• Home
  • Post a press-release
  • Visibility packages
  • Subscribe email updates
  • Event Calendar
  • Contact

For Immediate Release | Official News Wire for the Travel Industry

Where press releases are breaking news

  • Home
  • Post a press-release
  • Visibility packages
  • Subscribe email updates
  • Event Calendar
  • Contact

Boat Charter Policy private stakeholder consultative meeting

April 18, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

A consultative meeting with private sector stakeholders to discuss the revision of the tourism Boat Charter Policy was held on the 5th April 2019 at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles (ICCS).

The Meeting was chaired by the Principal Secretary for Tourism Mrs. Anne Lafortune and in attendance was the Director for Policy, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Mrs. Bernice Senaratne, Director for Standards and Monitoring, Mr. Louis Desnousse, relevant government agencies and boat charter operators.

The aim of the consultation meeting was to present and discuss the proposed amended Boat charter policy which dates back to 2008 in order to collect the views and recommendations of the private sector, mainly boat charter operators who will need to abide by this policy.

During the meeting, it was unanimously agreed that Boat Charter businesses should be reserved to Seychellois including all assets.  The operators highlighted that by not allowing leasing of capital assets from foreigners, the charter businesses will remain free from foreign involvements. The Principal Secretary also assured the meeting that all 300 registered Boat Charter businesses are fully owned by Seychellois as per the Tourism Department’s records.

One of the main concerns raised by the Boat Charter Operators during the meeting was regarding the availability of qualified and skilled labour. According to the operators, graduates who qualify under ‘My first Job scheme’ do not have the required skills and training for the job. The Assistant Director of the Seychelles Maritime Academy (SMA), Captain Wilton Ernesta also present during the meeting explained that the Academy provides the necessary training for maritime based operations and as of this year they have adopted a new strategy to recruit and produce quality students as opposed to quantity by the year 2020.

The boat charter policy comprised of 11 policy statements which include ownership and investment in the charter business, Fleet size, Qualifications required, Conditions of Licence, Standards to be maintained, Environmental actions, Preservation of the Environment, Operators subjected to Integration policy , Information to be submitted to the relevant Authorities, Non-compliance and Emergency and Evacuation procedures.

The main recommendations submitted by the operators in the meeting were regarding the preservation of the environment statement, whereby they emphasized on the need for better infrastructure and facilities to support this policy. The example of introducing a black water pump out system for the disposal of waste was given in view that currently waste is being disposed in the sea. They will be unable to implement the policy requirements without the proper infrastructure in place. It was also recommended that a Boat charter association should be set up to facilitate dialogue and support the operators and the different activities of this sector.

The Tourism department will be taking into consideration all comments and issues raised during the meeting. The proposed draft will be amended and presented to the stakeholders in a follow up validation workshop.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, Anne, April, assets, Assistant, association, Assured, attendance, authorities, based, better, black, boat, Boat Charter Policy, Breaking Travel News, Business, businesses, capital, captain, Centre, charter, charter operators, charter policy, collect, comments, Compliance, concerns, conditions, conference, currently, dates, department, dialogue, different, director, Discuss, draft, emergency, environment, environmental, evacuation, evaluation, Evaluation Mrs, explained, facilities, first, fleet, follow, foreign, foreigners, free, government, held, in, including, information, infrastructure, integration, International, international conference, Investment, issues, IT, job, Leasing, licence, Main, maritime, meeting, monitoring, Mr, Mrs, need, New, new strategy, News articles, Non, operations, operators, order, out, ownership, Place, policy, present, presented, preservation, private, private sector, procedures, proposed, provides, qualified, quality, quantity, raised, recommendations, records, requirements, research, revision, s, scheme, sea, Secretary, sector, Set, Seychelles, Seychelles travel news, Seychellois, Size, skills, stakeholder, stakeholders, standards, statement, statements, strategy, students, support, system, taking, The Seychelles, to, TO BE, tourism, Tourism Department, Tourism Mrs, training, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, unable, up, validation workshop, view, views, waste, water, were, WHO, workshop, year

Tourism stakeholders presented with Destination 2023

April 17, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Following the consultative process to review and update the Tourism Master Plan 2012-2020 in May 2018, it was seen necessary that a concrete action plan to guide the Tourism sector be developed. Last Friday, at the STC Conference Room, the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Mr. Didier Dogley launched the validation workshop for Destination 2023, a tourism strategy which will guide the tourism sector for the next 5 years.

