Eight ideas to promote Brand Seychelles! |04 August 2016

I have had the honour and delight of travelling to over 80 countries around the world, and just spent my first amazing week in the Seychelles! As an author and ‘gypsy,’ here are my eight ideas for promoting Brand Seychelles to the benefit of locals and international visitors alike.

1. Launch an annual Ocean Literature Festival, focusing on books and authors writing about the seas and oceans (fiction, non-fiction). See for example the related events like Blue Ocean Film Festival (Monaco: http://www.blueoceanfilmfestival.org) or South Africa’s Ocean Festival (sports, music: http://oceanfestival.co.za).

2. Release annual compilation CDs of the best local Creole music by different genres and make them available in stores, hotels and the airport.

3. Scale up the Festival Kreol and promote it by inviting more international media (eg. Sakifo Festival, Reunion). Start a competition for Top 10 Creole songs/albums by international and local artistes and release a compilation DVD of their live performances.

3. Launch a monthly/quarterly magazine or newsletter on the Blue Economy, and a companion website. This could be driven by the University of Seychelles’ Blue Economy Research Institute.

4. Create branded products with your fabulous spicy Creole sauces and chutneys. Create T-shirts to promote this product range.

5. Launch a wider range of T-shirts about the Seychelles (more colours, full-sleeve, collared, proverb spotlight, and so on). Have a crowdsourcing competition to choose the Top 10 designs.

6. Launch kiosks to print your own T-shirts, at malls and popular beaches. For example, tourists can print sunset T-shirts with their own photos right on the beach (with ‘Visit Magical Seychelles’ logos on the back!).

7. Create compilation of essays about tourism and culture in Seychelles, with submissions from locals and tourists. This could include travel writing and even children’s writing (eg. the bestseller ‘101 Kruger Tales’ about visits to wildlife parks in South Africa).

8. Publish an annual Creole Cookbook with the best new recipes of local and fusion dishes, and a Seafood Festival inviting the best gourmet chefs from around the world.

I hope these ideas help! I look forward to my next visits to Seychelles already. Mersi, Sesel!

Madanmohan Rao

(Dr Madanmohan Rao is the author of 15 books, and an editor/DJ in world music and jazz. He is based in Bangalore and can be followed on Twitter at @MadanRao)