It was a delightful evening enjoyed by all with a buffet dinner, a raffle draw, and the Breeze Band provided dancing music for the evening, which was followed by a disco, for the Annual Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association Ball.
Sybille Cardon, the Chairperson of the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association of Seychelles (SHTA), joined her Board Members to host their 2016 Annual Ball at Eden Bleu Hotel at Eden Island on Saturday, January 16, in the presence Minister Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture; the French Ambassador, Mr. Lionel Majeste-Larrouy; British High Commissioner Caron Röhsler; PS for Tourism, Anne Lafortune; hoteliers; and many who work closely with the island’s tourism industry.
It was Eddie D’Offay, the Vice Chairperson of the SHTA, who had the honor of saying the first words of welcome and to be the Master of Ceremony for the tourism trade evening. Sybille Cardon, the Chairperson of the Association, said when she addressed her guests and Association members that she wanted to see an Association that truly became representative of the industry and mandated to talk to government on behalf of the industry. She thanked Minister Alain St.Ange for always being present for the members of the tourism trade and for meeting with them as and when necessary. Mrs. Carson also spoke about the Cross-Sectorial Meeting that is held between the government and the private sector. She used her address to appeal for unity in the industry as she complimented the two officials of the Association – Louise Testa and Natalie Du Buisson. On his part, Minister Alain St.Ange said when he took to the podium that he needed to thank the Chairperson of the Association for her remarks made on national television when she re-confirmed that the tourism industry of Seychelles had had a good positive 2015. Minister St.Ange also used his address to re-assure the tourism trade of Seychelles that the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and its Tourism Board would continue to work alongside the private sector trade as their facilitators. “We will continue to meet with you individually or in groups. We shall continue to work with an open-door policy with your association, and we shall continue with our door-to-door visits of our hotels, large or small. We are all on the one side, because we do not have a tourism industry for the government and another one for the private sector. We have but one tourism industry for Seychelles,” said Minister St.Ange.
Seychelles is a founding member of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) . For more information on Seychelles Minister of Tourism and Culture Alain St.Ange, click here.
