Beirut club goes to Erbil

$400,000 investment in a ‘Taiga’ rooftop lounge in Iraq's Kurdistan

The Lebanese nightclub Taiga will be opening its branch in Kurdistan’s Erbil in June.

Taiga’s owner, Emile Barbari, said that Taiga Erbil will be a rooftop lounge and restaurant. He said that the target customers of the restaurant will be employees in companies that are already present in the Kurdistani city. “Erbil has an estimated 6,000 Lebanese residents,” he said.

With a $400,000 invested capital, Barbari expects to reach a 100 percent turnover within a year of operation.
According to Barbari, Erbil, much like Dubai in 1995, is booming. “A feasibility study we led prior to launching our project showed that in emerging cities, only beginners and pioneers are capable of sustaining,” Barbari said.

Erbil’s expansion will be the club’s fifth outlet, alongside its four branches in Lebanon, Taiga Batroun, Taiga SKY, Taiga Café, and Taiga Beirut. Barbari also said that he plans to relocate Taiga Beirut from Monot to Beirut’s waterfront area, near White and Sky Bar.
Reported by Rana Freifer