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Seychelles Brought Closer to Reunion Holidaymakers Through Webinars with Partners

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The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) office in Reunion conducted two virtual meetings with industry partners in the overseas department and region of the French Republic in the aim of reviving business from this market.

The Reunion market considered part of France is eligible to enter Seychelles under conditions applicable to visitors from Category 2 on the permitted list of countries as of October 1, 2020.

The STB team invited tourism stakeholders in Seychelles and their Reunion counterparts to join two webinar sessions set to provide clarity on procedures applicable in Seychelles for Reunion holidaymakers.

Responding to the STB’s invitation, several partners including Destination Management Companies (DMC) and Hotel partners with interest in the Reunion market joined the discussions.

On the DMC side, Seychelles was represented by 7 degrees South, Creole Travel Services and Masons Travel to explain the new features regarding their services while on the hotel side representatives from Hilton group and Le Laurier Eco Hotel attended the virtual meetings to showcase their properties and explain the different protocols in place.

Ms. Bernadette Honore, STB representative in Reunion and Mrs. Bernadette Willemin, STB Regional Director for Europe represented the destination tourism board and representatives from Air Austral were presented during both sessions in support of the initiative.

The main point of the agenda remained the wellbeing of clients from Reunion in the face of the new sanitary protocols imposed by the destination as part of its Safe Tourism policies.

The STB representative on the Reunion Island stated that these virtual marketing activities are crucial for the tourism board as the priority is to re-generate the demand of Réunion Travelers to Seychelles.

She further stated that as part of re-generating demand from the Reunion market, the engagement of Travel Trade professionals to restart selling the destination and Air Austral’s commitment of repositioning direct flights on Seychelles route are crucial.

“Keeping our partners engaged and providing the reassurance that Seychelles is a safe destination for Reunion visitors is the main reason behind the two webinars. As Seychelles is ready to welcome travelers to its shore, we felt the need to invite our partners to explain to them the travel protocol in place for category 2 on the permitted list of countries. We were pleasantly surprised to receive over 30 decision-makers of Réunion Travel Trade professionals in the city of Saint-Denis and Saint Gilles during two days,” said Ms. Honore. 

During the sessions, Mrs. Willemin responded to various questions raised by the Réunion Travel Trade professionals and provided pertinent information regarding the travel protocols.

On their part, the Air Austral representatives offered an opportunity for discussions between Seychelles local partners, STB, Air Austral and the Réunion Travel trade professionals regarding the availability of flights for visitors from Reunion.

“The two sessions have been very satisfactory for the STB team as we have witnessed the enthusiasm of the Réunion Travel Trade professionals to restart selling Seychelles as a holiday destination and this is a positive sign for the market. The meeting also provided reassurance to our partners in Seychelles as it confirmed the commitment of Air Austral to provide direct schedule flights to Seychelles in mid-December. The timing of the re-opening of direct flights from Reunion is very encouraging for partners predetermining a growth in visitors from Reunion towards the end of the year,” said the STB representative in Reunion.

Ms. Honore further stated the anticipation of an increase in the numbers of travelers from Reunion in December since the month sees the happening of the ‘été Austral’ holiday starting from December 19, 2020, to January 25, 2021 marking of the one longest vacation period for the market.

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

Seychelles launches its first Nature Trail competition

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In a press conference at Botanical House, Mont-Fleuri at the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) headquarters today, the organization announced the launch of the Seychelles Nature Trail competition to be held in May 2020.

The announcement was made by the STB Chief Executive Mrs. Sherin Francis in the presence of Mrs. Bernadette Willemin, STB Regional Director for Europe, Ms. Bernadette Honoré, the STB representative in Reunion – who initiated the project with the support of Christian Hamer and Veronique Victor (directors of the trail) – and various partners on-board to make the project a success in Seychelles next year. 

The partners for the SNT project alongside the STB will include the Seychelles National Sports Council (NSC), the Seychelles National Park Authority (SNPA), Air Mauritius, Seychelles Breweries, ABSA ( Barclays Bank), Cable and Wireless and Skychef.

Launched in Reunion in September this year, this first edition of Seychelles Nature Trail (SNT) adds to the prestige of the destination as a multifaceted one.

The SNT aims at further promoting the archipelago’s concept of green tourism as well as enticing potential visitors’ to the discovery of Seychelles’ rich biodiversity.

The 25km trail which will be competed on Mahé on May 3, 2020 will be starting in the region of Port-Glaud round Anse Major, through the well-known hiking routes including the Mont Le Niol and Congo Rouge area finishing at Grand Anse.

