Air Seychelles and the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) held a joint product update on Monday, October 29, at the Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg (Jhb).

The update looked at the way forward for Seychelles as a tourist destination, its innovative destination marketing campaign, and developments at both STB and Air Seychelles.

With Seychelles being an ideal beach add-on to a safari vacation, and driving a shift in focus to create awareness of the other myriad activities available, the destination is growing its attractiveness for travellers.

Air Seychelles ups capacity

Air Seychelles announced moves to increase capacity on flights to the Seychelles over the upcoming peak periods, in response to heightened demand over the 2018 festive season, and the 2019 Easter period. Charles Johnson, Chief Commercial Officer of Air Seychelles, shares the upcoming developments:

• Flights between Jhb and Seychelles will increase from five to eight per week (with double daily flights on Fridays). Capacity increase will commence on December 10, and end on January 19, 2019.
• These flights will be duplicated over Easter next year, commencing March 22 and ending April 26, 2019.
• Night flights will be launched on December 14, departing Jhb at 22h30, and arriving in Seychelles at 05h30. The return flight on Fridays will depart at 18h25, arriving in Jhb at 09h30.  
• These flights will be duplicated over Easter next year, commencing March 22 and ending April 26, 2019.

The airline will also be purchasing two A320 NEOs, with delivery expected in the third quarter of 2019. These larger aircraft will add 40 more seats to each flight, and will also enable the aircraft to carry a heavier payload, enjoying more efficient fuel consumption. “Payload restrictions are one of the challenges we currently face on our Seychelles-Johannesburg route, due to change in altitude,” said Air Seychelles CEO, Remco Althuis. “The other is the consistently rising cost of fuel. With the arrival of the new NEOs, we will be able to tackle both payload and fuel-consumption challenges, which in turn will hopefully drive airfares down.”

The national carrier will also be looking at the feasibility of strategic partnerships with other African carriers, including codeshares where applicable.

STB embraces innovative destination marketing ideas

CEO of the STB, Sherin Francis, said that the organisation will shift much of its marketing focus to making tourists aware of the other attractions that Seychelles has to offer, in addition to its traditional honeymoon/romantic drawcard. “Hiking is a growing attraction to the Seychelles,” she says, “with hiking trails offering tourists a unique way to experiences the islands. There are also walking trails, and island-hopping”.

“We have a broad spectrum of nautical activities such as sailing and fishing,” adds David Germain, Regional Director – Africa and the Americas, for the Seychelles Tourist Office. “Our culinary offerings, hospitable people, and music are also great drawcards.”

“We are aware that the market is very price sensitive,” says Germain, “and that there is a perception that the Seychelles is only affordable for tourists with a bigger budget. But the truth is that the Seychelles caters for travellers across a multitude of budgets – from more affordable accommodation, to being able to experience all that the islands have to offer on a more sensitive budget. We feel that we have an ‘edge’ over other island competitors”.

Feeding into the destination’s “edge” is the Seychelles travel app, which has made travelling easier and more streamlined for visitors over the past four years. However, the STB is looking at upgrading the app with new content. This is currently in the research and collation phase. “The decision we are faced with now is whether to integrate these upgrades into the current app, or launch a standalone app,” says Francis. The app may focus on hiking trails, incorporating maps that show the trail, as well as the ability to track the hiker’s position on the trail. It will also have the ability to be used offline.

Seychelles has a no-visa policy for all nations – all that is needed is the traveller’s return ticket and valid passport (even temporary passports are accepted), proof of residence and money to spend.