SEYCHELLES TOURISM ACADEMY EXPANDS HOTEL MANAGEMENT INTAKE
Academy principal Flavien Joubert on Friday welcomed the fourth group of students for a hospitality degree programme, which STA offers jointly with the Shannon College of Hotel Management and has been validated by the National University of Ireland.
The 19 students will study for 3 years at the campus in La Misere / Mahe before but also serve ‘industrial attachment’ spells, one of them already lined up at the Constance Belle Mare Plage Resort in Mauritius. Information available speaks of dozens of applicants for the few positions available at STA for this programme every year and only the very best, scoring the highest all round in the selection process are admitted to the degree programme.
Constance Hotels’ Ephelia Resort, which hosted the event, is a leading supporter of training young Seychellois citizens aiming to make a career in the hotel industry and in fact many of the archipelago’s leading resorts and hotels are closely involved in defining the curriculum and providing training opportunities for STA students in an effort to gradually absorb more Seychellois into the work place.
It was also learned that the initial batch of students offered study places in 2008, will later this year leave for an extended period of time to Ireland before graduating with a Bachelor degree in hotel management. Nearly 60 percent of all jobs across the archipelago are directly (over 20 percent) and indirectly based on tourism activities and supplying the resorts and hotels and, considering the current trend in tourism investments and arrivals for the Seychelles’ will ensure jobs for all Seychellois for years to come, just as long as they are skilled and well trained.
