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The Seychelles Islands displayed at the MATKA Nordic Travel Fair 2019

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The Seychelles Tourism Board team in the Nordic Regions brought some sunshine to cold Finland as the Seychelles destination was represented at the MATKA Nordic Travel Fair 2019.

The Matka trade show, which is the largest travel fair in the Nordic Region, was held in Messukeskus Helsinki from January 17 to January 20, 2019. It’s the main travel platform in the region where everyone meets to conduct business.


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During the 4-day event, the Seychelles Island stand, which consisted of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), team members alongside other trade partners was located in the ‘Sun & Sea’ themed area together with other exotic destinations. The opportunity allowed the team to actively entice visitors to get to know the Seychelles Islands.

The delegation comprised of STB Marketing Director for Nordics, Ms. Karen Confait and Marketing Executive from STB headquarters, Ms. Melissa Samardzija, Mr. Ash Behari from Coco de Mer Hotel & Black Parrot Suites and Ms. Amy Michel representing Mason’s Travel.

The other participating partner on the STB stand included Finnish Tour Operators “Mr. Travel”, who was also present to assist with the promotion of the destination and offer their services to Nordic customers willing to visit Seychelles.

Several other operators also provided flyers with special offers, which were important as clients were looking for prices and packages.

The first two days of the trade show were mainly dedicated for trade professionals (B2B), whereas the remaining days saw a high attendance of the public in general. Ms. Confait mentioned that they noticed that many visitors who visited the STB stand for information, had already booked their trip to Seychelles, while others were shopping around to decide on their next holiday destination.

On the first day of the fair, STB in partnership with Emirates hosted the main Finnish trade partners to a networking dinner, a small token to thank them for their continued support on the market and to encourage them to keep Seychelles in mind while proposing holiday destinations to their clients.

Talking about Seychelles participation at Matka 2019, STB Marketing Director for Nordics, Ms. Karen Confait mentioned that the STB team took the opportunity to meet several regular collaborators including Qatar Airways, Emirates and Turkish Airlines as well as our main trade partners from both Finland and Sweden. She also commented on her satisfaction at the volume of people visiting the stand this year.

“It is very encouraging to see that the destination is thriving in the Nordics. Each year we have seen the growing interest and Matka is the ideal platform for us to meet our main partners at the beginning of the year to discuss the action plans for the year as well as to continue to build and strengthen our relationship with the travel trade” said Ms. Confait.

The Matka Trade Show 2019 recorded a total number of 64,589 visitors compared to 63,599 visitors in 2018, showing an increase of 1.56% in the number of visitors attending the show this year.

Fraport Traffic Figures – January 2019: Starting the New Year on a Growth Path

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FraportFraport

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed nearly 4.7 million passengers in

January 2019, thus starting the year with 2.3 percent traffic growth.

Without strike and weather-related flight cancellations, passenger

traffic at FRA would have grown by about 4.3 percent.

Aircraft movements climbed by 2.3 percent to 37,676 takeoffs and

landings in the reporting month.  Maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs)

rose by 1.5 percent to about 2.4 million metric tons.  Only cargo

(airfreight + airmail) posted a decline in January 2019, dropping by

4.3 percent to 163,332 metric tons.  Decisive factors affecting cargo

traffic included weaker global trade and the resulting dip in demand.

Most of the airports in Fraport’s international portfolio also

achieved growth in January 2019.  Slovenia’s Ljubljana Airport (LJU)

served 103,653 passengers, a rise of 3.3 percent.  The Brazilian

airports of Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) registered

combined traffic of almost 1.5 million passengers, up 10.5 percent

year-on-year.

Total traffic for the 14 Greek regional airports reached 617,885

passengers, resulting in a 12.3 percent surge.  The busiest airports

included Thessaloniki (SKG) with 388,309 passengers, up 25.4 percent;

Chania (CHQ) with 50,949 passengers, up 17.8 percent; and Rhodes

(RHO) with 50,809 passengers, down 13.4 percent.

Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru, South America, saw traffic increase by

5.0 percent to around 1.9 million passengers.  On the Bulgarian Black

Sea coast, the Twin Star airports of Burgas (BOJ) and Varna (VAR)

registered a total of 67,924 passengers, declining 6.8 percent.  On

the Turkish Rivera, Antalya Airport (AYT) received 877,161 passengers

and recorded a 9.6 percent jump in traffic.  Russia’s St. Petersburg

Airport (LED) advanced by 14.0 percent to some 1.2 million

passengers.  In China, Xi’an Airport (XIY) recorded a 13.9 percent

gain to almost 3.8 million passengers

Building Resilience of Caribbean SMTEs: OAS launches $500,000 project

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The Organization of American States (OAS) has launched a US$500,000 project to assist the region’s small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) to build resilience to natural disasters.

The project was launched during the 2nd Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs), hosted at the Montego Bay Convention Centre by the government and the United Nations World Tourism Organization on January 29.

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Speaking ahead of the launch, Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett said, “We are so happy to have the vast expertise of the Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Nestor Mendez, at the launch who I am pleased to say comes bearing gifts. This very important resilience project for our SMTEs will help build the capacity of our sector to better help us become more resilient when disruptions occur.”

The project is funded by the United States Department of State and managed by the OAS Secretariat for Integral Development. It will assist small tourism enterprises in the Caribbean to overcome the various challenges that affect the ability of Governments and businesses alike to continue their business operations during and after catastrophic events in the Caribbean.

Participating countries set to benefit include: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

It will be carried out in a two-year period, with the primary aim being to reduce the severity, impact and duration of disruptions caused by a disaster on the operations of the small enterprises in the Caribbean.

“The Caribbean is among the most tourism-dependent regions in the world and there is no other region whose travel and tourism industry is as vulnerable to disasters as the Caribbean. It is undeniable that climate change presents an existential threat to small island developing states and low lying coastal areas, which include the countries of the Caribbean,” said Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Nestor Mendez.

He also noted that “The OAS identified, among the main long-term needs of the region, the need for tourism-related disaster preparedness and crisis management, communications plans as well as methodologies to follow before and after a disaster.”

This 2nd Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs), is a direct response to the global conference on jobs and inclusive growth hosted in Jamaica in 2017, which brought to the fore many of the perennial challenges faced by SMTEs, including issues of access to credit, marketing, technology and business development.

The conference organisers therefore saw it prudent to have another event focused solely on SMTEs and best practices that have direct relevance to their development.

Global Investment in Aviation Summit to reshape aviation investment landscape

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The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is holding the Global Investment in Aviation Summit on 28-29 January 2019 at the Intercontinental Dubai Festival City. GCAA will host more than 600 investors, speakers, and delegates along with a number of high-level officials and aviation professionals from more than 50 countries during the two-day global event.

HE Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director General, GCAA, said, “The broad international participation in this Summit reflects the importance of the aviation industry, which has become one of the most attractive sectors for investors seeking safe haven for their investment. The current stability of the aviation sector is attributed to the openness of different markets and the increasing demand for air services such as travel, air cargo, aircraft maintenance, information technology in air traffic, aircraft supply, aircraft engineering, manufacturing, and supply.”

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Al Suwaidi added, “Dubai has strengthened its position in various economic sectors. It has become an ideal destination for multinational companies, businessmen and investors, because of the diverse investment opportunities within a leading business environment. The emirate offers this to meet the needs of and to support various economic sectors.”

The launch of GIAS comes at a time when the volume of investment to modernize global aviation is projected to reach $1.8tn by 2030. Growing investments in different continents and regions are strong indicators that the investment trend is leaning toward more promising and bigger opportunities especially in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Among the major cities investing for their aviation modernization and development are Jeddah ($7.2bn), Kuwait ($4.3bn), Argentina ($803m), South Africa ($632m), Egypt ($436m), Kenya ($306m), Nigeria ($300m), Uganda ($200m), and Seychelles ($150m).

