Brazilian travel agents from the four key Cities of Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Gramado and Belo Horizonte, participated in a series of “ “Seychelles destination & product “ training and workshops around Brazil last week, organized by the island’s Tourism Board and airline partners, Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways,
Key Brazilian Tour Operators… FVO, Raidho Viagens and Kangaroo Tours also participated.
David Germain, the Seychelles Tourism Board Director for Africa and the Americas was present together with the head of the Tourism Board’s Representation Office in Brazil, Gisele Abrahao and her team of Seychelles dedicated staff from the GVA office, based in the Brazilian commercial City of Sao Paolo,
Mr Germain said “ Seychelles need to remain visible in South America, in order to increase arrivals to the archipelago from this part of the world, and training
is an important part of our marketing efforts to obtain results” he said, “ the South American market continue to perform well for Seychelles, with a small and steady number of arrivals each year, with a 7% growth to date this year, compared to last year” said Mr Germain
The Seychelles Tourism Board also participated in the “Festuris Tourism exhibition “ in the province of Gramado, in the Southern Region of Brazil.
Air access to Seychelles from South America will further increase significantly this year, with flights by Qatar Airways & Turkish Airlines, both airlines flies to South America, with easy connections to Seychelles . There are currently five airlines flying from South America with good connections to Seychelles,
Etihad Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines ( via their hub in the middle-east )and South African Airways, ( via Johannesburg )with easy connections with Air Seychelles from Johannesburg to Seychelles. Air Seychelles flights from Paris is also seen as a great option for tourists from the Americas. “We are leaving no stones unturned in our drive to keep our tourism industry moving forward. This is our work and as a fisherman would do if he wants to deliver fish to the market is to go out to a fishing bank and fish, we go to tourism source markets to claim our share of the market” said Sherin Francis, the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board.