To smoothen communication between the two countries and deepen tourism ties, Air Seychelles will soon begin direct flights between Mumbai and Seychelles, Seychelles Tourism and Culture Minister Alain St Ange on Wednesday said.

The service is likely to start by end of this year. “At present there is no direct flights from India to Seychelles. One can reach Seychelles from India via Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Colombo (Sri Lanka). We had a meeting with the Indian minister and key officials in New Delhi on this issue. We expect the direct flights from Mumbai to Seychelles thrice a week to begin from December this year,” Ange told reporters here.

The multiple flights in a week will cover the distance in around four hours. The increased association, the minister said, is expected to further boost travel trade between the two countries.

“With increased awareness, India’s travel trade community will be able to place Seychelles high on the destination list.

In Q1 of 2014, saw a 15 per cent growth in arrivals from India compared to first quarter of last year and we expect this upward trend to continue in 2014 and 2015,” he said.

Ange said there were also talks to include India’s Andaman islands in the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Regional Organisation, that includes-Islands of Comoros, La Reunion, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Mayotte, the Seychelles and Sri Lanka as member islands.

“We position the Indian Ocean region as a quality world-class holiday destination and promote inter-island packages to help increase visitor numbers to member destinations. India has also shown interest to join the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Regional Organisation,” he said. The prospect will be discussed in a meeting to be held next month in this regard, he said.

Seychelles is mainly targeting honeymoon, luxury, adventure and experiential travellers from Delhi and Mumbai.

“We are getting response that has surpassed our expectations. We will initially target travellers from Delhi and Mumbai before venturing to other cities,” he added. Seychelles is a small country with only 89,000 population, of which 45,000 are working people, he said.

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