South Africa is the first country to complete Seychelles Smart, the distance training programme aimed at equipping the international travel trade with information on how to better sell Seychelles.

A special workshop was organised recently for the qualifiers in that country and was  conducted by the Seychelles Tourist Office (STO) in South Africa and Air Seychelles.

89 travel agents and tour operators qualified after completing the ongoing innovative long distance training.  The course consisted of four modules which were marked and monitored by the STO.

The agents had to achieve 80% per module in order to move on to the next programme.  During the course of the programme, STMA provided the tools, which included the training manual, videos and the website: www.aspureasitgets.com.

For the final exam, the agents had to compile a comprehensive itinerary, utilizing budget and set criteria to meet the client’s needs.

“We were very impressed with the high caliber of submissions,” said Jenny Kearney, the STO Manager for South Africa and South America.

“It was great to see how much the trade had learnt and the effort they applied. Most of the itineraries showed attention to details and going the extra mile to give added information such as mentioning public holidays and including costs of drinks etc.”

Jenni Harris-Beggs, STMA's director of marketing operations, Ms Kearney and Deon Freemantle of Air Seychelles were the final judges. 

They took the average from the first three modules, plus the final itinerary to find who was the best Seychelles Smart.

The winner was Lara Kamionka from Sure Travel Set who won two return tickets to Seychelles, including transfers and three-night accommodation at St Anne Island Resort.

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