Tourism academy’s principal Flavien Joubert becomes full-time author |09 December 2020

Flavien Joubert, the current principal of the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA), is to become a full-time author when his contract with the academy ends on December 31 of this year.

Mr Joubert, who is a trained teacher, school director, executive chef and hotel general manager, published his first book in France in 2000. The first book is a Creole Seafood Cookery book and was sold on Amazon, in Seychelles, France and Singapore.

His second book, Exotic Cocktail from Seychelles, was published in England in 2014. The book was also on sale on Amazon, in Seychelles and the United States of America (USA).

His third book, ‘Fish and Seafood Recipes from the Seychelles’, was published in England in 2016 and was on sale in the United States of America (USA), on Amazon and still available at Antigone bookshop in the Seychelles.

His fourth book, ‘Refugee, A Seychellois boy’s story’, is a true life experience where Mr Joubert spent three (3) months as a war refugee, when the war broke out between Greeks and Turks, which were fought over Cyprus.

Mr Joubert recapped his experience detailed in the book, whereby at the age of 16 he got a scholarship from the Seychelles government offered by Archbishop President Makarios of Cyprus in 1973.

This scholarship enabled young Mr Joubert to attend The Hotel and Catering Institute, a prestigious boarding school located in Greek-controlled Nicosia, to pursue a five-year course in hospitality.

In August 1974, he became a war refugee. He described how he spent his time at the refugee camp before finally being rescued and flown to Great Britain in a Hercules British Air Force plane. He was eventually reunited with his older sister in Brighton, England. At 17 years old, he decided to stay in England to resume his studies.

The book is written for pupils, students, English teachers in schools, careers guidance teachers and parents. One hundred copies have been given to the Ministry of Education for secondary school libraries on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue. The book has been written in partnership with Martin Kennedy, former principal of the International School, and was published in Mauritius in December 2019.

Flavien Joubert was the youngest school director of the École Hôtelière de Bel Ombre during the days when the French Mission de Cooperation was a partner in running and managing the Seychelles Hotel School.

After a six-year mandate, he left the Hotel School to become a hotel general manager where he stayed for eleven (11) years.

During his absence, the Hotel School moved from Bel Ombre to La Misère. Unfortunately, due to instability, the Hotel School changed nine (9) directors in 11 years.

The school also had a history of moving between two ministries: from Ministry of Education to Ministry of Tourism and vice versa.

In 2007, Mr Joubert was asked by former President Danny Faure to return at the helm of the Hotel School, to help stabilise the management, re-organise teaching and learning, place the Hotel School on the international scene and sign various memoranda of understanding with both local and international partners, to support the school.

He was given the authority to run the STA on an autonomous mode with limited interference from the authorities, something which really helped to make the school successful.

Mr Joubert, introduced the following:

• Advanced Certificate Programme in Wellness and Spa, a first in the Seychelles, where students also sit for the City and Guilds International of London Certificate

• Advanced Diploma Programme in Hospitality Management (ADHM), in collaboration with the Shannon College of Hotel Management (SCHM), Peter Moncherry and the National University of Ireland (NUI), leading to a Bachelor’s Degree.

• The In-Service Training department of STA, which has become a very special department conducting re-training, re-skilling during this pandemic period.

• The External Relations department which is now the Marketing & Promotion department and has placed the Hotel School on the international scene through the various partnerships, both local and international.

Mr Joubert is the longest serving principal of the Hotel School in Seychelles.

Apart from working full-time as an author, he is also a member on the board of directors of a UAE entity.

“It is an honour to be asked to renew my contract and to stay, however, when new passion and new opportunities appear on the horizon, one has to make decisions especially in these challenging times,” Mr Joubert says.

December 31, 2020 will be Mr Joubert’s last working day at the Seychelles Tourism Academy.

He would like to thank all colleagues, with whom he has worked in collaboration and to say thank you for their involvement in our institutions in management and educational activities, from different ministries, colleagues of Seychelles Tourism Academy, parents, both past and present students. Thank you for respecting the semi autonomy of the STA.

Mr Joubert’s wish is “May STA continues future collaborations with all present professional centres and partners and extend the same to other professional centres. I am sure that my new line of work might bring some of us in touch in the near future. I will always have STA in my heart and will always support the team and the learners. I wish everyone of you the best for the year 2021 ahead.”

Contributed