Tourism board one step away |28 March 2005

The proposed STB Bill, which, if passed, will merge the operations of the Ministry of Tourism and Seychelles Tourism Marketing Authority (STMA), will be presented to the Assembly by Vice-President and Tourism Minister Joseph Belmont.

The new bill appeared in the Official Gazette of March 18, where it states that the STB will be, "responsible for the promotion of tourism and assisting the Government in the development of infrastructures and improvement of tourist amenities."

According to the gazetted bill the board will be made up of a chairperson  and ten members.
It must be noted that in the government reshuffle earlier this year it was announced that Ministry of Foreign Affairs principal secretary Sylvestre Radegonde would become the board's chief executive officer (CEO).

The members are to be drawn from the ministries for finance, environment and tourism, and from people with wide experience in air transport services, commercial banking and the tourism industry.

In a move to incorporate tourism trade and private sector input the non-ministerial board appointees will be made in consultation with the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association, the Tourism Advisory Committee and the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

While the CEO will be responsible for day to day administration, the proposed act would allow the minister to hand down policy directions in respect of the performance of the functions of the STB.

The bill also repeals the STMA Act which was passed in 2000 and requires the STB to prepare an annual business plan, to include a statement of short term and medium term objectives and an outline of the strategies that it intends to employ in order to achieve these objectives.

With the Bill almost certain to be passed by the Assembly, tourism department staff are already gearing up for changes.

A spokesperson for the department confirmed that it would cease to exist as of April 1 and that most staff will be absorbed by the new STB, with the remainder taken on by other ministries.

She also said that there would be no redundancies at the department as a result of the change.
At the Bel Ombre offices of STMA the public relations officer said that they are preparing to take on around 40 members of staff from the tourism department and that STB CEO, Radegonde, is preparing to take up his new office in the building.