International football celebrities discover Seychelles |18 July 2009

The arrival of Lothar Matthäus of Germany, Sol Campbell of the UK, English football star David Beckham and now Youri Djorkaeff of France in the space of a month shows that the word is spreading and Seychelles is becoming one of the prized holiday destinations.

Seychelles is itself a football-loving country, and the arrival of these football celebrities creates a lot of excitement for local sport fans, but as a country we need to remain aware that these famous people are escaping to our country to get away from the prying eyes of cameras and journalists.

The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) works closely with those who organise the holiday trips of these footballers, as it does for film stars and other personalities.

The STB makes it a point to meet as many of these visitors as possible to get personal feedback on their holidays in Seychelles, while respecting their privacy and their desire to be themselves.

Seychelles’ director of tourism marketing, Alain St Ange, said Seychelles remains one destination where privacy for our visitors is still possible.

“We are a small country offering a personalised service, and each visitor’s wish is therefore easily delivered,” he said.

“We are able to do this because Seychelles as a whole wants to see its tourism industry succeed since tourism is important to our economic wealth. Therefore, treating every visitor’s request as being a special demand is part and parcel of the drive we have as a country to reposition our tourism industry.”

Youri Djorkaeff, who is in the country at the moment, played as attacking midfielder for Paris Saint Germain before Blackburn Rovers in the UK and the New York Red Bulls. He has played in the 1998 World Cup, Euro 2000 and 2002 World Cup among other tournaments.

Mr St Ange has met some of these football stars to welcome and thank them for choosing Seychelles as their holiday destination.

Our photo pictures Mr St Ange and Youri Djorkaeff during a reception hosted on Eden Island by the French Embassy to mark the French National Day on July 14.