The aim of the validation workshop was to discuss, validate findings and present recommendations as well as provide clarifications, prior to finalising the strategy document. This strategy has been drafted following meetings conducted with more than 300 persons across both private and the public sector, including but not limited to, tour operators, hoteliers, restaurant owners, as well as boat and yacht charter operators during  a period of 1 and  a half year.

The workshop was also attended by the Principal Secretary for Tourism, Anne Lafortune, Principal Sectary for Finance, Damien Thesee, the Attorney General and representatives from both Public and private sector.

In his opening remarks, Minister Dogley said: “Destination 2023, is the strategic tool elaborated to galvanise our efforts towards a common national vision and strategic goals and provide us with clear and specific steps necessary to achieve our set objectives and targets. It is the blue print for our tourism industry for the next 5 years.”

The consultants commissioned for the Tourism Master Plan, Mrs. Daniella Larue of Valsen Consulting and Mr. Guy Morel presented the 8 priority areas that should be collectively achieved by 2023. This include Driving brand development, Investing in market penetration and development, Improving product diversification, Addressing Seychelles competitiveness as a Tourism Destination, Investing in local talent development and management, Increasing Investment in Sustainable Tourism Practices, Delivering key enabling factors and Increasing Capacity of Government Agencies to facilitate tourism.

The consultants were commended by the Trade and the Principal Secretary for Tourism in her closing remarks for presenting a clear guiding strategy that will act as a roadmap for the sector’s sustainable growth. Following its validation by the Trade, the Destination 2023 strategy will be submitted to the Government for final approval.Once approved, the Department of Tourism will develop detailed action plans with monitoring measures and ensure its implementation to meet the set goals and objectives of the strategy.

MEDIA CONTACT: STB News Bureau, Tel: +248 4 671 354 / +248 4 671 313, stbnews@seychelles.travel  www.seychelles.travel

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, Anne, approval, approved, areas, attorney, Attorney General, aviation, boat, brand, Breaking Travel News, capacity, charter, civil aviation, Clear, closing, competitiveness, conference, consulting, department, Department of Tourism, Destination, development, Discuss, document, driving, efforts, factors, Finance, findings, following, For immediate Release, general, government, Growth, guide, half, hoteliers, implementation, in, including, increasing, Industry, Investing, Investment, IT, key, last, launched, Limited, local, management, marine, Market, Master, master plan, May, measures, meet, meetings, minister, minister for tourism, monitoring, Mr, Mrs, national, News articles, opening, operators, owners, period, persons, plan, plans, ports, practices, present, presented, presenting, Principal Sectary, priority, private, private sector, product, public, recommendations, remarks, restaurant, review, roadmap, room, s, said, Secretary, sector, Set, Seychelles, Seychelles travel news, stakeholders, strategic, strategy, sustainable, sustainable growth, sustainable tourism, talent, targets, The Minister, to, tool, tour, Tour Operators, tourism, Tourism Destination, Tourism Industry, tourism master plan, tourism sector, tourism stakeholders, tourism strategy, Trade, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, update, US, validation workshop, vision, were, workshop, yacht, year, years

Search




Recent Articles

  • American Airlines Announces Proposed Offering of Senior Secured Notes and New Term Loan by American and Its AAdvantage Subsidiary
  • Rediscover what you’ve missed and kick-start your travel plans with Emirates
  • Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Thailand as of 8 March 2021, 11.30 Hrs.
  • Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Thailand as of 7 March 2021, 11.30 Hrs.
  • First group completes 14-day Golf Quarantine in Thailand
  • Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Thailand as of 6 March 2021, 11.30 Hrs.
  • The St. Regis Almasa Opens Its Doors In Egypt’s New Administrative Capital
  • Royal Palaces reopen from 4 March 2021
  • Thailand sees gradual return of events and festivals with strict COVID-19 controls
  • Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Thailand as of 5 March 2021, 11.30 Hrs.

Copyright © 2021 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in