The Seychelles Tourism Board is launching an online training programme in early 2009, aimed at educating agents and operators about the destination.
Seychelles SMART consists of nine modules covering aspects of the islands from its natural history to tourism attractions, and has been available offline to French agents for some time. The training intends to help trade partners increase sales by becoming specialists.
The move comes after it was revealed that UK visitor numbers to the Seychelles in the first quarter of the year were down 13% on the same period in 2007.
STB UK country manager Wendy Betts said: “We were looking at total arrivals reaching 20,000 by the end of next year, however, we are reassessing this. The training programme will allow us to develop closer relationships with our trade partners and help build sales.”