Tourism and cultural delegation head for Reunion for Seychelles exposure

A strong delegation comprised of tourism and cultural officials are heading to Reunion this weekend for a Seychelles promotional tour on the sister island.
The delegation will comprise the Minister for Local Government, Sports, and Culture, Vincent Meriton; the Seychelles? director of tourism marketing, Alain St. Ange; representatives of hotels, DMCs, and tour operators, as well as staff of the Seychelles Tourism Board.

This promotional activity follows the initial exposure in Reunion last year, which resulted in Air Austral introducing a second flight to Seychelles. Last year, the Seychelles tourism officials met with different tour operators in two cities in Reunion to update them on developments on the tourism market, as well as with the press to spread the awareness on Seychelles.

The exposure proved to be a huge success, which saw the visitor arrivals from that market increased during the third quarter of the year and which is on a consistent rise since the beginning of 2010.

Seychelles is going back in Reunion stronger this Saturday with a cultural group, which will complement the work of the tourism board. A Seychelles day is being organized on Sunday, April 11 at the Barachois in St. Denis to promote the cultural links between the two countries.

Entertainment will be provided by the L?Echo des Seychelles band from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with singer Joenise Juliette, whereas the tourism representatives will be distributing brochures to guests and members of the public.

A press conference will follow on Monday, March 12 at Hotel le St. Denis where Mr. St. Ange will talk on tourism updates since the last promotion there, as well as the tourism links between the two islands. Minister Meriton will also address members of the press on the cultural and historic ties.

That same evening, Seychelles will host a cocktail for the Reunion trade to thank them for their efforts in promoting and selling Seychelles.

Speaking ahead of this important promotion, Mr. St. Ange said that Reunion is an emerging market, which is doing very well, and they feel it should be given the support to produce better results.

?The figures picked up faster than we expected, and it shows that our promotional tour last year was necessary to reactivate that market and bring Seychelles back in the minds of the Reunionnais public,? he said.

He explained that they are going back with a cultural group so as to show a different aspect of the destination and to get the Reunionnais public to associate them with the cultural similarities that bond the two countries.

Sourced= ETN Travel