The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) has officially launched its marketing campaign to reposition the destination in China.
This was during a press conference held at the Four Seasons hotel in Shanghai on May 9, whereby the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine Maurice Loustau-Lalanne and the STB’s chief executive Sherin Francis met members of the media.
Also present at the event were the trade partners namely the general manager of the Creole Travel Services Guillaume Albert, and the general manager of Mason’s Travel Lenny Alvis.
Other representatives from both destination management companies were also present. Representatives of the 7 South, Banyan Tree Seychelles, Savoy Resort and Spa, Constance Resorts Seychelles and a wedding planner, Mr and Mrs Wedding from Seychelles.
The event was also attended by the STB team which takes care of the Chinese market and which is headed by Jean Luc Lai lam.
The campaign, launched under the tagline The Call of the Islands…the last Eden on earth, was officially launched by Minister Loustau Lalanne.
In his opening speech, Minister Loustau Lalanne said after five years in the market, STB feels that now is the right time to refocus its attention on the discerning Chinese visitors in the first tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen with their supporting second tier cities.
“Our objective will be to work closely with valued local partners in Seychelles to deliver an attractive suite of products and services which is fun, relaxing and which represents value for money,” Minister Loustau-Lalanne.
The press conference was followed by a travel trade workshop at the same venue. The partners present all had a chance to present their products and services.
“We are very excited to be working with you all on this project because we know that we have a destination which is an ideal match for the discerning Chinese tourist,” said Mrs Francis in her opening address at the trade workshop.
“The campaign aims to highlight the beauty of Seychelles and how the destination offers Chinese travellers an out of this world experience.”
These workshops will continue over the next few days in line with the new repositioning in the other main cities of China.
After Shanghai, the roadshows will be in Beijing on May 15, Guangzhou on May 17 and in Chengdu on the following day.
China at current sits in the 7th place on the visitor arrivals’ table for Seychelles, with 5415 visitors year to week 18.
As part of its strategy, STB continues to focus on maintaining that fine balance between tourism and sustainability. Seychelles was found to have the purest air on the planet by the 2016 Environmental Performance Index and Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label (SSTL) has achieved ‘Global Sustainable Tourism Council-Recognised’ status this April, affirming Seychelles’ commitment to promote sustainable tourism products and services.