The winter sun returned to Cannes after a very stormy start to the International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM) 2019 at the Palais des Festivals – stormy because on the Sunday afternoon before the show, bars and restaurants along La Croisette were cleared by the police forces as they forecast heavy rainfall, which was predicting dangerous consequences. We promptly left our seats at La Californie, and driving the car through town to find our accommodation, we thought we were being told off for going into a congestion zone, as the tannoys repeated security alerts. Winding down the window, they spoke words of fear and devastation. Everyone was to get back into their homes and stay indoors…within 30 minutes! The war-like sirens were howling through the streets. A memory returned of the sirens in Venice, which had similarly chilled my blood, during the last two years of dramatically devastating high tides. What was happening to Cannes though? Was there a tidal wave threatening to wash us all away?!
The breaking news and the messages coming in from guests of the ILTM show and from media flying in for the 3-day event, built up the picture. Streets were now totally flooded, houses awash and drains couldn’t cope with the amount of rainfall that usually fell in a month… but this time it all happened in just two hours. Cannes fell into silence and instantly became a total ghost town, illuminated only by fairy lights. Similarly other towns along the Cote – Antibes, Nice, Le Cannet and beyond – were all on lock-down. The night fell, and those who were safe slept in their own beds and those who were rescued were taken care of in schools, offices and emergency accommodation by police, paramedics, carers and volunteers. A wonderful solidarity held everyone together.
The following day, the sun came out and the Riviera style resumed. The cafes dried off their chairs and tables and the scene was set all over again with winter blankets strewn around the arm-chairs and Christmas centre pieces back in place. The Palais des Festivals glistened in the winter sun, the yachts in the harbour were being polished, and the big blue sky, so typical of the area, told us nothing terrible had happened.
The show was in full set-up and what seemed to be 400 metres of red carpet was rolled the length of The Retreat: a space for relaxation, meditation, massage, yoga, jet lag relief by Jet Candy, facial analysis, rocket fuel by Six Senses, and spa treatment advice. The staff of privately owned hotels, tours operators, airlines, hotel collections, spas, luxury villas, events and marketing suites, media centres, bars and eateries were all working all the hours they could to get the 3-day show on the road in time for 9am on December 3rd.
A table and three chairs was all we needed on our Jet Candy stand, with our signature apothecary chest ready to share and supply our audience with branded ILTM Jet Candy packs, created especially for the show, which were given to guests as a thoughtful “turn-down” amenity. The conversations about jet lag were non-stop, from the moment that the show opened, to the very last hour back in La Californie with Marriott International – MILUX. Hearing how many people travel – what they pack, what essentials they take with them, what their routines are, how frequently they fly (it transpired that some travel on long-haul flights over 40 times per year) – was, as ever, fascinating. The luxury travel industry is a gruelling one, behind the scenes.
According to Professor Russell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs programme, jet lag is “the classic mismatch between internal time and external time. Jet lag is so ghastly not because you have simply shifted five hours from London to New York, but because the whole of the circadian architecture – the master clock in the brain – and all the peripheral clocks throughout the body are at a slightly different phase.” Therefore, guests to the show were very interested to hear about Jet Candy, which helps with fatigue, dehydration, disorientation, mental sharpness and other symptoms associated with the disruption of the circadian rhythms, leaving the jet-setter feeling refreshed, energetic and clear-headed on arrival.
Our experience with this international show, which tours the globe every year, is of great relevance to speak to a world audience to make their in-flight wellbeing that much better with our simple hand-made remedy. Created to address the many permutations of jet lag, which manifests itself in so many different ways in people, the progress of our conversations has helped so many people find a natural solution to an age-old problem associated with long-haul travel. The disruption of the circadian rhythms is a trauma to the body and our solution – created with a combination of arnica, bellus, gelsenium, cocculus and petroleum – helps the body adjust to the drag of travelling to a different time zone and a different daily routine.
How better to leave a heavenly location, a busy travel show and the gruelling schedule of appointments, than with the assurance of a small natural remedy in your pocket to get you to the next place without the drag of jet lag. This is our story, and others are telling it now for the benefit of the next person they know, to teach them there is a way to beat jet lag and travel long haul with a smile…
