There has been a remarkable level of debate throughout 2014 concerning the state of tourism in Seychelles at this
time. No doubt this has resulted into many valuable suggestions for further consideration by those responsible for executive and legislative decisions.
Not officially invited to take an active part in these debates, I have made it a point to stand on the sideline up to now. However, that historically I am the one who pioneered the development of international tourism in Seychelles; that I was mostly responsible for the build-up of our international airport; had tourism in my portfolio as the first Chief Minister of the country; and that I have since become, in my own right, a worldwide traveller; I believe that certain of my views and suggestions are deserving of consideration in the current national endeavour to make a success of our tourism industry.
I thank you, Mr Editor, for providing me the opportunity to put forward some of these views and suggestions in order that they may be considered as integral points in the ongoing debates.
That the Seychelles constitutes one of the most beautiful island groups in the world is a fact which is internationally acknowledged, but the beauty of our islands was the work of our Creator and we, the people of Seychelles, are lucky and blessed to be here. As a result of our isolation from the rest of the world, we were able to preserve most of the characteristics which make our islands beautiful and special. It must be accepted that since we broke away from our isolation and started the development of the islands as an international tourism destination, we have done a remarkable job in preserving our natural assets. As the Chief Minister, I took the view that no architect in the world can replace the architectural qualities of the Creator and Nature, hence our recognition that the islands’ physical beauty remains the most important factor within the context of the overall development policy.
The physical beauty of Seychelles is sufficient to attract people from all over the world to justify a first voyage of discovery to our islands. This first visit convinces them as to our natural beauty, but will they return for a second visit?
To attract 200,000 visitors annually is certainly not a great achievement considering the overall size of the international tourism cake. We have certainly not achieved a high “return visitor level”. It is for this reason that we must face the why question squarely in the face, hence justification for the ongoing debate to search and identify the answers. This has become more urgent because while in the past, regionally, we were only competing with Mauritius, today we have Sri Lanka, Madagascar, the Comoros, Zanzibar and all the coastal states of eastern Africa aggressively engaged in taking a share of the West Indian Ocean tourism cake.
The first question which we must face is are we seen as a friendly people, and are the tourism policies in place geared to get us regarded as a friendly people? Basically, the Seychellois is extremely friendly in nature and have always welcomed the outsiders with a smile and open heart. However, I consider it most unfortunate that for reasons of political manipulation the government of the Second Republic went out of its way to pro-actively revive the slavery factor, an exercise which resulted into many of our people confusing service with servitude. That we had a slavery connection cannot be denied but if we are the mix of race which we represent, this was due to the high level of human fraternisation between the masters and the slaves. This in effect is the basis of the Creole race and constitutes a sample of the world to come as globalisation becomes more and more impactful. Let us therefore be more positive about the future and move forward without negative thoughts with respect to a situation which is dead and gone. Unless we are giving service with a smile genuinely and heartily our body language will not be interpreted as friendly by the visitor from outside. If we were able to add the islands’ physical beauty to the image of a friendly people, we certainly would have the ingredients to become a very successful tourism destination.
However there are obviously certain questions which must be positively considered and answered if we are indeed to become a most successful tourism destination. In this connection comes the question of the cost factor of a visit to Seychelles. Are we giving the visitor value for money? Far too many of our people assume that the average visitor to our shores is a wealthy man with a bottomless pocket and fail to appreciate that in many cases they have accumulated one or two years of savings in order to come and spend one or maximum two weeks among us. As they arrive in the country and from the airport view the towering Trois Frères mountain, they are immediately convinced that this is indeed the most beautiful country. Their first experience with the people is probably with a taxi driver. He has a lot of interesting stories to tell the visitor as he is driven to the Berjaya Hotel at Beau Vallon. He is getting endeared to him until he is told that the cost for the trip is R500. He then starts to realise that travelling internally in Seychelles by car is an expensive exercise. However, he pays the bill and settles in his comfortable hotel room. But sadly he becomes disturbed when the following day the concierge approaches him and says: “Sir, why did you take a taxi to the hotel? When you are ready to go back let me organise for you a taksi pirat which will cost you only R200.” Thus the man starts to think that he has been fleeced and hence his first disappointment with his visit to Seychelles. Having lured by advertisements to visit Vallée de Mai with its unique coco de mer, he decides he must pay a visit to Praslin. However, when he gets to departure point, he is told that if he is not a local citizen he should pay three times more for the ticket. Now, is this conducive to the promotion of our country as being pro-friendly to visitors? The man certainly does not think so.
Then comes the cost factor. Seychelles has become a highly expensive destination area for the amenities and services which are provided. Somebody recently told me: “Sir James, for what I pay for one night in a five-star hotel in Seychelles if I were to go to Thailand I could have with that money not only a comfortable room but also one massaege at breakfast time, one massage after lunch and one massage to put me to sleep and there will still be some cash remaining in my pocket. Last week I decided to vsit two institutions providing massage services in the country. The massage was good but for one and a half hours the bill came to R1,050, which is scandalous considering the wage level in Seychelles. Why therefore do we not have a school training our young people to give massage and to allow them to earn R200 an hour giving a massage say on Beau Vallon beach, similar to what is available in Bali or Pukhet? The massge story is pertinent to the fact that the government needs to have in place an active manpower policy which has in mind making our destination an affordable and successful one.
Besides the question of value for money there is also the question of keeping the visitors fully active and occupied during their stay in Seychelles. When it comes to honeymooners they are so preoccupied with keeping themselves engagingly happy that they may not require a list of activities to kill the time that they are here. However, most other people, especially visitors from countries like Japan and China, will not be satisfied just sitting on a beach watching the sun rise and the sun set. They may want to go fishing but unless you are in a position to fork out two or three thousand rupees, the fishing you had in mind before you arrive in Seycelles could remain a dream and not become a reality. We must therefore indeed debate and consider all we can do together to keep our visitors fully engaged and happy during their stay. When I was leader of the opposition in the National Assembly I spoke about the creation of a tortoise race and making a monthly coco de mer auction sale as ideas of keeping the visitors occupied and active on a rainy day. What I got was a lot of ridiculous and sarcastic comments. If only SBC television would have enabled me the opportunity to explain to the people what I meant about a tortoise race and what the coco de mer auction is all about they would have certainly appreciated that the ideas should be followed. I remain of course ready to explain these two possibilities on SBC if given the opportunity.
Besides offering sunshine and seas the Seychelles must aim to become a duty free country with respect to all luxury items which would not attract a purchaser to buy if there was any duty imposed on them. In that case they would prefer to purchase the items when they are in Dubai, Hong Kong or Singapore. Thus, there would be no question of loss of revenue but we would have given a new dimension to our tourism landscape. In this respect every citizen of Seychelles should be allowed to benefit from this potential and therefore be allowed to import and sell whatever brand of luxury items which they wish to put on the market. Moreover the duty free potential should not be the exclusivity or monopoly of only a few privileged corporations. I am also ready to explain this potential through SBC if given the opportunity.
James R. Mancham
Founding President of Seychelles
