Seychelles named the Favourite Beach/Island Destination by Condé Nast Traveller Readers

Seychelles scooped the Favourite Beach/Island Destination accolade at the Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice awards 2017.

The award was presented to the Chief Executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Sherin Francis, and Manager of the Seychelles Tourism Board office in Dubai, Ahmed Fathallah.

This was during a ceremony held at the Yas Viceroy Hotel in Abu Dhabi, in the evening of Wednesday December 13, 2017.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of the travel & hospitality sector, media influencers, and other corporate industries.

Seychelles is famed for its powder-white beaches and clear, tranquil, turquoise waters – attributes that makes it a popular destination for family vacations, as well as beach weddings and honeymoons. Winning the Favourite Beach/Island Destination accolade has thus given an added boost to the destination’s popularity.

To note that this year, the Seychelles Tourism Board embarked on a campaign to engage with the Condé Nast readers, highlighting Seychelles’ attributes as a Beach or Island Destination; Adventure Destination; Destination for Food and Family Destination. In the end, the readers seem to have been more enticed by the beach and island characteristics of the archipelago.

Mrs Sherin Francis said: “I believe it is a well-deserved accolade for Seychelles, given we know that we have gorgeous beaches and surrounded by unique islands. However, in our efforts to try and win the award for the first time this year, we realized that we needed to be more visible in the Condé Nast traveller magazine, engage more with our readers and of course encourage them to vote, when voting opened. Part of the campaign, which was launched both by our Middle East office and team at the headquarters was to show how unique and different Seychelles is compared to other island destinations.”

The accolade also represents further inspiration for the Seychelles Tourism Board’s office in Dubai to continue with their promotional efforts to feature Seychelles as a leading beach and island destination, especially with the United Arab Emirates having recorded an increase of 19 percent in terms of visitor arrivals so far in 2017, and currently positioned as the country’s third leading market.

Ahmed Fathallah said: “This is an achievement that inspires the team and myself to carry on with our effort to promote the destination and to organize even more events as a way of acknowledging and thanking our valued partners across the media, trade, consumer and corporate sectors. This success is a tribute to our combined efforts.”

The annual Condé Nast Traveller Middle East Readers’ Choice Awards is the GCC’s premier travel industry awards voted by readers of the magazine.

Accolades are presented to the travel and tourism community for their notable contribution to global travel.

Readers were invited to register and vote for their preferred travel experiences from destination, international hotels and resorts, hotels and resorts in the Middle East as well as Aviation, Cruises and Tours – rating them in each of the subcategories.

The winners have been revealed after thorough submission of ratings and comments, as well as casting of votes by over 300,000 travelers. Voting closed on Wednesday November 29, 2017.