Seychelles at first world conference on tourism development in Beijing |28 May 2016

A Seychelles delegation headed by the chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) Sherin Naiken attended the first world conference on tourism development which took place last week in the People’s Great Hall of China in Beijing.

The event was jointly organised by the China National Tourism Administration and the UNWTO.

Besides Ms Naiken the other members of the Seychelles delegation were Vivianne Fock Tave, Seychelles’ ambassador to the People’s Republic of China; Jean-Luc Lai- Lam, Seychelles’ Tourism Board manager for China; Stephanie Lablache and Lee Huan Huan, both STB’s senior marketing executives based in Seychelles and Beijing respectively.

Important guests at the event included Li Keqiang, Prime Minister of the Republic of China; Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of Mozambique; Taleb Rifai, secretary general of the UNWTO, who all addressed the 1000 delegates at the opening ceremony.

The delegates were from over a hundred countries and represented both government organisations as well as leading tourism partners from the private sector.

The Summit agenda was on sustainable development through tourism, tourism for poverty reduction, tourism for peace and it was moderated by the famous CNN television host Richard Quest. The day ended with the adoption of the Beijing Declaration.

The topic which relates more to Seychelles and which was the most interesting debate of the day was attaining the sustainable development goals (SDGs) through tourism.

The debate centred on what countries are required to do to use tourism as the vehicle to achieve their SDGs.

Indeed, the various delegates in the debate stressed on the need to have a more cohesive approach between the various units -- public and private -- if the SDGs are to be achieved.

Among the various subject matters raised, were the role of the public and private sectors, the need to work together and the need for the SDGs to be understood by all levels of government as well as by the business community. 

As one delegate shared “all the ministers in the government are defacto a minister for tourism”!

Ms Naiken had a lot to share to other delegates in between sessions as the summit did not have open plenary sessions.

“Seychelles has had decades of experience and lots of success stories in sustainable development,” shared Ms Naiken to a delegate. “The cornerstone of every policy and law in Seychelles has been sustainability.” 

The new sustainable development agenda, which came into effect in January 2016, succeeded the millennium development goals (MDGs) launched in 2000 and which Seychelles managed to attain almost all, some even before the process started. 

Seychelles is well under way to attain the new set of targets.