Seychelles sees potential of East Africa |23 July 2011

Seychelles made its second appearance at the KARIBU Fair in Tanzania recently and had the opportunity to again feel the pulse of the travel market there and review its marketing strategies for this region.

The islands went there more prepared than last year and tackled the event with more conviction and know-how. Last year was generally a market assessment and potential areas were identified for proper promotion.

Several promotional materials and banners were tailor-made for this year’s fair and exciting new ideas were incorporated to depict some of the core images of Seychelles. Seychelles was thus on par with other exhibitors and prior promotion of the islands in Tanzania helped to pull a sizeable crowd to the Seychelles’ stand.

The Seychelles Tourism Board team received the help of the tourism ambassador in Tanzania, Maryvonne Pool, and together they introduced Seychelles as the destination in trend this year, especially after the honeymoon visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in May, which was widely publicised all over the world.

The Seychelles stand was also honoured to welcome Lazaro S. Nyalandu, Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade and his delegation, who wanted to know more about the islands after hearing so much of them in the media.

The Seychelles’ representative at the fair, Amia Jovanovic-Desir, said after the KARIBU fair that sometimes African travel is undermined by trade professionals worldwide but that this part of the world is as lucrative as other regions.

“The East African outbound market is a big one and holds ample potentials which are just waiting to be tapped into. I’m happy that Seychelles has taken the decision to have a serious go at that market, because they know about us but we now need to sell the destination to them,” she said.

Mrs Jovanovic-Desir said that many people who visited the stand have heard of and seen pictures of Seychelles before, but wanted to know more in terms of the products on offer.

“It thus made our job of selling the destination easier and more exciting because there was that interaction between us,” she explained.

Ms Jovanovic-Desir said there were also many requests from families who wanted to come to the islands for holidays and some had already booked their flights. They mostly come from the expatriate working segment who is economically well settled in the region.

She however noted that even if there was some awareness on Seychelles, it was clear that this was not enough and the trade needed to be informed and sensitized.

“I had some meetings with tour operators from Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, even from Australia and I’ve seen there’s a need to continue to develop that market with sound strategies and aggressive marketing.”

Several tour operators have also expressed intention of collaborating with local partners and establishing business links, especially now that the market is taking off from the ground.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Tourism of Tanzania has ranked the KARIBU Fair as the second most important in Africa after Indaba in South Africa.