I think Alton Towers set aside that week for organizations or companies to book the whole park. It would allow a large company (for example Ford or BT - only examples) to reward their staff with a day out.
Someone from an Islamic organization decided they could get enough Muslims to go if the park followed strict Muslim rules, so they booked the park in the hope they could sell enough tickets.
Seems they could not sell enough tickets so the event was cancelled.
Thanks for the info, vehelpfulguy, I was under the impression, mainly because of the media attention, that it was another sop to this particular ethnic group,
You've put it into perspective, it was obviously blown out of proportion.
Or maybe Muslims don't want their own special day at the park..anyone who has been to Alton Towers, or various other theme parks will know that Muslims visit all the time.
To be 'singled out' for a day is probably something they neither want or need. If integration is so paramount, I would imagine that the proposed booking would indeed have suffered from lack of interest.
I have just done a search and you are spot-on. Apparently any non Muslims visiting would have to observe the Muslim customs. I would imagine this would also have a negative reaction from quite few people..Muslims and non Muslims alike? I can only speak from the experience I have had with Muslim pals & co workers ~ they have never wanted to 'force' their customs or beliefs on anyone. Just a thought :o)
Yep - I know exactly what you mean. I worked with a Muslim bloke for five years. It was great knowing him because he could answer questions that I had and explain his customs and traditions.
Also when he got married, the food at the reception was absolutely the best I'd eaten in years.
sp1814, your right, in that it wasn't going to be exclusively for Muslims, but its a fact, that any non Muslims going that day, including a wedding party that had been booked prior to the Muslims, were told, women to cover up, and only Halal meat eaten.
sp1814, your right, in that it wasn't going to be exclusively for Muslims, but its a fact, that any non Muslims going that day, including a wedding party that had been booked prior to the Muslims, were told, women to cover up, and only Halal food eaten.
Whilst I agree with the notion that no one should impose the values of their own religion I think other faiths can be quite strict about their values. I used to work for a jewish company in London where some of the co-workers were very strict on only eating 'kosher' and close the office for their national holidays 'Yom Kippur'. Whilst contracting there that meant one day loss of salary for me and many other colleagues, who were not jewish. Anyways, coming back to your question, I think that was a PR exercise to promote multi culturism that went disastrously wrong and didn't generate enough interest.
btw. I agree with violetblue that muslims aren't an ethnic group"
On some of the rollorcoasters they have cameras and some women flash their knockers at it as they go by. The muslim women were planning to flash their faces so it got cancelled.