Seychelles Tourism Board joins consumer fairs in Reunion |14 June 2018

Seychelles was thrown into the spotlight at two recent consumer events in Reunion island.

The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) was present at the Mother’s Day fair in Sainte-Suzanne on Sunday May 20, taking part in the ‘travel’ category at the invitation of the organisers, and presenting Seychelles as an ideal gift for mother’s day.

Over 20 exhibitors took part in the one-day fair where visitors had the chance to win small gifts in a draw that was done every hour. STB offered goodie bags with various Seychelles branded items.

STB partnered with Welcome Vacances for the event which received media coverage by Antenne Réunion. STB’s senior marketing executive in Reunion, Bernadette Honoré was interviewed by the Reunion television station, giving some added visibility to the island destination.

Being present in Sainte-Suzanne, which is located some 30 minutes from Saint Denis and in close proximity to the Roland Garros airport, which is the main airport flying passengers out of Reunion to Seychelles, provided the perfect opportunity to network with potential visitors and further promote the destination.

The STB also took part in the ‘Salon Senior’ held in Saint Denis from June 1-3. The fair attracted some 50,000 visitors including members of senior clubs from all over Reunion.

STB partnered with Thomas Cook for the three-day fair, where competitive packages were proposed and sold to the visitors.

Visitors to the Seychelles’ stand showed interest in island hopping and discovering the nature trails, especially those featured in the ‘Hiking in Seychelles’ guidebook launched in 2017.

Thomas Cook took the opportunity to play a 20-minute documentary highlighting the 15 trails found on Mahé, Praslin, La Digue, and Silhouette that are featured in the guidebook being promoted by STB.

A treasure hunt organised at the fair also brought a good flow of visitors to the stand manned by the STB and Thomas Cook, as one of the clues was hidden at the Seychelles stand. Seychelles was also showcased on the stands of other travel agencies present, including Welcome Vacances, Terremetisses, Muta Voyages and Clipi Voyages.

The Indian Ocean islands of Mayotte and Rodrigues were among other destinations represented at the fair, which recorded over 50 exhibitors.

Ms Honoré said: “Having managed to partner with Thomas Cook, one of Reunion’s biggest tour operators to join the STB on the senior stand, for a second consecutive year, shows the confidence that our partners in Reunion have in selling the destination.

“Having positive feedback from other travel agents on the stand is also proof that Seychelles is progressively getting into the shopping basket of travellers in Reunion and this is a good sign for the destination.”

Reunion island remains the top contributor of visitors from the Indian Ocean region to Seychelles.