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Fighting to Preserve the “Wonders of the Ocean”

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In a recent press call in the UK, the Seychelles Minister for Tourism, Ports and Marine, Mr. Didier Dogley and the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) Chief Executive, Mrs. Sherin Francis reiterated the Seychelles’ commitment to fighting climate change.

Walking the talk on its shores and reminding its local and international stakeholders of the devastating effects of global warming, the Seychelles Tourism Board in collaboration with various partners organised another successful edition of the Seychelles Ocean Festival celebrating the “Wonders of the Ocean.”

The festivities celebrated during the weekend of November 22, 2019 concluded at Beau Vallon Beach on Sunday November 24, 2019 carried various activities revolving around our ocean and its fragile beauty, whilst raising the awareness and importance of its conservation.

Through a series of activities, the Seychelles Ocean Festival gave the public the opportunity to reflect on the harm perpetrated on the ocean and its various actions being done to alleviate its side effects for future generations.
From the screening of two short videos at the launching ceremony featuring the Aldabra clean-up project, “Island under siege”, through the experience of Seychelles Island Foundation’s representative Mr. Jeremy Raguain and the presentation of the Nekton Mission, and a testimonial by one of their representatives, Ms. Sheena Talma.

To the Raft Race for Charity, organised by Seychelles National Parks Authority and Global Vision International in collaboration with STB, took place at Cap Ternay beach where some 20 rafts from various organisations competed against one another.

The main sensitization, with the presence of several NGOs and agencies showcasing their causes and sustainable efforts, was on Sunday during the Fun day, focussed on educating the public on how they can contribute to the conservation of the ocean and interacting with them through games and quizzes.

The NGOs present included Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Foundation, Parley for the ocean, Belliche, Nature Seychelles, Global Vision International, Green Islands Foundation and Blue Finance. Other agencies included Ministry of Education, Ministry of Environment and Blue Economy. Interviews with these NGOs, agencies, and CEOs were broadcasted live with K-Radio as part of a public awareness campaign, spreading the conservation cause and the roles of the organisations present.

The Festival concluded with a prize-giving ceremony on Monday 25th at Seychelles Institute for Teacher’s Education, for the SOF Art and Creative Writing Competition which involved participation from primary and secondary schools all over the Island.

In the age of climate change, raising awareness about the importance of our delicate marine life and its preservation has become more crucial, and the Seychelles Ocean Festival provides the perfect platform to achieve this.

MEDIA CONTACT: STB News Bureau, Tel: +248 4 671 354 / +248 4 671 313, [email protected]  www.seychelles.travel

International cooperation between Seychelles and a Baltic Island: Minister Dogley visits German beach clean-up project

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The Seychelles Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine; Didier Dogley, in the company of the Honorary Consul General for the Seychelles in Germany, Mr. Max Hunzinger, visited the island of Usedom – Germany’s easternmost island in the Baltic Sea on Friday, May 17, 2019.

A duty call in the aim to witness first-hand a beach clean-up project that has already attracted international attention and thousands of volunteers.

The project was launched in 2018 by Mrs. Anika Ziegler, who was teaching tourism- related seminars to young people. Even though the beaches of Usedom — a popular destination for summer holidays — are among the cleanest in Germany, Ziegler kept picking up garbage that people had carelessly thrown away or that had been swept ashore.

Recognizing the dangers posed by marine debris and plastic waste to both local tourism and the maritime environment, Ziegler decided to take action and organize “Germany’s 1st Big Beach clean-up” on 17 May 2019.

“Everybody can do something and make a difference,” said Ms. Ziegler. “And it is not difficult at all”, she continued. The initiative received an outstanding response for participation from various volunteers.

The event was officially opened by Ms. Manuela Schwesig, Minister-President of the state of Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania. “I welcome the commitment of young people,” she said. She was joined by Dr. Till Backhaus, Minister for Agriculture and Environment, the Minister of Tourism and the other volunteers in the clean-up.

The international cooperation with the Seychelles started following a meeting in London between when Ms. Ziegler and Minister Dogley, where they discussed the initiative and the potential of collaborating.

Even though the islands are thousands of kilometers apart, they found that islanders from different parts of the world had many things in common — not the least of which were the oceans, which are all connected and, in fact, form one single large body of water.

On site, the Seychelles Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine and former Minister of Environment emphasized in a statement on German television, Norddeutsche Rundfunk, that everybody has to understand that “we cannot use our ocean as our dumping ground and that everybody must contribute their share in keeping our seas and oceans clean and healthy. They are after all, the main providers of resources, on which we islanders depend for our livelihood, whether we are in the Baltic Sea or in the Indian Ocean.” Minister Dogley was joined by four young volunteers from the Aldabra Clean Up project, Ms. Ashley Antao and Mr. Ivan Ray Capricieuse and two others from the Oxford University.

