DATELINE MONDAY 21ST MARCH 2016
Spring has sprung, the first official day of Spring was yesterday, it is still a bit chilly without the sunshine but what a wonderful week of weather we had last week, I almost ventured out without a jacket, got outside the house and thought no, not quite yet.
In Scotland (I lived in Aberdeen for six years in my youth) they have a saying ‘cast nea yer clout (vest) till May is out’. I think that is pretty good advice.
Anna of Nordic Visitor ICELAND and I criss crossed the country last week, getting as far as Leicestershire in the north and Oxfordshire in the west. Driving along the M40 at ninety miles an hour with the sun shining and dry, clear roads is a pleasure. I have just looked at the diary, it’s Easter next week OMG, it’s also the Jewish festival of Purim aimed predominantly at children, they all go to Synagogue in fancy dress and it’s the only festival where Jewish people are permitted indeed, encouraged to get drunk, it’s a long story but in a nut shell we should drink wine until we unable to tell the difference between the goodies and the baddies in the story of Purim . Don’t forget t put your clocks forward early Sunday morning, enjoy the Easter break holiday, I look forward to writing to you again on Monday 4th April.
DMC News* MM and Company News * Destination News* MM and Company News *
Mauritius
Anusha Soopal of Connections DMC Mauritius, the DMC MM and Company has been representing since 2005 will be in the UK next month updating us on what’s new in Mauritius. If you would like to meet up with Anusha, do let me know.
IMEX Frankfurt 19th April 2016
I will be attending, will you be going to IMEX if you are and you want to meet with any of our awesome DMCs please let me know, the runners and riders so far announced for IMEX are as follows;
+39 Italy on Stand F705
EPIC Group Cancun Mexico are on Stand B100
Germany Insight are on Stand F100 & F110
Nordic Visitor Iceland are on Stand F230
Russian Event are on Stand D430
SNTTA Emir Incentives & Conferences Dubai and Abu Dhabi are on Stand E520
TA DMC Spain & Portugal are on Stand F655
Panama & Costa Rica
I’m going to meet up with Hocine, Nathalie and Arno the Quetzal Motivo DMC team in May. I will be spending a few days in Costa Rica and a few days in Panama. If you would like any information fresh from the destinations please let me know, I will bring it back with me.
Berlin
For all you punk rock fans or perhaps your clients may be punk rock fans, did you know that Berlin has the one and only museum to the Ramones, allegedly, the very first ever punk rock band. Everybody thinks it was the S*x Pistols. According to the founder and curator of the Berlin based museum Mr. Flo Hayler. For more information contact Valentina and Bettina at Germany Insight on e mail mail@camonsite.de.
South Africa
Brad and the team at The Inside Edge Southern Africa have told us it’s a Public Holiday today in South Africa, if you need anything do let us know, they will of course be back in the office tomorrow. Regular readers of this wee e mail will know I like to google why a country has a public holiday. This Public Holiday in South Africa is called Human Rights Day
The Constitution provides for the establishment of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) was launched on 21 March 1996, 35 years after the fateful events of 21 March 1960 when demonstrators in Sharpeville were gunned down by police.
The Native Laws Amendment Act of 1952 extended Government control over the movement of Africans to urban areas and abolished the use of the Pass Book (a document which Africans were required to carry on them to 'prove' that they were allowed to enter a 'white area') in favour of a reference book which had to be carried at all times by all Africans.
Failure to produce the reference book on demand by the police, was a punishable offence. The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) proposed an anti-Pass campaign to start on 21 March 1960. All African men were to take part in the campaign without their passes and present themselves for arrest.
Campaigners gathered at police stations in townships near Johannesburg where they were dispersed by police. At the Sharpeville police station a scuffle broke out. Part of a wire fence was trampled, allowing the crowd to move forward. The police opened fire, apparently without having been given a prior order to do so. Sixty-nine people were killed and 180 wounded.
In apartheid South Africa this day became known as Sharpeville Day and although not part of the official calendar of public holidays the event was commemorated among anti-apartheid movements.
Leyla and Hannah’s twitter and witter bit of the Monday morning e mail
The top floor of my house where the girls bedrooms are located will soon become a no go area for me. I have come to like an orderly and dare I say it tidy place live there is nothing orderly or tidy about the top floor. As you come to the top of the stairs one has had to negotiate various “Dad traps” on the stairs, shoes, books, hairbrushes and the like. On arriving at the top of the stairs there are laundry baskets full of clean and ironed clothes that were once neat and folded, one full of Leyla’s things and the other with Hannah’s things both have been strewn about whilst each child has been looking for clean clothes to wear G-d forbid they should put them away in their cupboards. Then there is the bathroom, all manner of debris is on the floor, under garments, towels, wet and dry, shampoo bottles conditioner of course, books, a radio (mine usually) I let this situation go for a while then I suggest forcibly that the time has come for a full scale clear up. This happens, it is clear for a day then goes back to situation normal.
That’s it you are up to date. Have a terrific FOUR day week and an awesome Easter weekend, next week again enjoy the FOUR day week, talk to you in APRIL..