Up Close ... with Flavien Joubert, principal of the Seychelles Tourism Academy |30 September 2014

‘Joining the tourism industry was always a choice for me’


I found a note on my table, attached to a copy of international magazine Kreol, advising me to read pages 32 to 35. To my amazement, I saw a very familiar figure on one of the pages.  I read the story of a man who have inspired many and who has contributed greatly towards the success of our country’s tourism industry and still has the energy to do it.

To me, Flavien Joubert is a man whom I can describe as a leader who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. A man who has transformed the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA) to what it is today. Under his leadership the hotel school at La Misère has become an institution of repute.

Who is Flavien Joubert?
We all know him as the head of the STA, but how did his journey into the tourism world start? Was it a dream he always had or destiny?
“Joining the tourism industry was always a choice for me. It was my dad who inspired me to choose tourism, and I will always be grateful to him for that,” he said.
I sat in the Seychelles Tourism Board’s conference room last week, listening to Mr Joubert leading me on a journey through his past, moments of joy, sadness, pain and uncertainty. A story worth telling of a man who deserves great respect and admiration.

The district of Mont Fleuri was where he spent his childhood days and school years. At the young age of 17, Mr Joubert crossed the ocean and discovered a new life in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea on the island of Cyprus.

His scholarship allowed him to join the Hospitality and Tourism Training Institute there to follow a course in hospitality operations and marketing. This was just the beginning of a long journey of his professional development in hospitality and tourism training.

Cyprus – the good, the bad and the ugly
Life was great for Mr Joubert at the start of his new life in Cyprus. He had great fun, amazing friends and all that motivated him to excel in his studies there.
But the good times were not meant to last as trouble began to stir among the Cypriots. Friends became enemies, smiles and laughter were no longer seen or heard. There were bombs, dead bodies, soldiers and weapons everywhere.

Hard times lay ahead for young Flavien. Never did he think that he would one day be a war refugee. But years later, Mr Joubert is a man full of life, motivation and the desire to persevere. How he did it, is a feat not everyone can achieve.

“As we all know, during those days, even if at times food were plentiful, it was hard for many families to afford. Life was tough back then. We ate what we had and when we had. I come from a simple family of seven,” he said.

“So when I was a refugee, I always thought of the hard times I lived through in Seychelles and it kept me strong and I was able to adapt. But my faith in the Higher Power managed to keep me going as I knew that I had to thank the Almighty every single day for being alive.”

“My only worry was survival not food. I witnessed people being killed, injured, people trying to escape and survive.

“I never prayed to be saved or to escape, all I wanted was to live another day and I thank God for that.”
The greatest lesson in the camp as a refugee is that you realise there is no race, no colour and no difference between who is wealthy or poor in such situations, he added.

But truly Mr Joubert was a Godsend to the other refugees as despite his hardship and being away from his family and motherland, young Flavien did manage to put a smile on the others’ faces. He used to tell them stories of the Seychelles, talking about our fish, our flora and fauna and the beauty of our people.

“The trauma I went through in the war zone has had a great impact on my life. What I’ve been through has made me develop positive attitude towards life,” he said.

“I made a promise to the Almighty that if one day I get out I would do my best to help humankind and this is what I am doing now.”

Professional development
The tough times in Cyprus did not stop him to pursue his studies in another foreign land. Mr Joubert was a student in Brighton College of Technology in England, studying culinary, hotel operations and service for two years.

Mr Joubert also studied hospitality operational management at the Guildford University in England. He also ventured into school management, diplomatic studies and international cooperation marketing field at the Business Academy in Germany, where he spent three years.
Locally Mr Joubert also followed courses for two years at the Teacher Training College.

“After my studies, I came to Seychelles for a short while with Hallway Overseas Limited. I started as a sous chef and then I became an executive chef. I then moved into management, opening the Côte d’Or Lodge, a small hotel on Praslin, in the early 80s,” he recalled.

“I was then asked by the government for the first time to help with the Ecole Hotelière des Seychelles. At the time most subjects were taught in French. I started there as a lecturer, and this was when I went to the Teacher Training College for my teacher training.”

“From then I became a senior lecturer and I went on an exchange programme to teach in Singapore, Reunion, Malawi and Mauritius. It was after that, that I went to Germany. When I came back to Seychelles, I became the principal of the hotel school which was based at Bel Ombre at that time,” he added.

In 1996, he changed path, leaving the hotel school to venture into business. Mr Joubert was given the task of being the training consultant for the Coco de Mer enterprise and the general manager of the Black Parrot Hotel on Praslin.

Destiny called again. Mr Joubert’s expertise and presence was needed to shape the organisation of the hotel school and to put it to a high standard. A task which was challenging as at that time, the school had changed 11 principals in the space of nine years.

In 2007, Mr Joubert had his leadership hat back on at the school as his biggest challenge was to get the staff to adapt to changes – from the way they were doing things, their behaviour, attitude towards work to a new culture of respect, conducive environment and ensuring learning and teaching was taking place, among other vital aspects.

“One other thing I had to do was to get the managers to develop the discipline of managing the unexpected, to understand that without change there would be no success and progress. I had to help them to develop a positive attitude,” he said.

Mr Joubert strived to bring more awareness on the need to understand that changes were needed for the survival of the school.

Most people did not believe in his potential to achieve all that. But to their amazement, Mr Joubert has reached heights beyond their thinking. He has succeeded and wants to achieve much more for the now called STA.

A taste of success
“I have made it through and tasted success because of my strong spiritual background. I have always accepted that one has to surmount difficulties instead of running away from them,” he said confidently.

“My greatest success at the academy is seeing that now we are having a new school which is set to be the pride of the Indian Ocean and Africa.”

His beliefs
“I simply believe in the Higher Power, I believe that if you do well the results that you get are great but if you do badly you pay the consequences,” he said.

“When I pray I simply say thank you, I never ask for anything. After what I’ve been through, the desire to live is what motivates me the most now. I want to enjoy my life with my wife Nadege and my two daughters.”

Another aspect in which Mr Joubert believes in is international relations.
“I believe our Seychellois professionals need to have exposures, by having the chance to go abroad and acquire experiences and new knowledge.

Life away from the academy
“When I was young, I used to do karate but now I spend a lot of time in the sea as I live near the beach. I go swimming or snorkelling. I also jog early in the morning, as I also believe in leading a healthy lifestyle,” he added.

“I am more of a family man, spending time with my family at home but I also like partying. I love dancing and enjoy listening to soul music,” he said.
Kitchen is my passion, he said with a smile.

“I spend all my time in the kitchen when I am at home during the weekends. My favourite is Creole cuisine with my rice, octopus coconut curry and chutney. I have even written a culinary book which was published in France in 2000. It was entitled ‘Culinary recipes from the Seychelles’.
Mr Joubert has been inspired to write a second book which is set to be launched next month.

The old and the new school
As a man who has headed the school for so many years, who has seen it evolve and students excel in the tourism field, Mr Joubert is saddened by the fact that nowadays students take things for granted as they now have everything at their disposal.

“In the past, students used to be more motivated and dedicated towards their studies and a lot of them are now holding high positions in the industry,” he pointed out.

He also spoke on his succession plan for the academy, by having five Seychellois, out of whom three are doing their Masters. He added that as the head of the STA, he is confident one will be able to take over the helm at the academy.

“Now my greatest wish is that what I have started keeps on going and becomes better because it will be a shame for it to go back to how it was in the 1990s,” he said.

Mr Joubert, a Sagittarian who has all the traits of this zodiac sign and even more, believes that a leader is born and not made. His exact words as he ended our conversation.

By Mandy Bertin