The Seychelles Islands: Live on NBC's “The Today Show” with Matt Lauer”

HAVING launched its strategy to get the newly branded The Seychelles Islands…Another World showcased on CNN, the STB unveils its 'exposure' target marketing approach to beam charming images of these islands into the households of millions of US citizens; via the popular syndicated morning show hosted by Matt Lauer and team on NBC Television. A window of opportunity to provide such an exposure to a captive audience of this highly popular program, the show will allow our destination a positioning in the minds of a new target market. US citizens have thus far been making it to our shores via the cruise ship calls and safari add-ons; a far cry from the numbers which our immediate competitors such as Mauritius and Maldives are able to attract.

But this is about to change as Matt Lauer sets foot on our shores to beam the spectacular technicolor of the magical scenes on the backdrop of what our most beautiful islands have to offer! 'Where in the World is Matt Lauer?' will host its live feed today (2nd May) to a US television viewing audience of more than 5.6 million from one of the best kept secret location of prized granitic (and coral) islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Matt's stage will be the lush setting of the Lemuria Resort in Praslin, where the presenter will share the space with three guests who will bring forth all the qualities that make The Seychelles Islands so exclusive.

Maurice Loustau Lalanne takes centre stage among the contributors as CEO of STB, imparting the virtues and attributes of the destination in his inimitably eloquent style.

Nirmal Shah, with his wealth of knowledge and personal involvement in all aspects of the environment, will offer the viewers an insight into our nature's treasure chests.

Sarah Jensen (Marketing Exec at Creole Travel Services responsible for the US market) was on hand to walk Matt through some interesting aspects of our customs, traditions, culture, way of life, via the sega and the moutia…not forgetting the 'kari zourite'! in essence what the local Creole culture is all about.

The logistical aspects for the setting up of such a live show involved an advance party of producers (chaperoned by Jennifer Long), camera / sound crew working in the background to produce the material to animate the contents of the show; besides the panel of invited guests. They had the chance to get acclimatized with the Seychellois island rhythm. Filming some dazzling landscapes and themes, the team had the chance to experience island hopping first hand. They also conducted various interviews with other individuals from different segments of the industry and had the possibility to take a peek into the panoply of tourism products to appeal to all budgets with the guarantee of providing one of the ultimate (most sought-after) holiday dreams. One of the interviewees (Derek Savy, Marketing Manager Creole Travel Services) threw in some tips on how to better sell this overall Seychelles ambiance and highlighted the multi-faceted characteristics that make our destination so unique.

The profile of our destination will surely obtain a tremendous lift with this kind of exposure (ref. facts & figures links quoted below) on the US market. The Seychelles Islands are finally on the centre stage in the land that perhaps invented dreams! Television and movies have always had the power to take people to these far distant marvel locations. The Today Show has perhaps bridged that gap of the 10,000 odd kilometres that separates us from this lucrative market of avid travellers, hopefully rousing them to live the dream to come and experience the true colours of the islands from 'Another World'…be inspired!

(Hopefully the Seychellois viewing public will get the chance to see a re-run of the program on SBC pretty soon).

The estimated overall review

The Seychelles Islands will be showcased alongside destinations as far reaching as Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, Laos, Istanbul. Ending the series with The Seychelles Islands this Friday (2nd May), the show is expected to culminate with probably the most colourful, vibrant and exotic 'finale' with an audience tune in predicted to be in high numbers. Our beautiful islands will finally be cast as the constellation of gems in the firmament of the American traveller's consciousness!

Where in the World is Matt Lauer?  The concept

The presenter gets its audience to jet set with him on a week's tour around the world. They are entertained everyday as they wake up in a new destination through the eyes of their favourite presenter (Matt Lauer). It provides a fascinating 'slice of life' of the showcased destinations and gets the viewers to connect with the rest of the world on locations that are most of the time unknown or out of their dreams. He does this in the comfort of a Boeing 737 which takes him on his tight schedule to the four corners of the world.

You can watch the program on nbc.com or click on: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24424414#24424414