Seychelles takes over Eastern Europe with market blitz

The Seychelles Islands were trending in the four top Eastern European markets recently when the destination embarked on a market blitz to actively promote itself and regain business in that region.

The roadshow, dubbed ‘the Seychelles take-over’, stopped in the cities of Prague, Warsaw, Budapest and Bucharest from 4th to 9th June. The Seychelles delegation included Tourism Seychelles representatives and local trade partners, and together they covered four cities in five days.

The team travelled to a new city daily, conducting workshops and presentations in the evening before moving to the next city the following morning.

In Prague and Warsaw – the region’s top two performing markets for Seychelles – the delegation was led by the Director-General for Destination Marketing, Bernadette Willemin.

Besides Tourism Seychelles, other partners attending and conducting business at the roadshow were Destination Management Companies 7 South, Mason’s Travel, Creole Travel Services, Pure Escapes, Luxe Voyages and hotel partners Blue Safari Seychelles, Four Seasons Resort, Story Seychelles and Berjaya Hotels and Resorts.

The workshop in each city featured primarily round-robin sessions with the participants. It was a speed networking with brief presentations, answering queries and exchanging contacts. The second part of the workshop consisted of dinner and 5-minute highlights of the different products and services.

Speaking about the roadshow, the Director for Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe markets, Mrs. Lena Hoareau, said it was a highly successful event with incredible feedback.

“It was a relief for everyone to be able to go back on the road again in such a big event after so long, and what better way for the travel agents in the market to start with an exotic destination like Seychelles.”


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“The agents were very eager, and we were even more excited to be meeting them physically again. We had an excellent ‘Seychelles take-over’ in all four cities,” she said.

The agents attending the workshops were amongst the majority selling the destination, whilst others were great potentials with a strong interest in including Seychelles in their portfolio.

“We were definitely the talk of the trade when we visited the different cities. Our roadshow was timely and appropriate, in the sense that we went out there as a strong team on a serious blitz to promote the destination and its products, and at a time when people are venturing out again and frantically booking their next holiday,” she said.

Mrs. Hoareau stressed that the four countries were chosen for the roadshow as they are the top-performing markets in the Eastern and Central European region, and it was necessary to support business there to ensure continued growth. She added that several other activities have been happening or planned during the course of this year in other smaller and potential markets to allow Tourism Seychelles to tap deeper into this region.

The Director-General for Marketing, Bernadette Willemin, also spoke positively about the roadshow and said Seychelles is taking several measures to ensure a safe holiday experience for all its visitors. She stated that whilst Seychelles is gradually easing up current restrictions for visitors to have a ‘normal’ and unhindered holiday, more destinations are opening up their doors and competition stiffens.

“Today, more than ever, we need to remain visible, relevant and competitive. That’s the rule of the game now; the competition is intense, and we must step up our promotion and business across all markets to maintain or grow market shares. We must continue working towards consolidating our existing business and going all out for new ones,” she said.

MEDIA CONTACT: Tourism Seychelles, [email protected]   

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Linda Hohnholz