Seychelles welcomes charter flights from Tianjin, China

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Visitors who landed at the Seychelles’ International Airport on Wednesday September 27, 2017, were treated to an extra special welcome as it was World Tourism Day.

The visitors were offered a variety of gift items, all depicting some aspects of the Seychelles islands, from the hands of the Seychelles Tourism Board’s information officers, as soon they walked into the arrival lounge. A local cultural troupe was also present performing traditional dances of the island nation.

A total of 10 flights landed at the Seychelles’ international airport yesterday and guests from each of those flights were greeted with the same ambiance.

Florent and Alexia Château a young couple from France who are visiting Seychelles for the first time and were delighted to be treated to a special welcome.

“It’s very nice and we are looking forward to see the nice landscapes and beaches and go snorkeling while on our holiday,” said Mr. and Mrs. Château.

For Rene Zimmerhauu and Doris Fischer from Switzerland it was also a special feeling to be greeted to a special welcome, which they described as very animated, on their 14th trip to the Seychelles.

The welcome was even more special for 154 Chinese visitors who landed in Seychelles onboard the first of three scheduled charter flights operated by the national airline, Air Seychelles, from Tianjin, China.

The charter flights follows an agreement which Air Seychelles signed with a Chinese tour operator, Caissa, and has been timed to coincide with the Golden Week national holidays, a traditionally busy travel period in China. It also compliments recent charter flights, which Air Seychelles operated between Seychelles and Chengdu during the months of July and August 2017.

The new series of charter flights are part of the tourism authorities and Air Seychelles’ efforts to increase the number of visitors from China, which is viewed as an important emerging market for the island destination. Air Seychelles will be operating two other charter flights from Tianjin on October 4 and 11.

World Tourism Day which is celebrated annually on September 27 is this year being held under the theme Sustainable Tourism – A Tool for Development.

In Seychelles, the day is commemorated over a week and on Wednesday one of the main activities was an open day at the Tourism Department, providing members of the public, and individuals wishing to venture in tourism businesses the opportunity to walk in and know more about the department’s role and functions.

The Director for Tourism Human Resource Development at the Tourism Department, Gerard Port-Louis said: “Although the turnout was not that high, we were delighted to interact with those who came in and we took upon such a given occasion to attend to their queries. It was the first time opening our doors and we hope to be able to do it again in the future.”

Activities to mark this year’s Tourism Week will continue until October 3 and as is tradition the annual Tourism Ball is one of the key activities. The event will be held on Saturday at the Eden Bleu hotel.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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