 The event plans on attracting and engaging nature sport enthusiast in the region and across the globe to Seychelles, as well as concept for Seychellois competitors.

Speaking at the event, Mrs. Sherin Francis mentioned her satisfaction to add another event to the destination’s profile on the international level.

“The SNT event projects the destinations towards an adventure that will open great doors for the destination, we have seen how big in publicity the recent trail event “Diagonale des Fous” which closed a few days ago to our fellow islanders in Reunion. We can only anticipate great participation from the region and hope that the beauty of our Islands will attract potential runners from all over the world,” said Mrs. Francis.

Mrs. Francis mentioned that in order to reach the anticipated number of participants for the event in 2020, an intensive communication campaign has been designed and will be implemented through traditional and social media.

In addition, a publicity campaign in collaboration with the Seychelles Public Transport Company (SPTC) will be activated in Seychelles in the coming weeks.

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

Seychelles – the garden of Eden – welcomes 12 contestants to Miss Reunion Crown

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Passengers disembarking from the Air Austral flight on this Friday morning at the Seychelles International Airport had the pleasure of stepping under the Seychelles sun alongside 12 beautiful contestants to the Miss Reunion to be crowned in August this year.

Seychelles was this year’s first choice made by the Miss Reunion Committee to host the official photo shoot of the Miss Reunion competition in preparation of the candidates for their Grand finale to be held in August.

Aside from the 12 beauty icons from Reunion, the delegation saw the presence of Miss Réunion 2018 also crowned third Princess at the Miss France 2018, Ms. Morgane Soucramanien.

The delegation composed of 25 people including Antenne Réunion television crew- Official broadcaster for Miss Reunion-, photographers of Miss Réunion, Make-up artists and designers, is headed by the President of Miss Réunion committee Mr. Aziz Patel and the director for the Miss Réunion pageant Mrs. Amida Hussein.

The STB representative in reunion Mrs. Bernadette Honore who collaborated with the Miss Reunion committee to make the project a success was also present on the flight. 

Speaking at the airport where she personally welcomed the contestant, Mrs. Sherin Francis Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) Chief Executive stated that she was pleased that the destination was chosen for their official preparation.

“It is an honour to have the Miss Reunion contestant here in Seychelles for the first time. Reunion is a flourishing market and their presence on the Island will help accentuate the visibility of the destination. It is undeniable that the media exposure Seychelles would receive through the broadcast of their journey in Seychelles will have excellent returns for the destination,” said Mrs, Francis.  

Ketsia Marie, Miss Creole Des Iles Seychelles 2018 was also present at the airport alongside Mrs. Francis to welcome our Reunion guest.

On his part, the President of Miss Réunion committee Mr. Aziz Patel mentioned that this trip is an important part of the contestants’ journey as beauty ambassadors for Reunion.

He further mentioned that is an opportunity for the candidates to learn more about themselves live together and prepare themselves for the Grand finale.

During their stay in Seychelles, the Miss Reunion contestants will be photographed at various touristic places around Mahé, Praslin and La Digue including the Botanical Garden, Victoria town and the most popular beaches.

The Miss Reunion contestants will be leaving Seychelles on July 7, 2019 on Air Austral, the partner airline of the Miss Reunion.

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

Travel Trade Professionals from city of Saint Gilles in Reunion trained to be Seychelles experts

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The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) maintains its commitment to educate trade partners about the destination as the team conducted a two-day destination Training in the city of Saint Gilles in Réunion to train Travel Trade professionals to become certified smart agents.

The Seychelles smart Certification program is designed to help travel trade professionals to become specialists of the destination- ensuring that potential visitors receive the full Seychelles exposure from very first point of contact.  

The program requires the participants to complete a comprehensive training session about Seychelles Island, following which they have a period of one year to sell three Seychelles holiday packages.

An educational visit in Seychelles is the last step needed for them to be certified Seychelles smart agents.

This year’s Seychelles Smart certification-training program was conducted on the sidelines of the official mission of Mrs. Bernadette Willemin, the STB Regional Director for Europe in Réunion.

The STB Regional Director for Europe conducted the Seychelles Smart Certification Training involving some 33-trade partners. The Senior Marketing Executive in Reunion, Ms. Bernadette Honore, assisted her.

Following the success of the training session, Mrs. Bernadette Willemin stated on the importance of keeping the trade partners well-informed about the destination.

