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Tourism minister makes first hotel visit for 2018 |18 January 2018

 

The Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, undertook his first hotel visit for the year 2018 on Friday last week.

Minister Loustau-Lalanne visited 12 tourism establishments at Pointe Au Sel and Anse Royale, accompanied by the principal secretary for tourism, Anne Lafortune.

The tourism accommodations visited during this first visit were mostly small Seychellois-owned establishments.

Starting at the Castaway Lodge, a self-catering apartment located at Pointe Au Sel, the minister and his team then proceeded to La Desirade self-catering, Villa Kordia, Villa Dorado, Crown Beach Hotel, Ocean Bird & Wanita’s apartment and the Felicie Cottage.

At Anse Royale, the delegation first stopped at Le Relax Hotel & Restaurant, which is a 15-room hotel. They also visited Chez Bijoux, Au Fond de Mer View, Fine View self-catering and Central self-catering.

The visit is a continuation of a series of door-to-door visits to tourism properties in the country, which the minister embarked on last year. He has visited hotels on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.

The aim of this ongoing exercise is to have a first-hand view of the various accommodations being offered to visitors, as well as to meet and discuss with the establishments’ owners and managers on their successes and challenges.

During the Pointe Au Sel and Anse Royale visits, the main concerns raised include the urgent need to improve various facilities such as the installation of more street lighting, construction of pavements, and the need to have public toilet facilities on the beach at fairyland, which is highly frequented by tourists.

Other issues brought to the attention of the minister were the increase in the cost of electricity, pollution, nuisance caused by dogs, thefts and the need for active beach wardens.

On the good side, the owners of the various establishments expressed their satisfaction with the increased rate of occupancy in their respective hotels and increased number of repeat visitors to their establishments.

Most of them are popular among visitors from Europe, mainly from Germany followed by France and Italy. Other markets where they are recording some good numbers are South Africa, Ukraine and Russia.

At the end of the visit, the minister said he was pleased to see the progress being made by the small tourism establishments and their resulting contribution to the industry.

“I am happy to see local entrepreneurs doing well in the tourism industry and upgrading their products. These small licensed establishments offer authentic local experiences to the visitors, which is different from the larger hotels, and we must continue to encourage them,” said Minister Loustau-Lalanne.

 

 

 

 

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