The Transdisciplinary Case Study, 2023 |19 July 2023

Tourism in Seychelles in 2040 - assessment tool

Spotlight on sustainable tourism

People who attended a public meeting yesterday were able to give their views and inputs on a case study on sustainable tourism.

The Transdisciplinary Case Study, 2023 titled ‘Sustainable Land Use II – Rethinking the Sustainability of Tourism in Seychelles’ was launched by the Tourism department in collaboration with ETH Zurich University and the University of Seychelles (UniSey).

The case study by the group of Masters students from the ETH Zurich University and colleague degree students from UniSey involved researching and collecting data on seven tourism-related topics, namely beach-based tourism, agri-tourism, cultural tourism, the social impact of tourism in the Seychelles, hotels – farmers’ linkages, terrestrial adventure tourism and tourism in Seychelles in 2040 - assessment tool.

The aim is to enable the department to identify new and innovative methods of shaping the Tourism industry and in achieving its strategies and may even inspire future studies for years to come.

In line with the study, the group of Masters students from Zurich, Switzerland are currently in the country for the field phase (July 3 - 23, 2023) and along with the UniSey students, they have been diligently working on their research with the help of a variety of key stakeholders from the public and private sector. The final output of the project will be the development of the Case Study which is set to be completed by the end of this year. The study was done through interviews and workshops.

Among those present at the seven preliminary presentations of the Transdisciplinary Case Study findings for sustainable tourism in the country were the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde; the principal secretary for Tourism, Sherin Francis; the principal secretary for Land Transport, Patrick Andre; the Dean of Faculty Business and Sustainability UniSey, Dr Michael Hall; and the principal investigator ETH Zurich University, Dr Plus Krϋtli.

Each of the seven tourism-related topics were investigated by a specific group and the first presentation was by the group attached to investigate the terrestrial adventure tourism in the country. Among the main findings was a high interest among tourists to engage in adventurous activities outside the hotels, especially snorkelling, hiking and wildlife tours among others. There are also opportunities for partnership between the hotel and activity providers for the provision of such outdoor adventurous activities including the potential to adding new ones not being practiced in the country.

Given that nature is an important factor, it was revealed that it has to be protected for such adventurous activities to take place in a sustainable way.

It was found that all existing and not yet existing adventurous activities can be sustainably implemented in the country given the right feasibility study.

The second group did their study on the sustainable development of agri-tourism and given that there is potential to conduct such activity to the likes of tourists, there is the need for a balance between the agricultural and tourism sector for shared benefit, including guidance and education of the local farmers, especially the young and motivated, in order to get there.

With regard to the third topic, hotels – farmers’ linkages, it was found that given the competition between the local and imported agricultural products, there need to be a local market exchange platform to connect faster the hotels and the farmers including for better labelling, grading and quality control of local products to extend products' shelf life.

The beach-based tourism group conducted their study on beach quality in the country, especially at the Beau Vallon beach on Mahé and at the Anse Source d’Argent beach on La Digue where surrounding sea waters have been found to be polluted.

Other than addressing the water quality issue, the management of litter levels which is higher at Beau Vallon beach compared to Anse Source d’Argent, although the latter lacks nature protection, and thefts on tourists which are common in both areas, including provision of toilet facilities and safety from stray dogs are among other issues that need to be addressed.

The next group explored the cultural tourism in the country and they found that it has a great potential but is currently not being used as there is a lack of coordination and communication between stakeholders.

Given that cultural tourism can play an import role in preserving the Creole culture among other aspects of our heritage, which can also be economically viable and beneficial for the country, the students found the need to raise the awareness of the Seychelles culture including pursuing in businesses related to culture to keep it alive for the locals and visitors.

With regard to the social impact of tourism in the country, the sixth group found in majority of the interviews done with 357 locals (189 females-169 males) in six districts on Mahé and on La Digue, that the impact on their lives was positive rather than negative given that more of the social problems such as drugs and traffic congestion, among others, are more related to the locals. But the group also found in relation to social impact of tourism that some hotels still prevent locals to access the beach, clients prefer to hire foreign artists over local artists and working in tourism sector is the most profitable but lacks possibilities for promotions while some locals feel distant to tourism.

The last presentation was on the assessment tool for sustainable tourism development in the country by 2040 and as solutions for future planning the group figured for the prioritisation for higher occupancy rates over number of establishments, to go for renewable energy, sustainable water sources and saving measures, to formulate accurate data collection and unification across departments and to have better system understanding of dynamic tourism development.

At the closing end of the presentation, Minister Radegonde thanked everyone who played an important role in materialising the case study. He said that a lot of the data collected have confirmed the reality known to the country for a long time. He noted that while some issues in the preliminary report are not necessarily the case, government will be working to address all other challenges underscored to ensure the sustainability and a well-managed tourism industry. 

For her part PS Francis, who also thanked those involved in the success of the study, said that a lot of the results from the preliminary study are very consistent with past studies. She noted that the tourism department will be relying on the final report to ensure that what is done is done in the right and correct way.

Dr Krϋtli, who with ETH Zurich University is not new to conducting different survey studies in environment and tourism in the country since 2015, said they were thankful and happy to have been supported by the local partners to conduct the study as part of his student’s learning process.

Talking to the press, two participants, Monik Choppy from UniSey and Florien Marcussen from ETH Zurich University, said that they both had an amazing experience conducting the study.

Earlier at the start of the presentations, Dr Hall said that UniSey was extremely proud of the working collaboration with ETH Zurich University which has led to the success of the project.

The accompanying photos show the different groups making their presentations.

Text & photos by Patrick Joubert