This year’s theme ‘Rethinking Tourism’ provides us with an opportunity to realign our vision for our tourism industry going forward by taking stock of our achievements and also acknowledging our shortcomings.
The tourism industry has evolved. The average tourist is more discerning, indeed, more demanding in a fiercely competitive environment.
While it is true that we have been endowed with unparalleled beauty, sun, sea and sand, many other destinations offer similar products and assets, and often at more enticing rates.
We cannot continue to depend exclusively on these attributes to sell our destination. Today’s tourist is extremely well-informed and equipped with all the online tools they require to be acquainted with potential destinations for a holiday. We need to remain aware of this and ensure that the quality of their holiday does not disappoint and, also, do what must be done to increase the number and variety of our tourism products, particularly those showcasing our vibrant culture and heritage. And we need to provide value for money.
As we celebrate more than 50 years of Seychelles Tourism, which gained impetus with the opening of the international airport, we should also be mindful that ‘Sustainability’ is not just about protecting the environment but also about our community’s involvement in that industry. Only in that way will we be able to market ourselves as a truly unique destination, which encompasses our way of life, our culture, our heritage and our environment. A passionate experience reflecting our Creole identity – Kreolite.
We should never lose sight of the fact that in a world that is more and more frenetic, a world fraught with conflicts and faced with a severe economic downturn, Seychelles, for many of our visitors, represents an idyl, a haven of peace, tranquillity and tolerance, enabling them to reconnect and re-energise themselves. Let us build on that and take every opportunity to make it a part of our visitors’ experience of our Islands.
