Strong destination presence noted on Germanic front as Seychelles Tourism participates in travel fairs

Monitoring Desk

BERLIN: The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) office in Frankfurt started the year on a high note as the team attended various trade fairs in Germany and two German-speaking bordering countries including Switzerland and Austria.

The office took part in the Ferien-Messe Wien- Austria’s largest holiday and STB Senior Executive, Ms. Natacha Servina, represented, Seychelles at the travel show fair, which was held from January 10, 2019 to January 13, 2019. The Ferien-Messe Wien- Austria saw the participation of 800 exhibitors from 80 countries. It recorded the presence of 155,322 visitors, a new attendance record in the fair’s 43-year history.

STB Director for the Germany, Switzerland and Austria, Ms. Hunzinger was in Stuttgart, the affluent southwestern part of Germany also the hometown of Porsche and Mercedes. Ms. Hunzinger represented destination Seychelles at the 51st edition of the CMT Fair, which run for a full nine days, from the January 12, 2019 through the January 20, 2019 and recorded 260,000 visitors.

From Stuttgart, Ms. Hunzinger was off to Zurich, where she attended FESPO from the January 31, 2019 through to February 3, 2019. During the four-day Swiss fair, the Director for the Germany, Switzerland and Austria was positioned at the Seychelles’ stand alongside Rolira Young Marketing Executive and Chris Matombe Director for Digital Marketing both based at Headquarters. The FESPO showcased 250 destinations including Seychelles and attracted 65,000 visitors.

Destination Seychelles through its participation to the three fairs reached nearly half a million potential visitors in just four weeks. At all the fairs, Seychelles, with its traditionally eye-catching stand, had secured a prominent position that enticed visitors to see, browse, and engage in conversation with the staff.

The overall impression was that Seychelles continues to attract interest and attention, and that many of the stand visitors had serious intentions to visit the country in the near future.

This impression is confirmed by the fact that travelers from the three countries are honoring STB’s efforts by visiting Seychelles. In the first eight weeks of 2019, nearly 12,698 visitors from Germany have already touched down in the Seychelles, keeping the market at the head of visitor arrivals in the country.

Talking about the exposure obtained by the Island nation during this active month of participation in several fairs. Ms. Hunzinger mentioned that participation in trade fairs remain a key part in the Frankfurt office’s strategy to win the hearts and minds of consumers.

The STB Director further mentioned that personal contact with potential visitors remains an important factor when selling the destination, even in this high-tech day and age.

“Marketing a destination has always been, and remains, a people orientated business. Our ongoing success as the leading source market for the Seychelles is in no small part due to our continued visibility to the consumer at fairs like these,” said Mrs. Hunzinger.

She added that together with her team, she perceives the personal contact as a contributing factor to engage potential visitors.

The Director of the STB office in Frankfurt also personally flew to Seychelles to assist a television crew working for ZDF, Germany’s largest nationwide public broadcaster, on an episode of the long-running documentary series, Terra X: Faszination Erde (“Terra X: Fascination Earth”).

The program, entitled “Seychelles: Guardian of Lost Treasures,” will focus entirely on environmental aspects and is hosted by one of Germany’s most renowned and respected TV documentary filmmakers, Dirk Steffens. It is the 84th episode of the award-winning nature series, which is currently in its 25th season.

The episode was aired on February 17, 2019, and was repeated on February 18. It will also be available on ZDF’s catch-up service, ZDF Mediathek and can be viewed anytime.

Courtesy: (eturbonews.com)