Seychelles meets press at 10th Routes Asia forum
The Seychelles delegation to the 10th Routes Asia forum in Chengdu, China, led by their Minister for Tourism&Culture, Alain St.Ange, has met with the press at the 10th Routes Asia forum at Chengdu, China.
The minister was accompanied by the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Elsia Grandcourt; Managing Director of Operations for the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority, Wilfred Fock-Tave; Senior Air Transport Executive, Florence Marengo; and the tourism board’s Amy Michel and Glynn Burridge.
During the course of one of the press interviews, the minister explained how the Seychelles tourism industry is looking to diversify into China, following recent visits by Seychelles’ President, James Michel, to China, which has helped to open that market to Seychelles. He further stated that Seychelles currently has an Embassy and a tourism office in Beijing, and is looking to open another office in Shanghai, as well as exploring openings in Hong Kong.
“Seychelles is very interested in China,” said Minister St.Ange, “and this is the fastest-growing tourism market for Seychelles. We enjoy strong ties with China, and traditional ones, too, as we have a sizeable Chinese community living in Seychelles who are this very year celebrating their 150th anniversary since their arrival in Seychelles. We have many things in common. We are now looking to capitalize on this common ground to forge even stronger ties with China through welcoming ever greater numbers of Chinese visitors to our shores,” Minister Alain St.Ange said.
Seychelles has successfully used the press in their actions to raise their visibility. They have their own press club called “Friends of Seychelles – Press,” and they continue to hold press conferences right across the globe.
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Seychelles is expected to have direct flight to Beijing from January 2013.