Seychelles shares a positive outlook

October 2015 became a record month for Seychelles tourism, with a total of 27,477 tourists, marking an increase of 18 per cent over October 2014. Part of the credit goes to diversifying its source markets into the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Far East while at the same time continuing to nurture its core, traditional markets in Europe.

At the same time, Seychelles’ newer markets are showing strength in numbers in the form of the UAE and China with 17,124 and nearly 13,000 for the year to date.

October has shown itself to be a stand-out month in what promises to be another record year for Seychelles’ tourism with 92 per cent of October arrivals being holiday makers, spending an average of 8.9 nights. October is also the month when the islands celebrate its Seychelles-India Day and also its Festival Kreol. Both events continue to attract visitors and press to Seychelles.

On the back of these excellent results, Seychelles Tourism has a very positive outlook for 2016. Seychelles Tourism Board’s regional manager - Middle East, Ahmed Fathallah, explains: 'Marketing the Seychelles has already been successful in delivering stand-out recognition of the Seychelles, achieving a strong underlying demand for tourists visit from GCC counties, since we initially opened in the tourist office in 2001. In 2016, our outlook will be to concentrate more on the consumer initiatives to further drive the business to the Seychelles to be the top of mind travel destination in the Indian Ocean.

'We expect continuous growth in visitor arrivals and brand knowledge for the island. We will continue to focus on consumer activities and begin directing activities towards social media influencers. Joint trade promotions, brand alliances and pr/advertising activities are still in the loop as these activities really helped travellers to be familiar with Seychelles.

'In order to uphold the gaining popularity of Seychelles in the region, in 2016 our main target market will remain the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, while we will continue to further tap the other GCC countries, Jordan and Lebanon.

'We are elated to know that in October 2015, we already exceeded our 2015 target of 21,000 visitors as we already have 22,315 visitors recorded. 2015 has been a very good year for Seychelles as we experienced growth in all aspects such as brand presence due to the different marketing activities that we have executed particularly the participation in more than 10 trade and consumer events, joint promotions, familiarisation trips, media exposures that helped in consumers’ product knowledge about the destination. In addition to that, Seychelles is also an emerging destination for families and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions trips as the destination has introduced properties and activities that could cater to new markets as such.'

At the same time, Fathallah points towards the challenges that lie ahead. 'With strong marketing brand and associations, it is often a challenge to move perceptions beyond the headline associations as a beach, scenic, relaxing, etc which undoubtedly compelling for the Seychelles, tend to mask some of details of what else is offered by destination, including the diversity of experiences.

'It is an ongoing challenge and requires a continuous strong communication to emphasise and continually reinforce all aspects of Seychelles tourism experience.  

Staff writer

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Cousine Island reopens

Cousine Island will reopen in April this year and introduce a new presidential villa as well as a tailored guest ambassador programme to support the island’s ecosystem platform.

The first exclusive eco-luxury private island in the world to adopt a conservation-based management structure, all revenue generated by the Cousine Island accommodation will be reinvested for long term sustainability, conservation and biodiversity.

Kirsten Keeley, granddaughter of the owner, says: “We are delighted to reopen Cousine Island and introduce so many bespoke touches to enhance the guest experience. The guest ambassador programme has been created to connect savvy travellers to the indigenous nature and wildlife of Cousine Island, recognised internationally as one of the most ecologically important private islands in the world.”

To ensure the highest levels of privacy and minimum human impact, Cousine Island offers four luxury villas designed in a French colonial style and one new, stately presidential villa nestled in lush endemic vegetation, just 30 metres from the beach. Each villa has been furnished with individually hand-crafted furniture, as well as the latest technology including high speed broadband and Wi-Fi.