Bavaria’s top radio station sends listeners to Seychelles |12 December 2009

Bayern 3 is the leading radio station in Germany’s largest federal state and has eight million regular listeners.

The five-week promotion, which started on October 28 and ended on December 4, is part of the broadcaster’s daily morning programme called Die Frühaufdreher under the heading Das Bayern 3 Herbstklopfen – which is a pun as Herbst means autumn and Herzklopfen means heartbeat.

In order to win, listeners had to register and leave their phone number, and each morning at 7.10am the password of the day was announced on the air, after which the station randomly called the registered listeners.

If they were able to repeat the password, they automatically secured a seat on one of the Air Seychelles flights from Germany to Seychelles.

The trips to Seychelles have been organised as groups of three, with 10 winners in each group. All three groups have completed their trips, with the last having just left Seychelles.

Tickets were sponsored by Air Seychelles and luxury accommodation by the Beachcomber Sainte Anne Resort and Spa. The winners were also offered an exclusive sunset cruise thanks to yacht operator Angel Fish.

The first group of winners were treated to an excursion to La Digue, courtesy of Creole Travel Services, and enjoyed lunch at the Castello Beach Hotel. Groups 2 and 3 on the other hand, were given sightseeing tours over Mahe, including visits to the weekly Bazar Labrin at Beau Vallon.

During their visit, the lucky winners received VIP, treatment, starting with the reception at the airport and extending all the way to their departure.

The trips had been promoted in advance with pre-recorded sound bites and interviews from Seychelles, taped during an earlier visit by one of the radio hosts and Edith Hunzinger, the regional manager of the Seychelles Tourist Office in Germany.
 
Bayern 3 is a public radio station that covers the entire state of Bavaria (more than 70,000 square kilometres), parts of its neighbouring states in southern Germany, as well as large regions of Austria and Switzerland, where the station is also immensely popular among listeners of all age groups.

“Bayern 3 has helped us to make Seychelles known to many in this part of Europe, but most of all we hope that the promotion has generated a greater interest in the destination and increased its market share from these regions,” said Mrs Hunzinger.

In addition, the 30 winners are reporting on their experiences in Seychelles on the air and on the station’s website (www.br-online.de/bayern3) in audio and video clips, as well as in still photos and on blogs. Some of the material is also available as podcasts for downloads to portable devices.