‘Let’s work together to keep our industry safe,’ says Seychelles’ tourism minister |16 December 2016

Every Seychellois without exception depends on the tourism industry in one way or another so it is important that we all rally beyond political conviction to defend the industry, to work for it and help it consolidate itself.

The Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine Alain St Ange said this recently when giving an interview with the national television station, the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation.

Minister St Ange was speaking about the deaths of two visitors that happened on two successive days and an incident at Anse Forbans Chalets involving a manager being attacked by a group of people right in the car park area of the tourism establishment.

“It is sad when we hear that two more tourists have passed away in our country while on holiday. One was a Hungarian man aged 37 who was certified dead by a doctor and pathologist in his room at the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles. His partner noticed that something was wrong thus called for assistance but unfortunately when the medical team arrived he was not responding,” the minister recalled.

Representatives of the tourism department met the partner to counsel her and be with her in this difficult moment.

The second incident involved a 59-year-old Swiss man, Hans Scereiber, who was reported missing by his wife who had alerted the reception at the hotel where they were staying on La Digue.

Mr Scereiber had gone hiking at Belle Vue and did not return that night. A search and rescue team went looking for him but they were not able to find him. The search that resumed early the following day found Mr Scereiber in a ravine at Roche Baie and he was confirmed dead at the Logan Hospital on the island.

Speaking about this incident, Minister St Ange said he is not blaming anybody but it is imperative for us as a country to relook at the walks and trails, as being part of our tourism industry, to see how we can find ways to better this sector, either by providing guides to accompany these tourists on bush walks or on difficult trails.

“It has become a challenge for us when attending trade fairs as members of the press start asking about the increase in the number of visitors dying while on holiday in Seychelles,” Mr St Ange added.

As for the incident of November 12 at Anse Forbans, Minister St Ange described it as a sad one, adding that such acts destabilises the industry, discourages hotel management and staff and sends the most negative vibes to the world.

This specific incident is now on the social media as the management team of the hotel and the guests staying there were filming the incident. The CCTV of the hotel also captured the incident in full.

“The Laporte and Jumeau Families are right to say that they cannot accept such violence and are appealing to the law enforcement authority to intervene,” Minister St Ange said in the presence of principal secretary Anne Lafortune of the tourism department.

“We need to know that our tourism industry is a fragile one and we cannot continue to allow such incidents to happen,” Minister St Ange said.

“This Anse Forbans incident is not an accident, it is an unacceptable act that spells disaster for the Seychelles tourism industry,” he said.

“It is ok for us to enjoy ourselves. This is our right, but our right must not and should not infringe on the right of our hotel managers and their team. We cannot keep accepting and letting such violent incidents happen as we are affecting our tourism industry,” the minister added.

Minister St Ange has called on all Seychellois to work together and help in safeguarding our tourism industry.

He said it is another day of reflection for the Seychelles’ tourism industry, which is the pillar of our economy.

“The list of these incidents is getting longer and this is one side of the problem. The other part is how we are treating tourists these days. Seychelles has a safety label that is impeccable so far but now we see people being robbed,” he added.

“On Praslin, four such robberies have been recorded in a week and a half. This is sad when these robbers or thieves get into the rooms of clients, or we see tourists being attacked on the road or beaches,” the minister remarked.

Minister St Ange made mention of a case whereby a Chinese couple lost all their belongings including their passports.

“It must be understood that Seychelles depends on tourism, we cannot afford to let this industry lose momentum,” he said.

“We have used our events in the past in the likes of Seychelles-China Day, Carnaval International de Victoria, Seychelles-India Day, FetAfrik, Festival Kreol  and the Ocean Festival to keep attracting the press to Seychelles to echo to the world on our behalf that we are relevant as a tourism destination, as we worked hard to remain visible. But sooner or later the press will start talking about the fact that Seychelles is not as safe as before and this will be counterproductive and we will find it affecting our tourism industry. Such negativity will cause serious damage to our one industry that can and will touch every Seychellois in one way or another,” Minister St Ange said.