Large incentive group visits Seychelles |22 October 2016

• Mary Kay discovers beauty of another kind in Seychelles

“Tall oaks of little acorns grow,” the saying goes. When Texan entrepreneur Mary Kay Ash opened her little shop in 1963, she probably did not expect it to grow into the global beauty business it is today. And when Dirk Auer, the supervisor sales, events and training organisation of Mary Kay, visited the Seychelles not too long ago, nobody expected this visit to lead to a spectacular incentive tour for the company — but it did!

The name ‘Mary Kay’ is well established in more than 35 countries around the world for offering beauty products through its 3.5 million consultants. Sixty of them plus four of the company’s top managers were now given the opportunity to discover another kind of beauty: the natural wonders of the Seychelles.

It started with the idea of cooperating with Mary Kay on a little contest. To discuss the project, Edith Hunzinger, the Seychelles Tourism Board’s (STB) manager in Germany, was invited to Mary Kay’s German Congress in September 2015, where the proposal was made to offer a few trips to the Seychelles as top prizes — but then the project turned into something much larger. When Dirk Auer came to the islands on a location scouting mission in December 2015, he was so overwhelmed by what he saw that he instantly suggested sending a major incentive group here.

Mr Auer immediately confirmed to Max Hunzinger, owner of MIT Event & Incentive Management and also honorary consul of Seychelles in Germany, and started developing teasers for Mary Kay’s Facebook page and YouTube channel that announced the trip as a reward for outstanding sales success.

After detailed preparations, the group headed by their general manager Elke Kopp arrived on Thursday, October 20, on an Emirates flight and was personally welcomed by Mr Hunzinger, the regional manager for Germany Edith Hunzinger, and STB senior marketing executive Stephanie Lablache. The group was then escorted to the Kempinski Seychelles Resort.

An extensive programme had been prepared for them, which included a sunset cruise on yesterday, a trip to Praslin today, and of course an “all-in-white” beach party barbecue and beach party tomorrow, Sunday, along with moutia and sega performances and a “market place” showcasing local arts and culture.

With a warm farewell message by STB’s chief executive Sherin Francis, part of the group will be returning home on Monday, October 24, but about half the group will extend their stay for an extra week on the islands of eternal beauty – and maybe find some inspiration and incentive to sell their Mary Kay’ beauty products at home.