Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson has offered up some insight into how she travels, revealing that she does not eat on planes and that she takes a bio-hacking bag with her.
The model, 58, nicknamed "The Body", was speaking as part of the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Global Summit in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
“I’ve eaten my way around Riyadh, the food here is incredible,” said Macpherson addressing the audience as part of a hot seat session moderated by Zeinab Badawi from the BBC's HardTalk.
Founder of WelleCo, one of the world’s most successful ecommerce wellness companies, Macpherson was speaking as part of a wellness-focused session at the summit.
The sector is one of the fastest-growing in the tourism industry. Latest figures from the Global Wellness Institute project it to reach $552.2 billion by 2027.
“There’s always two ways of travelling,” Macpherson said.
“First of all I see travel as a vehicle for spiritual and personal growth. We have to adapt and be flexible when we are on the road. And then, of course, there’s all the biohacking.
“I have a biohacking bag that travels around the world with me and I have all the nutrients and my supplements from WelleCo.”
The model — who has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue a record five times — also revealed that she does not eat when flying.
“We have a 15-hour flight home and I won’t eat on the plane, but I’ll drink a lot of water and I’ll take my super elixir, which is a 40-ingredient multivitamin mineral that I’ll take when I leave and when I arrive," she said.
“I also really look after my mitochondria — which is the little heartbeat of our cells — through hot and cold therapy and I have an infrared light that we travel with."
But Macpherson's top tip for tourism leaders and experts in attendance was a simple one.
“Beauty is not only skin deep, it's also soul deep. The best trick I have learnt is to write a gratitude list at the end of each night," she said.
“I write down something that made me smile or something I learned or something that surprised me. And the more often I am in appreciation of where I am, the more I feel I magnetise those kinds of experiences in my life. And I remember them.
“And now I can look through my lists and say: ‘remember that time we went to Riyadh and we had that fantastic conversation.’”
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
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