Tourism sector receives technical assistance on sustainable tourism |14 December 2017
Stakeholders in the tourism industry have convened at the Coral Strand Hotel conference room for a two and a half day workshop on sustainable tourism.
The workshop, which started yesterday, is being conducted by the Netherland Applied Science Research Organisation (TNO) through the UNDP Small Island Developing State Centre of Excellence (UNDP SIDS-COE), both based in Aruba.
The workshop also forms part of the technical week of assistance on sustainable tourism, with focus on energy efficiency, currently being provided to the government and other entities.
Seychelles, Vanuatu, Antigua, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Samoa and Belize are the seven countries chosen to benefit from TNO’s technical assistance.
According to Alba de Augustin Camacho, the sustainability advisor at TNO, Seychelles was chosen because aside from meeting the required criteria, it was also seen as a good representative for the region.
TNO’s hope is that the knowledge acquired by Seychelles will be passed on to other island states in the Indian Ocean and African region.
Juan Avellaner de Santos, the Senior Sustainable Energy Advisor at TNO, confirmed to the Seychelles NATION that TNO met with relevant stakeholders to provide technical assistance on December 11 and 12, and this include the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), Energy Commission and the tourism department.
In her opening remarks during yesterday’s workshop, Anne Lafortune, the principal secretary for tourism, said this initiative comes at the opportune moment as Seychelles is exploring ways in which it can become more energy efficient, especially in the tourism sector.
“In order for us to continue to grow and prosper in a sustainable manner, efforts have to be made to continuously preserve these resources that our tourism industry depends on. It is such training that will provide us with the insight on the way forward.”
“Seychelles welcomes any recommendations, alternatives and proposals in the energy efficiency field that can be implemented in our tourism establishments as well as in the country,” she concluded.
On his side Mr Avellaner stated that several hotels in the country are energy efficient while most are on the way to becoming such.
“Normally a good rate for energy efficiency -- that is the total rate of electricity used -- in a hotel should be around 10%. Anything above 30 or 40% then a hotel is not efficient.”
Methods offered as options to decrease the rate of electricity include installation of solar panels, smart equipment and audits to identify in which range the hotel is in.
A roadmap towards a more sustainable tourism industry is expected to be drawn out after the TNO team provides their findings, data, capacity training and platforms for networking.
The workshop is expected to end tomorrow and will cover a wide spectrum of subjects such as holistic approaches to sustainable tourism and transition to renewable energy.