(Seychelles News Agency) - The Domaine de Val des Près, a Creole and craft village offering visitors a true experience of the culture and heritage of Seychelles, will now offer a wide range of branded goods.

The launching of the new brand along with a new line of products and the opening of a new shop - Patchouli Heritage shop – was held recently at the Domaine in the southern district of Au Cap.

The chief executive of the Seychelles Heritage Foundation (SHF), which manages the craft village, explained that the branding will “give more visibility and recognition to and raise the value of products from the heritage site.”

“Branding will give the different products that are produced and bought here more importance and value,” explained Benjamine Rose. 

Rose said that the branding will give the different products that are produced and bought at the Domaine de Val des Près more importance and value. (Seychelles Nation) Photo license: CC-BY

Rose added: “We want to give Domaine de Val des Près the importance it deserves so that tourists and locals alike appreciate it. We also want them to view the different products they buy from the place as worthy and of high quality and standard.”

The branding follows renovation and refurbishment of the Creole village last year as part of its strategic plan.

The foundation has a five-year development plan approved by the cabinet of ministers. This started with the renovation of the main infrastructures as well as the general landscaping so that it showcases the traditional way of life.

The exercise includes a new logo, promotional video, branded products such as t-shirts, caps, key rings, as well as different local delicacies such as pawpaw and other local fruit jams and coconut nougat.

Artist Michel Desnousse was the consultant for the branding of the Seychelles Heritage Foundation. “The logo is just an adjustment of the existing logo and the idea was not to depart from its existing features,” explained Desnousse.

“I focused on the most prominent features of the Grann Kaz which is its colonial style roof and balcony and I also added a new tag line which is; ‘Domaine de Val Des Près - Experience Seychelles of Yesterday’.

According to the artist the project wants people who visit the place to really experience what Seychelles – an archipelago of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean - was really like once upon a time.

The project focused on the most prominent features of the Grann Kaz which is its colonial style roof and balcony. (Salifa Karapetyan, Seychelles News Agency) Photo license: CC-BY

“This will be through what they will see in the Grann Kaz to what they can buy as branded souvenirs and the delicacies they can buy at the Patchouli shop,” Desnousse said. 

Desnousse added that the catchphrase ‘Domaine de Val Des Près - Experience Seychelles of Yesterday’ if promoted all the time will mean a lot in raising the value and importance of the place.

The chief executive of the foundation elaborated that through the promotional video which people can view on their website will create a greater awareness of Domaine de Val des Près and instantly associate it with the Seychellois heritage.

On his part, the chair of the board of the foundation Tony Mathiot commended efforts and work gone into the launch of the new brand and the opening of the Patchouli Heritage shop.

“These are concrete evidence of effective strategies which have materialised into sustainable, innovative and creative projects,” said Mathiot.

According to Mathiot, these new developments have breathed new life into the place with the aim of offering visitors an authentic cultural experience.

Other projects are being planned for the Creole and craft village, including the refurbishment of the Grann Kaz to turn it into a museum and plans to revamp the medicinal garden.