Seychelles has reaffirmed its standing as a leading holiday destination in the Swiss market following a successful roadshow held in three key cities in Switzerland.
Beginning in Geneva on 26th September, and moving on to Bern and Zurich on 27th and 28th, the team, comprising the Director General for Destination Marketing, Mrs. Bernadette Willemin and the Market Director for Switzerland, Ms Judeline Edmond, promoted the destination and its superb attributes to the participants of the event. The team was also joined by several partners from the Seychelles tourism trade business.
While Etihad Airways was the only airline partner present at the event, the hotel properties were well represented by the finest names from Seychelles.
These included partners from Anantara Maia Seychelles Villa, Paradise Sun Hotel, Carana Beach Hotel, Denis Private Island, Indian Ocean Lodge, Constance Ephelia, Constance Lemuria, Four Seasons Resort Seychelles, Four Seasons Resort Seychelles at Desroches Island, Fisherman’s Cove Hotel, STORY Seychelles, DoubleTree by Hilton Seychelles-Allamanda Resort & Spa, Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa, Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort & Spa, Mango House Seychelles LXR Hotel & Resort, and Raffles Seychelles.
In each city, the dinner event included a 10-minute slot for presentations per partner to showcase their products and entice Swiss travel agents and tour operators to collaborate further.
At the end of all 3-city events, there was a draw with packaged prizes such as an airline ticket, hotel accommodations sponsored by the hotel partners, and colorful prizes by Tourism Seychelles.
Speaking after the event, Ms Edmond, Tourism Seychelles’ Director for Switzerland, said that the first Switzerland roadshow event had been a success.
“The excellent participation of partners indicates that we have made the right decision to have an independent roadshow for the Swiss market. Since 2020, our team has been intensifying its efforts in expanding potential partnerships and opportunities on the market. The enthusiasm of the participants about the destination was reflected by the variety of tour operators and travel agents at the roadshow,” said Ms Edmond.
Since 2017, Switzerland has been a key tourism-generating market for Seychelles. For three years, Seychelles saw a significant number of arrivals from Switzerland, reaching its peak figures in 2019 with 15, 300 tourists.
Due to COVID restrictions the following year, arrivals had plummeted by almost 70%. Despite being amongst the top four tourist arrivals for that year, only 4,604 tourists had travelled to Seychelles from Switzerland.
There was a slight progression in 2021, whereby Swiss visitor arrivals went up to 8,486 and scored 6th on arrival ranking per market arrivals.
So far this year, the numbers have been steadily picking up, bringing arrivals close to the 2019 figures. From January 1st to October 2nd 2022, there have been 10,977 visits from Switzerland. Switzerland is currently ranked 7th as a destination for Seychelles.
