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Bartlett holds discussions with Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority

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Jamaica Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (third right in the photo) recently presided over a meeting with the Chairman of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, Phillip Henriques, (third left) and members of the Jamaica Air Traffic Controllers Association (from right) Treasurer Maurice Smith, President Kurt Solomon and Vice President Sean Blair.

Sharing in the moment are Senior Communications Strategist in the Ministry of Tourism Delano Seiveright (left) and Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board John Lynch.

The group met at the Minister’s New Kingston office on April 10, 2019 to provide updates on the sector.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Bartlett holds discussions with Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority

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Jamaica Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (third right in the photo) recently presided over a meeting with the Chairman of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, Phillip Henriques, (third left) and members of the Jamaica Air Traffic Controllers Association (from right) Treasurer Maurice Smith, President Kurt Solomon and Vice President Sean Blair.

Sharing in the moment are Senior Communications Strategist in the Ministry of Tourism Delano Seiveright (left) and Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board John Lynch.

The group met at the Minister’s New Kingston office on April 10, 2019 to provide updates on the sector.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944

Tourism Clubs launched for primary and secondary students 

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Students of primary and secondary schools around Mahé, Praslin and La Digue can now be part and parcel of the booming tourism industry as the Ministry for Tourism and its partner the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association launch the Tourism Clubs for Seychellois students.

The initiative launched on Friday March 22, 2019 at the AVANI Seychelles Barbarons Resort and Spa on Mahé is the result of a long preparation germinating from discussions held during the Tourism Festival organized by the Tourism Department last year.

The aim of the project is to educate students about the tourism industry and trigger their interest for a career in hospitality and tourism.

The launch was conducted by the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Mr.  Didier Dogley and Mrs. Jeanne Simeon, Minister for Education and Human Resource Development.

The ceremony also saw the presence of Mrs. Anne Lafortune, Principal Secretary for Tourism, Principal Secretary for Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Odile de Commarmond, and Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association Chairperson, Mrs. Sybille Cardon alongside Martin Kennedy.

In his opening statements, Martin Kennedy who presided the event’s proceedings mentioned that all the respective ministries, stakeholders and educators equally have a role in helping the young Seychellois to imagine themselves as a major successful partner in the tourism industry.

Speaking at the launch the Minister for Education and Human Resource Development, Mrs. Jeanne Simeon commended the stakeholders of the Tourism sector for their active commitment in providing an extra-curricular activity that would not only benefit the development of students but also impact on their life choices.

“As a country we should not underestimate the importance of the Tourism Industry as the major pillar of our economy and it is of utmost importance that this is transmitted to our children from primary. Tourism should be seen as a sector that helps builds our country’s brand and value,” said Minister Simeon.

Minister Dogley supported the statement as he addressed the gathering emphasizing that it is his pride that Seychellois manage more than 60 percent of the small hotel establishments.

“I thank all the partners, especially ministry for Education and Human Resource Development, the private sector and club coordinators as we all work towards building the next generation of hoteliers and educating them about the importance of keeping our local tourism industry’s standard high in order to maintain our reputation as a destination,” said Minister Dogley.

Mrs. Sybille Cardon, also present, expressed her satisfaction to see the project concretize. She mentioned that with the implementation of the tourism clubs, the industry is hoping to see a very positive response.

With the tag line “We are Tourism,” the call for our responsibility as Seychellois is once again called upon to raise the profile of our Destination and the standard of our Tourism industry.

The event concluded with presentations made from students from Mont-Fleuri Primary School and Beau-Vallon Secondary School.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Seychelles Tourism departments conveys peers and other stakeholders to the first 2019 multi-sectoral meeting

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High officials representing various agencies, members of the tourism-trade and other stakeholders met again on February 1, 2019, three-months following their last assembly in October 2018.

The first multi-sectoral meeting of the year, which took place at the National House, was presided by Minister Didier Dogley, Ministers for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine.

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The meeting saw the presence of his counterparts Minister for Employment, Immigration & Civil Status, Myriam Telemaque; Minister for Environment, Energy & Climate Change, Wallace Cosgrow and Minister for Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning Maurice Loustau-Lalanne.

The agenda included presentations from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS), and the Seychelles Land Transport Authority (SLTA).

The presentations by the NBS kept the participants of the meeting abreast with the latest figures including tourism earnings and expenditures. The NBS team mentioned that the aim of the surveys conducted by its teams at the airport and the port aims at having accurate information on every market. They reported that for last year, $563,9 million was earned form the tourism industry, the country’s leading economic pillar. This represents a 16.7 percent increase from 2017’s earnings.

Seychelles ended December 2018 with 361,231 visitors that disembarked in the island nation, a figure which is four percent above that of 2017. The tourism industry is already seeing an increase in visitor arrivals for 2019 as figure have increased by 16 percent when compared to the same period last year. Since the start of 2019, over 33,700 tourists have set foot in the country.

On its part, the CBS reported on the balance of payment. They stated that Seychelles is primarily a service-based economy, where tourism accounts for more than 25 percent of the country’s GDP.

While the Department for Finance presented a brief on the operating cost in Seychelles, during his short intervention the Minister for Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning Maurice Loustau-Lalanne mentioned that the department is actively working towards reducing business costs related tax considerably.

The two authorities explained the methodology of how data was collected and requested all stakeholders to collaborate in order to be as correct as possible.

The SLTA provided an update on the Road maintenance plan including all the development work on roads and their timeframe.

The Risk Management Section from the Tourism Department circulated their latest figures regarding the crime issues affecting the tourism industry in 2018, showing a 61% decrease in crimes as compared to the same period in 2017.

In his address to the press Minister Dogley expressed his convictions that the Multisectoral meeting adds to the benefit of all stakeholders, he confirms that various issues have been addressed through the meeting and other issues are being taken care of through the continuous meetings.

“What the country wants to see is meaningful and real growth in the industry in general. It is important that the meeting continues on this positive note and that all stakeholders engage in discussions in an effort to jointly identify and implement tangible solutions.” said Minister Dogley.

The aim of the multisectoral meeting is for the public and private sector, involved in the tourism industry, to continue to work together as partners. As a result, the tourism sector can be strengthened for the country to be able to draw more out of the industry and prosper.

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