Seychelles to star at annual consumer travel show in Munich |19 December 2015

The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) has confirmed that for the third year in a row – after Hamburg in 2014 and Stuttgart in 2015 – Seychelles will enjoy special ‘Partner Country’ status at a major tourism fair in Germany.

From February 10-15 next year, the islands will be the focus of attention at f.re.e, the annual consumer travel show in Munich.

This popular fair at the start of the vacation planning season attracted nearly 120,000 consumers in 2015, an amazing 97% of whom indicated in a survey that they plan to return next year.

With 1,200 exhibitors from 60 countries (2015), the fair runs for five days from mid-week into the weekend and takes place on the fairgrounds of Munich, the capital of Bavaria.

The show, going into its 47th year, is the leading travel and leisure fair in Germany’s largest and most affluent state, located in the southeastern part of the country and bordering on Austria.

“We are proud to have secured this special status for our country at the Munich fair for next year,” says Edith Hunzinger, manager of the Seychelles tourist office in Germany.

“No other country has ever achieved this trifecta: being partner country in three consecutive years at three different key travel shows in three different important – and very wealthy – regions of our market. This creates a powerful presence in the minds of trade and consumers that is clearly reflected in the strong visitor flow from this source market to the Seychelles,” she adds.

In fact, the decision to become f.re.e’s ‘Partner Country’ in 2016 – the first long-haul destination ever – was sealed by the fair’s representatives with the principal secretary for tourism Anne Lafortune and STB’s chief executive Sherin Naiken in January 2015, while both were attending the Seychelles’ partner-country performance at CMT, the largest consumer travel fair in Stuttgart.

In preparation for the upcoming Munich fair, Mrs Hunzinger accompanied a group of journalists to Seychelles from December 3-10, 2015. With the support of trade partners – the Savoy Hotel, VPM Best Sails, Creole Travel Services and Takamaka Bay – the media representatives were treated to a comprehensive overview of all that the islands have to offer, from hotels to guest houses, and even to a three-day sailing trip.

On December 9, the Minister for Tourism and Culture Alain St Ange welcomed the visiting journalists for a press conference, followed by individual interviews, including a radio talk with public broadcaster BR3. Among the trade representatives present at the conference were Air Seychelles, Ethiopian Airlines, and Natalie Du Buisson of the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association (SHTA).

Germany remains one of Seychelles’ strongest source markets. Having topped the list last year with a record 35,917 (+7%) visitors, the country is again very close to this mark in early December with currently 34,057 guests (as of December 6, 2015) and expected to hold – if not exceed – last year’s figure by the end of the month.

Next year will likely see another boost, following the introduction of a second weekly nonstop flight from Frankfurt by Condor in September 2016.

Minister St Ange said as he met members of the German press community that Germany remains a very important source market for the Seychelles tourism industry.

“Our tourism board has been working hard to keep Seychelles visible and relevant as a tourism destination. Germany as a tourism source market is stronger than ever before and it will get even stronger next year when Condor launches its second direct non-stop weekly flight between Frankfurt and Seychelles,” Minister St Ange said.