Tourism Seychelles participated in the “DEMA Diving Exhibition”, a North American Scuba and Dive Travel Show held over four consecutive days from November 14th to 17th at the New Orleans N. Morial Convention Center in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States of America.
Representing the Seychelles at the prominent event was David Germain, the Tourism Seychelles Regional Director for Africa & the Americas, accompanied by Natacha Servina, a Tourism Seychelles senior marketing executive, and members of staff of Blue Safari Seychelles, namely Ruho Karhu, the Dive & Activity center manager on Alphonse Island and Jill Polsky, the Blue Safari manager in the USA.
Tourism Seychelles’ strategy for the North American market in 2023 is to promote the wide array of positive tourism attributes that makes Seychelles appealing to North American travellers researching travel to Seychelles. This includes birding, snorkelling, sailing and diving, amongst others, providing opportunities to discover the magnificence of the islands extending seamlessly from land to ocean.
With a climate of perpetual summer and warm turquoise waters, Seychelles offers breathtaking diving experiences in some of the oldest granite and coral waters of the Indian ocean, diving where very few have gone before.
For over 40 years, the DEMA exhibition has been the premier, unrivalled diving and water sports event in the USA, strictly for credentialed dive professionals. Thousands of industry professionals from around the world gather at this event annually to discover new products, reconnect as an industry, and build new partnerships.
Commenting on Tourism Seychelles’ participation, Mr Germain remarked, “Diving is a niche market in the USA, often perceived as exotic, with about 4 million certified divers, and many of them are currently looking for new destinations and diving sites. It was perfect timing for Seychelles to be present at this exhibition, and our presence was greatly appreciated as we were the only exhibitor present from the Indian Ocean Region. Approximately 1500 professional divers participated, and we attended to many enquiries, both for diving and holiday to Seychelles in general. We established new contacts and provided destination and product updates. It was indeed worthwhile participating,” he said.
Seychelles continues to register a steady growth year on year from the North American market, securing its position among the top 10 markets based on visitor arrivals. Tourism Seychelles remains committed to promoting the archipelago in North America to further increase its market share.
