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Seychelles Tourism Board led Local Trade Partners on Réunion Roadshow

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Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) and its local partners embarked on a roadshow in Réunion, Saint -Gilles- Les Bains from September 16, 2019 to September 17, 2019.

The event was organised by the STB team in Reunion who prepared presentations and workshops so that they could equip Réunion Travel Trade professionals with the tools to further boost the wave of Réunion Holiday makers in Seychelles. These sessions attracted over 40 agents.


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The Réunion roadshow saw participation from local partners comprising of 7° degrees South, Mason’s Travel, Seychelles European Reservation, Summer Rain Tours, Avani Seychelles Barbarons Resort & Spa and Patatran Hotel.

The STB team consisted of Mrs. Bernadette Willemin, Director Regional Europe and Ms. Bernadette Honore, Senior Marketing Executive from the STB Réunion office.

Whilst the first session consisted of presentations showing travel trade front liners staff across Réunion about what the Seychelles has to offer its visitors, the second session focused on training the Réunion Travel Trade professionals specialising in group business. 

This destination and product training initiative provided the professionals with a better understanding about the Seychelles products so that they have enough information to encourage travellers to visit Seychelles.

The STB team also received the support of the Reunion airline partner Air Austral- that provides direct connectivity to the Seychelles- as they delivered product knowledge presentations.

Commenting on the Réunion Road show, Mrs Bernadette Willemin, Director Regional Europe, stated the STB’s commitment to increase visibility and knowledge of the product to all its partners.

“Destination and product trainings are of utmost importance in this competitive tourism world and our role as a marketing tourism professionals specialist is to ensure that the travel trade professionals we interact with to sell Seychelles are well versed with our products and confident to sell our destination” said Bernadette Willemin.

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Mrs. Willemin emphasised that the product-focussed training sessions are a success with the help of the trade from Seychelles.

She added, “The STB with the collaboration of its partners will continue to organise such activity on the market making sure that our Reunionais partners have all the knowledge to attend to the clients’ requests and convert them into sales”.   

 The training sessions closed with Business-to-Business meetings, where the participants had the opportunity to hold discussions with local Trade partners and Reunion Travel Trade professionals.

Members of the trade present commented unanimously that the roadshow organised by the STB team in Reunion was very successful.

They stated that the local workshop sessions were well structured and gave them an opportunity to meet various partners from different tourism fields.

MEDIA CONTACT: STB News Bureau, Tel: +248 4 671 354 / +248 4 671 313, stbnews@seychelles.travel  www.seychelles.travel

Seychelles titled Number 1 island destination in Africa & Middle East by Travel + Leisure 2019 World’s Best Award

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Seychelles has been named the top island destination in Africa & the Middle East.  It is the third time that Seychelles is rated in the top spot in this category by Travel + Leisure.

The exotic destination’s nomination results from the annual survey conducted by Travel + Leisure, which allows readers of the New York-based travel magazine to rate their travel experiences around the globe. Readers get to share their opinions on top hotels, islands, cities, airlines, cruise lines, spas, among others.

The best islands by region are rated on a number of characteristics including the destination’s natural attractions, beaches, activities & sights, restaurants, food, people & friendliness and value. The destination’s romantic appeal also features as an optional criterion. For each characteristic, respondents are asked to give a rating based on a five-point scale of excellence.

Boasting lush tropical vegetation, powder-white beaches and clear turquoise waters, Seychelles – a 115-island archipelago in the western Indian Ocean came out on top of the readers’ list when it comes to the Africa & Middle East region.

It is during a cocktail event at the Times Square Edition in New York City on Tuesday July 16, 2019 that Seychelles was revealed as No1 island Destination in Africa & Middle East.

Mr. David Di Gregorio, Executive Board Member of (APTA) Association for the Promotion of Tourism to Africa, of which Seychelles is a member, received the Award on behalf of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB). Jacqueline Gifford, Editor in Chief and Jay Meyer the SVP/ Publisher presented the recognition to the destination to Mr. Di Gregorio.

