Tourism board signs cooperation agreement with national airline |05 March 2013

A memorandum of understanding was signed on Friday afternoon by STB’s chief executive Elsia Grandcourt and the airline’s chief executive Cramer Ball, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture at the National Cultural Centre.

Under the agreement, the two parties have pledged to continue to work together to promote Seychelles in various ways, such as bringing in people who can better promote and sell Seychelles around the world, such as journalists and travel agents.

Mr Ball said that an example of the agreement is the arrival of seven travel agents this week from Hong Kong, who have never experienced Seychelles.

“We want to give them the real Seychelles experience, so that they can after that be in a better position to market and sell Seychelles,” he said.
Present at the signing were the Minister for Tourism and Culture Alain St Ange, the Minister for Home Affairs and Transport Joel Morgan, and other government officials, as well as representatives of the airline.

“We see great opportunities in markets like Hong Kong, greater China, Europe, South-East Asia, and Africa, and throughout the year we will be expanding our partnership with our airline partners, and this MoU with the STB is an important bond. This is an exciting time for us,” he said.

Minister St Ange said the government, especially the ministry of tourism and culture, have always worked close with the national airline and this venture will only continue to bring in opportunities for both parties.

Minister Morgan said the document maps the way forward, such as the marketing strategies, the collaborations, the different actions to be taken in synergy in promoting Seychelles.

“Air Seychelles today is operating in a new dimension, where it has access to a huge number of destinations through the partnership with Etihad, and also in its own light, and this latest initiative will ensure the continued development of the airline and of the country,” he said.

During the event Minister St Ange also presented certificates of appreciation to two Chinese instructors who had been in the country to teach Lion dancing – a traditional Chinese dance – to Seychellois students. The trainees had then taken part in the recent Carnaval Internationale de Victoria as Lion dancers.

Minister St Ange expressed his gratitude at the initiative, and said such partnership should only grow stronger and is a testimony of the good relations that exist between Seychelles and China.