DATELINE MONDAY 30TH OCTOBER 2017
It's Monday Morning again but I guess I don't need to tell you that, did you have a great week last week?
Last week I had a mad, busy great week, I was with Brad Glenn of The Inside Edge Southern Africa, we were in Manchester, Leeds, Oxford, the West End and The City of London, in fact all places north, east, south and west. We had some great weather, we also had some awful weather as yet no speeding fines have been received through the post so for the time being I call it a successful trip, I didn't get nicked although it’s early days. The one thing that was awesome about the week was Brad and I came away with some great new leads and proposal requests, there is no doubt about it there is, as ever, continuing interest in Southern Africa as a conference and incentive destination.
OK so this week we have HALLOWEEN, the end of Summertime the clocks having fallen back one hour on Saturday night Sunday morning. November starts this week, what happened to October? Answers on a postcard please. Oh and finally we also have Guy Fawkes night on Sunday, a busy week.
DMC News* MM and Company News * Destination News*
World Travel Market 7th - 8th November Are you going to the show? A couple of our DMC's will be there, do let me know if you're going;
Connections DMC, Mauritius - Stand AS500 SNTTA Emir Incentives & Conferences - Stand ME200
Japan James and the team at The J Team tell us there will be a bank holiday on Friday in Japan, it is Culture Day. The team will be back in the office on Monday, but let me know if you need anything urgently.
IBTM Barcelona 28th - 30th November I'm attending, are you?
So far the runners and riders that MM and Company represents attending are;
Connections DMC, Mauritius - Stand 050 Enjoy Slovakia DMC - Stand D15 Honeywell Incentives, Cyprus - Stand B45 Microcosmos DMC - Stand G20 Russian Event - Stand G45 TA DMC Portugal - Stand B75 THE J TEAM, Japan - Stand H80 Quetzal Motivo, Costa Rica, Panama & Central America - Stand L60 Visit Morocco - Stand J80
South Africa Brad Glenn Managing Director of The Inside Edge Southern Africa updated us on lots of new facilities, venues and exciting new products from The Inside Edge Southern Africa. There is so much going on in South Africa and the interest in taking events to South Africa is I'm delighted to say very buoyant indeed to prove that British Airways is increasing its capacity to Africa. From November British Airways will add 680 seats a week between London and Johannesburg by increasing its current 10-times-a-week A380 service to double daily, replacing the four weekly B747 flights. Johannesburg will be the only British Airways route with two daily A380s apart from Los Angeles.
In November the daily London-Cape Town Boeing 747 service will increase to double daily for the South African summer season and the airline will start operating three additional Boeing 777 services from Gatwick. It will also provide a number of extra services from Heathrow to meet demand over the New Year peak, Indaba, UK half term in February, and Easter.
Then there is of course the new Silo Hotel located at the Waterfront in Cape Town, a boutique 28 room hotel, it's one of those OMG hotels. Not only is it fabulous the OMG refers to the rates it's charging at the moment. I guess the hotel will immediately come to it's senses and bring the rates down but if you are looking for a hotel that is unique and exclusive you can't go wrong with the Silo Hotel Cape Town.
If on the other hand you and your clients are looking for something larger and competitively priced the new 200 bedroom Radisson Red Hotel is the perfect solution.
The Inside Edge South Africa has developed a totally new offering one and a half hours drive from Cape Town into the Kalahari Desert. Brad and the team have an amazing and different experience for clients who, as ever, are asking for something new. This new product can also include the traditional Cape Town experience.
Mauritius Karl, Davina, Anusha and the team at Connections DMC Mauritius are also very pleased to hear that British Airways are expanding the current Boeing 777 services from Gatwick to Mauritius, from three to five a week.
Leyla and Hannah’s twitter and witter bit of the Monday morning e mail
My beautiful girls they really are now a handful, they definitely have minds of their own and they are vocal. I never wanted my children to be shrinking violets, but it would be nice just once in a while for them to be a little bit shrinky, I think that is a new David word.
On Saturday night I experienced, first hand Hannah, my soon to be 13 year old daughter at a Bar Mitzvah party. The guest list had lots of parents and lots of 13 –14 year old boys. I have to say Hannah was a very popular person at the party, she is a very sociable girl, sometime a little too social for my liking. She was wearing tailored shorts and a halter neck top thing, if she was going out to a party without parental type accompaniment then for sure she would have been wearing something different, a little more modest. I did suggest she should wear something else that started an argument which I decided not to flight seeing as I was going to be at the party which btw was terrific, great fun.
Leyla has a beautiful singing voice every night and most weekend days we are treated to a concert Leyla stands in front of the smart TV which is tuned via the internet to a Karaoke channel and she belts out song after song after song.