Delegates from Seychelles’ Tourism Trade returned from Dubai after successfully marketing Seychelles at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) tourism trade fair.
Held from the 5th to 8th May, the ATM was headed by the Chairman of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), Mr. Maurice Lousteau-Lalanne, and the Tourism Board’s Director of tourism Marketing, Mr. Alain St.Ange.
Also present at the ATM were members of the local trade – 7°South, Creole Travel Services, Select-Seychelles, Starwood Hotels in Seychelles, the Fisherman’s Cove and the Barbarons Hotel and Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Beach Resort & Casino.
The Seychelles delegation has said that it is now evident that Middle East remains a potential market for Seychelles with virtually daily flights coming to Seychelles from that region.
A large amount of travel agents visited the Seychelles stand, querying about Seychelles and establishing contacts with the local Destination Management Companies (DMCs).
During this four – day period, the Seychelles tourism trade representatives met with many tour operators including Emirates Holidays, Qatar Holidays and DNATA. They also met with the two major airlines flying to Seychelles from the Middle East: Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways.
The Seychelles delegates also conducted several meetings with the press including Magazines, Newspapers and Radio, which showed their keen interest to learn about Seychelles and to feature Seychelles in their publications.
The Director of Tourism Marketing, Alain St.Ange said that the ATM Tourism Trade Fair reconfirmed what we knew, that is, the possibilities that exist for Seychelles in the Middle East. “This part of the world remains the area with the biggest growth potential” said St.Ange “we must not sit and wait for that business to grow by itself because that will be a long process, we need to be proactive and the new Tourism Board will be spearheading a revamped marketing strategy for that market to ensure we get our fair share of that market” St.Ange said.
