INTERVIEW WITH THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SEYCHELLES HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM ASSOCIATION SHTA MR. JOHN STRAVENS
(Posted 07th May 2014)
While recently in the Seychelles for the Carnival International de Victoria, opportunity arose to interview the Chairman of the Seychelles tourism and hospitality private sector association SHTA. Here are his answers to at times searching questions, reflecting on the challenges the archipelago’s private sector is presently dealing with:
(John Stravens, Chairman of the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association seen here at the SHTA office in Victoria with Louise Ah-Koon, the SHTA Executive Director)
1) Mr. Stravens, as head of the Seychelles’ tourism private sector you are in the spotlight. Please explain to our readers what it is you personally do in the tourism industry and what challenges you found during your first year in office since you took over from long serving chairman Louis D’Offay.
The role of the Executive Committee together with the Chairperson of the SHTA is multifaceted, but I will resume it in two main aspects;
A) The responsibility vis-à-vis the members.
– Take stock of the various concerns of the industry and be instrumental in addressing these issues at all levels, but mainly with the Government being the policy makers.
– Promote the relationship with other organisations be it local or overseas. For instance, we have negotiated to become a councilor on the SCCI (Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry) board. This because we believe that the Tourism Industry is the most important sector of the private sector but also it impacts on the other sectors and depends on them (i.e, fisheries, agriculture, arts & crafts, construction, traders etc) for its success.
– To create and maintain the interest of its members. We need to increase the membership in order to maintain a strong and effective secretariat. The role of the Association is not only to be reactive to situations but also to be pro-active in the progress and consolidation of the Tourism Industry.
B) The relationship with the Government.
– It is important to create a meaningful Public / Private sector partnership in the Tourism Industry. On the one hand the private sector must understand the role and responsibility of Government and on the other hand, the Govt must understand the role of the private sector in the creation of wealth and must regulate in a manner to promote rather than stifle prosperity. It is therefore in that spirit of mutual respect and support that this partnership can be achieved.
– Regular meetings are held with various Ministries – Tourism, Finance, Transport, Labour, Environment – to present, request and negotiate the various needs of the tourism industry.
2) The Seychelles apparently struggle to find enough local personnel, enough well trained and skilled local personnel to fill the growing number of open positions, created by the opening of new hotels and resorts. The local papers are full of adverts seeking to recruit new staff. It is understood that filling such gaps, when no local labour can be found, with expatriate labour has been difficult and several hoteliers I spoke to have cited this as one of their greatest problems to provide and maintain top quality services. What is the SHTA’s position on this.
– It is an undeniable fact that not only in the tourism industry, but also the whole national workforce cannot be supported by Seychellois only. It is therefore logical that the tourism industry be allowed to employ foreign workers with as little hindrance as possible and this based on a quota system. Tourism is an active industry and services must be delivered NOW, for Seychelles to maintain its position as an attractive destination. One must realize that competition is worldwide and we cannot afford to be complacent.
– We must ensure that adequate training is given specially to the upcoming generation and with proper monitoring, the foreign workers can be replaced by locals.
3) The Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association, as a whole but also expressed by individual members during this and past visits, appears to think that there are far from enough air seats on the market to help fill all the beds which are now found in the top 5+ star bracket but also among the many locally owned B&B’s, self catering chalets and apartments, beach cottages and holiday lets. What formula do you as an association to determine what might be the right number of seats to achieve viable occupancies between the mid 60 to 70 percent range.
The fact that we have seen considerable investment in the tourism industry has resulted in a larger bed capacity, be it from large resorts, small local establishments, self catering ‘chez l’habitant’ type, yachts & live aboards. An availability of 10,000 (ten thousand) bed nights is a realistic figure and this will represent 365.000 bed nights yearly. Even if we were to take an average stay of about 9 nights (which is considered high), we would require 244.000 at 60% and 284.000 at 70% visitors per year respectively. 2013 arrivals stood at 230,000 and the trend is for shorter stays. It therefore stands to reason that we need to increase our arrival figures.
4) Staying on the airline side – there was a time, say 3 years ago, when your members were very vocal to demand direct flights from key tourist source markets in for instance Europe after the Air Seychelles withdrawal from London, Paris, Milan and Rome. Has the new strategy of Air Seychelles to operate into a second hub, Abu Dhabi, and use codeshares to reach a wider number of European airports, been working for your members? The ‘new’ Air Seychelles appears certainly more engaged with their partners in the tourism industry now than it was at one stage, but do you see how such different positions can be reconciled to both sides’ satisfaction?
The ‘raison d’etre’ of Air Seychelles was to be the insurance policy for the tourism industry. Circumstances have changed the mode of operation of Seychelles through an alliance with Etihad. The Middle East hubs have increased considerably the number of flights to the Seychelles but have not yet produced its maximum effect either because clients prefer direct (non-stop) flights or the hub is not being fed to its maximum requirements for onward flights to the Seychelles. While we should maintain and enhance the hub system, the fact remains that many clients would opt for direct (non-stop) flights. The Minister for Tourism and Culture has been very pro-active in either maintaining the flights of other airlines (Air Austral, Ethiopian Airways) or in promoting the importance of Seychelles though organisations like IOAC or UNWTO ministerial meetings to be held in Seychelles on 14/15 October 2014. The SHTA supports all initiatives to increase air access to the Seychelles.
5) There has been talk of eventually imposing a cap on new resorts and hospitality businesses when a certain number of visitors has been reached, due to the challenges to sustain such numbers vis a vis the provision of water, electricity and even available skilled labour. Do you support such a potential cap, what numbers would the private sector be looking at when such a threshold is reached and what solutions does SHTA offer.
