DERTOUR, one of the known German tour operators and now a reference brand in holiday offers to Seychelles, joined forces with the Seychelles Tourist Office in Frankfurt, Germany, to get a large group of German press to visit the islands earlier this year.

Edith Hunzinger, the Seychelles Regional Manager based in Frankfurt, had been behind getting the press to Seychelles last February, in time to cover the annual Carnaval International de Victoria, which this year was jointly hosted by Seychelles and La Reunion.

The press coverage that followed the 2012 Indian Ocean Vanilla Island’s carnival was exceptional in helping to position the Indian Ocean as a tourism region. Today, some four months later, the German public is still being seen in the Seychelles, as a holiday destination, through their own media.

Germany is today one of the strongest tourism markets for Seychelles, and they are recording month-on-month increases in visitor arrival numbers. “The support by DERTOUR to get the press group to Seychelles in February has been a great help. It increased our visibility in Germany, and they are still delivering for us four months later. This is exactly why the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands group entered into the world of events, with each island pushing a different specialty forward. We all want the region as a whole to be more seen and to be more talked about. The carnival staged in Seychelles annually is clearly delivering for the region and for Seychelles,” Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Touirism and Culture said.

In an article entitled, Reise (Travel), in the Rhein Necka magazine, the Seychelles is being pushed as the destination with diversity and good food. Lottemie Doorman manages through the magazine to show a different side of Seychelles where the people and culture are also showcased.