Seychelles claims ‘Best Booth Content’ award at the 37th Seoul International Trade Fair |19 July 2022
Seychelles successfully reaffirmed its commitment to the South Korean trade at the 37th Seoul International Trade Fair (SITF), held from June 23 to 26, 2022, whereby the destination garnered the ‘Best Booth Content’ award for its creative ideas and uniqueness.
Under the slogan ‘Travelling Again, Freedom to meet again’, the fair’s organisers, Korea World Travel Fair (KOFTA), welcomed over 40 tourist destination countries and 267 domestic companies to participate in the first trade and consumer fair since the pandemic.
With its participation, Tourism Seychelles sought to build and consolidate destination awareness and push for more visibility and demand for the destination.
The Seychelles stand was embellished with decorative images depicting the unique attractions of the Seychelles islands. These included the coco de mer, the seascapes and underwater gems, and beaches surrounded by granitic boulders, a clear distinction from other stands present.
The appeal of the destination captured the attention of many visitors, prompting them to initiate discussions with Tourism Seychelles’ representatives, Amia Jovanovic-Desir, the director for South-East Asia, and marketing executive Rolira Young. Visitors were keen to learn more about what Seychelles has to offer and why they should choose the destination for their leisure holiday.
Commenting on the fair, Mrs Jovanovic-Desir explained that although Seychelles’ stand received a remarkable number of visitors, many did not know much about the location.
“This proves to us that there is still a lot of work to be done on the market to build destination awareness and visibility. It gave us all the more reason to offer them the opportunity to view our destination videos and presentations,” stated Mrs Jovanovic-Desir.
Seychelles’ participation at the SITF also presented the opportunity to meet with devoted tour operators, new and old, all of whom have reaffirmed their commitment to add or keep Seychelles on their destination list.
The tour operators have firmly expressed that Tourism Seychelles should have a stronger presence through a sound representation office in South Korea to respond to the many queries about the destination.
Additionally, the fair paved the way for vital interactions with key media partners, who, in the future, will be invited to feature the destination during the third quarter of the year, helping revitalise Seychelles’ image in South Korea.
“SITF was the perfect platform to meet and discuss with genuine tour operators and travel agents as well as prominent media/journalists whom we can collaborate with through the barter concept to push for the destination's visibility. The South Koreans are high spenders, and we have to increase the market share to Seychelles,” stated Mrs Jovanovic-Desir.
Tourism Seychelles has been promoting the island destination to the South Korean trade and consumers for the past 15 years, and to date, tour operators have primarily been focusing on the honeymoon segment of the market. With increased presence, Tourism Seychelles aims to branch out to other segments of the market, such as the untapped senior and grey market.
“We anticipate doing more promotional activities to capture and generate more demand in these segments through sound media coverage of the destination as it is a substantial revenue source. In the past, we have conducted various promotional activities to match our marketing objectives. These included workshops, sales visits to train the agents, and collaborations with prominent partners and companies.
“We have invited TV crews and influencers to boost the knowledge of the consumers. Through these activities, sound destination awareness was imparted to a considerable group, enabling them to sell and promote Seychelles,” concluded Mrs Jovanovic-Desir.
Press release from Tourism Seychelles