Seychelles appoints Vesna Rakić to head the Tourism Board and confirms new Air Seychelles leadership
Seychelles announced two important personnel decisions in the same week for sectors that are directly connected in that island state: tourism and air transport. The Office of the President of the Republic of Seychelles announced on May 22, 2026, that Vesna Rakić had been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board, effective May 15, 2026. In a separate announcement on the same day, the new leadership of the board of directors of the national airline Air Seychelles Limited was also confirmed, with Captain François Jackson reappointed as chairman of the board and Jean Laporte as vice-chairman.
The decisions come at a time when Seychelles is trying to strengthen its position as one of the most recognizable island destinations in the Indian Ocean, while also responding to changes in international travel, air connectivity and travellers' consumer habits. Tourism is one of the central economic activities for Seychelles, while flight availability and the reliability of the national carrier have a direct impact on the number of arrivals, accommodation occupancy and the revenues of local businesses. That is why appointments in tourism promotion and airline management are viewed not only as administrative changes, but as part of a broader effort to connect marketing strategy, transport accessibility and the sustainable development of the destination.
Vesna Rakić takes over the Seychelles Tourism Board
According to a statement from the Office of the President of Seychelles, Vesna Rakić is taking over the leadership of the Seychelles Tourism Board after more than three decades of work in the tourism sector. The official announcement states that she holds a degree in business administration, with a focus on marketing, from London South Bank University, and that her career has covered destination marketing, tourism product development, strengthening tourism systems and entrepreneurship in Seychelles. Such a professional profile is important for an institution whose task is the international positioning of the country and the coordination of promotion in source markets.
The Office of the President states that Rakić was a director and senior consultant at Sales & Marketing Seychelles Pty Ltd, and before that head of sales and marketing at bookseychelles, market development manager at Creole Holidays and marketing manager at Travel Services Seychelles Ltd. Her official biography also specifically mentions her work connected with a portfolio that included Desroches Island Resort and Cat Cocos. Such a combination of experience in sales, distribution, inter-island transport services and hotel and tourism products suggests that the new mandate at the Tourism Board will be strongly connected with the practical needs of the market.
According to the same announcement, Rakić is also a founding member of the Seychelles Small Hotels & Establishments Association, an association that brings together small hotels and tourism establishments. This detail is not only a biographical fact, but also an important signal for the local sector, because the tourism economy of Seychelles does not rely only on large luxury resorts. Smaller accommodation capacities, local excursions, transport, hospitality and services connected with the experience of the destination form a broader value chain that needs to be included in the country's promotion.
The tasks of the Seychelles Tourism Board
The Seychelles Tourism Board is responsible for the marketing and promotion of Seychelles as a prestigious and sustainable tourist destination. According to the Office of the President, the institution develops and implements national marketing strategies, strengthens the Seychelles brand in key and new markets and supports the development and diversification of tourism products. The role of such a body is especially important for countries whose tourism depends on international arrivals, because success depends not only on the attractiveness of natural resources, but also on accessibility, visibility, price competitiveness and the quality of the experience.
The official announcement emphasizes that the new Chief Executive Officer will work on strengthening the global positioning of Seychelles, its competitiveness in a changing tourism environment and greater economic benefits from tourism, while preserving environmental and cultural values. This wording shows that the new management is expected to strike a balance between growth and protection of the destination. Seychelles is internationally recognized for its beaches, marine biodiversity and sensitive island ecosystems, so every growth strategy must take into account the capacity of space, infrastructure and the long-term consequences of higher-volume traffic.
Tourism promotion in that context is not just advertising the destination. It includes the choice of markets in which the country wants to position itself more strongly, cooperation with airlines, the hotel sector and tour operators, as well as the development of themes that can extend stays and increase visitor spending. For Seychelles, segments that combine nature, the sea, cultural heritage, weddings, honeymoons, luxury travel, as well as the offer of smaller local businesses that can retain a larger share of revenues in the country, are especially important.
Air Seychelles gets a new board of directors
In a separate announcement from the Office of the President, it was stated that a new board of directors of Air Seychelles Limited had been appointed. Captain François Jackson was reappointed chairman of the board, and Jean Laporte vice-chairman. The other board members are Irene Croisée, Nathanielle Soomery, Daphne Hoareau, Bernadette Willemin, Georgette Capricieuse, Captain Richard Young, Doreen Zelia and Captain Sandy Benoiton as Chief Executive Officer and ex officio member. The board's mandate lasts three years and began on May 1, 2026.
The reappointment of Captain Jackson is also important because of his many years of experience in aviation. Seychelles Nation previously reported, citing the Office of the President, that Jackson is the longest-serving pilot of Air Seychelles and that he was first appointed chairman of the board in 2023 after leaving pilot service. Such experience in the operational part of aviation can be relevant for the oversight of a company that must simultaneously take into account safety, reliability, costs, route network and commercial priorities.
According to official information published in 2026, Air Seychelles is entering the board's new three-year mandate with a combination of experts from aviation, business and tourism. It is especially significant that Bernadette Willemin, former director for destination marketing at Tourism Seychelles, is among the board members, because this further demonstrates the connection between tourism promotion and air accessibility. For island destinations, strategic discussions about tourism can hardly be separated from questions of flights, capacity, seasonality and travel prices.
Air connectivity as a condition for tourism growth
Air Seychelles has a special role in the country's economy because it connects international arrivals with domestic inter-island transport. According to data available on the company's official website and public overviews of its network, the carrier is focused on international and regional connections from Mahé and on important domestic routes, including traffic to Praslin. For the tourism market, such a network means that the national carrier is not only a commercial company, but also part of the infrastructure that enables visitors to move through the archipelago.
