Germany’s well-known and very popular Dusseldorf Carnival will join Seychelles “Carnaval International de Victoria” for its 2012 edition set to be held in Victoria in the Seychelles from March 2-4, 2012.
The agreement follows a working visit to Germany a couple of months ago by Alain St.Ange, the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board, and his delegation who were joined by Edith Hunzinger, the Tourism Board’s Germany-based manager for a series of tourism trade meetings in several German cities. During the visit, the Seychelles delegation appealed for a delegation from Germany’s known and hugely popular carnivals to participate at the 2012 Seychelles “Carnaval International de Victoria.”
One such meetings was with Etihad Airways who announced the establishment of a direct new flight between Dusseldorf and Dubai with perfect connections to Seychelles. Dusseldorf is also the same city promoting one of the very well-known German carnivals.
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will also launch flights to Seychelles as of November this year. The airline’s Germany Office has been instrumental in negotiating with the Dusseldorf Carnival Association for their participation at the Seychelles carnival, and they have now confirmed that they will participate in the 2012 Seychelles “Carnaval International de Victoria” with a delegation of 50 participants.
Etihad Airways is facilitating the arrangements for that German Carnival delegation to participate at the Seychelles carnival. This comes as Dertour, one of Germany’s main tour operators, has confirmed that they are making arrangement for a delegation of 10 German press to travel to Seychelles to cover the 2012 Carnival.
Germany’s Dusseldorf Carnival Association has also offered to dedicate a float to “Etihad Seychelles” at the Rose Monday parade in Dusseldorf in February 2012, one month before Seychelles’ own carnival. Rose Monday is the highlight of the German Carnival season, and the Dusseldorf parade is among the top 3 Rose Monday parades in Germany. The event will be telecast live on Germany’s main television channel, ARD Das Erste. The Dusseldorf press will also cover the parade extensively, and it is also expected that they will also cover the Dusseldorf delegation’s presence in Seychelles.
Given that Rose Monday is a school holiday in many parts of Germany, Seychelles stands to benefit from valuable exposure to a wide audience. It is also likely that the German participants will extend their stay following the Seychelles Carnival, creating a further opportunity to nurture even more interest in Seychelles as a holiday destination for German holidaymakers.
The news of Germany’s participation in the Seychelles Carnival was confirmed by Edith Hunzinger, Seychelles Tourism Board Manager based in Frankfurt, Germany, following her recent meetings with Etihad Airways in Germany. Alain St.Ange has said that the Carnival Organizing Committee was happy with the latest support for their 2012 Carnival. “We are set to have another great event where the world will descend on Seychelles to participate in an event now known as the ‘carnival of carnivals’ and staged as the melting pot of cultures,” said Alain St.Ange.
