All-Seychellois team lead tourism marketing |18 April 2009

The team, who will work in a carefully planned and integrated manner to increase the visibility of Seychelles on the international market, are being led by the new director for tourism marketing, Alain St Ange.

Mr St Ange comes into the job with several years in the tourism industry under his belt, but this is the pinnacle of his career so far as he aims to raise the marketing of Seychelles to a new level.

He believes firmly that every effort should be made to build on what has already been achieved over the years and to raise the existing platform to ensure Seychelles takes its place among the most desirable holiday destinations in the world.

He is optimistic that the only way forward is through a united effort among all partners concerned to understand the great importance of this industry to our economy.

“This is the time to do it, and if we all get on board this boat and ride this wave and this momentum together, Seychelles will be the winner,” he said.

“There are so many families who rely on this industry for their livelihood, and you can imagine how we can all benefit if we all walk and move forward together.”

Mr St Ange will be working directly with the newly set-up Seychelles Marketing Fund Committee, which has placed the private sector at the forefront of tourism marketing.

He will oversee three main sections that now shape the marketing department of the Seychelles Tourism Board.

These are the marketing component itself – which has inherited the former events and product diversification section to become the marketing, events and incentives section – plus the destination management systems section and the print and production section.

The work of all three sections is amalgamated under the supervision of Blaisila Hoffman, who has been promoted to senior marketing manager. Her vast experience in the field dates back to the time of the Seychelles Tourism Marketing Authority, and she held the post of marketing manager until last month.

The direct marketing work is carried out by two senior coordinators, and further down the structure by four main coordinators and two marketing assistants. They work closely with the Seychelles tourist offices (STOs) overseas, all with the aim of bringing more tourists to Seychelles.

Directly helping Ms Hoffman as manager in the marketing, events and incentives section is Selma Magnan, who was previously responsible for the events and product diversification section.

The events and incentives component of that department will continue to organise international and local tourism-related activities such as Subios, Seychelles Regatta, Eco-Healing Marathon, International Game Fishing and Bazar Labrin.

E-marketing will continue to play an integral part in the overall marketing functions, so Karen Confait will stay as head of destination management systems. She will be supported by a senior coordinator, a coordinator and two assistant coordinators.

The web designer also joins her team now, and their prime role remains to carry out all e-marketing functions for the organisation.

The print and production section is managed by Michel Agrippine, and he is helped by a graphics designer and photographer-cum-coordinator. Their task is to develop and maintain the stock of promotional materials to support the marketing work.

Carrying out Seychelles’ marketing mission overseas are the STOs, and the STB has positioned a very strong all-Seychellois team in its main markets in Europe.

Bernadette Willemin spearheads the French, Benelux, Spanish and Portuguese markets, Monette Rose tackles the Italian market and Edith Hunzinger leads the show in the German, Austrian and Swiss markets.

Plans are now being finalised to reopen an office in the UK in June.
The South African market is managed by another experienced Seychellois, David Germain, and he will welcome a new Seychellois colleague in a few months.

Seychelles’ promotional work in other markets is either supported by PR agencies or managed from the STB headquarters by designated marketing representatives who have been allocated new markets to develop and tap into.

These include the Far East, Kenya and Reunion, while Jeong Dang Chang represents Seychelles in the South Korean market and the Algeziry Consultancy has the contract for the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the STB also has plans to tap into the Americas and pick up where it left off in Russia and Eastern Europe with the nomination of in-house market representatives later in the year.

The responsibility for providing written work for Seychelles’ promotional campaigns and helping visualise them remains with long-serving Glynn Burridge, who is the resident tourism consultant and copywriter for the STB.

According to Mr St Ange, the structure is not a rigid one and will see a second phase in the second half of this year to stress the role of public relations alongside marketing functions.

“The new marketing structure is ready to get going, and once we have that covered we will tackle the second phase to bring on board the role of a PR agency,” he said.