Emirates renews its commitment to Seychelles at the Arabian Trade Fair in Dubai

The partnership between Emirates and destination Seychelles continues to grow, as both parties signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), outlining joint activities to promote the island destination.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai on Monday, April 29, 2019, by both Orhan Abbas, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations for Africa and Mrs. Sherin Francis, Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) Chief Executive, in the presence of Didier Dogley, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine of the Seychelles.

“We have enjoyed a long and fruitful partnership with Seychelles and have taken an active role in boosting the tourism industry of the island nation. Our commitment to the destination and the partnership forged with the government authorities have seen great success”, said Orhan Abbas, Senior Vice President – Commercial Operations (Africa).

“The renewal of our agreement provides us with utmost confidence that the growth of tourism within Seychelles can be further developed, and we remain assured that we will continue to see these numbers grow,” he added.

Speaking of the continuous collaboration between Seychelles and its partner Emirates, Minister Didier Dogley mentioned the importance of this close relationship to the Seychelles. “The signing of this MOU with Emirates underpins the long-standing strong relationship, developed over a decade, between the Government of Seychelles and the leadership of this global airline. We value the services Emirates has provided and continues to provide to the Seychelles and its tourism industry. We look forward to further deepening this relationship to leverage mutual benefits,” said Didier Dogley, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine of the Seychelles.

On her part Mrs. Francis mentioned Emirates remains a prime partner for the Seychelles, and admires the company’s initiative of actively collaborating with the Island’s Tourism Board to increase the promotion of the destination through joint activities.

“The continuous support of all our partners, enables us to increase our reach to all our regular and potential clients. Our long-lasting collaboration with Emirates has made Seychelles accessible throughout the world via their extensive network, and its impact has been significant to us as a destination,” said Mrs. STB Chief Executive. 

In 2018, 361,844 tourists visited Seychelles; with the destination’s main markets being Germany, France, UK, UAE, Italy, India, Switzerland, South Africa, Russian Federation and Austria.

The Agreement will see marketing activities such as; the attendance of tourism trade shows and fairs, trade familiarisation trips, product presentations/workshops, alongside others, be undertaken jointly by Emirates and the STB.

Emirates has a fleet of 271 aircrafts and connects the Seychelles to 158 destinations, in 86 countries and territories across six continents.

In June 2015, Emirates increased its capacity for the Indian Ocean Island of Seychelles, as it switched from the Airbus 330-200 used on one of the two daily services, to a larger Boeing 777-300ER. The introduction of the Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, which operates as flight EK 705 from Dubai and as EK 706 on the return flight, has increased the overall capacity on the route by 1722 seats per week and made the route an all-Boeing 777 operation.

MEDIA CONTACT: STB News Bureau, Tel: +248 4 671 354 / +248 4 671 313, [email protected]  www.seychelles.travel