STB and Seoul Tourism Association sign MoU for closer cooperation |09 September 2017

The chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) Sherin Francis signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Seoul Tourism Association (STA) during a working visit recently in Seoul, South Korea.

The MoU was signed on behalf of the STA by the vice-chairman of the association Jeongrok Park. The Seychelles delegation at the event comprised Penny Belmont, chief executive of the Small Enterprise Promotion Agency (Senpa) and Julie Kim, STB's Korea manager.

From the STA side, the event was attended by Dong Yup Kim, general manager of member strategy team; Park Hyung-Il, general manager of management support headquarters and Choi Il-Tae, general director of institutional relations headquarters.

The event took place at the head office of STA in Seoul on Wednesday August 30, as part of the mission Mrs Francis was undertaking in South Korea to consolidate this potential tourism source market for Seychelles, and to increase visibility as Seychelles was commemorating the 10th anniversary of its tourism board's presence in Korea.

Through this MoU, the STB hopes to be able to establish relationship with the vast list of the STA members who are mostly from the travel trade.

“We hope to be able to stay up to date with the travel trends, news and gain market intelligence on the industry through our association with the STA. We will also now have access to their publications, news release, events but most importantly it will also be an avenue for Seychelles to share information to the travel trade in South Korea,” said Mrs Francis.

The STA has agreed to support the STB in its activities on the market.

According to statistics, Seychelles welcomed 108 visitors from South Korea in July this year compared to only 96 visitors during the same month in 2016 which is an increase of 13%. From January to July 2017, a total of 862 visitors from South Korea disembarked in Seychelles compared to the 909 visitors recorded during the same period in 2016 and this represents a decrease of 5%.

Seychelles is today more known to the affluent South Koreans than in the last decade. While the figures show that South Korea is still a relatively small tourism source market for Seychelles, it remains one that has the potential for growth. Holidaymakers from this market are also known to spend more generously when on holiday.