Minister St Ange meets tennis stars at Patrick Mouratoglou's Tennis Academy opening |21 September 2016

From left to right: Novak Djokovic, Gilbert Espitalier-Noel, Minister St Ange, Serena Williams, Norbert Couvreur GM of the Beachcomber French Riviera Resort & Spa, François Venin and Patrick Mouratoglou

The star studded event at the Beachcomber French Riviera Resort & Spa and its Mouratoglou Tennis Academy was an opportunity for the Indian Ocean islands of Seychelles and Mauritius to pursue sports tourism as a new niche market as they met stars, press and those in the who's who list to keep their islands visible.

The grand opening of the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy coincided with this year's French tourism trade fair of Paris but the star-studded event was seen as an opportunity for Alain St Ange, the Tourism and Culture Minister of Seychelles, Gilbert Espitalier-Noel, the chief executive of the Beachcomber Hotel and Resorts Group who was being accompanied by François Venin, the chief sales and marketing officer at Beachcomber Hotels and Resorts, and Arnaud Martin, the president of the MTPA (Mauritius Tourism Promotional Authority) to join the entire tennis celebrities and champions attending this much awaited opening ceremony.

Tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams were present at the opening of the Patrick Mouratoglou's Tennis Academy.

The whole international sport media as well as politicians and of course worldwide influential people had gathered for the grand opening of the Mouratoglou Academy.

The French press had been saying that this was going to be the biggest French event for years. Minister St Ange said that for Seychelles this event came at a perfect time when all eyes are glued on tourism, with the French tourism trade fair of Paris to again position Seychelles on the French tourism market.  "This is our main source market and as we are looking at again increasing direct non-stop flights with Air Seychelles between Paris and Seychelles we need to leave no stones unturned in our work to continue to claim our fair share of this important market," said Minister St Ange.

He added that developing sports tourism is interesting for Seychelles because the islands have perfect facilities, perfect all-year-round summer weather and have the most pleasant of environments.

"We cannot say it often enough but in the troubled world we are living in today, Seychelles remains a safe tourism destination and we are a visa free country. We now need to get on the sports celebrity circuit. Being present at this grand opening of the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy is just timely," said the minister.