Seychelles Tourism Board makes presence felt in Middle East market

The Jeddah International Travel & Tourism Exhibition 2016 (JTTX6), a trade and consumer event, opened doors of good opportunities for exhibitors to provide their services and launch new products, attracting the highest attention from the media, trade, and public sectors.

The Seychelles Tourism Board made its presence felt in the Middle East market at the start of the year in its participation in the recently-concluded Jeddah International Travel & Tourism 2016 event held at Jeddah Hilton from February 3-5, 2016.

The 3-day event had more than 20,000 visitors, 150 trade exhibitors, and 17 countries represented in the event. It was the first time for the Seychelles Tourism Board to partake in the said event, as the office deemed it was a good avenue to open more business opportunities in KSA, most especially in Jeddah.

KSA is one of the key markets for Seychelles in the region having a 28.14% increase in visitor arrivals as recorded in year-ending statistics in 2015. The event, though it was a first for the office, was a very successful one, as trade and consumers alike visited the stand and showed interest in knowing more about the destination.

“We are delighted on the outcome of the JTTX6 event, as we were able to communicate with different trade partners and consumers in Jeddah and at the same time have a glimpse on the latest travel behavior in considering KSA as one of our primary markets,” said Ahmed Fathallah, Regional Manager at the Seychelles Tourism Board Dubai Office.

Seychelles Tourism Board, in its pursuit in reaching more consumers, is committed to engage in more activities such as the JTTX6 to reach its goal and build better relationship with the consumers.

“Our first participation in the JTTX6 event has given us the opportunity to raise the profile of Seychelles as we aim to maintain and increase demand for the destination not just from our trade partners but from the end-users as well, which are the consumers. We have also placed several activities to be carried out for us to be able to best promote the destination,” added Fathallah.

It can be told that other trade and consumer fairs to be participated on is in the pipeline for the office to further push and promote the destination.

Seychelles is a founding member of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) .