SEYCHELLES HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM ASSOCIATION GETS NEW OFFICES
(Posted 02nd October 2015)
The current level of cooperation between the Seychelles’ public and private sector took another turn for the even better when the Ministry of Tourism and Culture offered the apex body office space at the ministry and tourism board building ‘Espace’. Government and private sector have been engaged in regular meetings and site visits to establishments across the islands during which SHTA members were able to express their views and share their challenges and concerns with the minister Alain St. Ange and his team. Regular high level meetings also have given the private sector lead actors the opportunity to make counter proposals vis a vis taxation, work permits for hotel and resort staff recruited from abroad and other pressing issues such as air connectivity. It was largely attributed to the private sector’s relentless lobbying and the support from their French counterparts that Air Seychelles broke ranks with Etihad in regard of nonstop flights between Mahe and Paris, a move credited to catapult the French market back to the top of the international list as leading producer country of tourists to the archipelago.
The move though to offer SHTA office space has also gone a long way to show the private sector the level of support they can expect from the current public sector tourism administration and positive comments came in thick and fast from across the islands when the news broke a few days ago.
In a related development has SHTA also appointed a full time member of staff, Mrs. Natalie Dubuisson, who is tasked to work closely with SHTA member establishments on Praslin and La Digue as a PR and Marketing representative but will be based on Mahe together with the organization’s administrative manager Ms. Louise Testa.
Meanwhile are arrival figures of visitors to the Seychelles still up by a massive 18 percent year on year, helping to raise occupancy levels across the board for the archipelago’s hospitality and tourism industry. The upwards trend is expected to remain as in particular during the just concluded Top Resa tourism fair in Paris several deals were struck between not just the Seychelles but other fellow Vanilla Islands too to bring back the global cruise lines into the waters of the Indian Ocean.
