Seychelles’ tourism industry reps head to Paris for annual tourism fair Top Resa |25 September 2017
The Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Ambassador Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, accompanied by the chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), Sherin Francis, are leading the Seychelles’ delegation to the IFTM Top Resa 2017 in Paris.
They will be accompanied by STB’s regional director for Europe Bernadette Willemin and her team at the annual trade fair, which is also France's leading international business-to-business (B2B) tourism exhibition.
The 39th IFTM Top Resa will be held from September 26 to 29.
The Seychelles tourism industry will also be represented by a 20-member delegation representing 10 companies: Air Seychelles, Berjaya Resort Seychelles, Coral Strand Smart Choice Hotel, Creole Travel Services, Kempinski Seychelles Resort, Mason’s Travel, Maia Luxury Resort & Spa, Paradise Sun Hotel and Savoy Resort & Spa.
It is expected to be a busy four days at the Seychelles stand, as representatives of the French travel trade and press meet the local trade partners, most of whom have travelled all the way from Seychelles. This showcases the importance of the French market for Seychelles’ tourism industry.
The market is serviced by thrice-weekly direct flights operated by the national airline Air Seychelles, in addition to various other international airlines flying daily to Seychelles via their respective hubs in the Middle East and Africa.
In 2016, a total of 43,066 French nationals travelled to the Indian Ocean archipelago, representing a 14 percent increase over the previous year, and this was also a record year for this market.
For 2017, a total of 29,356 visitors from France have disembarked in Seychelles up to Sunday September 17, according to the Seychelles National Bureau of Statistics. This represents a slight decrease of 2 percent when compared to last year, and puts France in the second position in terms of the leading markets, overtaken by Germany.
The last time France, which has long been the island destination’s top tourism market, was overtaken by Germany as the leading market was in 2014.
Nonetheless, Seychelles is very much considered as a favourite and safe destination for French visitors and this will be further emphasised by the Seychelles delegation at the upcoming IFTM Top Resa.
The Seychelles Pavillion (stand number F037) will be among some 1600 stands at the four-day event being held at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris.
It is expected that the tourism trade fair will be attended by over 30,000 tourism professionals.