Travel’s VirtYule Christmas Party will take place online from 3-7pm on 17th December 2020, with a host of activities and Christmas themed entertainment including magicians and a show from The Polka Dots, among others still to be confirmed. Alongside networking opportunities, Visit Hachinohe will be offering the chance to win a spot on a fam trip in 2021 for one lucky winner.
Approximately 2.45 hours from Tokyo by shinkansen, Hachinohe is rich in history for visitors to enjoy as well as vast areas of natural beauty to explore, including the Tanesashi Coast which makes up part of the Michinoku Coastal Trail. Hachinohe welcomes the Christmas season, embracing many of the same recognisable elements of the festivities, with dazzling LED lights, extravagant store displays, and gift giving. In Hachinohe, winter illuminations are hosted across the region from 1st December to 29th February, with themes ranging from traditional to down right quirky.
Japanese cuisine is very seasonal and winter hails the arrival of such dishes as ‘nabe’ hot pot, ‘fugu’ puffer fish, or steamed ‘oden’ snacks, and the Japanese Christmas cake ‘kurisumasu keki’ is available in Hachinohe from the end of November. However, the undisputed Christmas dinner in Japan is the KFC family bucket, thanks to KFC Japan’s long running ‘Kentucky for Christmas’ campaign, which began in 1974 and has firmly established fried chicken as a Christmas staple. It is so popular, an estimated 3.6 million Japanese families eat KFC during the Christmas season.
Event hosts Howard Salinger, Travel Connection Group, and Rob Debenham, Debenham Links, commented: “This won’t be a conference. It won’t be an exhibition. It won’t have any webinars filled with content about how travel will bounce back in 2021. We simply want everyone to have a good time. A Christmas dress code will be mandatory, and there will be a ban on discussing Covid, Brexit, Trump or how bad a year it’s been.
“We hope to see lots of our industry colleagues joining us for this VirtYule party. Individual VirtYule tickets are just £10, but you could book a VirtYule table for £100 where you can host guests and receive 5 VirtYule tickets included in the package, or a VirtYule booth where you can promote your brand and entertain up to 50 guests at one time. Perfect for those who are missing out on their own Christmas parties.”
