Hotel owners in Seychelles encouraged to upgrade

The Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture, Alain St.Ange, has said “there is a need to continue to work with hotel owners to encourage them to invest and to upgrade their properties in a bid t

The Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture, Alain St.Ange, has said “there is a need to continue to work with hotel owners to encourage them to invest and to upgrade their properties in a bid to for them to be at the level of expectations of our discerning holiday makers, and also to create a conducive working environment for their employees.”

Minister St.Ange made this appeal during a familiarization visit at the Le Meridien Barbarons hotel, on the southeast coast of Mahe.

After touring the establishment, together with the Minister responsible for Employment, Idith Alexander, both ministers met in a private meeting with the Managers and the General Manager of the hotel to discuss the constraints they faced vis-a-vis building capacity of their staff and also of the renovation plans and strategies of the hotel.

“Competition is fierce in the tourism industry. The rule is clear. If Le Meridien Barbarons does not continuously undertake an upgrade program of its facilities, competition will destroy you. The message which needs to get across is that I remain committed to working with you, because I value each and every hotel we have. It is important that you understand the importance of continuing to give your clients value for money for you to remain competitive.”

The Resort’s General Manager explained that “Le Meridien Hotel understands the importance of upgrading its establishment and has drafted a series of audit reports on the hotel’s human resource capacity building and its overall performance.” He reported to the minister that “financial support for the coming renovation program of the hotel has been budgeted for, and it’s now eminent. It is only due to some unforeseen constraints that this planned renovation program had been delayed.” The Resort General Manager promised the two Ministers present that the resort’s upgrade program will start soon.

After listening to the Manager’s feedback on their work, Minister St.Ange said that despite the hotel’s constraints, he is “happy with the team spirit among the managers and their devotion to their work. He also said that he appreciated the manner in which they defended their establishment.”

In an interview with the press following the visit, Minister St.Ange highlighted the importance of this visit saying it “reinforces the cohesive approach of the Ministries of Tourism and Culture and Employment to work with the private sector to assist them in the development of the tourism industry.”

“We always need to keep our eyes open of the happenings in our country’s tourism industry. The Seychelles Tourism Board continues to work in close collaboration with all our hotels and resorts to make sure that they remain conscious that the country needs its accommodation network to the expectations of our visitors.”

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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