Putting Seychelles Mission Lodge on Icomos map |31 January 2015

Seychelles is proposing Mission Lodge, one of its heritage sites, as the venue of a workshop that will be organised in October this year by the International Cultural Tourism Committee (Icomos).

Icomos is recognised internationally for its major contribution to tourism management practices.  

Positioning the workshop at Mission Lodge in Seychelles will highlight the committee’s main objective, which is to further promote and develop major heritage assests as tourist attraction sites.  

Having the Icomos branch based in Seychelles and Patrick Nanty, chief executive of Seychelles Heritage Foundation as its chairperson, is what gave Seychelles the extra advantage to have its proposal accepted by Icomos.

Mr Nanty said staging the workshop at Mission Lodge is symbolic for Seychelles.

“Mission Lodge is a model of heritage site which needs worldwide recognition,” he said.

Seychelles is in the run to submit a document to Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) to have Mission Lodge listed as a world cultural heritage site.  

In a bid to smoothly ease Unesco’s recognition of Mission Lodge as a world heritage site, Seychelles depends on its close collaborators within the organisation. Getting the site to be recognised by Icomos can be a good start in the process.

Maria Gravaria Barbas, director of research institute of tourism at University 1 Patheon Sorbonne, who in 2013 organised an international workshop and tourism expert symposium in Seychelles, in close collaboration with Icomos, is once again here  in Seychelles for a ground breaking exercise to see if it’s feasible to introduce with the University of Seychelles a master’s degree in tourism management, heritage, environment and development.

Ms Barbas also took time to pay a courtesy call on Alain St Ange, the Minister for Tourism and Culture.

Minister St Ange said with her “expertise within Icomos, (Ms Barbas) could help Seychelles stage this workshop”.  

The workshop will also target regional delegates to further promote Mission Lodge site.