by: Elsa Carpenter
27/12/2022

At the turn of the New Year, Monaco is bringing in a number of “zero waste” measures that will help the Principality phase out single-use materials by 2030.

As part of its wide-reaching “zero waste” policy, two regulations will come into play on 1st January 2023.

The first pertains to eateries hosting customers on their premises, such as cafés and restaurants, who must serve all meals on reusable dishes under the new rules.

The second limits the printing of paper sales and bank card receipts unless customers explicitly ask for a copy.

Via an official communiqué, the government says, “The measures will strengthen the arsenal of regulations that the Prince’s Government has been gradually building as part of the Waste Prevention and Management Plan for Monaco 2030. The regulations apply to the plastic products that are most responsible for waste found in the environment, including at sea, and that can be easily replaced with more eco-friendly options.”

These two initiatives supplement other measures that have entered into daily life in the Principality over the last two years, including the requirement for employers with a cafeteria to make reusable dishes available for their employees as well as boxes so that meals can be taken away. Additionally, all takeaway customers reserve the right to be served using their own reusable containers and a ban on routinely supplying disposable cutlery free of charge for takeaway food has been implemented. Disposable cutlery should now be paid for and is exclusively supplied on request.

Monaco has also banned so-called “meal deals” that include a drink in an effort to avoid encouraging customers to purchase drinks packaged in single-use containers.

Another element is the MaConsigne returns system for takeaway containers, which hopes to gradually help eliminate the use of disposable packaging.

Checks on the many hundreds of restaurants, cafés, shops and boutiques that fall under the new rules will be routinely carried out from the New Year to ensure that “all regulations relating to waste are being properly implemented”.

 

 

Photo source: Carli Jeen for Unsplash

Herculis 2023 programme revealed

by: Luke Entwistle
27/12/2022

The 2023 edition of Herculis, the annual Diamond League meeting in the Principality of Monaco, will take place on 21st July 2023, and will once again welcome the world’s most elite athletes. 

Herculis has been rated as the best meeting on the calendar on seven occasions, and the fans will once again pack the stands of the Stade Louis II for the event in 2023. Moved from August to late July, the latest edition of the elite athletics event is sure to bring the greatest athletes in the world to the Principality.

As well as the date of the event, the disciplines on show have also been revealed by the Diamond League. In the Women’s categories, there will be 200, 400 and 1,500-metre races as well as a 100-metre hurdles event. There will also be a high jump and a long jump.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce lit up the track in Monaco in the 100m competition earlier this year, blowing away the competition, and while that event won’t be on the itinerary in 2023, the Jamaican sprinter could nonetheless return to compete in the 200m event.

In the Men’s categories, there will be 100, 800 and 5,000-metre races. There will also be a 3,000-metre steeple chase and a 400-metre hurdles race. There will also be plenty of action off the track, with pole vault, triple jump and javelin throw events all on show as well.

Noah Lyles took gold in the Men’s 200m last year, before going on to beat Usain Bolt’s record in the discipline just over a month later. He will have the chance to better his personal best of 9.86 seconds in the 100m on the iconic Monegasque track next July, in what promises to be another enthralling night of athletics at the Stade Louis II.

 

Photo by Monaco Life

 

 

Airbnb cracks down on clandestine NYE parties

by: Elsa Carpenter
26/12/2022

Online accommodation platform Airbnb is tightening its rules in a bid to clampdown on illicit house parties over the New Year. 

For the third consecutive year – or New Year – Airbnb has put in place a string of restrictions on travellers it is unfamiliar with.  

The sanctions primarily target guests looking to rent a private property for New Year’s Eve, but have no history of positive Airbnb reviews or bookings. Similar restrictions apply to the same category of guest looking to spend two to three nights in a rental, particularly when the requested property is close to their original location. 

The platform says that while the “overwhelming majority” of its users are respectful travellers who rent properties responsibly, its proactive measures at a time of year when the number of unwanted incidents reported by homeowners is particularly high can help “prevent potential inappropriate behaviour”.  

According to Airbnb’s head of security operations, Naba Banerjee, around 92,800 people in France were blocked from renting in 2021 thanks to these rules; locally 1,400 in Nice and 700 in Cannes. Overall, the measures have helped reduce “incident rates” by around 40% year-on-year. 

“We’re committed to cracking down on unsanctioned parties,” adds a spokesperson for the global company. “[It is] a system that has proven its worth since its launch in 2020.” 

The restrictions have been enacted in 11 countries worldwide, such as the US, Canada, UK, Ireland Australia and New Zealand.  

