Netherlands tour operators discover Seychelles with Qatar Airways |21 April 2017

With the return of Qatar Airways flights to Seychelles last December, the airline’s office based in The  Netherlands in collaboration with the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) recently organised a familiarisation visit to the islands for several of the market’s top tour operators.

The trip was from March 23-26 and presented the tour operators with first-hand experience of the destination as they visited the main islands and got acquainted with the different hotels.

The tour operators are already working with the two biggest destination management companies in Seychelles – Mason’s Travel and Creole Travel Services – both offering their services throughout the trip with transfers and guided tours.

During the short four-day visit, the group was accompanied by STB’s senior marketing executive based in Paris, as well a representative from Qatar Airways in The Netherlands.

Besides Mahé, Praslin and La Digue, the group also visited Silhouette Island.

From Mahé, the group stopped in Doha for two days where visits were also organised to discover that city.

Miss Vel described the FAM trip as a very successful one and said destination knowledge is always needed for tour operators as it boosts their confidence when selling the islands.

“The first-hand experience of the islands will help the tour operators greatly and will motivate them to sell the destination further as they have seen what it has to offer and they would be in a better position to recommend it to their clients,” she said.