Seychelles holds first-ever destination workshops in Kazakhstan

The two workshops were held in the cities of Almaty and Astana, as ten companies from the local trade hit the road in a roadshow format to meet existing and new sellers.

The companies participating alongside Tourism Seychelles and Air Seychelles were local Destination Management Companies (DMCs) Creole Travel Services, Mason’s Travel, 7° South, Luxe Voyages, Summer Rain Tours, SilverPearls Tours and Travels, as well as hotel partners Kempinski Seychelles Resort, Savoy Seychelles Resort and Spa, Story Seychelles and Anantara Maia Seychelles.

For most of them, it was their first-time meeting trade partners from Seychelles on a 1-to-1 basis, and there was a high level of interest to learn more about the destination and what it offers.

The workshops also provided further networking opportunities for both trade partners and agents during dinner, which included presentations and video screenings of the different products.

It is important to note that Kazakhstan is a fairly new market for the majority of the local trade, and although it has gradually produced small numbers of visitors to Seychelles over the years, it had not been a strong enough source market for any company.

Now, with the new direct flights, which will extend the connections in and out of Almaty beyond June, there are more prospects to develop the market and more opportunities to drive up sales.

Seychelles and Kazakhstan signed a historic aviation agreement to foster new tourism links in October 2022. The air services agreement allows airlines to operate direct flights between Mahe and Kazakhstan.

Since 1st January to the week ending on 12th February, 830 Kazakhstani tourists have visited Seychelles, of which 98 % have travelled on the Air Seychelles flight. A dozen other passengers with Uzbek passports also flew to Almaty to connect with the Air Seychelles flight. Altogether, Air Seychelles carried 849 passengers for this period.