Seychelles tapping into India’s thriving destination wedding & MICE segments

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Avatar of Linda Hohnholz
Written by Linda Hohnholz

Seychelles as a potential destination for small scale Indian weddings, as well as Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) trips, was accentuated upon at the recent Experiential Planner Expo (EPEX) held in India.

The event which is part of the WOW Awards & Convention Asia was held from the 6th to 8th July at the Pullman Hotels and Resorts, in Aerocity, New Delhi.

It’s the second year that the event has been organized and the 2017 edition saw the participation of over a thousand delegates, including corporate decision-makers, MICE and destination wedding planners, event company owners, influencers among others from all-over Asia.

The Chief Executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Mrs. Sherin Francis, led the Seychelles delegation at the event. She was accompanied by Ms. Lubaina Sheerazi the chief operating officer at Mumbai-based Blue Square Consultants, which represents the STB in India, as well as Ms. Shakambri Soni and Ms. Aswini Krishna, the Senior Marketing Executive and Marketing Manager at the Seychelles Tourism Office in India, respectively.

It was the perfect platform for the Seychelles’ team to meet with decision makers from travel agencies, tour operator companies serving outbound tourism. It also allowed face-to-face contact with existing and potential business partners and turned out to be a good opportunity to conduct business with new industry buyers and trade visitors.

Some forty-three MICE agents and wedding planners visited the Seychelles Tourism Board’s stand and the STB delegation conducted a total of 46 pre-set meetings over the course of two days.

The chief operating officer at Mumbai-based Blue Square Consultants, which represents the STB in India Ms. Lubaina Sheerazi said: “We could maximize brand exposure of Seychelles and also promote quick and hassle free long weekends in Seychelles as part of small celebrations and intimate weddings.”

Agents participating in the Experiential Planner Expo could avail of a special website, featuring a write-up on all participants, to facilitate their search of specific destinations and products. The blog website which aims to connect planners with destinations, managed by tmf dialogue marketing, one of the partners of the Expo, posted stories on the participation of exhibitors to the Expo, which was circulated in their weekly-newsletter reaching over 15,000 registered users from across the global MICE and Destination Wedding industry.

India remains a key source market for Seychelles. Up to June this year it was the 8th largest contributor of visitors to Seychelles.

Statistics show that a total of 6,573 visitors from India have disembarked in Seychelles during the first six months of 2017, compared to only 5,521 visitors recorded during the same period in 2016. This represents a growth of 19 percent over last year.

While the market continues to grow, Seychelles is however yet to see the desired growth on that market, considering the great air accessibility with 5 direct flights a week from Mumbai to the island nation.

It was more recently that STB started to focus on India’s destination wedding segment as it aims to further improve the flow of Indian visitors to the island destination. And following the Experiential Planner Expo, the message that Seychelles can be the perfect destination for Indian travelers on the lookout for the perfect wedding and honeymoon destination, is being reinforced.

The Seychelles Tourism Board office in India is already sending out information and maintaining contact with the agents they interacted with at the Expo, so as to keep them updated on new developments with regards to the destination.

The STB Chief Executive Mrs. Sherin Francis said: “India has a very big outbound travel market with so many different types of travelers, I believe there are opportunities for right-size events for Seychelles from India. We are connected through 5 weekly flights to Mumbai, with code-sharing possibilities to nine other points and also connected via SriLankan Airlines and the Middle Eastern hubs.”

On the side-lines of the Expo, Mrs Francis and her team also met with Mr. Manoj Gopalani and Ms. Neha Seth Arora, the Directors of 7ty7 Entertainment, one of India’s top event and wedding management companies.

The company has experience in successfully organizing extravagant weddings and celebrations in a range of both established and unexplored wedding and celebrations destinations. The meeting was an opportunity for Mr. Gopalani and Ms Arora to exchange views and discuss initiatives that can be taken by Seychelles so as to be ready to tap into this lucrative segment.

While in India, Mrs. Francis was also a special guest at the event had the honor to present Experiential Celebrations awards to the top winning wedding planners of India.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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