Seychelles, the tourism case study that is still refered to everywhere

(Posted 13th March 2025)

Never Truer Than Today

Anita Mendiratta of the CNN Task Group published on the 11 April 2014
from CNN TASK: Travel & Tourism leaders close-up, this time a Minister
of Tourism from Seychelles. At the ITB Tourism Trade Fair 2025 in Berlin
this case study re-surfaced and was again discussed especially now the
‘AI and sustainable tourism development’ is being closely analysed.

In this CNN case study Anita Mendiratta writes: The global tourism
community takes great pride in the ability of the sector to enhance the
economic, social, environmental and ideological wellbeing of nations,
enriching the lives of travellers and hosts alike. It brings people, policies
and practices together, unlocking minds, ideas, and resources. And it
provides countries with a powerful spirit of competitiveness, which may
in fact be best realized through cooperation.

Travel and tourism gets people, trade, investment, understanding and
opportunity moving forward.
With close to 266 million people directly employed by the travel &
tourism sector worldwide (equating to over 9% of all jobs worldwide), theresponsibility to ensure that tourism ‘works’ is a widely shared one.
Hundreds of thousands of business leaders carefully monitor metrics to
ensure the ink stays black, the returns continue to be realised. And
within governments, public sector players carefully navigate tourism
development to ensure that growth is inclusive, sustainable, well
planned, well intentioned, well thought through, for the greater well-being
for all people of the destination be they involved in tourism or not.
With so much at stake, where does the role of oversight and optimization
ultimately sit?

Through CNN TASK’s monthly ‘Compass’ articles, as part of examining it
the drivers of tourism growth, a closer look will be taken at various
leaders in the sector, both in the public and private sectors, from across
the traveller experience chain. Using examples from across the travel
and tourism world, windows will be opened to different ways of thinking,
and different ways of working.
The goal: to reveal where the compass of tourism growth is pointing for
destinations seeking meaningful, equitable growth through tourism
economy development and advancement.

A Closer Look at the Invisible

When it comes to tourism industry activity, it is the efforts of the private
sector – the business community – that commands the greatest
attention. The commercial operations of tourism accommodation,
infrastructure operations, attractions, and supporting services are most
able to enjoy the visibility and appreciation of onlookers for their
contribution to tourism sector growth and advancement. The busyness is
most often seen and heard through business.
Often unseen, and unappreciated, however, is the effort made by
government to guide, nurture and path clear effective tourism sector
development. At the head of the table when it comes to government-lead
development of travel and tourism: the Minister of Tourism (also referred
to as the Secretary of Tourism).

With economic, social, environmental and other crisis challenging the
wellbeing of nations across the globe, the importance of the tourism
economy has enjoyed a rise in awareness and credibility over the past
decade. This understanding is fueled by nations recognising the ability of
the tourism sector to help nations get people, programmes and promises
of earnings back on their feet. As a result, the importance of the role of
the Minister of Tourism has increased. As has its profile.

But what exactly is the mandate of the government’s chief champion for tourism?
And how do they turn the promise of enrichment into a working,
long-term reality?

While different destinations will have slightly differing details in their
mandates, essentially the role of the Minister of Tourism is grounded in
the same principles: responsible, sustainable, inclusive, cooperative and
equitable growth and development of the tourism sector and its resulting
economy, executed for the benefit of all people of the destination, as well
as the competitiveness of the nation in attracting visitors, investment,
earnings and positive image.
But how do they make it happen? Vision, creativity, leadership ability and
agility are job requirements, as clearly revealed when examining the role
of a Minister of Tourism through the reflections of one such leader.

Destination in focus: the Seychelles. Punching Above Its Weight

An island nation in the Indian Ocean neighbouring Africa’s eastern
coastline, while small in geographic size and remotely located, the
Seychelles has become a destination with a reputation for ‘punching
above its weight’. Its vital statistics clearly reflect the critical role of
tourism, successful tourism, to its future growth and well-being:
The man behind the tourism machine that is the Seychelles: Alain St
Ange, Honourable Minister of Tourism.

How does he define the responsibility of tourism leadership that sits
squarely on his shoulders? In his own words:
“It is accepted by one and all in Seychelles that Tourism remains the
pillar of the island’s economy. As the Seychelles Minister responsible for
Tourism my mandate remains to take the Government policy forward.
This also means remaining in touch with the industry players and with
our people. The policy covers above all the duty to defend and protect
the tourism industry, and to ensure that it is consolidated for the long
term.
To achieve this, I know that I need our people to be integrated in the
tourism industry of our Seychelles. This is why the Government of
Seychelles invited Seychelles to work in a united manner to claim back
its tourism industry. This appeal has worked and today more Seychellois,
than even before, are benefitting from their tourism industry.
Today, the situation is very different indeed as more informed travellers
with higher expectations of their holiday experience, seek to get beneath
the skin of the country they are visiting and to return home culturally
enriched by the experience.
Whether we realise it or not, we are all being transformed by this
dynamic and by what it bodes for our increasing interconnectedness,
and for the terrain we must navigate in the future.
We are, I believe, all discovering that for our tourism to remain attractive
to this new generation of clued-up, increasingly discerning globe-trotters
we must exploit the wider set of our destination’s attributes, digging into
our respective cultures to lend travellers a fresh perspective on all that
we have to offer.
This in turn, implies greater engagement with our populations whose
support we need to take our tourism industry to the next level and who
can find their livelihoods transformed in return as a result of this exciting
new synergy.”

