WTO expert helps Seychelles with classification system |24 May 2016

An expert from the World Tourism Organisation is currently in Seychelles to help put into place the hotel classification system which the tourism department has been working on since last year.

During her stay, Claire Gantly is going around the country visiting tourism establishments and is also conducting training for hotel inspectors, for them to know how to implement the classification criteria.

Yesterday morning, she had a short working session with the tourism technical team which include directors and technicians from different sections of the tourism department.

From the knowledge gained through Mrs Gantly’s expertise, inspectors will be in a better position to classify hotels. The classification system will be from one star to five star levels for luxury island resorts and establishments with more than sixteen rooms, and bronze, silver or gold categories for other small hotels with less than sixteen rooms.

Mrs Gantly who has been in the business for twenty years now, has said that she has been reviewing the criteria which the tourism department has been working on for some time and that she has proposed amendments where necessary.

She has however insisted on the necessity to take into account the specificities of the Seychelles and incorporate the local culture which gives a local flavour to the trade. These, she says, may include attractions such as arts, natural spots, public areas, local food etc.

“Those attractions will bring extra points and keep Seychelles as it is,” she commented.

This is why she said she has been meeting operators of the tourism trade not necessarily to criticise them, but to have their views and to present them with existing choices.

She added that the classification system will help hoteliers define their priorities and reap the benefits of their decisions.

“Knowing where you want to get is a condition for success. The main objective is to make clients know where they are going and what they are expecting,” Mrs Gantly concluded.

According to the principal secretary (PS) for tourism Anne Lafortune, the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) partnership will permit the classification programme to be internationally recognised.

She further described it as a very important project which will help tourism establishments relook at their strategies and operations, improve their standard and rise to the level they would like to.

“We sell Seychelles overseas and our guests pay a lot of money for their holiday here. So we must offer them value for their money,” the PS insisted.

For now hotels are self classified or classified by Destination Management Companies (DMCs). Mrs Lafortune commented that we must not give false expectations to visitors, for as she says, for now we are not sure if the classification is a correct one.