Mr. & Mrs. Connoisseur | #3

We celebrate the tourism professionals who - we - are optimistic about the future, enjoy New York hospitality in the freezing cold in a tent and laugh heartily and a little sadly about the capital's airport. The travel blog of Simone and Andreas Dressler.

!SEE!
A final loophole between Delta and Omikron: this is what the International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM), which took place as a face-to-face event in Cannes just over a month ago, has probably found. Makes you think - and a little sentimental. After all, the usual tourism industry events - the ITB, LOOP and Swiss Holiday Day - are currently looking mixed when it comes to face-to-face meetings. After all, the exclusive luxury travel meeting 'Loop Spring' will be successfully realized in Cascais, Portugal. But the fact that the world's largest tourism get-together, the ITB, at the exhibition grounds in Berlin has been canceled again is not only a great pity, but also a real mood killer after two years of pandemic.

In 2020, Minister of the Interior Seehofer "shot down" the annual Connoisseur Circle Gala for 400 guests at the last moment (i.e. two days before the start of the event). Some of our guests, such as the Argentinian tourism minister, were already on a plane to Berlin when they (...if they....?) received the good news.

We don't want to withhold from you the reactions when people (wearing masks, of course) are allowed to physically meet and exchange ideas "in real life". A veritable explosion of good vibes: this is how our meetings with the big names in tourism at ILTM 2021 in Cannes can be summed up. Want a taste?

Luxury as a turbo for the tourism industry: ILTM celebrated its revival.
'The industry is looking forward to the ITB in March.'

'Stephan Laguette, Ozon Collection:' ... "ILTM has never been more important than this year! We were not disappointed."
"Loic Fresard, Lily of the Valley (Wellness Retreat by St. Tropez)": ... "the mood was forward-looking and the future bright: this year was characterized by optimism, positivity and the joy of reunion..."
"Phil Dickinson, Qatar:" "...great face-to-face networking for our business".

Conclusion one: Give me a hug! Nothing is as important as seeing (again) without a screen.
Conclusion two: Luxury sells! All luxury travel providers report in unison that business is well underway. So the train is leaving: in 2023, the popular Orient Express will also start up again, today as an Accor brand.

!POPULAR!
If you're in New York these days - as we are - you like to stay out in the fresh air, even in sub-zero temperatures. The Americans are a few weeks ahead of us in the latest wave, New York is a real hotspot, but the good news is that life goes on. In the Big Apple, as everywhere else, masks are a constant companion, and nothing works without a full vaccination anyway. Clever and resilient as they are, New Yorkers dine "al fresco". Saving energy has never been a big issue here, and so we sit happily, vaccinated and tested, in small or large cellophane packages at our tables, radiant heaters included.

It's not just the outdoor heating that shines here: 'The Mark Restaurant' invites gourmets to a well-ventilated paradise right next to Central Park.'

A little inside, a little outside: There's hardly a more refreshing place to take a bite in the Big Apple these days than 'The Mark Restaurant by Jean-Georges' on the Upper East Side. In a posh setting on the corner of Madison Avenue and 77th Street and sheltered by one of the best city hotels in the world, The Mark, the kitchen remains open from 11 a.m. to midnight. The perfect New York flair is served for dessert in Central Park, just five minutes away. If there are rooms available and you feel the need for peace and quiet, check into the hotel straight away. Even the inevitable fire engines seem to drive here somehow with the noise reduced.

!HEARD!
Although the Emirates also currently have an issue with Omikron: The fall was hot. Dubai, in particular, the opening world champion and world exhibition organizer, has seized its opportunity: A firework display of new hotel openings in the luxury segment and mercilessly good destination marketing drew a public fed up with bad news to the Gulf in droves. Our correspondent Angelika Möller did better than us (we postponed our trip for fear of not being allowed to fly back to Europe in time for the editorial deadline): She stayed in the Gulf for several weeks. One of her many interviews, with Marianne Fitzgerald, the General Manager of the Adress Beach Resort Dubai, left Möller completely enthusiastic: "It's always something special to meet people who have a warm and approachable charisma at first glance. Fitzgerald was born in Austria, has lived in Dubai for 17 years and worked at Jumeirah in management positions at all Dubai hotels before joining the Emaar Hospitality Group in 2019.

On top: General Manager Fitzgerald runs a hotel with a fixed place in the Guinness Book of Records.

Möller and Fitzgerald met on the terrace of the hotel, which sets new standards even in Dubai. Only the sky is the limit, says Möller: a fascinating view of Bluewater Island with the world's largest Ferris wheel, Dubai Al Ain. World-class architecture without ostentation. Marina, The Beach, JBR Walk within walking distance. A breathtaking outdoor infinity pool on the 77th floor with a length of 90 meters at a height of 300 meters - entered in the Guinness Book of Records.

Fitzgerald fulfills the task of managing this superlative resort with aplomb, a loyal sense of responsibility towards her team and Austrian charm. Find out more about the General Manager and her hotel in an interview with Angelika Möller: ccircle.cc/news/business-talk/cxcd/show/content/11389

! READ!
Anyone who - like us - recently took off from the capital's Berlin Airport (BER) will remember a splendid piece of journalism from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In it, Niklas Maak launched into a ruthless total demolition of the faulty building.

Postponed seven times and now even more so yesterday: BER. The capital's disgrace.' [Aeronautpix by Getty Images]

If it weren't so sad: it's all hilarious.

....In general, the airport, also because of its combination of wooden laminate and cardinal red socks signage, seems strangely sedated, as if it's not about taking off from here at all, but as if this is already the destination of the journey, the sauna area of a representative hotel. The operators explain the combination of "warm colors" by saying that they have a calming effect on travelers, which is urgently needed in view of the check-in disaster.....

...the crackling loudspeakers announcing that you shouldn't drink the water in the washbasins of the toilets because it is contaminated with coli bacteria,....., fitted in with the image that the airport gave off in its first year of use...you can feel at every corner that the building has been standing around for over ten years after a total of seven postponed openings...when they started planning it, there wasn't even an iPhone, which is why there are no charging facilities under the waiting seats.

....Did the architecture firm gmp, which showed with Tegel Airport how to build an airport so that you can get to the gate in three minutes from the bus or from the underground parking garage, not actually design the new airport - but Greta Thunberg, to get people out of the habit of flying? What do you call something where you have to be there four hours in advance, then walk up to twenty minutes to the gate to get on a shuttle bus, which wanders with a wheezing diesel engine across taxiways and past pine forests to what feels like the Polish border?....

...it cost the taxpayer a total of seven billion euros, the new airport boss has just asked for an additional 2.4 billion....otherwise the airport would unfortunately go bankrupt....

We are left stunned. If you want more - here is the link from the FAZ: www.faz.net/aktuell/reise/der-berliner-flughafen-ber-17664127.html