Seychelles signs tri-centre tourism accord with South Africa
Three iconic and very different destinations are united as a single tourism prospect with the signing of an agreement between the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) and two South African groups.
The memorandum of understanding has been signed with Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) and the Mpumalanga Parks and Tourism Agency during the ITB travel trade fair in Berlin, which ends tomorrow.
Its aim is to promote travel packages rich in diversity, combining the tropical island experience of Seychelles and the scenic splendour and African safari experience of Mpumalanga with the vibrancy, colour and excitement of one of the world’s most beautiful cities and regions – Cape Town and the Western Cape.
As part of the agreement, the parties will promote joint packages highlighting the unique selling points of Seychelles, Mpumalanga and Cape Town and the Western Cape.
They will also share information to improve their marketing strategies and collaborate on campaigns and travel trade promotions so as to increase their share of the global market. This agreement will run until January 31, 2013.
Calvyn Gilfellan, chief executive of the CTRU – the official destination marketing organisation for Cape Town and the Western Cape – said: “This agreement comes at the perfect time when the Western Cape, Seychelles and Mpumalanga are looking to make major inroads into common international markets of interest.”
David Frandsen, executive manager international marketing of the CTRU, added: “These markets include North and South America and Europe, which are critical sources of tourism for all the signatories to the agreement.”
He is representing Cape Town and the Western Cape at the ITB fair in Germany and signed the agreement on behalf of the Western Cape Provincial Minister for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Alan Winde.
Charles Ndabeni, chief executive of the Mpumalanga Parks and Tourism Agency, said: “Mpumalanga will be complementing the experiences offered by both Seychelles and the Western Cape to the South and North American market, as well as Europe.
“This arrangement provides an opportunity to position Mpumalanga as the safari and adventure tourism destination to these markets. The Latin American region is an emerging market for Mpumalanga and we will be using this platform to engage with the travel trade to design and develop packages that will incorporate the product offering of Mpumalanga.”
Vice-President Joseph Belmont, who is heading his country’s delegation at the ITB, said Seychelles is happy to be associated with its mainland neighbours in South Africa.
“It is in Africa, working with Africa, that we shall be strong in promoting our continent to the world,” he said.
Director of tourism marketing Alain St Ange, who signed the agreement for Seychelles, said: “South Africa, Cape Town and the Western Cape and Mpumalanga are ideal associates for Seychelles in joint promotions. We complement each other, and the diversity we are offering as tri-centre destinations is hard to beat.”
Bernadette Villemin, Seychelles’ director in Europe who witnessed the signing ceremony, said: “In today’s tourism environment it is important that we synergise all our marketing efforts and our resources to drive business to our respective destinations.”
This agreement also comes at a time when Air Seychelles is extending its services to include a weekly flight to Cape Town, via Johannesburg, from March 21.
This move comes as a response to increased visitor interest in combining a holiday between South Africa and Seychelles, and will also provide more direct links for the football World Cup in June and July.