After six-days of a fully-packed itinerary, touring various tourism establishments of Seychelles, the familiarization visit of a group of 30 travel agents of Thompsons Holidays ended with a fun-filled, exotic Creole gala evening.

The 30 travel agents of Thompsons Holidays, who arrived in Seychelles on Saturday, March 17 and left on Thursday, March 23, were hosted to the Seychelles Creole gala dinner by the Seychelles Tourism Board.

Present for the evening were the Seychelles Minister of Tourism and Culture, Alain St.Ange, along with the Principal Secretary for Culture, Benjamine Rose, and the Minister’s Special Adviser, Raymonde Onezime, as well as the Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Elsia Grandcourt, and other representatives of the island’s Tourism Board.

Also present were the representatives of Select-Seychelles, the destination management company responsible for organizing the group’s familiarization trip to Seychelles.

The Seychelles gala dinner, which had the group discovering Seychellois traditional music and dances, as well as a selection of local cuisine, took place on the last evening of their stay at the popular feet-in-sand restaurant of Chez Batista, located south of Mahe Island.

The evening started off with a spectacular demonstration of traditional “Moutya” dance, with local dancers of the group “Fek Arive” performing the aged-old dance of Seychelles around a fiery bond fire.

The performance, which had some of the travel agents attempting the “Moutya,” was followed with a speech from Minister St.Ange.

In his speech, Mr. St.Ange told the travel agents that Seychelles will continue to work closely with Thompsons Holidays. “Seychelles will continue to provide you with the needed tools so as to enable you to continue to sell Seychelles as a destination to South African travellers,” said Mr. St.Ange.

Reaffirming Mr. St.Ange’s engagement, the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Mrs. Grandcourt, said that the Tourism Board remains fully committed to work with Thompson Holidays.

“Thompsons Holidays has shown that it believes in the destination and the potential of Seychelles to cater to South African travelers, and the Seychelles Tourism Board on its part will continue to provide you with its support,” Mrs. Grandcourt told the travel agents.

The CEO of the Tourism Board also thanked Select-Seychelles, who had organized the visit, and all the partners who ensured that the group had a meaningful and enjoyable experience of Seychelles.

Mrs. Grandcourt’s speech was followed by a short message of thanks from one of the travel agents, who said that their experience had been absolutely fantastic. “You have a wonderful product; I have no doubt when more flights come to Johannesburg, you will see many more South African tourists coming to your islands,” he added.

The evening continued with a small prize-giving ceremony of a quiz that took place earlier that day as part of workshop, which had the travel agents grouped into four groups. Surprisingly, all four groups were winners of the quiz, and each of the travel agents was presented with a gift bag. Later that evening, they were also presented with a small souvenir of the destination by the Seychelles Tourism Board.

After the prize-giving ceremony, the travel agents were invited to savor the Seychellois Creole cuisine of Chez Batista restaurant, after which the floor was opened by the “Fek Arive” dancers, which left the travel agents dancing the night away.