The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) team in Germany has been honoured to host the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Didier Dogley in Frankfurt.
Minister Dogley started off his official visit to few STB offices in Europe on his way to the IFTM Top Resa tourism fair in Paris, France.
He seized the opportunity to attend a Seychelles Cooking event entitled "A Taste of Seychelles," in Frankfurt, organised by the Director for the German STB office Ms. Hunzinger and her team.
"A Taste of Seychelles" on Thursday, the 20th of September, was the culmination of a four-day four-city road show that had taken the local STB director and several trade partners from the Seychelles to the capital of Berlin on Monday (17 September) and to the northern German cities of Hamburg on Tuesday (18) and Hanover on Wednesday (19), before the group returned to Frankfurt. "For the past year, we have been very active in the southern part of Germany, and it was time now to again cover the north as well," explained Ms. Hunzinger.
More than 300 select travel agencies from the wider metropolitan area of these cities had the opportunity to receive first-hand information through presentations and personal interaction with the representatives of STB and the trade partners.
Few partners from the Seychelles attended the four-day road show event. Ms. Merle Schindler for Acajou Beach Resort; Mr. Ash Behari for Coco de Mer Hotel & Black Parrot Suites; Mr. Mike Tan Yan for the Coral Strand and the Savoy Hotel; Ms. Bessie Etienne for Carana Beach, Denis Private Island, and Indian Ocean Lodge; Ms. Isabelle Lestrat for H‑Hotel; Ms. Maria Eremina for Hilton Seychelles Hotels; and Ms. Sylvia Fletcher for Raffles Seychelles.
Also in Operation were Ms. Jennifer Muehl for Thomas Cook, as our supporting tour operator, as well as Mssrs. Cihan Aslan and Levent Guven representing Turkish Airlines, (both Airline and Tour Operator were represented by their respective Area Managers).
Turkish Airlines also sponsored two return flights to the Seychelles, which were raffled off among the attending travel agents in each of the four road-show cities. Starting on the 4th of December, the eight lucky winners will be taken on a fam trip co-sponsored by all the trade members that took part in the road show.
Mr. Behari called the tour "an excellent road show with an excellent turnout .... The number of enthusiastic attendees shows that our islands and products are in high demand." He also praised the "format, venues, and interaction .... The interactive cooking event in Frankfurt was an experience in itself – and a great way to network and build excellent business relationships." Ms. Hunzinger, director of the German STB office, was more equally pleased: "I am delighted about the participation of our trade partners and very satisfied with the turnout and the massive desire for information. It is further proof of the potential the Seychelles have."
The director for the German office was happy to welcome Minister Dogley, who addressed the attendees in fluent German. "It was a great honor to have Minister Dogley witness our cooking event and interact with our guests in Frankfurt," said Ms. Hunzinger. "It also provided an opportunity to discuss the future position of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and also how to maintain and amplify the ongoing growth of the German-speaking market."
"We will continue to do all we can to keep the three countries that we are responsible for at the top of the list of Seychelles visitors."
As of last week (week 38), Germany had more than 37,700 visitor arrivals in the Seychelles this year – 8% more than last year –, and the three countries combined accounted for more than 53,000 Seychelles visitors, or roughly one third (32%) of all European visitors to the destination in 2018 so far.