Arab Bank gives Seychelles tourism stamp of approval

H.E.

H.E. Abdelaziz Khelef met with the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture while on a courtesy call to the Offices of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture at the National Cultural Center in Victoria as part of his four-day official mission in Seychelles. Detailing the projects to the Director General of Arab Bank for Economic Development Minister, Alain St.Ange said that the โ€œSeychelles vision of diversification of its products and of its services will increase visitor spending and in so doing increase the yield from tourism.โ€

The Seychelles Ministry of Tourism and Culture gained the support of the Director General of the Arab Bank for Economic Development (BADEA) to work together to attract investors for listed tourism projects.

This declaration followed a presentation by Minister Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, to H.E Abdelaziz Khelef, the Director General of the Arab Bank for Economic Development (BADEA). โ€œFor us in Seychelles, tourism is not only hotels. The time has come for us to get investors, Seychellois, or foreign[ers], to work with us to increase what we have as facilities on offer in our country. We need to be innovative and offer new attractions to encourage our visitors to spend their holiday dollar. With the Ministry of Finance and Investment and the SIB [Seychelles Investment Board], we need to join forces to intensify our campaign to get such new investments for Seychelles,โ€ Minister St.Ange said.

H.E Abdelaziz Khelef, the Director General of the bank, said that the Arab Bank for Economic Development can assist Seychelles by โ€œconducting a series of presentations on the proposed projects to potential foreign investors and with consultants with expertise in these specific domains as touched on by Minister St.Ange.โ€

โ€œWe need to be continuously innovative in our approach to bring new attractions to Seychelles that will encourage visitors to spend. The building of a water park, for example, with an aquarium and an underwater restaurant is a business proposition in its own right. A floating hotel and or a floating restaurant could add value to what Seychelles today has to offer to its visitors. These will create additional attractions for our country. Investments in new such projects that are viable will only help to further boost our economy. We need to intensify our approach of diversifying our activities and our attractions,โ€ said Minister St.Ange.

H.E Abdelaziz Khelef said that the Arab Bank for Economic Development has been a strong partner for Seychelles by financing economically-sound projects in the field of tourism and agriculture, two sectors pivotal to the countryโ€™s economy.

For tourism, the Arab Bank for Economic Development has supported the building of the new Seychelles Tourism Academy. The first phase of this Tourism Academy of Excellence needed to reflect what tourism is for the Seychelles economy. The Seychelles government has injected 20% into funding the project, while the Arab Bank for Economic Development is financing 80% of the project through a grant to the Seychelles government. Minister Alain St.Ange has personally thanked Mr. Khelef for believing in the project.

โ€œWhen I took office as CEO of the Tourism Board, one of my first missions was to bring to President James Michelโ€™s attention the need for a new tourism academy that reflected the development in the tourism industry. Today as the Minister responsible for Tourism, I am indeed happy with the steady progress of the construction work for our new tourism academy, and I am convinced that Seychelles will have an exemplary hospitality and tourism training institution, one that the country will be proud of. I am indeed thankful for your assistance and for helping to make it happen,โ€ Minister St.Ange told Mr. Khelef of BADEA.

Minister Alain St.Ange said that the academy will have the necessary support to enable it to proceed with the construction of the second phase of the project upon completion of the first phase in 2014.

โ€œIn the second phase of the project we will complete the โ€˜ecole dโ€™applicationโ€™ part of the academy where students will put into practice what they learned in the classrooms. This hotel part of the academy, the accommodation block of the old American Tracking Station, will provide practical training at the academy itself, and it is an important part of training for our future hoteliers. The school will prepare the students to the reality of working in our tourism establishments,โ€ said Minister St.Ange.

Minister St.Ange has invited Mr. Abdelaziz Khelef, the Director General of Arab Bank for Economic Development for the official opening in 2014 of the first phase of the Seychelles Tourism Academy, the academy of excellence for the region. The Director General of Arab Bank for Economic Development has the opportunity to tour the construction site at La Misere for a progress report on the project.

Seychelles is a founding member of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP).

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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