Seychelles business travellers flock to South Africa |13 June 2016

South Africa is attracting a whole new breed of business traveller – from, of all places, the Seychelles. This is mainly due to the weak rand and the high price of goods in Dubai.

Best known for beach honeymoons and romantic trips, residents of the Indian Ocean islands have started travelling to South Africa to take advantage of the weak rand.

Air Seychelles’ chief executive Roy Kinnear says that in the past six months, his airline has seen an 8% increase in passenger traffic from Seychelles to Johannesburg.

The country is almost completely reliant on imported goods, and cargo services have been a major growth area for the airline, with 4,415 tons of freight moved in 2015, primarily on its Paris and Johannesburg routes.

The airline launched its personal shopper service in November to help Seychellois source and import goods from South Africa.

The service is helping local business people with a 50% discount on the market rate, and it helps the airline, which is primarily used by tourists, to fill up its freight quotas.

Mr Kinnear says: “With this service, our customers can source goods from South Africa, such as DIY hardware and tools, spare vehicle and boat parts, and home décor items, and they can arrange for quick air freight back home.”

Johannesburg businessman Malcolm Beulink is moving between 300kg and 500kg of air freight between Johannesburg and Mahé each month – everything from medicine and spare parts to food and toys. He started his business in September last year.

“A lot has contributed to the trend of buying goods in South Africa, but it’s primarily due to high prices in Dubai, combined with a weaker rand. It makes sense for local people to buy their stock from South Africa,” says Beulink.

“The idea is that there are a lot of people flying from the Seychelles to South Africa to shop, and they buy a lot of stuff and then get stuck at the check-in counter when their baggage is overweight. And then there are the ticket and hotel costs.

“So, we pack and box the goods for them, and they get there in three days.”

The airline has recently cancelled its twice-weekly flights between Mahé and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and put those wide-body Airbus planes on the Johannesburg route instead.

In so doing, it has increased the number of weekly flights to South Africa from three to five.

The tourism industry like hotels, are also benefiting from increased traffic between the two countries.

Source: City Press, South Africa