The ‘Seychelles family’ is in Seychelles |16 January 2015

There are great stories about how travellers who visited Seychelles left the destination not solely enchanted with the experience, but how the country’s name gave ideas for somehow strange reasons.

The most fascinating discovery is to come to term with reality that there are people out there who in their family tree the name ‘Seychelles’ has been there for generations. The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) made an interesting acquaintance with a family living in Reunion and on holiday here whose family name is spelled as ‘Seychelles’.  

Surprisingly many would have thought that since Seychelles was named in honour of Viscount Jean Moreau de Séchelles, a French politician and official, Nathalie and her husband Mickael’s surname would be spelt the same as ‘Séchelles’.

Interestingly, this is not the case. Nathalie and her husband’s family name is written as ‘Seychelles’. The couple is married and has two children. Nathalie and Mickael, on holiday with their family and mother in law, were more puzzled with the question of how the surname ‘Seychelles’ originated. Until now neither Nathalie nor Mickael could come out with a plausible answer.

‘Seychelles is a common family name in Reunion. They are found in communes like Bras-Panon our home district, Sainte Rose and Saint Louis. Our dream was to travel to Seychelles, discover the islands’ beauty which bears the same name as our family name,” said Nathalie.

The dream came true for Nathalie and her family who in February 2014 booked their flights to Seychelles, upon hearing that Air Austral had resumed its flights to our islands.

Nathalie said she was amazed that their presence in Seychelles could have created so much buzz and was even more surprised when they were approached by the STB.

“We planned this first holiday with so much enthusiasm and are mesmerised with the paradise experience,” Nathalie claimed.

The true side of the story is that the arrival of Nathalie and Mickael in Seychelles was being closely monitor by the STB. Upon hearing the news that a passenger with a family name of Seychelles booked their holiday to our islands, the STB was more than enthusiastic to meet the family with an exotic family name. The STB’s chief executive Sherin Naiken and the director of marketing Rose-Marie Hoareau invited Nathalie and her family to the STB to welcome them to the country and to learn more about this family.

For the STB meeting a family with the surname ‘Seychelles’ is surely a one-time acquaintance. Nathalie joked about the reason for choosing Seychelles as their dream destination.

“My husband used to say when he holds me in his arms, he had the impression he is in Seychelles and here we are the Seychelles family in Seychelles.”  
The Seychelles family is not yet done with Seychelles. Back in Reunion they will dig in their family tree for  the origin of the family name ‘Seychelles’.