The Summit aims to reshape the investment landscape of the aviation sector towards a qualitative and distinct level as would be witnessed by the large participation of aviation ministers, heads of aviation authorities, and major aviation companies. Participants will also witness the launch of the largest business incubator in the aviation industry to review during the Summit completed projects and those which are under development.

The summit also includes a preliminary program that is held on the day prior to the summit that includes masterclasses as well as workshops in aircraft and airport project financing.

Global Investment in Aviation Summit will witness the largest attendance and participation of the heads of aviation companies, decision-makers, economic experts, and government officials to review investment prospects in the UAE aviation sector, the whole of the Middle East and across the world.

Seychelles to host FINA World Junior Open Water Championship in 2020

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Seychelles will next year host the FINA World Junior Open Water Championship 2020, making it the first African country and small island nation to organize this event. Additionally, following the resounding triumph of the first-ever FINA/Hosa Marathon Swim World Series held on our beautiful shores in 2018, Seychelles will once again host the second leg of the prestigious swimming competition in May this year.

These official announcements were made during a press conference held on January 17, 2019, at the Savoy Resort and Spa in the presence of Mr. Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, the Minister for Finance, Trade, Investment, and Economic Planning, Principal Secretary for Youth and Sports Mr. Fabian Palmyre.

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The press conference hosted by the chairperson of the Seychelles Swimming Association (SSA), Mr. David Vidot, also saw the participation of the two core governmental partners in the presence of Mrs. Sherin Francis the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) Chief Executive and Mr. Jean Larue, Chief Executive of the National Sports Council (NSC).

The FINA World Junior Open Water Championship is an international swimming competition that brings together boys and girls between the age of 14 and 19, to race at the highest level.

“This is another historical moment for Seychelles as we are pioneering open water not only in Seychelles but also in the African continent,” said Mr. Vidot.

During her intervention STB Chief Executive Mrs. Francis commented that as a faithful partner of the open water competitions, STB will give its support to the event, adding that such sports competitions provide a great boost to the tourism industry.

“Such big events are broadcasted by major television channels and this is a way for people to indirectly discover the destination for the first time. We have noticed in the past that having international press cover such events has allowed us to receive more leverage and visibility as a small country with little resources,” said Mrs. Francis.
She added that all stakeholders in the tourism industry stand to benefit from such an event.

Commenting on the financial commitment of the event, the Minister for Finance, Trade, Investment, and Economic Planning stated that the government of Seychelles is giving its full support for the hosting of the event. He also took the opportunity to invite local businesses to join the initiative as sponsors and partners.

“It is important that Seychelles hosts such events to make sure that it remains relevant on the international scene as a country that is serious and engaged in sport. Sport brings about peace and most of all it develops the youth and places them on the right track in life,” said Mr. Loustau-Lalanne.

Mr. Loustau-Lalanne also added that the exact costing for the event has not been established yet, but that for the moment an estimation of about five to six million Seychelles rupees has been made for the event.

Mr. Vidot mentioned that ongoing discussions are still being held with FINA to establish the exact date that the junior championship will take place. He explained that the junior championship might be hosted during the week that follows the final race of the FINA/Hosa Marathon Swim World Series’ second leg. There will be three age groups and three distances – 3km, 5km, and 7.5km – under which participants will be able to compete.

The FINA/Hosa Marathon Swim World Series, which is anticipated for May 11 and May 12 this year, will be the second event of a four-year agreement with FINA for the international swimming event.

“At the moment, we are hoping to host it back to back with the world cup series as both events will be hosted at Beau Vallon. This will allow us to make the most out of our resources,” said Mr. Vidot.

In 2018, the first Seychelles edition of the FINA/Hosa Marathon Swim World Series was won by an Italians duo Arianna Bridi and Simone Ruffini who came out as the winners of the women’s and men’s race, respectively; leaving around 50 other world class swimmers from around the world envious of winning in the pristine waters.