Professionals from the Mauritius travel industry attended a two-day training course funded by Tourism Seychelles in partnership with the country’s national airline, Air Seychelles. The training sessions were organised in the wake of the Salon du Prêt-à-partir held between the 21st to the 23rd October.
The first session on October 19th in Port Louis comprised a group of about twenty product managers and directors promoting Seychelles across Mauritius.
Mr Salim Anif Mohungoo, Air Seychelles’ General Sales Agent (GSA) Manager based in Mauritius, and his senior sales team in Mauritius were the first to take the floor, showcasing the Air Seychelles fleet and its direct flights to Seychelles.
Tourism Seychelles’ senior Marketing Executive for Réunion and the Indian Ocean, Ms Bernadette Honore, followed with a customised destination presentation for the Mauritius Travel trade professionals, addressing their specific demands.
“Seychelles and its unique selling points as an island destination vacation are well known among Mauritius Travel Trade professionals. One of the obstacles hindering sales to Seychelles, according to the Trade professionals, is the packaging of the destination as a combined island-hopping experience. They also have difficulties mastering point-to-point ground logistics. Thus, during the training sessions, these specific topics were covered to bridge the gaps and make the trade professionals more confident to propose Seychelles to their clients and expand their business to Seychelles,” said Ms Honore.
The second and third sessions took place on October 20th and were conducted in-house following a request by two travel agencies, Shamal travel and Solis 360, to train their senior sales teams. Tourism Seychelles’ representative, Bernadette Honore, led both sessions, which were also attended by Mr Anif Mohungoo.
Commenting on the overall outcome of the event, Ms Honore said, “The training sessions were animated with questions from the Mauritius Travel trade professionals on different aspects of the destination. We remain confident following these sessions that the Mauritius Travel Trade professionals will be better equipped to push businesses to Seychelles. Our next step is to bring them to Seychelles for a first-hand experience of the destination and its products to further increase their knowledge of Seychelles,” said Ms Honore.
Representatives from Air Seychelles also added that in order to entice more travel to Seychelles from Mauritius, the training sessions also emphasised on Seychelles’ culture and natural attractions.
Mr Will Jean-Baptiste, an assistant information officer from the Tourism Department’s Marketing division, also made the trip to Mauritius to take part in the sessions.