After completing the first phase of the project on Usedom, twenty young people from Northern Germany will travel to the Seychelles in October, where they will participate with local youths in several beach clean-up initiatives on Mahé and at the same time study eco-tourism projects in the Seychelles.  It has been agreed that the Government of Seychelles, the Government of Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania and the Usedom Project will sign a memorandum of Understanding to officialize their collaboration.

Usedom is the second largest island in Pomerania. With an area of 445 square kilometers, it is, however, larger than all of the Seychelles islands combined, and has a population almost as large. With nearly 2,000 hours of sunshine, Usedom is one of the sunniest places in Germany. It has 42 kilometers of beach along the Baltic Sea. With nearly five million visitor nights, it is also Germany’s second most popular island destination. The major (Western) part of the island is part of the state of Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, Germany’s most popular region for domestic tourism. A small part of the island became Polish territory after World War II, but since both countries are part of the European Union, the border is nearly invisible. Usedom is located only a few hundred meters off the mainland coast and can be reached by ferry or by crossing one of two bascule bridges.

MEDIA CONTACT: STB News Bureau, Tel: +248 4 671 354 / +248 4 671 313, [email protected]   www.seychelles.travel

Seychelles Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine visits Shannon College graduates

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The Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Minister Didier Dogley accompanied by the Principal Secretary for Tourism, Anne Lafortune and the Director for Tourism Human Resource Development, Diana Quatre visited graduates of Shannon College at their current place of employment as part of a mentoring initiative, following a resolution at the last committee meeting held in December 2018.

The visit was conducted at four different hotels, namely the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles, Kempinski Seychelles Resort, AVANI Seychelles Barbarons Resort & Spa and the Constance Ephelia Seychelles on Monday 15th April 2019.

The purpose of the visit was to meet with graduates of Shannon College who are working in the hotels of Seychelles and establish a communication channel between the graduates and the Ministry.

The first hotel to be visited was the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles employing the largest cohort, comprising of 7 Shannon graduates. This was followed by Kempinski Seychelles Resort & Spa with two graduates, Avani Seychelles Barbarons Resort & Spa with one graduate and the Constance Ephelia Seychelles with 3 Shannon graduates.

During the visit, graduates were given the opportunity to express their views, in the presence of their hotel managers. The main point of discussion was centred on the minimum salary and career progression within the hospitality industry. Overall the graduates in the four hotels were satisfied with their working condition and the opportunity offered to develop their career further.

Minister Dogley stated that “The visits of the Shannon graduates in their workplace and the meetings held with their General Managers provided an excellent opportunity for me to learn about the progress they have made as professionals in the hospitality industry.  Most of them had clear career paths and personal development programs.

It was a real pleasure and an eye opener to discover that the majority of them are already working as managers in some of our top brand hotels.  This in itself shows that the vision government had for more well-trained and highly skilled Seychellois to take leadership roles in our hospitality industry is becoming a reality.”

 

The Ministerial delegation will also be visiting graduates from the other tourism establishments in order to provide similar opportunities for interaction. These visits are in line with the goal of the Ministry to ensure that the tourism sector is equipped with qualified individuals and shall endeavour to continue to assist graduates in achieving their dreams of progression to senior positions within the hotel industry.

 

To date, there are 74 Shannon College graduates who have gone through this programme.

Travel News | eTurboNews

WTTC Summit 2019 Seville: The Untold Story

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The World Travel and Tourism Council just finished their annual summit 2019 in the Spanish City of Seville.

A record number of delegates listened to presentations from top leaders in the largest industry in the world. All of this was live streamed except for the conversation everyone had waited for with former US President Barak Obama. Perhaps the $4,000.00 price tag for non-members required the organizer to shield the former president from public listeners.

eTN reached out to about 100 of the CEO’s, delegates and ministers that attended the 2-day event last week and everyone said the networking opportunities at WTTC summits to have top people meet with other top people is the real value here. Some delegates only attended the opening and the Obama session and met in the hallways, at side venues with business partners, fellow ministers.

Big business is done this way. It starts often with an exchange of ideas and can trickle down to billion-dollar transactions.

This is the place a CEO can have a cup of coffee with a fellow CEO from a competing company.

Former Seychelles Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine of Seychelles Alain St. Ange, who now leads his own consulting company met with Kenya Tourism Minister Najib Balala consolidating the working cooperation between the two tourism personalities.
St.Ange and Balala have been friends for a number of years and both men are seen as continent leaders in the field of tourism.  Alain told eTN about his exchange with the First Lady of Kenya who delivered her speech at the WTTC summit.
St.Ange said:  “Minister Najib Balala of Kenya and me are expected to meet again in Nairobi shortly to discuss tourism and the development of tourism in Africa.”
WTTC is a different event, an event of changemakers and networking hiding behind the facade of top-notch presentations and opportunity for every destination that is hosting such a high-level event.

 

 

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