A SEASON FOR FESTIVITIES

April brings us a number of reasons to celebrate with friends and family this year. We start the month nearly halfway into the holy month of Ramadan together with Muslims around the world through fasting, prayer, charity and reflection.

Ramadan is a time for giving back and gifting and most people give each other dates so we have curated some ideas from Bateel on what to send your loved ones. We also welcome the Spring season in most parts of the world and this year our focus is on the Sakura festival in Japan and since we were not able to travel, we headed to Sumo Sushi & Bento to check out their Sakura decorations and dishes.

This is also the month for Easter Holidays with family and Earth Day where we take time to focus on ways to protect the environment. In the UAE, as we prepare for COP 28, Earth Day is important and a lot of emphasis will be placed on protecting our planet and taking action to reduce our carbon footprint.

Our cover story is on Hakan Ozel, General Manager of Shangri-La Dubai, one of our favourite places in the city for events, dining and of course the Spa. Hakan is a luxury connoisseur and an expert in management which is evident in the service we experience regularly at the hotel.

For holidays, our focus is on Sri Lanka where I ventured to with IFS who gave me valuable insights not just about their back-end solutions that are helping industries thrive but also on the country, the local talent, successful business ventures and their amazing attractions and cuisine.

For me April is an important month as an International Jury for the World Car of the year Awards. This month, we reveal the winners at the New York Motor Show and having driven most of the nominated cars in the UAE and in Los Angeles, it is going to be tough choosing the winners.

We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed curating the stories for you. Our team wishes all readers a festive month with Ramadan, Eid and Easter holidays.

Shereen Shabam editor@globaltrendmonitor.com