Seychelles president James Michel is seeking to boost tourism cooperation with the United Arab Emirates with the symbolic unveiling of a plaque at the country’s new embassy in Abu Dhabi.

The president, in his capacity as minister for tourism, also inaugurated the Seychelles Tourism Office, which is based in the embassy.

“This day heralds a new era of cooperation between the Seychelles and the United Arab Emirates.

“We are have already made great strides in the development of our friendship and bilateral relations.

“Now our embassy and the tourism office will open a world opportunities for increasing the number of visitors from the Gulf and Middle East as well as becoming a centre for investment promotion and conception of new ideas for partnership,” said Michel.

The event was attended by the Seychelles minister for foreign affairs, Jean-Paul Adam, the UAE deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, Khaled Ghanem Al Ghaith, Seychelles ambassador to the UAE Dick Esparon, the chief executive officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Alain St. Ange and members of the resident diplomatic corps, members of the Seychellois community in the UAE, representatives from travel operators and tourism trade establishments and airlines.

The president and the guests toured the new embassy and tourism office and also enjoyed the songs of the legendary Seychellois singers Patrick Victor, Jean-Marc Volcy and Emmanuel Marie who performed during the opening, evoking traditional Creole ballads, moutia and sega beats as well as ‘romances’.

“The tourism office will be an important component of the Seychelles marketing strategy for the Gulf and Middle East, as this market has vast growth potential and is part of our diversification policy, as markets in Europe are faced with economic crisis.

“Seychelles will benefit from the strong spending power of visitors from the Gulf, and this will further strengthen our tourism industry, ensuring the stability of our economy,” added Michel.