“It is imperative for a destination like ours whose majority of the business comes through the distribution channel to continue training the travel trade  front liners ensuring that they are comfortable and confident in selling our products and also capable of converting enquiries into sell,” said the STB Regional Director for Europe.

The duo also conducted a series of sales calls meetings with Reunion tourism trade professionals marketing Seychelles as the ultimate versatile destination in the region.

Mrs Willemin and Ms. Honore also took the opportunity to gather further intelligence on the Reunion market development.

STB partner airline in Reunion, Air Austral -offering direct connectivity to Seychelles- also collaborated to the programme, firming up its support towards this program by joining with the STB to promote the Réunion-Seychelles route.

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

Seychelles highlighted in Reunion Senior Trade Fair

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The destination was featured in Reunion’s 3rd edition of the distinguished Senior Trade Fair held in Reunion between May 31 to June 2, 2019.

The Seychelles Tourism Board’s (STB) participation in the 3-day consumer event focused on reinforcing Seychelles as a leisure destination for group travelers. The event, which regrouped over 100 exhibitors including service-providing experts in leisure, travel, and technologies under one roof, is viewed as the fundamental event in Reunion.

The Senior Trade Fair designed for group travelers – 50 and above – remains an opportunity for the STB to make its presence significant in increasing the number of tourism arrivals from the Reunion territory.

In their approach to the Reunion public, STB and Thomas Cook did not only share a co-branded stand to promote Seychelles as a holiday destination, the Reunion Travel Trade professional partner also proposed to all visitors special promotional offers for Seychelles. The features of the promotion custom-made a package specifically for this segment of travelers.

In addition, Thomas cook collaborated with its Destination Management Company in Seychelles, Mason’s Travel offering 2 nights at Indian Ocean Lodge and 2 nights at Carana Beach hotel in a draw held during the 3-day stand. Mason’s Travel also offered other prizes such as excursions and transfers.

Speaking about  the importance of STB’s participating to the Senior Trade Fair, STB Senior Marketing Executive based in Reunion, Ms. Bernadette Honore mentioned the remarkable turnout which will provide increased visibility for Seychelles as a destination that can be explored by group travelers for leisure

“Firming up our continued collaboration with Thomas Cook on this annual consumer trade fair highlighted the desire of Reunion Travel Trade professionals to grow this segment market to Seychelles. Reunion elderly population continued to be on the increase. Travelling is also one of their preferred hobbies. STB plans to continued working with this group travelers for leisure ensuring Seychelles capture part of this business,” said Ms. Bernadette Honore.

The STB representative also mentioned presence of important media such as Le Quotidien and Reunion Première at the Seychelles stand providing added visibility to the destination.

According to information gathered on an annual basis, 50 years and above are among one of the key potential travelers for leisure in Reunion, representing one quarter of Reunion population or around 62,000 people.

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

Seychelles Tourism Board in Reunion tap into up market luxury brands

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Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), geared up its presence in Réunion Island as the organisation participated in an upmarket consumer event to showcase the destination, present the accessible products and network with potential partners.  

The event dubbed ‘Rêve de Moka’ saw the presence of six luxury Brands comprising of Porche, Caviar.re, Moet & Chandon Champagne, Isautier and a properties investor Neovarim.

‘Rêve de Moka,’ hosted in ‘Domaine de Moka’ one of Reunion Islands historical and long term conservation site attracted around 200 visitors, chosen from an exclusive database. 

The event which took place in a workshop format followed by animation and a touring of the property in a Porche.  

The event was attended STB Senior Marketing Executive based in Reunion, Ms. Bernadette Honore who represented the destination.

Seychelles extended its reach to Reunion potential visitors, as a luxury destination and gained exclusivity in the event as being the only destination present at the event.

STB was supported at the event by the presence of airline partner in Reunion -Air Austral, Réunion Tour operator-Bourbon voyages who contributed by their presence.

As part of its participation to the ‘Rêve de Moka’ event, Air Austral pressed its marketing as the only direct connection between the two islands.

The airline partner also offered 2 airfare tickets to Seychelles as prize for a quizz game initiative, which was reinforced by Castello Beach Hotel as the company offered a two-night’s stay for two persons to complement the package.

Aside from having its representatives at the STB table at the event, Bourbon voyages, provided the invited visitors with additional information about the destination including activities and pricing of their services.   

Talking about the STB participation to the event, Ms. Bernadette Honore mentioned the importance for the destination to appear in upscale events and commented on her satisfaction at the interest generated by Seychelles’ presence. 

