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Jamaica had Record Arrivals for July, says Bartlett

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Jamaica Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says arrival figures for July shows that an estimated 250,584 visitors arrived on the island — the highest number the country has ever seen for the summer months.

Jamaica has also welcomed nearly two million visitors since the beginning of the year to July 31 and has earned over $2 billion.


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“Stopover arrivals have increased phenomenally over the period. However, what is even more impressive is the progress we have made over the past five years. In 2015 – 2016 we increased arrivals by 29,022.  For 2016 – 2017 we increased by 75, 628. 

“During the period 2017 – 2018 we increased by 73, 941 and this year so far, we have increased by 132, 980 almost doubling the performance from last year,” said Minister Bartlett.

He noted that this performance places Jamaica is in a good place with the industry globally and outpaces the Ministry’s projections.

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“This indeed is phenomenal and I really want to congratulate the industry’s workers, partners, stakeholders, my Ministerial colleagues and all others who have worked so hard to enable tourism to achieve this level of improvement. I am satisfied that the earnings, as projected, is also at a high – we’re 8.4% over last year,” he said.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944

Taiwan extends visa-waiver for Russians and increases stand at OTDYKH Leisure 2019

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Taiwan is officially extending its visa waiver for Russian citizens until July 31, 2020 to encourage an increase in Russian tourism to the island.

On September 6, 2018, Taiwan announced that Russians would be allowed to visit Taiwan without visas for up to 14 days if visiting for tourism, business, to see family or for some form of international exchange. Originally the program was only to last until July 31, 2019, but the success of the initiative has meant it is now being extended until July 31, 2020.

Official statistics for the island show that in 2017 only 9,226 Russian citizens visited Taiwan. Russian tourists usually visit as part of combined tours including other destinations such as Hong Kong and Macao. From January to May this year, almost 7,000 Russian tourists have visited Taiwan, double the number from the same time period last year. One incentive for Russians to visit the island is that they no longer have to buy a visa which previously cost $100 USD. Another incentive is the fact that two airlines have launched direct flights, flying weekly between Russia and Taiwan. Royal Flight has flights departing from Moscow and S7 has flights departing from Vladivostok. But Russian tourism in Taiwan has been relatively low compared with other popular destinations in Asia, mainly due to the lack of information about the island among travel agencies and Russian tourists.

Taiwan extends visa-waiver for Russians and increases stand at OTDYKH Leisure 2019

Taiwan is taking great measures to remedy this – in 2018 it participated for the first time in the OTDYKH trade fair, and this year has almost tripled the size of its stand, going from 18m2 last year to 50m2 this year. The aim is to strengthen ties between the Russian and Taiwanese tourism industries and to make information about Taiwan more readily available to Russian citizens. It also aims to maximize the success of the visa-waiver program to encourage a greater flow of Russian tourists to Taiwan. 

The 2019 OTDYKH expo is also very pleased to welcome a newcomer, the Taipei City, who joins the trade fair for the first time with an exclusive stand.

The 2019 expo will span across 15,000 m2 with a total of 180 speakers at 30 business events including workshops, presentations and seminars from industry professionals from all over the world. In 2018 the expo welcomed 38,000 visitors over the course of three days, and 287 media attendees from 80 media partners. This year will feature multiple conference halls with guest speakers and exclusive live performances.

Exhibitors are invited to participate and celebrate the 2019 OTDYKH Leisure trade fair and celebrate 25 years of the expo’s continued success.

For further information, please contact Ms. Anna Huber at a.huber@euroexpo-vienna.com , International office: +43 1 230 85 35

Destination Seychelles radiates at the Spotlight on Africa workshop in Nairobi

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The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) team was present in Nairobi to showcase the destination at the Spotlight on Africa workshop early in July this year.

The team was composed of Mrs. Natacha Servina Senior Marketing Executive and Ms. Gretel Banane Marketing Executive; both from the STB headquarters and from Mrs. Popsy Getonga, Seychelles’ devotee also present to market the destination.

The Spotlight workshops, organized by the Houston Travel Marketing Services, have been in existence for the past 16 years and has created a name for itself in the Kenyan travel trade. The event is supported by both KATA (Kenya Association of Travel Agents) and KAT0 (Kenya Association of Tour Operators).

The 2019 edition saw the participation of 13 key buyers from Mombasa, Zanzibar and Kampala and other potential buyers from Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.

The Spotlight on Africa activities kicked off with a VIP networking cocktail staged in a relaxed atmosphere of Park inn by Radisson in Westlands, which saw the attendance of some 35 Directors and Senior Managers from major key players in the Kenyan Travel Industry. 

The events followed with a two -day workshops held on July 4, 2019 and July 5, 2019 in 2 different areas of the Nairobi city. 

218 organizations including STB were represented at the sessions and received 325 visiting travel trade professionals. This year’s sessions were conducted in a free flow format with approximately 30 tables with two times three-hour morning sessions. 

STB Senior Marketing Executive, Mrs. Natacha Servina present at the workshop commented on the importance of the STB’s presence at the event.

