The Seychelles Column - By Christopher Gill

STB Exposes Communist Failure in Tourism

          

The Seychelles Tourism Board, under the suggestion of the private sector embarked on the drafting of a Master Plan For Tourism last year. Would you believe that after Forty (40) years of Tourism, Thirty-Four (34) of which have been under one communist regime, we did not have a Master Plan for Tourism.

I am not making this up, this is the reality of the predicament of the country. Believe it.

It is too late to cry over spilled milk and wallow in self pity as we wonder what kind of money we could have generated with a proper growth plan.

As the STB green paper (meaning discussion paper) makes the rounds and all sectors of the Tourism Industry are consulted and government, I ask the communist to show some humility because they have royally screwed up the Seychelles Tourism Industry by not having a master plan for Thirty –Four (34) years.

With no plan in place, it means the communists have been making decisions that concern Tourism, well, to put it lightly: “from an un informed basis”.

Communist Said Build More Hotels, But no Direct Flights

If you are a hotel owner or worker in the Industry, and you have looked at your beautiful room and excellent product and wondered why is this fantastic product, on a fantastic location in paradise,- empty, you can blame the lack of foresight and lack of planning on the communists in the past for the reason why the rooms stayed empty.

As Seychelles went bankrupt in 2008, they were busy calling for more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to scratch up cash fast, which James Michel told us was $2 Billion at one point. Since he did not have a plan, his government approved these projects, but we did not have flights coming directly from Europe to meet bed availability.

Hence occupancy for Seychelles, throughout 2000 -2011 has hovered between 50%-57%. As occupancy remained low, room prices dropped, and yield reduced per visitor. Consequently, even if more tourist come to Seychelles, they spend much less and tax our infrastructure and eco sustainability more and more, and reduce the overall brand image of the Seychelles. Each year we are in this vicious cycle, it gets worse and worse.

The low occupancy rates below 75%  represents a total failing grade for the Tourism Industry and exposes severe under performance of the Industry and worse, over capacity. Why? Because as the rooms opened up, Air Seychelles went flying to Falklands, India, Mauritiusand on charter, contracted trips, where payment could be “negotiated” and lumped summed.

Turning Down 5^th Freedom Flying Rights

To make matters worse for Seychelles Tourism Industry, the communist seem to have placed the viability of Air Seychelles, above the viability and success of the Industry. Air Seychelleshas gone off on a tangent that has left it without effective interactive communications with the STB or the SHTA. The national airline has been a strong advocate of denying 5^th Freedom Rights to airlines that want to come to Seychelles and fly onwards taking passengers, to other destinations. This has caused a tremendous amount of loss of revenue to Seychelles, over the years, that with that money, we could have reinvested in Air Seychelles, and started to fly throughout Africa, which is booming today, to buttress our national airline. Instead, we have closed off travel and marketing opportunities to Seychelles, and today, the Industry is on the verge of collapse even though arrivals are up, and the President is the Minister of Tourism.

Break The Vicious Cycle of Communist Failure

The time to break this vicious cycle of communist failure is now. We do not even have enough water to wash our rice, and feed our children, yet the PL have approved projects that will demand even more water. A hotel room demands 750 litres of water a day for a 5 star. A smaller hotel needs 500 litres per day. A Seychellois family of Six(6) uses 25 litres of water a day from bakke to a bottle to bathe. When will the communist put an end to this madness? How will all the sewage be treated PL? Where will we get the extra roads for all the projects? What is your plan ? You seem good at planning elections, stealing votes, and buying SNP executive members, beating up young men and criminalizing them, but what is your plan to run the Tourism Industry?

Answer: You have no plan.

The answer is as official as the United Nations accepting South Sudan as a new nation state last week.

Moratorium on Future Projects

In an excellent presentation put forward by Marquise David, STB proposed that a moratorium on future development be considered by the Minister of Tourism and the PL Cabinet, until the PL can catch up with the disaster they have created. Along these lines, was a general sentiment that projects given and approved for foreign interests must be channeled back to bona fide Seychellois national interests to implement. Nationalist sentiment in the meeting of stakeholders was at a peak and should serve as a solid warning to those who think they can walk into paradise and do what they want with the “natives”.

He on Eden Island, who thought this on entry, will have an adjusted perception on exit.

Few if any, have taken Seychellois for fools and did not regret it. Confusing Seychellois with communism is one grave mistake many have made. The deals you cut were with communists. The deals that are cut back, will be made by “Freedom Loving Seychellois”, one way or another.

Seselwa Unite!

Sesel Pou Seselwa!

May God Bless All Freedom Loving Seychellois!

Christopher Gill