Emirates renews its Support for the Mauritius and Seychelles tourism industry

Emirates renews its Support for the Mauritius and Seychelles tourism industry

EMIRATES, the world’s largest international airline, which flies daily direct from Lusaka and Harare to Dubai, on Tuesday renewed its support to jointly promote tourism in Mauritius and the Seychelles by extending the individual global marketing agreements (MoUs) with the Tourism Boards of the two countries.
The MoUs were signed by Orhan Abbas, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations for Africa; Arnaud Martin, Chairman Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority; Kevin Ramkaloan, Director and Chief Executive Officer Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority; and Sherin Naiken, Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board in the presence of Alain St. Ange, Minister of Tourism and Culture of the Seychelles and Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. The signing took place on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market 2016.
“Mauritius and Seychelles are very important destinations to Emirates and this explains why we are renewing our commitment to promote the islands’ attractions around our global network. In 2015/16 financial year, Emirates carried over 500,000 passengers from and to Mauritius and Seychelles,” said Orhan Abbas. “We will develop a series of joint activities together with the tourism boards of Seychelles and Mauritius aiming to increase the visibility of the destinations with our clients. We truly believe that this partnership is beneficial to both parties and are confident that positive results will be seen in the short term.” he added.
“I am delighted to be the signatory of the new agreement between the MTPA and Emirates. This would enable us to capture a bigger share of existing markets and conquer new markets. Our partnership with Emirates is invaluable and contributes several points to the Mauritian GDP. Emirates contribution towards the advancement of our tourism industry is undeniable and their commitment with the two daily A380 to the island is total. We look forward to an even stronger and more dynamic relationship with Emirates for our mutual benefit. We welcome Emirates decision to commit additional capacity to our island throughout our low season. Choosing the right partner is core to our business strategy.” stated Arnaud Martin.
“I am pleased to be signing this MoU with our loyal and much valued partner Emirates airline which will serve to foster and further the excellent spirit of collaboration that already exists between us.” said Sherin Naiken
The Agreement will see marketing activities such as attendance of tourism trade shows and fairs, trade familiarisation trips, product presentations and workshops, amongst others, be undertaken to achieve the parties’ objectives.
In 2015, over 1.4 million tourists visited Mauritius and Seychelles; the destinations’ main markets being France, Reunion, United Kingdom, South Africa, China, Germany, Italy, UAE, UK, Russian Federation, Switzerland and India.
Emirates started operations to the Mauritius in September 2002 with three weekly flights. The daily A380 service was launched in December 2013 whereas the double-daily service was introduced in October 2014, following a strong demand for Emirates’ flagship aircraft on this route. The A380s operating to Mauritius have a capacity of 517 passengers including 14 luxurious First Class Private Suites, 76 lie-flat beds in Business Class and 427 spacious seats in Economy Class.
In June 2015, Emirates increased its capacity to the Indian Ocean Island of Seychelles, when it switched from the Airbus 330-200 used on one of the two daily services to a larger Boeing 777-300ER. The introduction of the Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, which operates as flight EK 705 from Dubai and as EK 706 on the return flight, increased the overall capacity on the route by 1722 seats per week and made the route an all-Boeing 777 operation.
Emirates has a fleet of more than 250 aircraft and flies to more than 150 destinations across six continents.

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