Seychelles charms Switzerland's first virtual holiday fair ‘Land in sight’ |14 May 2021
Keeping Seychelles in the spotlight on the Swiss market, the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) joined a plethora of international businesses in the first virtual holiday fair in Switzerland, ‘Land in sight’.
Inspired by the rising interest in the market, the STB team participated in the event, which was said to have the largest and most diverse lecture programme that Swiss holiday fairs had ever seen, from April 22 to April 25, 2021.
Modelled after a real trade fair, ‘Land in Sight’ was a browser-based 3-D virtual experience. Similar to a computer game, users were able to design their avatar and move around the four exhibition halls with 39 exhibition stands and twelve lecture rooms virtual space.
As part of Seychelles’ appearance at the virtual event, the destination had its own virtual stand with an avatar available to answer queries by chat. This simplified the communication process as one had to simply click on an avatar and the person’s name, function and speciality would be displayed.
Among the 4,800 people registered for the fair, Seychelles featured alongside some prominent tour operators and agencies including DER Touristik Suisse, Hotelplan, TUI Suisse, Globetrotter Group, Knecht Reisen and Twerenbold.
Additionally, the event also saw the presence of specialised serviced providers namely Let's go Tours, Tourasia, Kira Travel or Smeraldo Tours, as well as cruise specialists comprising AIDA, e-hoi, Hapag-Lloyd, travel agency Mittelthurgau and Thurgau Travel.
To ease networking, a search function called ‘matchmaking’ was available to help users find the right contact for their individual needs, enabling them to switch to private video calls.
With approximately 550 lectures on no less than 170 topics, participants were given opportunities to learn more about the industry and various markets. Tour Operators including Let’s Go Tours, Dreamtime Travel, Manta Reisen and Ponant hosted a special Seychelles online lecture to educate the travel industry about what the tropical archipelago has in store.
Speaking about the destination’s participation in the event, STB director for Switzerland, Judeline Edmond, stated: “The fair is the first of this kind done in Switzerland. As the Seychelles Tourism Board did not have the opportunity to attend any fairs since last year due to the pandemic, the ‘Land in Sight’ fair gave STB the perfect opportunity to reach out to consumers.”
She added it was encouraging to see that the Swiss have not lost their appetite to travel, with the Seychelles being well positioned on the list of preferred destination to be visited this year and the fair was successful in showing the Swiss what the Seychelles Islands can offer its visitors.
Press release from STB