Ghosts and Goblins Greet Guests

Ghosts, ghouls, goblins, devils and a mysterious character looking like death greeted travel trade and media attending the Visit Wales Halloween party in Sydney last night.

Organised by Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan, Five Star PR and Barrington Carpenter, Visit Wales Sydney office, the fiendishly clever promotion featuring an evening of comedy and a reading from the works of Welsh writer, Dylan Thomas was appropriately organised in the Sydney Comedy Store in the Entertainment Quarter of Moore Park.  

[Pictured right: It’s a helluva job but someone has to greet the guests!]

Halloween has a strong connection with Wales with Nos Galan Gaeaf the Welsh term for Halloween which literally means “the Night of the Kalends (or beginning) of Winter”, reflecting the Celtic custom that Halloween was the end of the summer and the beginning of winter.

At times like this the Celts believed that the Otherworld was close at hand and at Halloween in particular, the dead and all sorts of not necessarily very nice spirits were believed to be able to roam at will.

Some Australian travellers plan their holiday time so as to be in Wales in order to take part in Halloween celebrations that are based on Celtic traditions.

Australia is the fifth largest market for Wales with around 80,000 Australians visiting Wales last year spending an average of five days, said Eirlys Thomas, Head of International Marketing & Sales Development, Visit Wales. 

Ms Thomas was in Australia for eight days to make a series of sales calls and to gauge “the state of the market”, saying “While a number of events are being planned for next summer including a series of “indigenous festivals” momentum is building for a major golf event, the staging of the Ryder Cup in 2010, however, it’s just a year to Rugby World Cup which will be held in Cardiff. 

She said, “Australians visiting the city next November may be preoccupied with sport but they should not overlook the new Millennium Centre, an arts venue clained by The Welsh to be “equivalent to the Sydney Opera House”.

Ms Thomas added that many Australians are introduced to the charms of Wales during a conventional coach tour of the United Kingdom and then come back to leisurely explore the compact yet “slightly off the beaten track” destination on their own.   Steam train trips, castles visits and walks in the lovely countryside are popular activities with Australian travellers, she said.  “But Australians also like visiting the tiny market towns of Wales.  They often get the feeling that they are the first people to discover these little gems,” said Ms Thomas.

Exclusive Report by Thomas E. King, TravelMole’s Travel & Lifestyle Correspondent