Counting the ways to bridge the gulf
As more carriers open up more routes, travelling to and around the Middle East has never been easier.
Edmond Moutran, the 63-year-old chairman and chief executive of Memac Ogilvy & Mather, the multinational advertising and communications company should know. The Beiruti executive reckons he spends 60 per cent of his working week in the air. But he adds firmly: "I always make sure I am home for the weekends."
Mr Moutran keeps meticulous records of his business trips and just listening to his description of a typical year will make you travel-weary. "I spend 200 days in Beirut, 40 days in Dubai, 40 days in Bahrain and 25 in the UK. I also spend one week in each of Cairo, Jordan, Jeddah, Riyadh, Kuwait, Tunis and Algeria. I go to South Africa once a year, Barcelona once or twice a year for conferences and I go to Paris four times a year."