Seychelles rolls out red carpet for Porsche magazine |09 December 2016

What happens when the voice of one of the world’s most prestigious automobile brands drops in on one of the most desirable holiday destinations on earth?

A handful of Seychelles’ leading tourism players were keen to find out on Friday when they received Frank Gindler, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Porsche Club Life Magazine, in a VIP welcome to the islands.

On assignment to learn more about the destination for one of the magazine’s travel features, Mr Gindler was fittingly met on arrival by Mason’s Travel, Seychelles’ leading inbound tour operator, in a brand-new Porsche Cayenne, for a test spin of the company’s recently launched VIP transfer service.

From there, a 25-minute drive brought Mr Gindler to Carana Beach, to enjoy a leisurely breakfast meeting with Seychelles’ Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine Alain St Ange, Mason’s Travel managing director Alan Mason, and Peter Pomeroy, director of Porsche Seychelles.

Minister St Ange thanked Porsche and Mr Gindler for casting their eyes toward Seychelles, noting that both the Seychelles brand, and that of the luxury auto-maker, share several common threads when it comes to potential customers.

Mr Gindler’s visit to Seychelles comes at an interesting time for the Porsche brand, Mr Pomeroy said, noting that the country’s green policies to encourage hybrid vehicles have allowed some of the brand’s models to enter into the market at a much more competitive price than one might expect.

For Mason’s Travel, one of the first Porsche customers in Seychelles, the decision to offer a new luxury transfer service had as much to do with the brand as the environmentally friendly benefits it would bring.

“For us to be able to offer our clients a transfer in one of the world’s ultimate expressions of luxury, design and style, and to reduce our carbon footprint in the process, didn’t require much debate. It’s a win-win situation all around,” Mr Mason said.

In typical Porsche style, after breakfast Mr Gindler moved quickly toward the next assignment on his Seychelles itinerary: a transfer back to the airport in the Cayenne to catch a flight to Denis Island for a three-night stay.

Porsche Club Life Magazine has a circulation of 26,000 and an estimated readership of 65,000 made up of Porsche owners and aficionados.