Maia Resort & Spa becomes SSTL certified |24 August 2019
(L to r) Mrs Levkovic, PS Lafortune, GM Ferrari, Minister Dogley and Mr Hellec
Maia Luxury Resort & Spa is the 21st hotel to be certified with the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label (SSTL).
The certificate awarding the hotel the recognition of being a responsible hotel with well-established sustainability practices was handed over by Minister Didier Dogley in a short ceremony on Tuesday this week.
Present from the ministry were also Anne Lafortune, the principal secretary for tourism and Sinha Levkovic, director product development.
Receiving the certificate for the hotel was the general manager Mr Ferrari and resident manager, Mr Hellec, who expressed their satisfaction in achieving this status.
Mr Ferrari mentioned that more and more visitors are looking for certified hotels and other tourism products and that it is becoming a necessity for hotels to meet this need in order to increase visitor experience and satisfaction.
The general manager expressed his thanks to Solene Stricot, who was instrumental in preparing the hotel for the application and pledged to remain true to their commitment towards sustainability.
“We have reached a milestone, with 74% of our large hotels now SSTL certified,” said Minister Dogley. “This shows that more and more our operators are recognising the need and importance of sustainable operations and they are embracing the ministry’s efforts to make of our industry a sustainable one which can contribute to the sustainable development of our country. We will continue to work with our medium and smaller accommodation establishments to get them on board so that they too can experience the benefits of being a responsible tourism business.”
The Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label, which was first launched in 2012, has seen a growing interest, especially over the last two years as hotels become more aware of the necessity and benefits of sustainable practice. Recognising the need to mainstream sustainability throughout the tourism sector, the tourism department has developed the label so as to be able to certify not only hotels but also tour operators/ DMCs, the boating/yachting sector and restaurants. These certifications will be launched at the end of 2019.
