Dateline Monday 30th October 2023

Happy Monday, the penultimate day of October, tomorrow is Halloween, spooky days ahead. Next week is Fireworks night, thank goodness my girls are gown up, I do not have to buy fireworks which I likened to burning £20 notes or I should say these days MELTING £20 plastic notes after Guy Fawkes night then it’s all downhill to you know what.

I hope all is well with you and yours I AM BACK yes I am shouting, whilst travel is awesome home is quite nice too.

Having enjoyed 35 degrees C of sunshine in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah with Jyoti, Candy, Christine, Joshua and Adrienne the team at TRAVCO DMC I have to say coming back to the UK where is was 14 degrees C when I landed was a bit of a shock, I have got used to it now I am also getting used to the dark now that the clocks have gone back an hour.

OMG the World has gone mad, regular readers of my Monday morning blog will know I have family, close family in Israel in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and a city called Modi’in which is a relatively new Israeli city located halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Clearly I cannot say too much about what is going on in Israel between the civilised democratic State of Israel and the murderous, barbaric savages called Hamas because I will be seen to be biased on one side, all I will say about it is that no one wins, everyone loses, but if the Hamas terrorists had not invaded Israel on 7th October and murdered 1,400 unarmed civilians including men, women, children and unborn babies and kidnapped 220 Israeli citizens then all the people in Gaza that have died since 7th October would still be alive.

World Travel Market starts on 6th November (next Monday) at ExCel in East London, I will pop in on the first day to see a few DMCs that MM and Company works with and recommends

Congratulations to South Africa on winning the Rugby World Cup I am totally certain that Shaun, Brad and the rest of team at The Inside Edge DMC Southern Africa the DMC that we have been representing since 1999 will have been celebrating the victory well into the night and morning on Saturday a stunning victory in a very close match, both side were excellent.

Sad news that Chandler of Friends, Mathew Perry has passed away live fast, die young I guess was his way.

That’s it you are up to date from a David point of view.

MM and Company news update

Abu Dhabi

Jyoti, Candy, Christine, and the team at TRAVCO DMC Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman have told us that at last British airways have announced that they are returning to Abu Dhabi the airline will be flying to Abh Dhabi beginning in April 2024 British Airways will operate daily year-round flights using the Boeing 787

MALTA

Erika, Claudi, Helga and Douglas of MI Malta DMC have told us that the Barceló Hotel Group has opened a 5-star Hotel in Malta, the Barceló Fortina Malta located on the promenade of Sliema

The hotel has 183 rooms it opened 18th September 2023 with panoramic views of the Mediterranean Sea and the fortified city of Valletta, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.

Barcelo Fortina Malta has six meeting rooms with a capacity of up to 250 people,

KYOTO JAPAN

James Geraint and the crew at The J Team DMC Japan have told us that the Dusit Thani Kyoto officially celebrated its grand opening on 1 September, this is an elegant hotel with a mix of Japanese and Thai features making the hotel a very unique location in Kyoto

South Africa

Shaun, Brad and the team at The Inside Edge Southern Africa are delighted to tell you that the Pullman Cape Town City Centre - South Africa is open the hotel is situated in the iconic Triangle House skyscraper, all the 214 guest rooms, have breathtaking views of Cape Town,

IBTM Barcelona November 2023

So far the DMCs that MM and Company represent have told us that they will be in Barcelona are :-

Dubai and Abu Dhabi Candy Lobo Manager – MICE and Groups Travco will be on the Abu Dhabi Stand. L60

Mauritius Stephane Louise Director of Hello Islands DMC Mauritius will be on the Euromic stand N58

Morocco Lina El Fassi El Fihry General Manager Visit Morocco & A Sweet Spot Events DMC will be on the Moroccan tourism Office stand, L65

Oman Manish Gupta Senior Manager- Groups, MICE & Cruises from the TRAVCO Oman office will be at IBTM