A serious study needs to be done to assess the carrying capacity of the Seychelles vis-à-vis the tourism industry. The expansion and prosperity of the Seychellois investors must not be compromised but large foreign investment must be staggered to meet the national need and to maintain Seychelles as a pristine destination avoiding the pit falls of mass tourism.
6) Your tourism minister has in the recent past been very outspoken about Seychellois needing to take control of their tourism industry, take control of their destiny and play a larger role compared to the past. Your members comprise the big international resorts as well as smaller locally owned hotels, resorts, B&B’s and self catering establishments, attractions and DMC’s. How is this policy by government received, as after all it was President Michel’s government which began to push for entrepreneurship, to start businesses, to move from seeking employment to creating employment, by Seychellois for Seychellois. What is SHTA’s position on this.
We totally support the stand of the Minister for Tourism and Culture. (refer q5 above)
7) The Seychelles Tourism Academy has been increasing student numbers and – when their new facilities will be completed – will be able to teach considerably more students than now. The courses taught and the graduates in for instance F&B service, house keeping, front office operations, do they meet the expectations your members have as employers, what they expect from such graduates when they join the workforce. How closely are you involved in the process of regularly reviewing the curriculum and course content to be getting ‘ready made’ graduates who can more or less be instantly absorbed into employment.
The investment into the Seychelles Tourism Academy is a welcomed move. For the foreseeable future, the industry will be able to absorb all graduates being produced by the Academy. The importance is to produce elements that will sustain the Industry. The curriculum must be attuned to the requirements of the industry, apart from providing the appropriate academic requirements, there is the need to develop a service culture that encourages the right attitude and the importance of the industry to the Seychelles economy.
8) Turning to the tax regime, regulatory requirements and costs, grading and classification as it is in place now.
a) What issues do your members have with say grading and classification of their properties?
b) I recall ongoing discussions over the introduction of VAT – are there still unresolved issues and what is your message to government
c) Where do you think all these issues could be streamlined in order to lower the cost of doing business for your members?
As mentioned earlier, the key word is partnership. If Government over tax and over regulate the Industry, the economy will slow down and with it Government programmes. On the other hand, if the private sector does not support the Government financially, the effect will be negative. Partnerships mean understanding and realistically supporting each other. Trust and commonsense must prevail in that respect.
The question of grading and classification has been on and off the agenda for a while. Because of the diversity of our products, main island Mahe with all its infrastructure and facilities, differing from surrounding islands and far away islands, may make classification a daunting task. I supposed initially it may be wiser to establish standards adaptable to various categories and locations and with that introduce a pricing mechanism that falls into the realm of fair trading, thus ensuring prosperity for all.
9) Let us take a look at tourism marketing. The Seychelles Tourism Board has undergone some very significant changes over the past 5 years and its success to increase visitor numbers I think is beyond argument. Yet, sections of your membership, especially very small and small properties offering self catering or B&B, have in recent days expressed their hope to me that their market segment could do with greater support by STB, receive greater visibility when marketing abroad. Considering the emphasis by STB to keep the global focus on the glitz and glamour side of the destinations, top and very high end tourists, what would you tell your members and / or the tourism board how to meet such hopes and aspirations, how to bring two such seemingly contraire positions together.
The Seychelles Tourism Board has the mandate to promote Seychelles as a Tourism Destination and as you commented we have seen some positive results. The chain hotels have the advantage of their own marketing networks and this contributes towards their occupancy.
It is therefore desirable that the STB make a special effort together with the DMCs to particularly market the Seychellois owned establishments. Already some efforts are being done in niche markets, eg, Reunion, South Africa to promote these hotels. More research, exposure and innovative approach will further enhance the visibility of the Seychellois hotels and thus, their occupancy.
This can also be done by promoting special interest activities that would bring visitors closer to the community, ie, fishing, diving, nature conservation, walks and trails, arts and crafts, festivals (Carnaval International de Victoria, India, China, Creole) etc.
In that respect, the various marketing representation overseas could, apart from the ‘Glitz and Glamour’ side, also concentrate on the niches.
10) How close is SHTA’s relationship with government, how directly involved are you in key decisions BEFORE they are taken and do you think your concerns and input is taken on board, is reflected in new legislation, new regulations. In which areas would you like to see the consultative process intensified, have a greater say in all things concerning the private sector? Are you broadly satisfied with the status quo or would you like to change a thing here and there.
As mentioned earlier, the SHTA has consultative meetings with various Government Ministries, namely Tourism, Finance, Transport, Labour, Environment etc.. Some of these meetings have resulted in positive response, in understanding of issues but in some cases, they lack prompt decisions and actions. It is to be appreciated that each Ministry realizes the work and importance of its own, but at times fails to understand the overall implications, so important to the industry. It would be beneficial to have occasional meetings with all Ministries concerned in order to have a holistic view and approach to tourism.
And in closing, what is your message for eTN’s readers around the world when they hear about, read about and see films and promotional clips from the Seychelles. What is it YOU want them to know why they should come here for their vacation?
Seychelles used to have the motto ‘Unique by a thousand miles’. The thousand miles have become irrelevant due to air access, but the uniqueness remains undeniable.
Today, under the motto of ‘ Seychelles, another world’ this charm persists.
Come, make the experience of visiting this unique … another world .. the Seychelles
Thank you Mr. Stravens for your time.