Air accessibility directly affects the competitiveness of the destination. When choosing distant island destinations, tourists compare the price of travel, flight duration, number of transfers, reliability of connections and the possibility of combining several islands in one trip. If a marketing campaign cannot rely on a sufficiently stable and visible transport network, the effect of promotion may be limited. On the other hand, well-coordinated cooperation among tourism institutions, airports, airlines and the private sector can help extend the season and open new markets.
In that sense, the simultaneous announcement of personnel decisions at the Tourism Board and Air Seychelles is politically and economically significant. It shows that the authorities want to align two systems that have a common goal: to bring visitors, increase the value of tourism spending and preserve the reputation of Seychelles as a sustainable and high-quality destination. Such an approach can be crucial in a period in which tourist destinations compete not only through the beauty of their landscapes, but also through service quality, accessibility and a credible story about sustainability.
Tourism remains a key pillar of the economy
The National Bureau of Statistics Seychelles states that tourism is an important pillar of the economy and that it regularly collects and publishes data on visitor arrivals, country of residence, purpose of travel, average length of stay, type of accommodation and hotel occupancy. These data are important for assessing the effect of promotion, but also for planning public infrastructure, workforce and investment in the sector. Without precise statistics, it is difficult to determine whether the market is growing in a healthy way or whether only the number of arrivals is increasing without a corresponding rise in revenue.
According to the latest publication by the National Bureau of Statistics available for week 20 of 2026, Seychelles had recorded 132,833 visitor arrivals in that year up to that point, which was 13.8 percent less than in the same period of 2025, when there were 154,158. This figure does not necessarily mean a long-term reversal of the trend, but it shows that the new leadership of tourism promotion is taking office in a period in which demand, flight availability and the structure of source markets need to be monitored carefully. Precisely such circumstances increase the importance of a coordinated strategy between the Tourism Board, Air Seychelles and the private sector.
At the same time, data from 2025 showed stronger results in certain periods. Seychelles Nation reported in February 2026, citing the National Bureau of Statistics, that Seychelles recorded 115,551 visitor arrivals in the fourth quarter of 2025, which was 17.6 percent more than in the same period of 2024. Such a difference between a strong end to 2025 and a weaker beginning of 2026 suggests that tourism demand can change quickly, especially in conditions of high dependence on international markets and air connections.
The broader economic and development framework
The World Bank states in its country profile that Seychelles is an island state of 115 islands with an economy strongly dependent on tourism and fisheries, with long-term risks connected with climate change. This is an important framework for understanding the new appointments. Tourism growth brings revenues, jobs and foreign-exchange inflows, but at the same time increases pressure on the environment, municipal infrastructure, coastal areas and local communities. For small island states, the balance between revenue and resource preservation is not an additional topic, but the foundation of long-term competitiveness.
The International Monetary Fund stated in its 2025 report that tourist arrivals in 2024 increased by only 0.5 percent compared with 2023, while spending per tourist fell by 7.4 percent. This figure shows that the number of arrivals alone is not a sufficient indicator of success. For a destination such as Seychelles, it is equally important how much visitors spend, how long they stay, which services they use and whether a larger share of value remains in the local economy. That is precisely why the official announcement on the appointment of Vesna Rakić emphasizes economic returns, competitiveness and the protection of environmental and cultural assets.
The new management of the Tourism Board will also have to deal with the issue of market diversification. Reliance on a limited number of source markets can make a destination vulnerable to changes in flight prices, geopolitical tensions, currency fluctuations or changes in consumer habits. The development of new markets, strengthening existing ones and adapting messages to different groups of travellers are part of a job increasingly based on data, digital distribution and cooperation with the private sector.
Expectations from the new leadership
Vesna Rakić is expected to lead the Seychelles Tourism Board in a period in which destination marketing increasingly relies on a combination of digital channels, partnerships with airlines, quality content and credible sustainable practices. Her experience in sales and marketing can be useful in connecting public promotion with the real product on the ground. Success, however, will also depend on how much the institution manages to include small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, local communities, hotels, transport providers and excursion operators in a shared image of the destination.
The new board of Air Seychelles, on the other hand, is taking responsibility for the strategic oversight of the company in circumstances in which the national airlines of small states must carefully balance the public interest and commercial sustainability. For tourism, it is important that the company remains a reliable partner in connecting the islands and maintaining key international links. For the state, it is important that decisions on the network, fleet and business model are made with a clear assessment of costs, benefits and effects on the overall economy.
The announced appointments can therefore be read as an attempt to strengthen governance in two sectors that depend on each other. Tourism promotion without air accessibility remains limited, while air connectivity without a clear destination strategy can hardly deliver the full economic effect. In the coming period, Seychelles will have to show whether the new personnel decisions can be translated into more stable growth, higher value per visitor and a more sustainable model of island destination development.
Sources:
- Office of the President of the Republic of Seychelles – official announcement on the appointment of Vesna Rakić as Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board (link)
- Office of the President of the Republic of Seychelles – official announcement on the appointment of the board of directors of Air Seychelles Limited (link)
- Seychelles Nation – report on the new board of directors of Air Seychelles and the duration of the mandate (link)
- National Bureau of Statistics Seychelles – data and methodological description of Seychelles tourism statistics (link)
- National Bureau of Statistics Seychelles – latest weekly data on visitor arrivals in week 20 of 2026 (link)
- Seychelles Nation – report on the growth of visitor arrivals in the fourth quarter of 2025 according to NBS data (link)
- World Bank – Seychelles profile and overview of the economic context (link)
- International Monetary Fund – report for Seychelles with data on tourist arrivals and spending per tourist (link)