Tourism related businesses urged to enhance their visibility |16 July 2022
Owners of tourism related businesses and tourism service providers are being encouraged to register and to list their products and services on ParrAPI so as to make their businesses and services more visible to the outside world on the official destination website of Seychelles (Seychelles.com).
It was the director general for Destination Marketing in the Tourism department, Bernadette Willemin, who made the statement during the launch of a series of open days for the promotion of ParrAPI for tourism related businesses and services providers on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.
The launch took place on Thursday at the Tourism Information Office, Independence House.
The open day was to sensitise the professionals in the tourism industry on the function, the use and the benefit of ParrAPI.
It was Melissa Hoareau from the destination marketing section who gave an overview of the ParrAPI platform. Present were some taxi drivers, tour operators and representatives from small hotels and guest houses, the banks, destination management companies and from the department of Culture, among others.
After the presentation some attendees got to learn to register and to list their products and services in the data ware house.
ParrAPI is an innovative and user friendly data ware house platform that collects, checks and share destination information online to the partners in the tourism industry as well as the public in general. It is also a great way to help enhance digital presence and provide relevant, and updated information across various channels, readily available for consumers. Registration and listing in the platform is for free.
Mrs Willemin stated that apart from gaining visibility on the official destination website, the businesses and service providers will also gain visibility on a new Mobile Application to be introduced soon by the Tourism department.
She explained that the ParrAPI is a tool for the professional only to list their information while the tourism department will retrieve the information listed, verify the content and after transfer it onto the official destination website of Seychelles for potential foreign and local consumers to access.
“We want to ensure that the content on the official destination website is rich for the benefit of our destination and the benefit of the country,” Mrs Willemin said.
Mrs Willemin said that taking into account the importance of making visible the country as a tourism destination in the post pandemic, it is vitally important for the tourism related businesses offering products and services are made visible to our visitors.
She said that the professionals can use the ParrAPI platform any time in their comfort zone to register and to list their information or to contact the Information office at any time for queries and guidance. Through their email addresses and user passwords, the platform offers the possibility for the professionals to update their information, anytime.
Michael Adela, a taxi driver who got to register and to list his service on ParrAPI on Thursday, said he wanted his service to be known worldwide taking into account that the taxi service is a worldwide business. He noted that he learned of the open day through the Taxi Association and that the ParrAPI is a very good initiative for external recognition.
Apart from the open day on Mahé, the same event was taking place at Les Lauriers Eco Hotel on Praslin. The open days for the promotion of ParrAPI will take place every Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Information Office on Mahé, the district administration offices on Praslin and at the tourism office on La Digue.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of the open day on Thursday at the Tourist Information Office.
Patrick Joubert
Photos by Salome Abel