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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

Cruise visitors to get new-style welcome |25 April 2009

Cruise visitors to get new-style welcome

The Crystal Serenity in Port Victoria. Plans are under way to make Seychelles a more attractive stop for cruise ships

The Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) and the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) had in-depth talks last week on a new way of welcoming cruise ships.

SPA chief executive Lt Col Andre Ciseau and the STB’s new director of tourism marketing, Alain St Ange, agreed there is much potential in this area and decided that all the talks over the past few years should now produce definite plans.

They decided to pool their resources to make every arrival “an event in itself” – this will start when the next cruise docks in Port Victoria on August 13.

Meetings will now be held with shipping agents and destination management companies to coordinate the new initiatives, which it is hoped will enable Port Victoria to offer a “true Creole welcome”.

One major point discussed was setting up a Port Bazaar to give visitors the chance to buy souvenirs and other Seychellois products along the main road leading into Victoria.
 
Cruise ships will also be welcomed to Port Victoria with live music and other forms of entertainment.

Mr St Ange said this new cooperation with the SPA will help consolidate the cruise ship business in Seychelles and give it a new lease of life.
 
“Together we shall work to make the Seychelles stop an interesting one for every cruise ship passenger, and together we shall ensure that the biggest group of traders get a chance to share the dollars that should be spent by these visitors,” he said.

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