“The Spotlight on Africa workshop remains one of the STB’s preferred events on the African continent. Our focus is to boost up awareness and visibility of the destination in the African region, and Nairobi is one of the best African hubs that has a diverse population creating the ideal platform for the tourism board,” said Mrs. Servina.

The STB Senior Marketing Executive also added that Seychelles received overwhelming interest from the attendees; as she explained that, much effort were concentrated towards marketing Seychelles as a multi-faced destination.

As part of its participation towards the customary raffle for participants of the Spotlight on Africa workshop, the STB offered two of our famous Takamaka Rum bottles and two exquisite bags consisting of several different spices used in our Creole dishes for the winners.

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

Cuba announced as partner country for 2019 OTDYKH Leisure expo

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Cuba has made the exciting announcement that it will be the official partner country at the OTDYKH 2019 expo, which will take place in Moscow on September 10-12.

A long-time contributor to the OTDYKH Leisure Trade Fair, Cuba has been participating since 2001. Their sponsorship as partner for the 2019 expo will include an exciting display of traditional music, dance, cuisine and cocktails, from the country famous for its tropical salsa rhythms, vibrant attire and delicious mojitos.

This year Cuba makes an auspicious choice for partner country, as Russian tourism in Cuba has been flourishing in recent years. Last year a record 137,000 Russian tourists came to Cuba, marking in increase of 30% from 2017, a year in which Russian tourism in Cuba had seen a 70% increase from the previous year. These encouraging statistics put Russia in the top 10 source markets of Cuba. 

This comes at a time when the number of visitors to Cuba from European countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK has decreased by 10-13%. Cuba is also experiencing a decrease in tourism from countries in the Americas including Canada, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela.  However, in spite of this downward trend, the Russian tourist market is steadily on the rise. Forecasts predict that there will be 150,000 Russian visitors to Cuba in 2019.

Cuba announced as partner country for 2019 OTDYKH Leisure expo

Not only is Cuba 2019’s partner country at the OTDYKH Leisure expo, but they have increased their stand to include more co-exhibitors, increasing the potential for trade between Russian and Cuban travel and tourism related companies.

The entire expo will span across 15,000 m2 with a total of 180 speakers at 30 business events including workshops, presentations and seminars from industry professionals from all over the world.

In 2018 the expo welcomed 38,000 visitors over the course of three days, and 287 media attendees from 80 media partners. This year will feature multiple conference halls with guest speakers and exclusive live performances.

Exhibitors are invited to participate and celebrate the 2019 OTDYKH Leisure trade fair and celebrate 25 years of the expo’s continued success.

MEDIA CONTACT: Ms. Anna Huber, International office: +43 1 230 85 35, a.huber@euroexpo-vienna.com   

Tourism (MoM) arrivals in Seychelles grew by 9% from January to June 2019

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Figures recorded by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed a remarkable growth in the tourism arrivals in June 2019 this year.

Indeed 25,761 visitors stamped their passports at the immigration desks at the Seychelles International Airports for a vacation on our shores.

An increase considered as exceptional for this period of the year, as it is the first time that the Seychelles islands have ever recorded over 25,000 visitors during this month.  

Figures presented by the NBS, confirmed that visitor’s arrivals from the beginning of the year to end of June 2019 are equivalents to 187,108. This represents a significant increase of 9% when compared to the same period in 2018 as the number of visitors recorded for that period amounted to 172,099 visitors.

Germany remains at the top of the best five performing markets for the month of June 2019 as 4,087 German tourists disembarked on our shores; the United Arab Emirates (UAE) follows with a number of 3,119 visitors.

While the 2,110 visitors were recorded to have landed from United Kingdom (UK). In fourth and fifth position are France and Italy with a number of 1,855 and 1,794 tourists, respectively.

As projected by the Strategic Planning and Market Intelligence department of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), the targets set- at 3 to 4%- by the STB for this year will be exceeded.

Speaking at a press briefing at Botanical House earlier today, Mrs. Sherin Francis STB Chief Executive mentioned her satisfaction to note that 2019 would also be a year of great performance for the industry. 

 “It is remarkable to see that Seychelles remains a prime destination and that for the past few years the destination has performed quite well throughout the year. June is always a slow month and we had anticipated that this year it might be the same despite our active work to bring more tourist in the country. The current figures from NBS comforts us in knowing we managed to hit a record for the month of June,” said Mrs. Francis.   

Parallel to the increase in visitor’s arrivals is the growth in the yields, according to the most recent figures from the CBS (figures referred to are for Jan-May 2019), the yields recorded from tourism related activities have shown that the destination is 6% ahead of last year. The CBS estimated that the tourism earnings from January to May 2019 were approximately 3.5 Billion SCR compared to only 3.3 Billion SCR during the same period in 2018.

In terms of travel agency bookings for the coming months, an increase in the numbers of forward bookings have been estimated.

According to the forward bookings, data received from the travel agencies it is noted that for the next 6 months of the year,  for the top 5 markets a forecast 3.9% increase in regards to bookings made this time last year.

Major improvements in travel agency bookings for some key markets including France, Russia, UK, Italy and China have been noted.

Mrs. Francis maintained that the STB will keep on increasing visibility for the Seychelles and encouraged the tourism trade to keep the great marketing work in promoting their properties and services.

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