Seychelles says thank you to German travel trade at ITB 2011

The Seychelles delegation to ITB 2011 was joined by Minister Jean Paul Adam, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and by former Seychelles President James Mancham at their annual thank you cocktail for the German travel trade at the Seychelles ITB stand. In the presence of many tour operators, airline representatives, and press, Edith Hunzinger, the Tourism Board Manager in Frankfurt, Germany, welcomed Former President James Mancham; Minister Jean Paul Adam; Alain St.Ange, CEO of the Tourism Board; and Bernadette Willemin the Board’s European Director and thanked them for being in Berlin for the World’s largest tourism trade fair before asking Mr St.Ange to address the German travel trade present.

Alain St.Ange, the Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board and eTurboNews ambassador, thanked the German travel trade for their continued support of the Seychelles. “If we are able to claim the success in visitor arrival numbers we are today enjoying in our islands, it is because we have friends and partners such as you here in Germany,” Alain St.Ange said. He then went on to explain the recent launch of the Seychelles brand of tourism by President James Michel and said that through this brand, Seychelles was addressing the ongoing requests for more airline seats from Germany.

Mr. St.Ange explained the restructuring taking place at Air Seychelles, and he reconfirmed the increase in flights to Seychelles by Emirates to 14 a week and by Qatar Airways to 7 a week. “We have again taken note of your demand for a direct flight by Air Seychelles from Germany, and we have been holding discussions with Condor to try to convince them to increase their flights to Seychelles to two a week,” Alain St.Ange said in reply to queries from German operators.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Tourism Board also took the opportunity to thank the Seychelles trade who made it a point to support the Tourism Board’s presence at ITB. “Your loyalty to Seychelles has enabled the Tourism Board to be present year after year at the ITB tourism fair. We all know that we need to be present at this major fair, as we also all know that Seychelles needs to be visible at such important manifestations. You members of the Seychelles tourism trade are the ones standing with the Tourism Board to ensure that Seychelles remains visible in Germany and to the world through trade fairs. Thank you for your loyalty and for standing with the Tourism Board,” Alsin St.Ange said.

When he addressed the gathered German operators and members of the Seychelles delegation, Minister Jean Paul Adam thanked everyone on behalf of the Seychelles government and said that the tourism industry remained the main pillar of the Seychelles economy. Minister Adam congratulated the Seychelles tourism trade for their hard work and dedication to their industry. Sir James Mancham, the former President of Seychelles, said, when he took the microphone to address the evening, that he can speak about the transformation taking place in Seychelles to move forward as a people. Sir James also spoke about the spirit of togetherness now so evident in the country.

The evening ended with a display of sega music on the Seychelles stand at ITB 2011, which had itself seen a new stand design with the main backdrop photo display changed to one with a clear and white sandy beach for this tourism fair.

The growth in interest for Seychelles in Germany has been confirmed by most tour operators dealing with the Seychelles, and with more airline flights to the islands, visitor arrival numbers from Germany will also now have the possibility for growth.