Luxembourgers have big appetite for burgers and business

Despite being wee - it would fit into its neighbour Germany 138 times - Luxembourg punches above its weight. It is home to the world's largest steel manufacturer, ArcelorMittal, and can even tout itself as one of the world's top 10 financial centres - second only to New York in the field of investment funds.

While the global financial crisis did not spare Luxembourg, the country weathered the recession much better than its European Union partners. Luxembourg is still smarting, however, from losing to Qatar the top rank of highest income per person. Mind you, it still has the distinction of being the number one meat consumer per capita: Luxembourgers chomp through a whopping 136.5 kilograms of meat per year.

The Luxembourg government has invested heavily in its communications infrastructure, and owns seven communications satellites. This is no doubt among the reasons the world's largest e-commerce companies - including Amazon, eBay, Skype, iTunes and PayPal - have chosen Luxembourg for their European headquarters.

The country is well served by flights from Frankfurt, Paris and Brussels along with other European destinations.

For the business traveller, the delights of Luxembourg can best be sampled through cuisine. With 13 starred restaurants and 16 stars in total, Luxembourg has the highest number of stars per capital of any place in the world. In Luxembourg City, two-starred Mosconi dishes up Italian while Clairefontaine and Le Bouquet Garni, both with one star, serve up French cuisine.

Travellers with time to kill can enjoy good hiking, cycling and rock climbing.

Travellers who want to kill more than time can go hunting, a popular Luxembourg pastime that is strictly regulated by the authorities. However, visitors can apply for a one to five-day permit. Large game includes wild pigs, boar and deer.

lgutcher@thenational.ae