 “The upmarket luxury brand in Réunion is a segment market of potential to Seychelles. Seychelles earmarked as a high-end Island destination had the potential to capture this kind of clienteles. Our presence in such event does not only allow Seychelles Tourism Board to promote the destination, but it allows us to be presence where our segment market is for a greater visibility of Seychelles,’’ said Ms. Honore.  

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

Reunion Island breaks tourist arrivals record

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Despite a difficult end to the year, 2018 was profitable and even historic for Reunion tourism as more than 574,000 outside visitors were welcomed . This is 4.1% more than in fiscal 2017, which had already had an unprecedented inflow of visitors.

In 2018, 35 ships and 39,433 cruise passengers landed on the island, which was satisfactory, although slightly lower as several companies were forced to review their routes in November and December.

Nevertheless, with revenues still increasing and amounting to more than 432 million euros, also a new record for the destination, the tourism sector confirms its preponderant place in the economy of Reunion.

Reunion’s neighbors in the Indian Ocean remain fond of the destination. Arrivals from the Indian Ocean area remains above 60,000 tourists in 2018, after a spectacular increase of 46% recorded in 2017. Within this Indian Ocean zone, Mauritius remains the main source market since it represents more than 30,000 tourists, or 5.8% of total arrivals to Reunion.

The communication and promotion actions carried out on the main European markets, other than France, have also been fruitful, as this visitor source market now accounts for 7.4% of total arrivals, compared to 6% in 2017. In total, 39,664 visitors came from the rest of Europe in 2018 which is 4.2% more than last year!

Unsurprisingly, the leisure clientele represents an overwhelming majority of arriving visitors with 90.8% of the overall volume of arrivals on the island, supplemented by 8.5% of business tourism.

The average length of stay of these foreign tourists is 17 days and remains unchanged compared to 2017, a figure particularly important for a long-haul destination such as Reunion.

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Reunion Island NRL viaduct: Now that’s a road trip!

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“The new NRL 974 – the Didier Robert Highway as it is referred to across the island – is a secure road far from the danger of falling stones … nearly 1500 jobs … innovations … ingenuity … perseverance and respect to preserve the environment of the island,” says remarks from social media about this massive Reunion Island project.

The work of the “Nouvelle Route du Littoral” (the new coastal road) is nearing its end on the north side. Motorists traveling along the coastal road watch every day the progress of the work of laying the big posts in the sea.

This Friday marks the last hours of mobilization of the huge machine “Zourite,” used for two years for the installation of the big posts at the bottom of the sea and the first parts of deck assembled in stages. Since the start of work at sea, the machine has reached the construction work at the rate of two of these big posts per month. The total height of these posts varies from 24 to 38 meters on the entire route at sea. The bases of the posts are between 12 and 15 meters below sea level, or between 3 and 8 m below the ocean floor.

48 posts in total

The route stretch of the deck, whose weight of the elements can go up to 670 tons and are conveyed by the “launcher” to be assembled. As for the route on supports, they are much heavier, they weigh up to 2400 tons and are routed and set up on site by Zourite. The height of the segments to be transported varies from 3.80 to 7.30 meters.

Zourite thus completes in this month of March 2019 the installation of the very last of the posts of the viaduct which includes 48 between the Large boat and the advancement at sea in Saint-Denis.

A progress report is made at this very moment on site by a delegation of the regional authority. Taking stock of the progress of the work, the President of the Region was also asked about the prospects for the other achievements that will follow the work of the NRL, starting with the guided regional transport network. “The first phase of 12 km will involve Saint-Denis and Sainte-Marie, plus 2 phases: a first towards Saint-Benoît, and the second towards the west since you know that the New Coastal Road provides for to be able to host a regional guided transport network,” said Didier Robert.

NEO after the NRL

As for the total delivery of the NRL, the president of the Region spoke about the schedule adopted to date. “We are on a 2022 perspective for the overall delivery of the project,” he said, also answering the question of the possibility of a partial delivery. “It’s part of the elements of reflection but it does not integrate today the approach of our community because it is a global work of 12 km, so the goal is to deliver this project on its entirety.”

The subject of NEO Saint-Denis was also mentioned. “For the past two or three years, we have been choosing to co-manage with the City of Saint-Denis for the Nouvelle Entrée Ouest, and we are working together to ensure that there is extension and that Saint-Denis can benefit from the regional commitment with a level of traffic that is more acceptable. It will be finalized in a first time the new bridge of the Saint-Denis River in 2020-2021, so at the same time as the finalization of the viaduct “which prefigures the” new face of Barachois “in a second time,” said the president of Reunion.

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