Dateline Monday 27th October 2025

Happy Monday wishing you an outstanding Monday, I hope all is well.

That is it we are now in the depths of winter as far as I am concerned, Autum might just as well be winter, it’s not shorts and t shirt weather the heating is on, the 14 tog duvet is on therefore it is winter.

The clocks have gone back, Diwali has been celebrated, Halloween about to be done this week then Guy Fawkes night next week, the next thing is the Christmas lights will be turned on in Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond street as well as all over the country and then we watch 2025 disappear before our very eyes.

I see our very own CLOWN Prince has fallen even further, I am surprised he hasn’t changed his name to Derek and moved into a bedsit flat in Shepherd’s Bush, oh I am being told that’s next week’s development.

On reflection he is his own worst enemy, it can’t be easy to be born a royal with absolutely no hope of a) landing the top job and b) having any sort of meaningful career except making speeches and shaking hands, however he should have known better and he should have chosen his friend with more wisdom than he has shown and once they were proved to be wronguns he should have cut off all contact instead of lying about it, of course it must be acknowledged that Prince Edward seems to manage it. Discuss!

What is the saying? “how the mighty have fallen” the fact that no one is above the law in a democracy has been proven by France last week as they locked up former President Nicolas Sarkozy. He arrived at a prison in Paris last Tuesday to begin serving a 5-year sentence for a criminal conspiracy to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya. He is the first ex-leader of modern France to be imprisoned. On his way to prison, Sarkozy said in a statement released on social media that “an innocent man” was being locked up. They all seem to say that.

Soap box time

TWO YEARS AND 19 DAYS since innocent and murdered Israeli citizens’ bodies were taken by the violent, medieval ,barbaric terrorist group Hamas who had murdered them in cold blood to be held as bargaining chips against the Israeli Government.  So far 9 of these deceased people have been repatriated to their families for a decent burial and closure however there are still 19 bodies still being held by Hamas and until the last one has been returned the soap box will remain

Off the soap box now

This week is the Trump on tour in Asia show. The Donald has arrived in Tokyo to a royal welcome, he loves those, the trip on Thursday will be a double act the Trump and Xi show the tour will conclude at a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

Good news

Congratulations to Japan’s first female Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, she is also the first woman to lead the Liberal Democratic Party that has dominated Japan’s postwar politics almost without interruption. a star of ultraconservative Japanese politics it is rare for woman to rise in its male-dominated hierarchy. Sanae Takaichi is 64 years old she admires former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and is a proponent of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative vision for Japan

That’s it from a David point of view for this week.

MM and Company news update

IBTM

STEPHANE LOUISE General Manager of Hello Islands DMC Mauritius will be on the Euromic stand P85

Douglas & Erika of Mi Malta DMC will be on the Malta Stand B60

Loic from The J Team DMC Japan will be at IBTM on Stand J50 - the Japan stand

Marc Schwabach of Ambiance Incentives SPAIN will be at IBTM

Eva Hoffmann of Cornerstone Meetings DMC Germany will be at IBTM

IMOLA GORÓ of COSMOS Budapest DMC will be on the Hungarian stand 

Candy Lobo of TRAVCO DMC Dubai Abu Dhabi and Oman will be at IBTM

Abu Dhabi

Jyoti, Candy and Christina of TRAVCO DMC Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman tells me that The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi will open to the public on 22 November in Saadiyat Cultural District. Apparently, it is the largest museum of its kind in the Middle East, it invites visitors to explore the story of life on Earth and reflect on the planet’s future. Spanning 35,000 square metres, the museum offers an immersive journey through 13.8 billion years of natural history — from the Big Bang and the formation of the solar system to the evolution of life, including the rise and fall of dinosaurs and the diversity of today’s living world. Amongst the museums exhibits are Stan the Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the most complete T. rex fossils ever discovered that ruled Earth 67 million years ago. A 25-metre blue whale, the largest animal known to have lived, but the item that I want to see is The Murchison Meteorite, which contains 7-billion-year-old stardust, older than our Solar System.

The TRAVCO DMC team are in the process of finding out what areas if any will be available for private events and gala dinners.

And that is about it for this Monday, you know as much as I know, wishing you an outstanding day and an awesome week ahead.