STB chief attends exclusive media networking event on the sideline of WTM London |25 November 2017

The chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) Sherin Francis used her working trip attending the 2017 World Travel Market (WTM) in London to further position Seychelles as a tourist destination in the UK.

Mrs Francis, accompanied by the STB director for UK and Ireland, Christine Vel, met representatives of several influential media from a range of UK outlets.

This was during an exclusive UK media breakfast event, held at the St James’s Hotel & Club in Mayfair, in the heart of London, on Thursday November 9, 2017.

The media outlets represented include ITV, The Guardian newspaper, lifestyle publication -- S magazine, Lonely Planet, Women’s Health, the popular Hello! Magazine which specialises in celebrity news and human interest stories, among others.

This provided the perfect opportunity for Mrs Francis and Ms Vel to make several presentations about the destination. The media representatives were provided with key facts, the Seychelles’ Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) as well as new developments.

News of the upcoming non-stop flights from London Heathrow to Seychelles by British Airways, as from March 2018, was one of particular interest to the UK media. The news was well received by all present, as visitors can now fly to Seychelles directly from the UK, for the first time in over a decade.

The UK is already an important market for Seychelles. According to the national bureau of statistics, the market has sent 19,752 visitors to Seychelles up to November 12 this year, representing a 19 percent growth, when compared to the same period in 2016. The UK is currently the country’s fifth leading tourism market.

Mrs Francis said: “Engaging the media remains a big part of our strategy and we felt that it was important to engage with as many media at this year’s WTM for three main reasons: to highlight the continuous good performance of the market thanks to hard work of STB's previous director for UK & Ireland, to introduce STB’s new director for that market and most importantly to further share the news of British Airways' upcoming direct flights to Seychelles.”

The event, which was one of the highlights of a very busy week for Mrs Francis while attending the WTM in London, also provided the perfect opportunity for the media representatives to ask questions, and network with the Seychelles’ tourism officials and industry professionals. While in London, Mrs Francis also met trade professionals and took part in an array of interviews, including a live interview with Sky News.