Seychelles captures Belgium market at Salon des Vacances

Seychelles was represented at one of the major consumer fairs in Belgium, Salon des Vacances, from February 2 to 5, 2023.

The delegation representing the destination at the ‘Salon de Vacances’ was Ms. Myra Fanchette from the Tourism Seychelles team, alongside Mrs. Maryse William representing Silver Pearl Tours and Travel.

For more than 60 years, the Salon des Vacances has attracted large numbers of travel lovers coming to discover their next holiday destination amongst the 350 exhibitors and 800 sub-exhibitors present. The fair targets both trade and consumers in Antwerp (Belgium).

Speaking about Tourism Seychelles’ participation at the fair, Ms. Fanchette mentioned that Seychelles remains one of the top destinations on the potential visitors’ bucket lists.

“We met a lot of visitors who have visited Seychelles before who are dreaming of going back.”

“A handful of them are already repeating visitors and had only good things to say about their experiences,” added Ms. Fanchette.

One of the visitors, Mr. Francis Mommaerts, first visited Seychelles in 2009 and returned to the islands two years later with Ms. Chantal Van Houteghem. They spent their holiday on the West Coast of Mahé and spoke fondly of their adventures.

Tourism Seychelles is putting a lot of focus on developing the Belgium market as it has great potential. The market brought 4,151 passengers to Seychelles in 2022 compared to 2,933 in 2021 and 3,116 in 2019. The fair is one of the many initiatives Tourism Seychelles uses to attract visitors to the island paradise.

Seychelles lies northeast of Madagascar, an archipelago of 115 islands with roughly 98,000 citizens. Seychelles is a melting pot of many cultures which have commingled and coexisted since the first settlement of the islands in 1770. The three main inhabited islands are Mahé, Praslin and La Digue and the official languages are English, French and Seychellois Creole.

The islands reflect Seychelles’ grand diversity, like a great family, both large and small, each one with its own distinct character and personality. There are 115 islands scattered across 1,400,000 sq km of ocean with the islands falling into 2 categories: 41 “inner” granitic islands that form the backbone of Seychelles’ tourism offerings with their wide suite of services and amenities, most of which are readily accessible through a selection of day trips and excursions, and the remoter “outer” coral islands where at least an overnight stay is essential.