Commenting on the award, the STB Regional Director for Africa & the Americas, Mr. David Germain stated that the prestigious title results from continuous collective efforts between the Seychelles authorities, including the STB and all its stakeholders.

“Achieving the distinction of Top Island in Africa and the Middle East for the third time is a tremendous honor for the Seychelles, recognizing that the region has much to offer in terms of world-class island experiences,” Mr. Germain.

Mr. Germain also pointed out that the STB’s maintains the hard work to maintain solid trade relations with the USA and Canadian outbound tour operators, travel agents and other trade partners in North America. He said that winning the award for a third time, is evidence that the STB’s marketing strategy in North America is working.

“The Award helps to garner recognition and provides a significant amount of visibility for our islands in North America and the region. The STB will continue to share and present the culture and tourism attributes of Seychelles to both the trade and consumers in the various North American cities, with the aim of increasing tourist’s arrival to Seychelles from this part of the world,” said Mr. Germain.

According to latest figures, the North American market has shown an increase by 8 percent from January to May 2019 in tourism arrivals in the Seychelles.

MEDIA CONTACT: STB News Bureau, Tel: +248 4 671 354 / +248 4 671 313, stbnews@seychelles.travel  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, stbnews@seychelles.travel  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, stbnews@seychelles.travel  www.seychelles.travel

Les Escapades Seychelles 2019, another Successful Edition for the Destination

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Held from June 4, 2019 to June 6, 2019, the 16th Edition of the annual Roadshow – Escapades Seychelles received a notable success in the hexagon, as the beauties of the destination was showcased in three major cities.

The train-and-dine events, which took place in three cities in France namely Nice, Paris and Lille, were organised by the Seychelles Tourism Board office in France with the collaboration with various trade partners from Seychelles.

On the tourism board side, the Seychelles delegation consisted of the STB France based Regional Director for Europe, Mrs. Bernadette Willemin alongside Jennifer Dupuy and Myra Fanchette both Marketing Executives from the same office.

The partners representing the Seychelles trade included Wendy Tan from Berjaya Hotels, Castello Beach Hotel-Le Duc de Praslin Hotel & Villas-Valmer Resort was represented by Derek Savy, Virginie Fimbel attended on behalf of Constance Hotels and Resorts.

In addition, present at the Escapades Seychelles was Guillaume Albert who represented the Domaine de l’Orangeraie, Domaine de La Reserve and Cat Cocos Ferry while Devi Pentamah and Vicky Ja’far represented Hilton Seychelles and The H Resort Beau Vallon Beach respectively.  

All parties promoting the features of the destination alongside the services and activities available, through two different formats including giant screen presentations in Nice and Lille and B2B Workshop in Paris.

Speaking about the success of the dedicated Seychelles Roadshow organized by STB office in France, Mrs. Bernadette Willemin the Regional Director for Europe stated that the event has been a popular and possible event for the past 16 years because of the continuous support and efforts of our faithful trade partners.

“This strong partnership between the local partners and the Seychelles Tourism Board in France has contributed to the overall awareness of the destination and for the past few years, we have seen an increase in figures to the Seychelles from this area. It is very important to continue hosting such dedicated Seychelles events abroad, thus bringing our beautiful islands, into the limelight and forefront together with the unified help of our trade partners,” said Mrs. Willemin.

Throughout the various presentations in the three cities, the images and descriptions of the Seychelles islands conquered the attending participants through its message of exclusivity.

The Escapades Seychelles 2019 successfully conveyed the message of the destination being a unique one, setting Seychelles apart from its competitors, as a destination of choice amongst the travel trade who are actively selling the destination. 

This annual event not only delivers the impact of the beauty of our islands and the reasons to visit, but also creates an amazing bond between the tourist office and all its partners, who together as a team stood side by side, in this edition of the Escapades Seychelles, proudly presenting travel to the Seychelles …..Another world.

The Seychelles Escapades will come back to France and Benelux 01st – 05th June 20.

MEDIA CONTACT: STB News Bureau, Tel: +248 4 671 354 / +248 4 671 313, stbnews@seychelles.travel  www.seychelles.travel