SEYCHELLES’ TOURISM MINISTER ALAIN ST. ANGE MEETS THE COUNTRY’S DIPLOMATS ABROAD TO TURN THEN INTO ALLIES TO PROMOTE TOURISM
(Posted 28th October 2016)
Earlier this week did the bi-annual conference for Seychelles’ diplomats and consuls abroad end at the Savoy Hotel, Beau Vallon Bay on the main island of Mahe. There they had the opportunity to meet newly sworn in President Danny Faure and hear about the direction of bilateral and multilateral relations he wants to take.
They also met with Tourism Minister Alain St. Ange and key members of his team
The meeting with the Seychelles diplomats was held at the Seychelles Tourism Academy and present were Secretary of State Barry Faure, Principal Secretary for Tourism Anne Lafortune, the Chief Executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board Mrs. Sherin Francis, resident foreign ambassadors of Seychelles as well as those representing the island state overseas.
Addressing those present, Minister St.Ange on the importance of training for the pillar of the Seychelles’ economy, he said the Seychelles government has put a lot of emphasis on training. He gave the example of the site where the academy is now situated which used to be the former America el-int tracking station.
‘The government decided that instead of putting a commercial enterprise which many people wanted, we went along the path of providing an educational establishment for our young Seychellois‘ he said before adding
‘Tourism is the pillar of our economy here in Seychelles and with this in mind, we needed to ensure we are able to provide a tourism academy that is at the level of the industry that we want our tourism sector to be. We can have more students but it is not about the numbers, it is about providing the level of training which will meet the needs of the country‘.
Minister St.Ange also congratulated Mr. Joubert, the long serving Principal of STA and his team for having turned STA into the only post-secondary institution with all its programmes on offer validated. STA today offers 10 validated programmes that can be recognised around the world.
He also spoke about the jobs that were said to be for Seychellois only is from the days gone by. But for us to do this we need to train them. Training not only for tourism but for Seychelles tourism, we will have qualified and able employees for our tourism industry.
‘We need to respond to the needs of our tourism industry. We will continue to work so that we can deliver for our industry‘.
Welcoming the delegates at the academy, the institution’s principal Flavien Joubert echoed words of thanks to the honorary consuls for helping STA to sign accords with hotels and training institutions in countries that they represent.
‘The academy welcomes over 156 foreign students per year for internships and though we cannot send as many of our students overseas, the academy sends its young trainee lecturers‘ he added.
STA has bilateral agreements with Malta, Mauritius, Oman, Zambia, South Africa, Belgium, England, Germany, Austria, Ireland, India, China, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Philippines.
The honorary consuls’ and diplomats conference is held every two years allowing the delegates to get updated information about the country. It also provides a platform for them to exchange new ideas with the government and private sector, as well as with the country’s ambassadors.
Tourism was among the main topics for discussions during the conference as the sector is the backbone of the Seychelles’ economy.
