TripAdvisor’s Best Beaches 2011 leaves out Seychelles as mechanism discriminate smaller destinations

TRIP ADVISOR BEST BEACHES 2012 CLUELESS AS SEYCHELLES OMITTED FROM TOP 25


Not being a mass tourism destination is to our disadvantage here for us said a regular source close to the Seychelles Tourism Board, saying it is hard to get the required numbers in a global contest where bigger destinations like Florida or Turkey have a simple numerical advantage as more TripAdvisor contributors visit there as opposed to the Seychelles which last year had a new arrival record with over 194.000 visitors for the entire 2011. When it comes to travel publications, and looking at informed votes on the best beaches, the Seychelles have always featured in the top 25 or even the top 10 for a long time. Our visitors know that and appreciate it. For this year 2012 we are hoping for a modest increase in visitor numbers to about 200.000 and the winners shown in TripAdvisors announcement for votes received on best beaches for 2011 has been based on numerical considerations rather on weighing that some destinations have tens of millions of visitors and others not even 200.000. We would like to be named everywhere in accordance with quality considerations but that is not always possible. Still, those who know our islands also know how spectacular the beaches are and you only a few days ago witnessed that again for yourself.
Only last weekend were the Seychelles Islands again in the big news, when the stricken Costa Allegra was towed into Victoria harbour after an extraordinary rescue operation put together at no notice by the Seychelles authorities to ensure the safe return of the passengers and ship, and of course through the archipelagos annual Carnival International de Victoria, this year co-hosted with La Reunion.
Best international floats prizes were awarded to the UKs Notting Hill Carnival, followed by the floats of La Reunion and of Indonesia. Nearly 90 journalists from around the world had come to the Seychelles to cover the carnival event, with a similar number having flown to Mahe to see the Costa Allegra come into port, and all of them saw how spectacular the beaches and the crystal clear turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean were.
In conclusion, while the votes by TripAdvisor contributors were surely correctly counted and presented, the essence of the matter is that smaller destinations are literally pre-destined not to make it to the top, simply because they are visited by substantially less people overall in this one person one vote contest. For this correspondent therefore it remains Seychelles, Truly Another World.