News

Take A Balloon Journey To Space, Complete With Fine Dining!

If you’d like to experience spaceflight, but aren’t ready to jump aboard a rocket-powered or ultrasonic spaceship, why not take a more leisurely balloon option?

Published

3 years ago

April 25, 2023

Nour Nasir

take a balloon journey to space complete with fine dining

Zephalto

If you’re a millionaire looking to broaden your horizons, commercial spaceflight is undoubtedly one of the most popular ways to take travel experiences to new heights.

But what if you’re nervous about being strapped into a rocket-powered or ultrasonic spacecraft and looking for a more sedate journey into the stratosphere?

Luckily, a French company, Zephalto, has you covered with their $132,000 (AED 485,110)-balloon experience that floats gently to the 25km-high second layer of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Well-heeled passengers will board the Céleste — Zephalto’s pressurized balloon capsule — at a spaceport in France. One hour later, space travelers will reach a peak altitude three times higher than the cruising height of commercial airliners.

When the capsule arrives at peak altitude, guests will stay in the stratosphere for around three hours, where they’ll be treated to two gourmet meals, aperitifs, wine tasting, and get the opportunity to take the most original high-altitude Instagram snaps.

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Although a niche and expensive pastime for the ultra-wealthy, space tourism is estimated to be worth $8 billion by 2030 — over ten times the current market size of 2023. Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are now well established in the high-end travel sector, and SpaceX’s Elon Musk has recently proposed an even more radical excursion — a Moon loop flight aboard the company’s Starship craft.

Meanwhile, astronaut boot camps such as US-based Orbite now offer space training for as little as $15,000 (AED 55,088), while well-known commercial airline builders such as Airbus and Boeing are also competing for a slice of the space-tourist pie.

News

Syria Just Got Its First Super App Featuring Built-In Digital Payments

Built by UAE-based Syrian founders with the Ministry of Tourism’s backing, My Syria lands as visitor numbers more than double.

Published

5 days ago

August 1, 2026

Nour Nasir

syria just got its first super app featuring built-in digital payments

For most of the past decade, paying for anything in Syria with an international card was effectively impossible. Sanctions, a collapsed banking sector, and years of isolation left the country running on cash. That is what makes the launch of My Syria — the country’s first super app — more than a routine product announcement.

Developed by 121 Living, a company founded by four UAE-based Syrian entrepreneurs — Rami Kaiem, Feras Kaiem, Waseem Qudmani, and Kinan Madi — the app launched in Damascus on July 30 under the patronage of Minister of Tourism Mazen Al-Salhani. It bundles hotels, restaurants, transport, attractions, food delivery, and other lifestyle services into a single platform, currently offering eight services with plans to expand to more than 40 verified tourism and hospitality providers across the country.

Although the app already sounds enticing, the headline feature is its built-in payments. My Syria is the first platform in Syria to support cross-border digital payments through Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express — familiar tools for international visitors, and a route into the digital economy for local businesses that have long operated outside it.

my syria super app launch event

The launch rides on a sharp rebound for the troubled country. Syria’s tourism sector recorded 3.52 million visitor arrivals in the first half of 2026, a 111 percent increase over the 1.67 million during the same period in 2025 — a mix of returning expatriates, regional visitors, and international tourists.

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The Ministry of Tourism, which supported and supervised the app’s development, frames the launch as proof of concept for a wider strategy. “Digital transformation is one of the Ministry’s strategic priorities because it enables us to build a more competitive, connected and investment-ready tourism sector,” Al-Salhani said, inviting technology companies “globally, regionally and locally” to explore opportunities across the wider economy.

For 121 Living, this is phase one, with additional services and expanded geographic coverage planned. Whether a super app can flourish in a market still rebuilding its infrastructure is an open question, but for the first time in years, a visitor to Damascus can pay for dinner with their phone.