Seychelles to host international food and hotels trade fair

The three-day exhibition from November 28-30, 2014 will be organised by the CDC Events & Travels (Pty) Ltd, a Sri Lankan company with 15 years of experience in hosting such fairs. This will be done in collaboration with the Small Enterprise Promotion Agency (Senpa), the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industries (SCCI) and the High Commission of Sri Lanka in Seychelles.

It has been described as a concept of regional trade and south-south cooperation by Minister St Ange who was speaking to journalists during a press conference at the Espace building in the presence of Sri Lankan high commissioner Rajatha Piyatissa, tourism principal secretary Anne Lafortune, Seychelles Tourism Board chief executive Sherin Naiken, Senpa chief executive Penny Belmont, Sandy Kellar the director/general manager  of Vision Voyages Pty Ltd, GSA Sri Lankan Airlines/Mihin Lanka, and CDC Events & Travels (Pty) Ltd representative Imran Hassan and its local partner Vipul Kanumale, and SCCI chairman Marco Francis.

Under the name ‘Food & Hotel Seychelles 2014’, the event will be organised to ease trade between the exhibitors from all over the world – from Sri Lanka to India, Abu Dhabi to Singapore and from neighbours of the Indian Ocean – offering products and services needed by resorts and hotel industries of Seychelles. It will be held at the National Sports Council (NSC) Hall, Roche Caïman.

Activities such as culinary competitions and industry-related seminars are also being planned with an objective of attracting persons representing hotels and resorts from Seychelles. The fair will also act as a meeting ground and ideal platform for local and international food and hotel suppliers to meet on a one-to-one basis.

Minister St Ange said we are all tourism ambassadors for Seychelles and we need to understand the need to reposition the country in all its markets. This forthcoming Food & Hotel Seychelles exhibition is part of what the STB calls business tourism in the MICE (Market of Incentives, Conferencing and Events).

The minister added that the exhibition will be a chance to see a wider range of quality products on the doorsteps of Seychelles.

"We are encouraging hotel owners and traders to go meet these exhibitors, to establish new contacts and in so doing open the door for our private sector to strengthen itself," Minister St Ange said.

He added that the idea is to bring diversity and to also give the local traders the chance to boost up their services through the new range of products.

Speaking at the conference, Mr Piyatissa said he is keen to ensure this event becomes successful as Sri Lanka and Seychelles enjoy a strong bond of cooperation.

This first Food and Hotels Seychelles exhibition will help to cement that bond which exists between the two countries, he said.

"Through this exhibition, the local community will be able to establish a chain of suppliers for the hotel industry, thus this will be a boost for the Seychelles tourism industry," he said.

SCCI chairman Marco Francis said the chamber is always encouraging this kind of event in Seychelles to open more doors for the local business community.

….The CDC Events & Travels (Pty) Ltd is linking with local partners such as the Sri Lankan High Commission, Senpa, the SCCI, the Seychelles Investment Board, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the Tourism Board.

Exhibits at the fair will be in various categories such as food and beverages, catering equipment and services, furniture and tableware, and health, leisure and entertainment.

During the three-day fair, there will be a culinary contest whereby local chefs will compete for culinary honours in 11 categories such as creative bread display and creative coffee.

In a PowerPoint presentation, Mr Hassan gave details of the fair and the culinary contest, adding that some big hotels have already registered.

Mr Hassan said special awards will be given out such as for best chefs and for the most outstanding culinary competition.

Mihin Lanka is set to be the main airline partner of this Food and Hotels exhibition.

During the press conference, Minister St Ange also spoke about the SCCI’s annual trade fair to be held in May next year as part of the FetAfrik festival.

"Last year for our Kreol Festival in October, Didier Robert of Reunion headed an impressive delegation of businessmen to stage a trade fair and push their products. Earlier this year Mr Francis and the SCCI hosted a small trade fair primarily made up of Mauritian business partners, and  in May next year we shall offer a trade fair to promote south-south cooperation where many regional countries will display their products and build new connections," Minister St Ange said.

He added that Seychelles is ideally positioned to promote the concept of friends for all, enemies of none, allowing our country to become a hub where trade partners of our region will come to develop south-south cooperation. (HC)