Travel and tourism firms make Seychelles proud at World Travel Awards 2017 |13 July 2017

Besides the national airline Air Seychelles and the country’s tourism board, a host of other businesses in the travel and tourism industry also won accolades in their respective categories at this year’s World Travel Awards for the Indian Ocean.

Port Victoria has been voted as the Indian Ocean’s Leading Cruise Port for the fifth consecutive year while Constance Ephelia, located at Port Launay, is the Indian Ocean's Leading Green Resort. Constance Ephelia bagged the same award last year.

Raffles Praslin, Seychelles has emerged as the Indian Ocean's Leading Villa Resort, for the third consecutive year.

As we reported earlier this week, Air Seychelles was crowned as the Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline for the third consecutive year and also the region’s best for Business Class and Cabin Crew service.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Air Seychelles has won both the Indian Ocean's Leading Airline - Business Class and Leading Indian Ocean’s Cabin Crew awards.

For the first time in 2017, Air Seychelles was also crowned as the Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline Brand.

Air Seychelles’ chief executive (CEO), Roy Kinnear, led a delegation of the national airline’s senior management at the award presentation ceremony. The red carpet event was held at Sun Aqua Vilu Reef – a five-star beach resort in the neighbouring Indian Ocean island of Maldives.

Congratulating Air Seychelles on continuing its winning streak at the World Travel Awards, the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine Ambassador Maurice Loustau-Lalanne said: “Its success illustrates how far a boutique airline can go when it has a strong vision and a team committed to success.”

Air Seychelles’ chairman Jean Weeling-Lee described the four awards as an outstanding feat for the Air Seychelles team who work hard to provide the best travel experience to its guests.

“Every year Air Seychelles is growing its operations, improving its products and services, and delivering strong results for the tourism-based economy of Seychelles. Our success at the World Travel Awards underlines the strength of the business strategy and the core values that guide Air Seychelles,” said Mr Weeling-Lee.

For his part, CEO Kinnear said clinching four accolades at the World Travel Awards is the crowning moment of what he described as "an incredible year" for the airline.

“We operate in an extremely competitive environment and very often outpunch our weight compared to many larger operators.  We will continue to stay focused on service improvements developing a sustainably profitable airline and offering opportunities for career progression within the airline.  Winning these awards would not have been possible without our people or the strong support of our shareholders, the government of Seychelles and Etihad Airways,” said Mr Kinnear.

For its part, the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) is the Indian Ocean’s Leading Tourist Board for the third consecutive year.

It’s chief executive Sherin Francis has described the award as an encouragement for the STB team.

“We do not have even a quarter of the resources other tourism boards have given our size but yet we are seen as very effective and this is because we do our work with a lot of passion and enthusiasm, we understand that it’s a people industry, we never fail to bring other partners onboard and always ensure we value the relationship and support of our friends and partners in this industry all over the world,” she added.

Commenting on Port Victoria’s accolade as the Indian Ocean’s Leading Cruise Port for the fifth consecutive year, the chief executive of the Seychelles Ports Authority Colonel Andre Ciseau said the award symbolises the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders to ensure a high level of service is offered to all vessels including cruise ships visiting Port Victoria.

Mr Ciseau noted that discussions involving the relevant partners are ongoing to improve on the infrastructure and amenities to ensure that while cruise tourism gains popularity, the level of service also continues to be enhanced.

Work is also being done to ensure that more souvenirs are on offer so that visitors can spend a bit more while visiting the Seychelles islands.

Improving cruise tourism in the region was in fact the topic of discussion at a recent workshop organised by the Port Management Association for Eastern and Southern Africa in collaboration with Cruise Indian Ocean Association and the Seychelles Ports Authority. The two-day workshop was held at the Savoy Seychelles Resort and Spa at Beau Vallon on July 4-5.

“We brainstormed on how to develop a new concept – Cruise Africa. If Cruise Africa is successful this will mean more progress for the Indian Ocean islands and African countries, as cruise tourism is not an industry where you compete with one another but rather one where there’s collaboration,” said Colonel Ciseau.

The World Travel Awards was established in 1993 to recognise the very best travel organisations in the world, through a global vote including by travel and tourism professionals.

Awards are presented for excellence in providing services in different categories of the world’s travel and tourism industry. This includes air services, car rental services, spas, travel agencies and tour operators, hotels and resorts among others.

The awards are first given on a regional basis and the winners qualify for the grand final of the World Travel Award. This year’s grand final will be held in Phu Quoc, Vietnam on December 10.

Aside from presenting accolades to the best of the Indian Ocean travel & tourism businesses, the World Travel Awards also named businesses that stand out from the rest in their respective islands namely Mauritius, Maldives, Madagascar, Seychelles and Reunion.

The other Seychelles award winners are:

MAIA Luxury Resort & Spa Seychelles (Seychelles’ Leading Boutique Hotel 2017),

Hertz (Seychelles' Leading Car Rental Company 2017),        

Eden Bleu Hotel (Seychelles' Leading Conference Hotel 2017),

Constance Ephelia (Seychelles' Leading Family Resort 2017),

Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort & Spa (Seychelles' Leading Green Resort 2017),

Constance Lémuria Seychelles (Seychelles' Leading Hotel 2017),

Two Bedroom Presidential Villa @ Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa (Seychelles' Leading Hotel Suite 2017),

MAIA Signature Villa @ MAIA Luxury Resort & Spa (Seychelles' Leading Luxury Hotel Villa 2017),

Enchanted Island Resort (Seychelles' Leading Resort 2017).