Tourism Seychelles draws crowds at World Travel Market London 2022

It was a successful event for Seychelles at the 43rd edition of the World Travel Market London, held from November 7-9 at ExCel in London.

Located in the Indian Ocean and African region not far from our geographical neighbors Mauritius and Madagascar, the Seychelles Islands with only a 100 square meter wooden stand bearing simple rustic and green décor, made quite an effect on the crowds. Its concept represented the authentic and lush essence of the destination.

During the 3-day event, the Seychelles’ stand remained busy, with the participants holding daily meetings with trade partners, big international buyers and representatives of other markets while engaging potential buyers. 

Present on the stand for the event, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Mr. Sylvestre Radegonde and the Director General for Destination Marketing, Bernadette Willemin, met with several key partners, including the international media partners.

The delegation was also composed of Tourism Seychelles’ Director for the UK and Ireland territory, Ms. Karen Confait, the Senior Officer from Tourism Seychelles headquarters, Mrs. Lizanne Moncherry and Ms. Marie-Julie Stephen, Senior PR officer also based at Botanical House.

For this year’s edition, which was essentially focused on Business-to-Business exchanges, eight travel trade partners joined the team to promote the destination and its products. This included three Destination Marketing Companies, represented by Mr. Eric Renard and Ms. Melissa Quatre from Creole Travel Services; Mr. Alan Mason and Mr. Lenny Alvis from Mason’s Travel and Mr. Andre Butler Payette from 7° South. Mrs. Lisa Burton represented Variety Cruises, the only cruise company present at the event.

Hotel properties were represented by Mrs. Nives Deininger from STORY Seychelles; Ms. Serena Di Fiore and Mrs. Britta Krug from Hilton Seychelles Hotels; Mr. Jean-Francois Richard from Kempinski Seychelles and Mrs. Shamita Palit from Laila- A Tribute Portfolio Resort.

Minister Ragedonde and Mrs. Willemin maximized the destination’s presence at the event to enhance the visibility of Seychelles. They attended various meetings with strategic partners looking at reinforcing cooperation between Seychelles and media collaborators interested in promoting the destination on their respective platforms.

The Tourism Minister was also interviewed by seven media, in the likes of BBC, CNBC International, and Travel Mole, amongst others. He extensively engaged the various media on the new strategies of the destination to revamp its tourism industry. During these interventions, Minister Radegonde reaffirmed the destination’s commitment to sustainability and green tourism.

He further mentioned some of the projects started, notably the “Lospitalite” service excellence program and the cultural experience project, which is being finalized for implementation.

Speaking at the event, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of the event.

“Our participation was an exceptional occasion for Seychelles as a destination to be more visible, not only on the UK market but also for other European countries.”

“It is such a pride for a small destination like Seychelles to stand next to the giants of the travel world and still know that as a destination, we remain relevant in the way we conduct our business,” said Minister Radegonde.

On her part, the Director General for Destination Marketing stated that there is still a great demand for the destination, and this was witnessed by the great flow of meeting requests and appointments recorded by partners.

“We were pleased to see that our international partners hold Seychelles close to their hearts. Our presence did not go unnoticed and our small team was overwhelmed with meeting requests. I am sure that all participating companies would agree that it was an excellent time to strengthen our trade relationship with our existing partners on the market. We also had the opportunity to start engaging with new partners,” said Mrs. Willemin.

Aside from the WTM event, the Seychelles team also attended several networking events organized by partners from the UK.

With 18,893 visitors recorded from January to November 6, the UK remains the 4th best source market for Seychelles. 

MEDIA CONTACT: Tourism Seychelles, [email protected]