Central to the success of tourism destinations is making tourism an
industry that all nationals are able to genuinely support, whether they
work in the industry or not. Embedding the understanding around the
value of the tourism economy is an essential basis of understanding for
holistic support of the sector through all parts, and players, in the
nation’s economy and society.

Why is Seychelles an example in this regard? As explained by the Hon.
Minister of Tourism:
“I have always known that if I wanted to build awareness across
Seychelles I needed to make the industry more relevant to all people of
Seychelles. Tourism is so important for Seychelles that it needs the
population at large to remain updated so that the importance of the
industry is appreciated, and the relevance of the industry that remains
the pillar of their economy is understood. This means that every single
national must be continuously informed of what tourism does for them,
why it matters to them.
This is not a behind the scenes job. The position of Minister of Tourism is
not about sitting behind a desk. Because when visitor arrival numbers
are down, when length of stay drops, the buck stops with you, when the
yield from tourism is down, the buck also lands with you. A Tourism
Minister must also be ready to be involved with local business interests,
guiding local development, as well as international Bodies and
Conferences to ensure the country remains as visible as possible and in
so doing remain relevant in the world of tourism. Ministers of Tourism
must work with passion and only passion. It cannot only be a position
with a title.”

For many destinations, and their tourism leaders, it’s not only about a
responsibility within borders. For many destinations, regional
cooperation is vital to not just tourism growth, but survival. Creative
approaches to sector advancement, including competition through
cooperation, leveraging partnerships, eliminating barriers and stimulating year-round visitor activity, have become essential strategic levers for many destinations.
When reflecting on the tireless efforts made by the Seychelles in
developing strong operating relationships across the African continent,

Hon. Minister St Ange takes on an ‘abundance’ based approach:
“I believe that unity is strength. Developing regional partnerships can
only grow the region’s tourism cake. This is obvious even to the most
naïve and sceptical observers. No island can be an island on to itself.
This is a policy of the past and a remedy for disaster.
A transformative aspect of today’s brand of tourism we are following as
Seychelles is cross-border approach as we are witnessing with the
upcoming 2014 edition of the Carnaval International de Victoria, now co-
hosted by Seychelles, La Reunion, Madagascar, Mayotte and South
Africa KwaZulu Natal. This is a clear example of States which may once
have considered themselves as rivals in tourism, coming together in an
initiative to market, not only themselves but their region.
Another example of Seychelles playing its part is in the Indian Ocean
Vanilla islands and the East3Route cross -border tourism investment
initiative between Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa and now
Seychelles.
These kind of collaborations between neighbours and erstwhile rival
states bears a clear message of the benefits of co-operation in the
global marketplace and the potential for transforming lives across entire
regions through joint tourism initiatives.
Today the world in which we live is changing very rapidly as the internet,
social media and increased inter-connectivity between peoples at all
levels of society is bringing about change at an unprecedented pace and
intensity. There is practically no area of human endeavour that has
remained untouched in this roller-coaster ride on the back of these ever- burgeoning technologies which create fantastic opportunities, as well as
challenges in this brave new world we are entering.
As a classic example of a people-oriented industry, tourism, upon which
many of our region’s economies depend to a greater or lesser extent,
continues to experience profound change, forcing us to re-evaluate our
approach to what makes our respective destinations attractive to
consumers, and which channels we use to get the message across in
the ever-more-crowded, global market place. Less than two decades
ago, Seychelles was very much relying on its sun, sea and sand ticket to
attract visitors to our shores, even though it is widely accepted that we
have the best in a sun, sea and sand holiday. Today we are all the
stronger as a destination, and as the people of the Seychelles, because
we our thinking smarter, and working smarter.”

One nation, one destination, one leader, one perspective.

In any destination across the globe, the role of government is vital to the
success of tourism sector growth, development and competiveness.
Likewise, the role of tourism is for the unification of the people of the
destination through economic, social, environmental and ideological
advancement and identity.

Dr. Alain St.Ange is today a tourism consultant and heads his own Saint
Ange Tourism Consultancy working across the African Continent and beyond in
the ASEAN block of countries. A

fter many successful years as head of tourism in Seychelles, he is a much sought-after speaker appearing on the ‘Speaker Circuit’ across Africa, Asia and Europe and continues to be invited to address topics such as tourism, sustainable tourism and air connectivity.

Alain St.Ange is a presidential candidate for the Seychelles 2025 Presidential Elections set for 27th September and he has been calling for a reset of the island’s economy by making tourism work again for his island nation.