Tourism Fair in Central Germany crowns another bumper year for Seychelles

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

A new record year for the three German-speaking countries that saw Germany solidify the #1 position among Seychelles visitor source markets draws to a triumphant close with Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) Office in Frankfurt attending the TCย Fair in Leipzig, a city in Central Germany with a long tradition in trade fairs.

As in 2017, STB office in Frankfurt closed the yearโ€™s fair season with the โ€œTouristik & Caravaningโ€œ (TC) trade and consumer show in Leipzig, which took place from the November 21 to November 25, 2018.

It is the largest tourism and holiday consumer fair in Central Germany and a key tourism event for the German states of Saxony, Saxonyโ€“Anhalt, Thuringia, and Brandenburg as well as the neighboring countries of Poland and Czechia.

Having been the fairโ€™s โ€œOfficial Partnerโ€ in 2017, it was a given that the Seychelles would be present again this year. The STB office had once again secured a prominent position among the 80 destinations that were offered by approximately 500 exhibitors to the over 60,000 visitors who attended the fair in the Saxon city of Leipzig. The timing and the decision to exploit the often-underestimated potential in this part of Germany proved again very fortunate and successful.

At the stand, the STB team was joined by SeyVillas, who confirmed that the on-site and advance booking situation was very promising for the next year. โ€œWe are very pleased with the outcome,โ€ commentedย Director for the German STB office Ms. Hunzinger.

โ€œThe fair fully met our expectations and proved again that we should not neglect this part of Germany, which is often underestimated,โ€ she added.

The fairgrounds with about 60,000 square meters of exhibition space were fully booked and very crowded over the entire five-day run, which extended from midweek (Wednesday) through the following weekend. In a survey, approximately 95% of the visitors indicated that the show fulfilled their expectations, and 94% intend to return in 2019, when the fair will take place from the November 20 to November 24, 2018.

At the end of the current month, the three mostly German-speaking countries have already surpassed last yearโ€™s final tally โ€” with four weeks, including the strong Christmas season, yet to go. In fact, Austria, with an increase of 26% over the same period last year, had already surpassed its year-end numbers for 2017 in early November.

Germany is a solid 9% above last yearโ€™s all-time record so far, and Switzerland records a 4% increase. However, Edelweiss Air having launched their new weekly nonstop flight from Zurich (Switzerland) to Mahรฉ in late September is expected to give substantial boost to the Swiss market, as did Austrianโ€™s new Viennaโ€”Mahรฉ flight last year for their home market.

At the end of the year, the three countries are anticipated to reach close to 79,000 arrivals, again accounting for more than 34% of European and 22% of Worldwide Seychelles visitors in 2018.

 

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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