Seychelles hosts successful Korean Fashion Show as it closes Creole Festival 2010

A Korean Fashion Show (Kim Hye-Soon Hanbok Fashion Show) with Seychellois models was a novelty for Seychelles at the 2010 Creole Festival. This particular event was organized by Mr. Dong Chang Jeong, the Seychelles Honorary Consul and the Seychelles Tourism Board representative in Seoul, South Korea. Mr. Dong Chang Jeong was assisted by Miss Julie Kim from his Seychelles Korea Office. This “Korean 5 Colors” spectacle was from a collection from famous designer Mrs. Kim Hye-Soon, which was presented to Seychelles at the last evening of the island’s Creole Festival to a full house at the Ephelia Constance Resort on the main island of Mahe.

The Seychelles government was represented at this Korean Fashion Show by Designated Minister Vincent Meriton, Minister for Culture Bernard Shamlaye and Minister for Investments Peter Sinon and by principle secretaries and director generals. The evening was officially opened by Mr. Dong Chang Jeong who emphasized that the Korean addition to this 2010 Creole Evening was a result from the official visit to Korea by the Seychelles President James Michel.

The cooperation between Seoul and Victoria in the Seychelles has been getting stronger since the visit to Seoul by the island’s President Michel. The marketing and sales efforts by the Korea Office of the Seychelles Tourism Board is now being coordinated by Mrs. Myrna Michel, the Seychelles Tourism director for Asia and Australia, from the her new Seychelles Office in Singapore. The visitor arrival numbers from Korea is showing positive growth signs with a greater number of participants expected to be traveling to Seychelles for the annual Eco Healing Marathon, also a project of Mr. Dong Chang Jeong from the Seychelles Korea Office.

Mr. Alain St.Ange, the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board and eTurboNews ambassador, congratulated Mr. Dong Chang Jeong and Ms. Julie Kim when he took the podium to address those who had booked tables for the Korean evening. Mr. St.Ange said that this special event was a result of the new cooperation between the Seychelles Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Seychelles Tourism Board.

“We are but a small country, and it is only by joining forces that we shall maximize our resources and have a better synergy for the benefit of our country,” Alain St.Ange said. The Seychelles Tourism Board has been working since early this year under the embassies of the Seychelles with trade attachees, and this has helped bring the island’s main industry to the forefront.

Mr St.Ange also took the opportunity to thank companies who supported the Korean evening saying that they were involved because they wanted to be involved in the growing of that market. “Tonight we have launched another step in our push for a cultural tourism platform. Seeing Seychellois beauties dressed in traditional Korean fashion wear with special Korean influenced makeup was a clear example of our ability to accommodate needs of other cultures, and this was because the Seychellois people are the melting pot of cultures, a result of the diversity that existed in the make up of the population of the Creole Islands of the Seychelles,” the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board said.

Minister Bernard Shamlaye, the Seychelles Minister for Culture, congratulated the organizers of this great show when he addressed the evening. Minister Shamalye said that the elegance of the evening and the professional display put up by the Seychellois Models did the 2010 Creole Festival proud.