Tourism trade attachés will now form part of Seychelles’ overseas mission staff to help promote the country abroad.

This has been made possible following the signing ofa Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Seychelles Tourism Board.

It was theForeign Affairs principal secretary Barry Faure and Seychelles’ tourism marketing director Alain St Ange who signed the document on behalf of the two partners.

Mr. Faure said the signing has formalised an arrangement that already exists, as there is now an attaché in Seychelles’ embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.

He said this was a pilot project that started in November last year, which has gone very well, and now they want to extend it to other parts of the world where the country has diplomatic missions.

“It has enabled us to combine our resources.  This practice exists in other parts of the world and now we, too, are becoming more effective in the use of our resources,” he added.

“If there are new markets, and the Seychelles Tourism Board feels we should exploit them and place a mission there, we will see how to go about it.”

Mr. St Ange said he welcomes the opportunity to strengthen the partnership between the STB and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Tourism is the pillar of our economy and one role of our ambassadors is to promote our country and tourism industry,” he said.

He explained that instead of opening a new tourist office where we already have an ambassador, it is better to share the resources, which will benefit the country.