Eden Island turns to new horizons

Eden Island turns to new horizons
Eden Island Development is looking out to new horizons to capture untapped markets for its real estate, and what better direction to turn their sights on than the Promised Land!
N. Tirant
Israel is fast becoming a new and interesting market for anyone seeking to attract the millionaires and discerning travellers who are not only looking for new destinations to visit as part of trendy holidays, but also investing in that special holiday home away from
home.
That is the essence of the message in the latest campaign of the island development which builds villas, maisons and apartments for the ultimate experience of living in the dream world of Seychelles.
And to help it do this, Eden Island has set up an Israel Sales office and put Israeli national, Lee Ziv, in charge.
Owning a piece of paradise
Located just off the main island of Mahé, Eden Island offers luxurious villas, sophisticated maisons and stylish apartments in a real estate development that also boasts a full-service, deep-water marina with private moorings for each residence in the resort. And as if the exceptional accommodation wasn’t enough, Eden Island
also has its own secluded beaches, restaurants, bars, swimming pools, gymnasium, child-friendly play areas and shopping centre.
Investors in Eden Island properties can benefit from endless opportunities to rent their accommodation out to affluent visitors where permanent residents live enviably, in comfort and safety on an island within an island state.
TODAY met with Lee Ziv and the sales and marketing director of Eden Island Development Company (Seychelles) Limited, Peter Smith, in one of the luxurious seaside villas perched high above the water facing the blue Indian Ocean and Cerf Island across the windswept water. The five-bedroom villa is a dream home for anyone who can fork out the purchase price to call it home. The ride to the villa in the electric buggy was an experience through winding
roads bordered by lush tropical vegetation leaving me feeling like a modern day Robinson Crusoe!
Lee Ziv explains how the adventure began.
“I’m specialised in marketing luxury apartments. I was vice president of a luxury apartment block of more than 140 units in Tel Aviv, selling the exclusive and very expensive properties to people from all over the world. Ten years ago few people believed that the properties would sell to Israelis. But I found that there are lots of rich Israelis,
and more than 40% of very rich Israelis who made a lot of money in high tech bought into the properties,” she said.
It was the same segment of people who wanted to invest more and further afield and Lee felt that she needed to look for new markets for these high worth clients. With many already working and doing business around the world and in Africa, it was just a small step to cross the ocean to Seychelles.
“I met Peter Smith through my connections,” she said, a relationship that would set her on a new journey into the real estate of Eden Island in the paradisiac islands of the Seychelles.
“This was just what I thought my clients would like. They are looking for second homes around the world but I don’t think people in Israel know much about Seychelles. They want to buy land and properties and the lifestyle of marinas for the rich is just what they could want,” she said, fully aware that as properties in Israel become harder to find and much more expensive at up to US$15,000 per square metre, the opportunities abroad would become more attractive.
The working relationship established just three months ago, Lee explains that all efforts are now being put into marketing Seychelles as a destination and Eden Island as “the” place to be.
Her clients, she says, include both Israelis living in Israel but also those who live abroad in the hustle and bustle of big cities like Paris and London; those to whom travel is just another word.
“In the high tech business, they come from around the world and as Israelis travel a lot, it has a big potential,” she says.
Beating the Jones’
Lee speaks with a little humour about the Israelis mentality which, she believes, will help her marketing drive.
“The average Israeli wants to have the same thing his friend or neighbour has. We are very competitive and want to have more. If he has the “maison,” I want the villa,” she said laughing.
Besides, the Israeli buyer needs to see a complete finished product before he buys and he’ll be anxious to know that the developer is taking care of the property. With Eden Island now well established, this is exactly what it can offer today. Lee is convinced that the clients she will bring to Eden Island will be looking for the lifestyle
the island can offer.
“Some will buy to beat the neighbours and some will also want to invest but, either way, they’ll love it,” she says.
“Seychelles seemed to me beautiful but too far away because there weren’t any flights. Now with direct flights, it’s only six hours away. So now my clients won’t feel too far away,” she says, noting the increased charter flights from Israel as well as all the airlines that operate daily into Seychelles.
Working on Israeli arrivals
The idea is to build on the tourism market potential of Israel and get more visitors to come to Seychelles.
“We are meeting also with travel agencies to bring more direct flights because it will be good for them and for businesses to invest more,” says Lee.
‘When you come from Israel, what is it you are looking for when you come to Seychelles,’ I ask Lee.
“Silence,” she says with a laugh. I look at the news and see there’s only one problem. My reality is about Palestinians and Gaza and some soldier being killed. Here it’s beautiful and so silent and peaceful. And if your hobby is diving and sailing, this is the best place to be,” she adds.
Properties to sell
For his part, the director of sales and marketing of Eden Island, Peter Smith, explains that they still have properties to sell.
“Eden Island is a big development and we are looking at increasing the development by 40 or so,” he says. “We’ve sold to saturation in traditional markets and it’s not worth spending more money in trying to sell more into them. What we said was, let’s look at new markets;
so we said let’s go and talk to someone from Israel. And we’ve done that,” he adds.
“We’ve been watching the developments with arrivals from the Israeli market and noted the charters were filling and they’re looking at bringing more flights in. It was hard getting a seat for Lee to get here.
The Israelis want to see what we’ve built and then they’ll come and invest.
“So from the Eden Island perspective, there’s enough to sell, definitely. And even in the re-sale market also there is an opportunity.
“We’ve sold to 44 different nationalities. We’ve even sold to one Israeli who lives just one block away from Lee. They love it. They love the lifestyle,” Peter adds.
Would you change anything in the décor for your clients? I ask Lee.
She chuckles as she answers, “Why would I? Everything is so perfect. The finishing of the villas is so exquisite and the décor is modern,” and, of course the new owner of one of these homes can
add his own personal touch but that would be in the minor detail. Everything else is a ready-made home from home.
Peter Smith explains that the Israelis who come to the island, stay for the time of the holiday but would love to stay longer.
“We’re trying to get more of the visitors from the charter flights to stay at Eden Island and experience the Seychelles and its way of life,” he said.
Local destination management company, Mason’s Travel is the main agent for the Israeli market and works in collaboration with another company, Spirit World.
Lee believes that there may be plans to put on more flights in the future. She welcomes this move as she will be able to encourage more Israelis to visit Seychelles and discover paradise for themselves.
Everyone is looking forward to the arrival of Turkish airlines flights and the politics will not get in the way. With lots of Israelis already working and doing business in Istanbul, only 2 hours away, the prospects for an onward flight to Seychelles are looking better by the minute.
“I’m very optimistic about the challenge I took,” says Lee with the broad smile of someone who knows just where she is going.

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