DATELINE HALLOWEEN MONDAY 31ST OCTOBER 2016

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Greetings from London W10, I hope you are well and that you had a great weekend.

It seems to be kicking off this week, today is the last day of October so we have the Hallmark holiday of Halloween, so what is all this Halloween about?

Straddling the line between autumn and winter, plenty and scarcity, (see what I did there?) life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honour all saints and martyrs; the holiday, All Saints’ Day, incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows’ Eve and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a secular, community-based event characterized by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating. In a number of countries around the world, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people continue to usher in the winter season with gatherings, costumes and sweet treats. One quarter of all the sweets sold annually in the USA is purchased for Halloween.

Then there has been Diwali all week lots of fireworks going off all times of the evening and way into the night

The Jewish Holiday season is over and everything is back to normal although we look forward to the beginning on the holidays I have not met anyone who is disappointed that the are finished as they say ENOUGH ALREADY

DMC News* MM and Company News * Destination News*

Mexico

Manuel, Susanna, Isabel and the team at The EPIC Group Cancun have told us about their Halloween celebration in MEXICO they call today The Day of the Dead. In Spanish it is called Dia de los Muertos.

This celebration originated centuries ago in Mexico, where it is still widely celebrated to this day. The holiday is a blend of pre-Hispanic indigenous beliefs and Spanish Catholic beliefs Dia de los Muertos is celebrated throughout Mexico, it is a holiday for remembering and honoring those who have passed. It is a festive, joyous time of celebration. Day of the Dead is Mexico's most important holiday, which means they invest a lot of time and money into celebrating Dia de los Muertos, moreso than any other holiday. The Day of the Dead falls on November 1 and 2 of each year, coinciding with the Catholic holidays All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. It is most often celebrated in homes and graveyards.

People decorate the graves of their loved ones with flowers, photos, candles, foods and drinks. People stay up all night in the graveyards, socializing and telling funny stories about their dead ancestors. Musicians are hired to stroll through the graveyard, playing the favorite songs of the dead

Dia de los Muertos allows the dead to live again. During this time it is believed that the deceased return to their earthly homes to visit and rejoice with their loved ones.

Italy and Hungary

Gaia of +39 Italy and Dori of Microcosmos DMC Budapest has both told us that there is a bank holiday in Italy and Hungary in fact in a lot of Europe is on holiday on Monday and Tuesday it is ALL SAINTS DAY

Their offices will be closed for on Monday 31st October and Tuesday 1st of November

Germany

Eva of GermanyInsight DMC has told us that some parts of Germany are on holiday celebrating All Saints Day other parts are not in our case the Germany Insight offices in Berlin and Frankfurt are all operating as normal

Mauritius Davina, Anusha, Alexandra and the team at CONNECTIONS DMC in Mauritius have told us that there is a bank holiday in Mauritius on Wednesday 2nd November i.e. this Wednesday their offices will be closed however as with all Bank Holidays every one of our DMCs are available on their mobiles in case of URGENT enquiries

World Travel Market 7th – 9th November 2016 at Excel

Whilst World Travel Market specializes in what I generally call the bucket and space brigade some of the DMC MM and Company represent work in the leisure market and they are in London next week

Connections Stand AS130. Mauritius Tourism Authority stand.

Nordic Visitor Stand EU8406. Promote Iceland stand.

SNTTA Emir Tours. Stand ME500. Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority stand.

SNTTA Emir Tours & Travels. Stand ME300. Abu Dhabi Tourism stand

TA DMC Portugal. Stand EU1010 & EU1150. Visit Portugal stand.

Leyla and Hannah’s twitter and witter bit of the Monday morning e mail

Leyla will be fourteen years old in three weeks’ time, she is soooo much of a hurry to grow up. I get a phone call at least once a week “Daddy after school can I go to Hampstead with my friends” she tries and each time I say “no Leyla not yet” But when Daddy is her regularly reply.

Last week found in Leyla’s bedroom was an empty bottle of my Magners Apple Cider. It appears that Leyla helped herself to a bottle of cider from the fridge and drank it in her room. No one would have known if she had chucked the bottle away but the evidence was clear to see. She was given a lecture about the evils of drink and the fact she is too young to drink. I am not sure if any of it sunk in so my final words to Leyla were “don’t touch my stuff” that I know hit home and the message was taken on board.

Hannah my beautiful little girl is a little girl no longer, she turns 12 years old in three weeks she has joined the woman hood big time.

Hannah’s favourite web site is Wish.com Every week post comes and she has bought something for one or two pounds she gets very excited when the mail arrives.

Well that seems to be about it for this week wishing you an amazing week at work.