Italian Partners Get Fresh News from Seychelles

Keeping Seychelles top of mind for the Italian travel trade, the Tourism Seychelles Director General for Destination Marketing, Bernadette Willemin, hosted some of the destination’s key main partners in Rome to a lunch event held on November 18, 2021.

Reuniting representatives from the trade including tour operators, airline partners and some members of the specialized press, Mrs. Willemin and the Tourism Seychelles representative in Italy, Danielle Di Gianvito, shared updated information about the destination to encourage travel to Seychelles following the removal of restrictive measures for “Green Card” holders upon return to Italy effective since October 2021.

Italian visitors, who can now reach Seychelles through COVID-19 free tourist corridors organized by travel agencies and tour operators, now only have to present a negative PCR test result taken 48 hours before their return.

Presenting the new developments in Seychelles in terms of availability of products on offer, Mrs. Willemin highlighted the opening of a number of new properties and the renovation of others for the comfort of visitors, and to allow them to meet the different requirements and budgets.

Exciting developments are in the works, Mrs. Willemin told partners, with stakeholders in Seychelles currently working on new proposals to diversify the product; these include experiential tourism to bring visitors in close contact with the local reality and the development of sustainable itineraries.

While Seychelles continues to register a positive record in visitor arrival numbers this year, with approximately over 39% increase compared to the same period in 2020; it is important to increase the visibility of the destination, especially with trade partners, Mrs. Willemin explained.

“Our strategy for Italy, as with our other European markets, is to strike while the iron is still hot. With the recent restrictions lifted by the Italian government, it is an opportune time for us to speak to our partners and place Seychelles in the limelight. Our aim now is to gradually bring Italy back amongst the top source markets for Seychelles as it used to be pre-pandemic” Mrs. Willemin stated. To note that Italy was the fourth leading tourism source market in 2019, when 27,289 visitors from Italy chose to holiday in the Indian Ocean paradise islands.

A preferred destination for Italians, Seychelles tops the list of desired holiday spots especially during the Christmas period and winter holidays. As the season approaches, the team will reinforce its marketing strategies on the Italian market to bring a reasonable increase in the number of visitors from Italy, Mrs. Willemin informed attendees.

Showing remarkable signs of the recovery of its tourism industry, Seychelles has recorded 146, 721 visitors for the period of January 1 to November 14 2021. With a total of 1,659 visitors recorded year to date, Italy features amongst the top 20 worldwide source markets for Seychelles this year.

MEDIA CONTACT: Tourism Seychelles, [email protected]