Then why not treat them to an attractive new ColiSesel gift pack of local products?

The pack, depicting the beautiful scenery of the Seychelles islands, contains handcrafted products such as a coco de mer made of wood, keyring, jars of jam, local bio tea, lemon grass, coco de mer-shaped bath soap, spices, among other items.

The project is the result of a strong partnership between Murielle Gault – a Reunionnais with Seychellois origins – the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), Seychelles Duty Free, the Small Enterprise Promotion Agency (Senpa) and Air Seychelles.

The ColiSesel gift pack was launched last Friday at the Seychelles Trading Company’s conference room. Present were the STB’s chief executive Alain St Ange, the Seychelles Investment Bureau’s chief executive Shereen Renaud, Elsie Henriette from Seychelles Duty Free and Norma Jean-Louis from Senpa.

The gift pack boasts the STB’s logo Sesel sa and will be on sale at all post offices in the country and the duty free shop in the departure terminal at the Seychelles International Airport.

People who buy a gift pack at a post office will receive a receipt which they should present at the duty free shop to collect it on departure. It costs €95 or R1,425.

Mrs Gault, who has 10 years’ experience in a company called Colipays in Reunion, said Seychelles has a lot of talented craftsmen who produce quality local products, but there is a need to add more value and export them. She thanked them all for their hard work.

During Friday’s ceremony, Mrs Gault also launched the first Seychelles parcel boxes – for inter-island and international parcels.

The first box will be used to send parcels locally – to Mahe, Praslin, La Digue and other islands. It comes in two formats, a 5kg and a 10kg box.

The second one will be used to send parcels to all European destinations by express delivery. The parcel will take 48 to 72 hours to reach its destination.

Mr St Ange, who thanked Mrs Gault for her active role in launching the product, said the packaging of the gift box is a good way to promote not only the beauty of the Seychelles islands but the cultural tourism of our country.

“Tourists who go home with this handy gift pack will surely be walking around with Seychelles’ name, thus promoting the beauty of our islands,” he said.

The project is a stepping stone for other organisations and individuals to follow, he said, thanking all the partners for their support.

Mrs Gault, who is calling on other artisans with interesting craftwork to come forward, has opened a workshop at the Providence Industrial Estate. She employs five Seychellois.

President James Michel was the first to receive a ColiSesel gift pack.