Seychelles Principal Secretary for Tourism presents the department’s priorities to the media

Stepping into her new role as Seychelles Principal Secretary for Tourism, Mrs. Sherin Francis met with local press partners at Botanical House on Wednesday, June 30, to present the department’s priorities for the tourism industry and to discuss the changes in the department and its functioning.

Mrs. Francis stated the changes happening within the tourism industry do not affect the Seychelles brand but that for commercial reasons, the department will be referred to as Tourism Seychelles.

Presenting the most pertinent changes, the Principal Secretary noted that aside from her secretariat, which would be responsible for PR and Communications and International Cooperation, the Tourism department would consist of three main divisions.

She explained that the two main divisions of the department, which include the Destination Marketing Division and Destination Planning and Development Division, would complement one another in their respective tasks.

Giving an insight of priorities the new department would be focusing on, Mrs. Francis stated that all plans are being made considering the difficult period the industry is facing. In line with the restructuring, the priority is to look for areas where the department could rationalize resources effectively and ensure efficiency across of all its operations in line with the industry’s regulatory framework.

The focus of the new administration will be to enhance customer satisfaction by refining its support to the industry through training and other programs to help improve service standards.

Another area of attention will be addressing the gaps in existing tourism policies or strategies. A review of the tourism policies for various services in the sector will be conducted, PS Francis said, to ensure all strategies serve current requirements, especially in view of the pandemic and new tourism developing trends. According to Mrs. Francis, this is important to facilitate diversification of our product offerings.

In view of the department’s commitment to enhance the customer experience, the PS for Tourism stated that the department will undertake an inventory of the facilities and services provided to tourists in Seychelles especially in terms of attractions, sites, and experiences. This exercise will be conducted in collaboration with various stakeholders and would ascertain the availability and quality of the tourist facilities and services. This would allow us to know where there are gaps so as for us to improve the quality of our tourism products which in turn would allow us to broaden the scope of destination marketing, visitor experience and revenue generation. This would also help us identify potential areas for growth of Service offered to visitors and help us better channel investment into the industry.

Presenting a critical area of concern, Mrs. Francis advised that an assessment will be undertaken to understand the key human resources issues facing the tourism sector in Seychelles. The department will be working in close collaboration with relevant ministry to identify the cause of the high staff turnover and low productivity with a view to formulate corrective measures.

The department will continue its efforts on continuous brand awareness, digital engagement and strengthening Seychelles’ presence on social media, PS Francis advised, while confirming that particular attention will be paid to market intelligence, statistics and data driven insights.

In closing PS Francis stated that to truly realize the plans there are several essential areas of partnership to be maintained and supported ranging from private to public sector. Ongoing cooperation and dialogue with other government bodies from regulatory to policy making is essential, to ensure that all ancillary functions or services to move forward the industry are aligned.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tourism Seychelles, [email protected]