Praslin Tour Guides Share their Concerns with Tourism Minister at Vallée de Mai 

Removal of travel restrictions by foreign governments, a lack of marketing opportunities, stamping down on fraudulent and unethical practices, and the need to implement minimum industry standards took center stage in discussions held by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Mr. Sylvestre Radegonde, with tour guides from Praslin at a short meeting held at the Vallée de Mai on Friday, September 24, 2021.

The meeting with Praslin’s tour guides, attended by the Principal Secretary for Tourism, Mrs. Sherin Francis, and the new Director General for Product Planning and Development, Paul Lebon, was held in the presence of the National Assembly member for Praslin, Honorable Churchill Gill and Honorable Wavel Woodcock, the Chairperson of the Praslin Business Association, Mr. Christopher Gill as well as representatives from the Seychelles Island Foundation (SIF), Seychelles Police and Seychelles Licensing Authority (SLA).

In his opening remarks Minister Radegonde addressing the ongoing restrictions on travel from Seychelles’ traditional source markets, stated that the two departments under his purview are actively working with foreign governments as well as industry partners to ensure Seychelles becomes more accessible for visitors, particularly those from western Europe.

“We are working alongside our foreign partners to make sure that Seychelles is compliant with their requirements concerning health and reporting procedures and to be removed from their non-travel lists. We are also expecting the numbers (of visitors) to rise with the resumption of flights by airline partners from our traditional destinations such as Condor and Air France in October,” said Minister Radegonde.

The meeting which aimed to address complaints raised by SIF and SLA whose representatives stressed that the situation at Vallée de Mai has become difficult to handle and that immediate action is required to address the questionable business practices of some tour guides which are detrimental to operations at the Vallée de Mai.

The tour guides stated that they agree that to some extent inconsistencies in their trade, the lack of grooming, ethics and cooperation is giving a bad image of the industry to visitors.

Minister Radegonde recommended that all agencies work together to review the policies under which the tour guides are operating, informing the participants that the Department will be organizing in-service sessions aimed at improving industry standards for across the board, including those focused on grooming and improving on the services provided to visitors.

The issue of unfair competition with tour guides based on Mahé who are selling tours and day trip tours on Praslin was raised with Praslin island’s tour guides highlighting that they are missing out on the already scarce opportunities of making a living from tourism.  

The SIF representative stated that such visitors are not adding any value or revenue to the UNESCO World Heritage site as most of them do not enter the site, preferring to take pictures by the roadside, but nonetheless making use the park’s facilities, all the while posing a danger to the safety of other road users as well, SIF pointed out. These and other issues will be put forward to the concerned authorities, Minister Radegonde affirmed.

Responding to the tour guides’ concerns about the lack of marketing opportunities afforded them by with local hotels, PS Francis stated that the Tourism Department has put in place a platform for to help tourism operators to promote their products and services. 

 ”We know and understand the significant role of marketing as part of the success of the industry; therefore, we have a team in the section handling the promotion of our small destination. I urge you all to register on our ParrAPI platform which in turn will increase your visibility. I will also encourage all of you present to invest in your own marketing, especially on social media as this is where clients are now,” said Mrs. Francis.

Joining together to push in the same direction will help to improve the industry standards Minister Radegonde said, encouraging the tour guides on Praslin to form an association to further their interests and that of the industry. Closing the meeting, Minister Radegonde affirmed his support to the tourism industry on Praslin, reiterating his warning that the Department of Tourism and other partners will be firm with operators who persist in engaging in fraudulent practices and are seen as a threat to the industry.

MEDIA CONTACT: Tourism Seychelles, stbnews@seychelles.travel