In France, the measures are accompanied by a range of other tools for homeowners and their communities, including a free noise detector by Minut and an improved system for its Neighbour Helpline and 24-hour security hotline. Guests who flout the rules or who hold New Year’s Eve parties without the consent of the host may receive a lifetime ban from Airbnb.

 

Photo source: Michael Discenza for Unsplash

Your Monaco app: the useful tool for everyday living

by: Elsa Carpenter
26/12/2022

Monaco Life tried out the Your Monaco app, a government-backed mobile application that could transform the day-to-day experience of residents and visitors to the Principality.  

Almost everyone today will have a catalogue of applications on their mobile phone. These apps help organise our lives, but having notifications pinging in from dozens of different sources can be a bit overwhelming sometimes. With one app for this and another for that, wouldn’t it be simpler if all that information came from one place? 

The Your Monaco app, launched on 5th December by Minister of State Pierre Dartout and its primary developer, Extended Monaco, could be the solution.  

What is Your Monaco? 

Free to download for all users and available in French, English and Italian, Your Monaco is the result of an extensive collaboration between all ministerial departments of the Monegasque government, the delegation in charge of the Principality’s digital transition, Extended Monaco, and countless private partners who have helped widen and deepen the scope of the app’s capabilities.

The app has been designed with the Monaco resident, commuter and visitor in mind, and centralises a raft of real-time information in an easy-to-use interface that is easily adapted to the needs of each user.  

What services does the app offer?  

Do you commute into Monaco for work and spend precious time hunting down a car parking space or stuck in traffic each morning? The app provides instantaneous information on the capacity of Monaco’s carparks and alerts the user to roadworks and traffic build-ups. Drivers of electric vehicles can check whether there is an available charging station near them too. The app also features up-to-date bus schedules and available Monabikes inside the Principality as well as train information from the surrounding region.  

A weather forecast is available as are other environmental factors, including air quality, pollution levels and the daily allergy risk. Getting the electricity forecast from grid manager SMEG is possible too.  

The app features a guide to each of Monaco’s quartiers, great for those less familiar with the Principality, and a directory of more than 1,000 unique places, from cultural addresses like museums and events spaces to restaurants, gardens and playparks. Handy information such as WiFi hotspots are also included on an interactive map. 

Other daily assistance comes in the form of opening hours for leisure sites – libraries, the pool, the cinema – and Monaco’s markets in the Condamine neighbourhood and on Avenue Saint Charles as well as a list of shops that are open on Sundays. Parents of school and nursery-age children can even check out canteen menus.  

On the sustainability side, residents can get advice on how to sort their household waste and organise their weekly shop with a neat function on seasonal fruit and vegetables.  

A news platform that mixes government-issued updates with local information and an events agenda complete the app’s offerings.  

Users’ favourite sections can be added to the app’s home screen, allowing access to all relevant information at the click of a finger.

How to download Your Monaco

Head to the App Store if you’re an Apple user or the Play Store for Android phones and search Your Monaco.  

For more information and the app’s FAQ, please click here.  

 

 

Photo source: Your Monaco

Princely Family reveals glam Christmas card for 2022

by: Cassandra Tanti
25/12/2022

Prince Albert, Princess Charlene and the twins have gathered around the tree for the annual Christmas portrait, “ending the year on a very, very high note”, according to the Prince.

The annual Christmas card photo, starring Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, shows a smiling Princely Family elegantly dressed and posing in a front of a very large Christmas tree. It was shot by Palace photographer Eric Mathon.

The portrait marks the return of a glamourous family tradition that was halted last year while Princess Charlene was in recovery for health complications associated with a severe ENT infection that she sustained in South Africa. The Christmas card portrait in 2021 featured an artist’s painting of the Princely family (see gallery below).

But as this family picture shows, the Princess has returned to full public duty this year, participating in numerous events including the annual gift giving party at the Palace and the Red Cross 40th anniversary of Prince Albert’s presidency party.

Photo by Eric Mathon, Prince’s Palace

In an interview this week with People, Prince Albert said: “I’m really proud of my wife, Charlene’s doing really well. As you can see for yourself, she’s been active in any number of different events. Charlene’s engaging more in public life and looking after things that she’s passionate about.”

He added, “She’s really enjoying doing things together with the kids, so this year is ending on a very, very high note. We’re truly thrilled about how things are.”

The text accompanying the Christmas card reads: “My family joins me in wishing you peace and joy for Christmas and a Happy New Year 2023” in English, French and Monegasque.

See Princely Family Christmas cards from past years below…