Seychelles to feature in top Dubai TV show |29 October 2013

Air Seychelles has announced that it has sponsored the Dubai One TV Channel Out & About trip to Seychelles where they intend to stay for a week to film two television documentaries.

The team of seven people from the ‘Out & About Show’ disembarked in Seychelles last Thursday afternoon on board Air Seychelles flight HM019.

It’s the first time a crew lands in Seychelles since the show was launched in 2004.

Out & About is one of the top three shows watched on Dubai One TV Channel, which produces three to six shows per season, and the main focus is on international must-do destinations.
 
Being a free to air network, the show is watched by UAE’s diverse multi-cultural audiences including the local Emiratis. It has the potential to reach 365 million households in the MENA region, parts of Eastern and Sub-Saharan Africa.  

Jasmine Sheth/Mehta, the producer of the show, has been longing to host a show on the Seychelles for quite some time and, through Gulf Reps Ltd, got in touch with the embassy of the Republic of Seychelles, where one of the STB offices is based, to organise the trip.

Air Seychelles chief executive officer, Cramer Ball said: “We are extremely delighted to fly the Out & About team to Seychelles and get them to experience our unique creole warmth which Air Seychelles is known for. Air Seychelles is more and more putting emphasis on press trips to Seychelles as we believe that we have to do more than direct advertising to market our product and destination across the world. The Dubai One TV channel is a very popular TV channel in Dubai and we are honoured to be featured on their show. It goes without saying that the Out & About show will be an excellent publicity for the Seychelles islands in general, as well as Air Seychelles.”

For her part, the tourism attaché at the embassy of the Republic of Seychelles in the United Arab Emirates, Aliette Esther, said: “As part of our marketing activities, here at the embassy of the Republic of Seychelles, Abu Dhabi, we have to constantly be working with the media to spread the word ‘Seychelles’ across a broader spectrum so as to entice potential first-time visitors to our beautiful and unique islands, as well as those who have already visited them before. We are very happy that we have had the assistance of the national airline to partner with us on this project.”

The over-excited crew, comprising famous presenters Layne Redman and Punam Verma could hardly wait to reach the shores of Mahé to witness the reputed beauty of the islands, taste the tantalising dishes and experience the Creole joie-de-vivre.  Sporting a tropical hat and a gleaming smile, Poonam did not even look back as she boarded the plane, although she knew full well that this trip was a work-related one.  But can one blame her for her effusive mood?

The team’s itinerary has been organised in collaboration with the Seychelles Tourism Board and will take the TV crew to some of the famous places around the islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue as well as reporting on the activities of the 2013 Festival Kreol.

They have indicated that they will also be taking part in some of the activities at the event as they are prone to do in all of their shows.

The trip has also been made possible by local trade partners such as Constance Ephelia Resort & Spa and Raffles on Praslin, La Plaine St André Restaurant, Marie Antoinette, Pink Salt, Zérof and Bonbon Plume. Ground transfers will be organised by the local destination management companies Creole Travel Services and 7o South.   

While in Seychelles, the Out & About team will be filming at least six to seven minutes of pure promotion footage in their 21-25 minutes episode 1 from Mahé and 21-25 minutes episode 2 from Praslin. The main focus of these episodes will be the restaurants at the hotel, the spas, the local décor, and the activities that are available in the Seychelles.

The promotion will be aired on Dubai One TV Channel on high frequency (approximately 10 times per day for 5-7 days), and will be mentioned on popular social media sites Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with different creative visuals so as to tease their fans.
 
Out & About Facebook: Facebook.com/OutAndAboutOnline

Out & About Twitter: @DubaiOneTV#OutAndAboutOnline