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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

Week-long activities to mark Tourism Day |22 September 2011

The day, declared by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), is marked annually on September 27.

The Seychelles’ Tourism Week will be celebrated from tomorrow until next Friday, September 30, under the theme ‘Tourism – Linking Cultures’. The theme has been set by the UNWTO to emphasise the tourism’s role in breaking barriers across cultures and fostering tolerance, respect and mutual understanding.

The week will start off with a tourism cocktail tomorrow evening hosted by the local destination management company Creole Travel Services (CTS) for its trade partners.

The event will be held at the enchanting Cap Lazare Nature Reserve at Baie Lazare.

The evening will be the ideal opportunity for members of the industry to learn more about CTS and its products, as well as enjoy the charm of this protected site. 

The Cap Lazare restaurant has recently been refurbished and was re-opened in February this year.

The activities will continue on September 24 with the highlight event of the week – the Seychelles Ball – which was previously called the Tourism Ball.  The ball is set to be an evening of elegance and will be held in the glamorous setting of the Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Resort & Casino.

The soirée will bring together government and tourism stakeholders in a social atmosphere where they can mingle and network.

The Seychelles Ball will also be the platform where both the private sector and government will make key announcements in tourism.

On Sunday September 25, a number of Seychelles’ leading four and five-star hotels will be opening their doors to the public, starting from 11am. These hotels include Maia Luxury Hotel & Spa, Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Resort & Casino, Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove Hotel and Le Meridien Barbarons on Mahe as well as the Castello Beach Hotel on Praslin.

Some of these hotels will even be offering special discounts on their services on that day.

The following day, the focus will be on education. A series of interactive presentations by various hoteliers of Seychelles will be held at the Seychelles Tourism Academy. Guest speakers will include Georges Gravé of Maia Hotel, Ken Choo of Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Resort & Casino, Ulrick Denis of Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove, Ben Karroo of Le Meridien Barbarons and Fulgére Morel of Castello Beach Hotel. They will each present a different topic on the industry.

After the interactive presentations, the day will continue with the special Senpa (Small Enterprise Promotion Agency) Tourism Fair in Victoria which will run from 4 to 6pm on that day. 

The fair will continue until 30, where both visitors and locals will be able to discover and purchase locally made craft.

The closing of the fair on September 30 is set to be even more interesting with performance by an international steel band and a fashion show on the programme.

As is the custom on every World Tourism Day on September 27, the Seychelles Tourism Board will hold a special welcome at the Seychelles International Airport for all arriving passengers. This is usually marked by entertainment and the distribution of give-aways.

In the afternoon of September 27, the Seychelles Tourism Board together with the Government of Seychelles-UNDP-GEF Programme Coordination Unit, will launch the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Standards Logo. This label is the first Seychelles’ sustainable tourism certification programme that is being developed for tourism establishments in a bid to promote a more sustainable tourism industry for the islands.

The following day will be marked by the official launch of the State House Tourist Day. Guests attending the launch will be provided with a guided tour of the century-old State House and its gardens.

Also on September 28, in a bid to emphasise the educational aspects of the Tourism Week, the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), in partnership with the Seychelles Tourism Board, will broadcast a TV forum. The exchange between government and tourism partners will help sensitise the public on the importance of the tourism industry and how to address the challenges the islands’ today face.

Throughout the Tourism Week, the SBC will also screen TV spots where key players of the industry, as well as the public, will provide their views on the tourism industry of the islands.

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