For us, Christmas is a special time of year, a holiday laden with symbolic meaning that goes well beyond its religious significance – a time for celebration and rest.
The impact of Christmas here in Italy (and, more generally, across the Western world) is enormous, so much so that companies find themselves managing a whole series of strictly “Christmas” matters involving relationships with clients, suppliers, employees and partners.
So many questions arise: in today’s globalized world, what is the best Christmas Etiquette to follow? In this article we try to offer you some useful pointers for today’s professionals and businesses – who often work in close contact with realities very different from our own.
Where Christmas is celebrated around the world
The traditional holiday period in Italy officially begins on 24 December with Christmas Eve, continues through New Year, and ends on 6 January with the Epiphany. In total, that is around 15 days during which many companies close, while others work with reduced staff (here we are not counting those who work in public-facing businesses such as shops, hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions).
We will see how this pattern is echoed (with few variations) more or less throughout the Western world, which has traditionally been predominantly Christian. The reach of Christmas, however, extends much further.
Europe, Australia, the Americas
Anyone who thinks that, within the so-called “Western” world, Christmas is unquestionably on 25 December is mistaken: for the Eastern and Slavic Orthodox churches, Christmas Day falls on 6 or 7 January.
There are also differences of several days when it comes to when the holidays begin: in Estonia, for example, they officially start on 18 December. So never take anything for granted, even when talking about countries whose habits and traditions are close to our own.
China and Japan
In both China and Japan, Christmas has become part of people’s habits more as a new trend than for religious reasons. It is experienced as a secular holiday dedicated to family, friendship, exchanging gifts and strengthening bonds between people.
That said, this does not mean it is also a national holiday: on the contrary, schools and offices remain open and celebrations are private affairs.
There are, however, a few official holidays that overlap with, or fall close to, our Christmas period: 23 December is a national holiday in Japan, being the birthday of the current Emperor Akihito (a holiday due to move to a different date once his successor ascends to the throne), while in China three days of closure are observed from 1 January for New Year.
This might surprise you, but in some cases the custom of gift-giving is observed even more closely in Asian countries than it is here. You might well find it easier to get a Christmas gift from a supplier in Hong Kong than from one in the Netherlands!
The Middle East and the Arab world
The Middle East is a highly multifaceted region, home to very different realities. Until a few years ago, Christmas celebrations in their more secular (and, if you like, commercial) form were gaining ground in countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Today, following the growing instability seen in many countries in the region, ranging from simple political tensions to outright war, the brief popularity Christmas once enjoyed there is fading.
New Year, however, is celebrated even in a country of strict Muslim observance such as the United Arab Emirates, which sets aside a few days of “winter holidays”, with schools closing during the first ten days of the year.
So, here is what we recommend.
Always check closing dates
To manage orders, requests and deadlines effectively, it is essential to check carefully which holidays your business partners will be observing. Paradoxically, the risks are higher the more similar to our own a country seems, precisely because we tend not to check.
For example, I might send an urgent contract to Estonia on 19 December, confident that I am giving my contact enough time to sign it and send it back to me by the 24th – except that in Estonia the holidays start from the 18th of the month!
Asking for a schedule of holiday closures well in advance would have avoided this problem.
Start by setting a good example: let all your foreign business partners know the exact closing dates for your offices and production departments as early as the beginning of December, giving them time to organise themselves, and ask them in turn to let you know which holidays they will be observing.
Christmas greetings and gifts
Whether to send Christmas greetings, in what form, and whether to send gifts to our foreign business partners should be decided with a little care, taking into account the customs of the country in question.
It is usually the sales staff and country contacts who provide guidance on this. In general, our advice is:
Send everyone a greetings email together with notice of your closure around one or two days before you actually close (assuming, of course, that you had already given them plenty of advance notice at the start of the month, as suggested in the previous paragraph).
Cards and gifts are recommended only for those countries that celebrate Christmas, whether by religious tradition or by recent custom. Avoid sending them to other countries, or at the very least check local customs before heading to the post office. Alternatively, choose gifts for them that are as neutral as possible and linked not to Christmas but to the new year (a calendar or a diary, certainly not a Santa Claus-shaped decoration).
Sending Italian food products is always well received, but be careful not to run into differing tastes (people in Asian countries, for example, tend not to like cheese) or customs problems.
In any case, avoid as far as possible images and texts with an explicitly religious theme, even if your partner is European or American. These are better suited to personal greetings than to corporate ones.
One last piece of advice: plan everything ahead of time. The last few days before the holiday closure are usually hectic inside companies, so try as far as possible to avoid letting your season’s greetings become yet another burden.
Season’s greetings formulas, so you get it right
To all of you, our best wishes in…
French:
European School vous souhaite des moments heureux et pleins de joie pour ce Noël et pour l’année 2016 !
Nos meilleurs vœux en cette fin d’année. Que la joie illumine vos vacances. Joyeux Noël!
English:
We wish you a great holiday season full of love, peace and hope
Spanish:
Felíz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Felices Fiestas
Felices Vacaciones
Que toda la dulce magia de la Navidad conspire para alegrar vuestros corazones y cumpla todos tus deseos. ¡Feliz Navidad!
La Navidad es ese dulce espacio donde los recuerdos, los abrazos y las risas imperan radiantes.
¡Felicidades!
German:
Wir wünschen Ihnen Frohe Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!
In Russian, New Year wishes:
C Новым годом!
In Russian, Christmas wishes:
С Рождеством Христовым!
In Russian, wishes for the Christmas holidays:
Веселых рождественских каникул!
