(Seychelles News Agency) - Emirates Airline and the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) renewed a marketing agreement this week which outlines joint activities to promote the Indian Ocean island nation.

The agreement was signed Monday on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai by both Orhan Abbas, Emirates’ senior vice president of the commercial operations for Africa, and STB’s chief executive, Sherin Francis.

Speaking at the ceremony, Francis said that Emirates remains a prime partner for the Seychelles.

“The continuous support of all our partners enables us to increase our reach to all our regular and potential clients. Our long-lasting collaboration with Emirates has made Seychelles accessible throughout the world via their extensive network, and its impact has been significant to us as a destination,” she said.

Emirates has a fleet of 271 aircraft and connects Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, to 158 destinations in 86 countries and territories across six continents.

On his side, Abbas said, “We have enjoyed a long and fruitful partnership with Seychelles and have taken an active role in boosting the tourism industry of the island nation. Our commitment to the destination and the partnership forged with the government authorities have seen great success.”

The Emirates vice president added that “the renewal of our agreement provides us with utmost confidence that the growth of tourism within Seychelles can be further developed, and we remain assured that we will continue to see these numbers grow.”

Emirates started operations to Seychelles in 2005 and currently connects the island nation to Dubai and onwards to over 150 other destinations in the Middle East, Asia, Australasia, the Americas and Europe with multiple daily connections.

Also present at the ceremony was Didier Dogley, Seychelles’ Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, who said that the signing of the agreement “underpins the long-standing strong relationship, developed over a decade, between the government of Seychelles and the leadership of this global airline.”   

The agreement will encompass marketing activities such as the attendance of tourism trade shows and fairs, trade familiarisation trips, product presentations/workshops, alongside others, to be undertaken jointly by Emirates and the STB.

Dogley said that Seychelles values the services Emirates has provided and continues to provide to the island nation and its tourism industry.

Tourism is the top contributor to the island nation’s economy.

In 2018, a record of 361,844 tourists visited Seychelles and the main markets were Germany, France, UK, UAE, Italy, India, Switzerland, South Africa, Russian Federation and Austria.