Dateline Monday 2nd March 2026

Good Monday morning I hope all is well with you and yours on this first Monday in March and the start or meteorological Spring, finally it has stopped raining, and it looks like we will have some decent weather this week.

Wow what a weekend that was, the well forecast attack on Iran has started and a day later the Middle East is literally in flames. The airspace has been shut to commercial airlines although to be fair no commercial airline would be flying into the region even if the air space was available. 

The Supreme Leader of Iran is dead, good riddance to the dreadful medieval dictator who ordered his military to fire on unarmed civilian protesters leading to more than 40,000 innocent unarmed citizens of the country which he leads, or I should say he did lead until he was blown to bits, murdered by the state of Iran. The Americans and the Israelis must be very pleased not only did they get the boss they also got several very high-ranking officials in the same strike, so in business terms they got a great return on their missile investment.

A new medieval tosser Alireza Arafi has been appointed temporary head of Iran’s Leadership Council following the death of Supreme Leader Mr blown to bits guy not sure I would want that job I suggest that he ensures his affairs are up to date and his will is current as I recon his heirs are going to need it pretty soon.

One cannot help but to feel the pain of the people in the whole region innocent people are being caught up in the mayhem and killed,  livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are suspended which will take months to get back on track once the shooting and bombing is over. I guess the price of a barrel of oil and an ounce of gold will shoot up this week, the price of a hotel room in the region will also increase as people will be stuck for several days, then the hotels will empty out and the price of a hotel room will tumble big time. Perhaps that will be the time to contact TRAVCO DMC Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman and book a seriously price led group, conference, incentive or event, there is always a silver lining in a cloud. 

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and his pal Peter Mandleson must be delighted with what is going on in Iran, at last they are off the front pages of the world’s newspapers, off from being the lead story of news broadcasts and also slipping down the list of social media posts. 

Today and tomorrow is the Jewish festival of Purim. PURIM is celebrated by Jewish people around the world. The story behind the festival of Purim is a lot more complicated but in a nutshell it all began in Ancient Persia in the fourth century BCE. The Holy Temple that had stood in Jerusalem was destroyed more than 50 years earlier, and the Jews were subjects of the mighty Persian empire that extended over 127 lands. Three years after King Ahasuerus ascended the Persian throne, when he felt secure in his new position, he celebrated by throwing a grand 180-day-long party for all his subjects. Following this extravagant gala, Ahasuerus hosted a smaller week-long party for the residents of the capital city of Shushan. In the palace’s women’s quarters, Ahasuerus’s wife, Queen Vashti, hosted her own party for the Shushanite womenfolk. On the seventh day of this party, Ahasuerus’s heart “was merry with wine,” and he commanded his wife Vashti to appear before all the partying men; he wanted to show them all her exquisite beauty. Vashti balked at this request, and at the advice of his adviser, Memuchan, Ahasuerus ordered Vashti’s execution. Haman the Prime Minister of the time plotted to kill all the Jews, and the king agreed without a second thought. The king chose Esther as his new queen to replace Vashti, Esther adamantly refused to divulge her identity. When the Jews knew they were in danger, Esther asked them to fast and repent. She then won the king’s favour, disclosed her Jewishness and asked him to save her nation. Outraged at the decree against his queen, the king had Haman hung and allowed the Jews to take revenge on their would-be killers.  Mordechai, Esther’s uncle, was appointed as prime minister instead of Haman. 

Jewish festivals can be summed up in one short sentence “they tried to kill us, they failed, let’s eat” 😊 If Purim applies to you may I take this opportunity to wish you, your colleagues, family and friends a wonderful Purim samayach, a joyous Purim.

Sad news Neil Sedaka, the legendary songwriter behind hits including “ (Is This the Way to) Amarillo,” “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” and “Love Will Keep Us Together,” has died. He was 86.

If you are observing Ramadan, I hope you are coping with the challenges Ramadan brings, wishing you Ramadan Kareem

And that’s the view from my MM and Company desk for this week

MM and Company news update

Portugal

Madelena, Rita, Joana and the team at AIM DMC Portugal have shared some of their local knowledge with me and I would like to share it with you, it’s about a Portuguese hotel chain that you may not have heard about Octant Hotels. Founded in 2022 the Lisbon-based hotel is a homegrown Portuguese brand with grand ambitions The brand has six hotels with ambitious plans for Lisbon and Porto

The Octant Douro, the brand’s newly refurbished hotel, is situated along a bend of the Douro River, one would fly into Porto. The hotel opened in June. It has 79 rooms and is characterised as “entry-level luxury,” well suited to buyouts and group events. The hotel looks amazing on their web site very stylish, a place to chill big time, perfect for a getaway incentive.

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.