EMIRATES HOLIDAYS CROWNS SEYCHELLES TOURIST BOARD
Awards for the Seychelles seem to chase each other these days, in recognition of the outstanding value and appeal the destination now commands around the world. In India the Seychelles were given ‘Best promising destination’ as more and more passengers connect with Emirates from their Indian gateways via Dubai to the archipelago and in Singapore, days later, the Asia and AustralAsia region named the Seychelles tops for their ‘Best Overall Travel Experience Award’.
Emirates, the award winning national airline of Dubai however crowned it all when last night, during a sellout function at the Atlantis alongside the Arabian Travel Market which takes place this week, named the Seychelles Tourist Board the ‘Most supportive National Tourist Office’ from amongst all they are working with. This level of recognition will be music to the ears of STB’s Chief Executive Alain St. Ange and his entire staff in Mahe and their offices abroad, encouraging them to continue with the most remarkable turnaround of fortunes seen in recent times, when they steered the destination from the abyss of meltdown after the onset of the global economic and financial crisis to the most successful year ever for the archipelago in 2010, and being well on course for an even better result in 2011.
Emirates, cognizant of this support, has in turn gone from ‘less than daily’ to soon ‘double daily’, connecting the world via Dubai twice a day to the Seychelles and thus becoming the most important foreign airline flying to Mahe. Emirates Holidays has given the resorts and hotels across the islands high visibility and demand from within the UAE and the Gulf region has increased manyfold compared to the past.
Well done, to the STB team and the entire tourism industry across the archipelago, where building ‘Brand Seychelles’ is now one common and determined effort by a team of united public and private sector stakeholders.
