THE HOTEL INDUSTRY AND THE SEYCHELLOIS

Many of the Seychellois who have invested in hotels are finding things hard these days - low occupancy, declining revenue and inevitable increases in costs. Many are asking themselves what went wrong; when are things going to change? As tourists continue making their way to larger, more competitive and better located establishments small establishments have started pinning their last hopes on the SHTA and the STB. It is doubtful; however, that the leaders of these two powerful organizations are at liberty to fully back what could and probably should be the demands of the small hotels.
And it is for this reason that the small hotels should now form their own association, so that they can present to Government their own particular problems.
Those affected by the new tourism environment should be asking whether the hard times they are facing are due entirely to outside (outside the Seychelles) factors, and quite beyond anyone’s control, or are they also due to factors arising from the Government and for that matter the Planning Authority’s decisions. After all, building a hotel, a guesthouse, or a villa in the Seychelles is not like building a house: it requires viability studies, cash flow and marketing plans. One of the main tasks of the Planning Authority is to ensure that a project is viable, and continues to be viable, and does not become a burden on the state. It would be strange, therefore, if the Planning Authority were to give planning permission to any project which could create UNFAIR COMPETITION. It would be stranger still if the UNFAIR COMPETITION was to originate from land owned and decisions made by the State.
Most of us have reconciled to the fact that life can be difficult and destiny uncertain….. and that Caveat Emptor still applies in the world of business. To seek direct reparation would be out of context with the way the Seychelles operates. The way to adjust the unfair competition is mostly about asking Government to change certain of their policies. It may also have to include certain concessions. I list out below a few suggestions:
1. Make the holding of air tickets the only requirement for entry into the country and publish the fact on the national website, together, if possible, with rooms available in Seychelles on a daily basis.
2. Allow the operation of a reservation desk at the airport, before passport control, dedicated to small establishments.
3. Give free access to National Parks, and to Golf Courses if built on State land to all clients staying at small establishments.
4. Allow the organization representing small establishments to operate water sports on the main beaches.
5. Take seriously the danger of Seychelles becoming, purely, a ‘hotel destination’, and plan for the creation of more attractions – aquariums, better and more exciting nature reserves, etc, so that visitors would be tempted to leave their hotel rooms.
6. Put pressure on the larger hotels, all hotels for that matter, to deliver on a daily basis the Nation newspaper to all clients. This will give visitors unbiased access to what is going on in the country.
"It is now clear that the advantage the large operator has (over the small one) is boosted by location. This can in the future be adjusted by insisting that large projects are tackled on difficult sites (not necessarily less attractive), and that the easier and readily more attractive sites are reserved for Seychellois. It is ridiculous, for example, that the flat, easy to build land between the Beau-Vallon Bay Hotel and the Fisherman's Cove is given to a rich man for development.
As regards Government owned islands, tendering for their development should be limited to Seychellois."