TOP RESA 2015 – The Tourism Trade Fair of France was a success for Seychelles
ATP- Arab tourism portal-The 37th edition of Top Resa closed its door on a very positive note. The Seychelles delegation returned home satisfied after accomplishing this mission.
Top Resa is the turning point of the tourism season coinciding with the launch of the Tour operators’ winter brochures and the different promotional campaigns by different actors in the industry.
Like in previous editions, the Seychelles stand at Top Resa was very busy on the first three days implying that interest in the country lives on.
The press and media were of course au rendezvous as a significant amount of journalists stopped by our stand. The Minister for Tourism and Culture, Alain St.Ange who was heading the delegation seized this opportunity to meet with different press and kept them abreast of the Seychelles tourism news through interviews given on the stand.
The trade show was punctuated with numerous highlights. Apart from the numerous professional contacts between the exhibitors, the brands and the visitors, exclusive events took place on the fair ground. On the Seychelles front, one of the highlight was the launch of the 2nd edition of the Beachcomber Sainte Anne Aventure for travel agents animated by French television presenter Denis Brogniart. The travel trade professionals could also sample the local Takamaka Bay Rhum alongside same spirits from the neighbouring islands during the vanilla islands rhum tasting event.
The Seychelles was represented by a 27 strong delegation representing 12 companies: Air Seychelles, Berjaya Resorts Seychelles, Beachcomber Sainte Anne Island, Coral Strand Smart Choice, Creole Travel Services, Eden Bleu Hotel, Kempinski Seychelles Resort, Mason’s Travel, Paradise Sun, Pure Seychelles Hotels, Savoy Resort & Spa and The H Resort Beau Vallon Beach
Top Resa 2015 has thus fulfilled its role as one of the world’s major tourism trade fairs and this in terms of the number of visitors and exhibitors alike. Its main role as a forum for travel trade professionals has proven, once again, very fruitful, enabling participants to renew contacts and meet with new interlocutors, discover or re-discover new tourism products and services. At the same time, it must be underscored that stiff competition still characterizes Top Resa and it is the presence therein that a given destination displays its assets to keep its market share, if not increasing it.
Minister Alain St.Ange, the island’s Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture said as he left Paris after his two day stay in France that he was thankful to the members of the Seychelles private sector trade who continue to work with the Seychelles Tourism Board in a private-public sector partnership to help keep Seychelles visible in what is today, and set for a long time to come the main tourism source market for Seychelles. "We all know that tourism is a people’s industry and it is through personal contact that we shall continue to build the needed partnerships in our market place.
The private sector trade who joined us in Paris need to be congratulated for their commitment to work with us to keep Seychelles visible and in so doing relevant. We had a very positive Top Resa and the benefits for Seychelles and Air Seychelles will be apparent. This was our first tourism trade fair in Europe sing the return of our non-stop direct flight between Paris and Seychelles and the discussions at the fair was often centred on this new facility that the tourism trade and the Tourism Board had been asking for" said Minister St.Ange.
