Consultant proposes more local involvement in tourism
An international consultant, Oliver Bennett, was recently in Seychelles to give tourism stakeholders a set of recommendations on improving the involvement of local people in providing services for the country’s tourism industry.
This is in line with Strategy 2017, which aims to promote greater Seychellois ownership of the tourism industry.
These recommendations have come as a result of a research project initiated by the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) and sponsored by the Commonwealth Secretariat.
The recommendations are based on the value-chain analysis study that Mr Bennett carried out on our tourism industry, together with another consultant, David McEwen, who was here on a visit relating to the study earlier this year.
After visits to stakeholders involved in the industry, a forum initiated by Mr Bennett and the STB was held on August 11 at its Bel Ombre head office to discuss possible action highlighted in a diagnostic report.
Representatives from three hotels – the Hilton Seychelles, the Four Seasons Resort and the Banyan Tree Resort – attended the meeting, together with the chief executives of the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association and the National Human Resources Development Council, and a representative of the Ministry of Education.
The meeting was also attended by a Department of Education representative, the director of the Seychelles Institute of Technology, the chief executive of the Seychelles Agricultural Agency, the chairman of the Seychelles Farmers’ Association and four other farmers from the association.
The consultants noticed several possible areas where Seychelles can reinforce its tourism value-chain, three of these being identified as key priority concerns that will be further developed.
The first area of concern focuses on in-service training needs within the tourism industry to produce more trained Seychellois personnel with technical skills in areas such as plumbing and refrigeration that are appropriate for hotels.
The second priority is to link hotels and the agricultural sector more closely. The idea is to get tourists more interested in local agricultural produce, as well as to have hotels and restaurants make more use of local food products.
Last on the priority list is to guide micro businesses for local artisans and craftsmen on how they can reinforce their business, for instances in terms of personalising their products and finding out what products tourists would like to buy.
Source: NATION 8-21-10