Chartered flights in 20 year partnership bring more Israeli tourists to Seychelles
Tourism |Author: April Amesbury | April 17, 2014, Thursday @ 14:02| 6788 views
The Israeli passengers upon arrival at the Seychelles International Airport (Seychelles Nation)
(Seychelles News Agency) - The arrival of Israeli tourists to Seychelles has been given a boost this week as a private Israeli charter landed at the country’s international airport with 280 passengers on board, Tuesday April 15.
The trip is a collaboration effort between local Destination Management Company, Mason’s Travel and Spirit World Production, an Israeli tour operator that has been working with Mason’s Travel for more than 20 years.
The Israeli tourists will spend almost a week, including the Easter holiday for Christian passengers and Passover for Jewish ones, in the Indian Ocean archipelago.
“They will be staying in Seychelles for only six days. Since these are top end clients, they will want to make the most of their stay by visiting as many places as they can, making a great contribution to our economy,” said Nicole Sainte Ange, Mason’s Travel's branding and communications officer.
Spirit World Production has been the only agency organising chartered flights between Israel and Seychelles.
From one to two charters a year, catering for 150 passengers per flight, today the Tel Aviv based tour operator organises two to three flights to Seychelles per year bringing in larger aircrafts, therefore, more passengers.
“Spirit World Production and Mason's Travel are like family, we have never spoken to any other DMC's in Seychelles,” said Yativ Tali, owner of Spirit World Productions.
The Israeli visitors will be spending their vacation in various Seychelles’ hotels of Four Seasons, Maia Resort, Banyan Tree and Constance Ephelia and they will be taking part excursion trips between the three main populated islands of Mahé,Praslin and La Digue.
The group includes some VIPs namely businessmen from large pharmaceutical and telecommunication companies as well as government officials.
The age group is also very diverse with many families in search of relaxation and wishing to discover the Seychelles islands.
One of the passengers who spoke to SNA said a direct flight changes everything, otherwise she would not have come adding that she will definitely come again.
The issue of direct flight is surely one of the factors that limit the number of Israeli visitors to Seychelles.
According to figures released by the Seychelles Bureau of statistics out of a record 230,272 tourists who visited Seychelles in 2013 only 1162 were from Israel.
The next planned Israeli chartered flight to the Indian Ocean island is in October with some 380 passengers on board.