Dissent to Sybille Cardon's Points Raised
Dear Editor:
I write in regards to the interview with Miss Sybille Cardon, the Chairwoman of the SHTA.
It is worthy of note that Miss Csrdon is appointed by the SHTA Board and not elected by the membership, upon the abrupt departure albeit late, of Mr. Freddy Kararia who ran Select Seychelles and racked up debts with the Trade, while the Board looked on in silence.
I have asked for a general meeting for members to elect a new Board and subsequently I was conveniently advise by Miss Cardon that I am no longer a member of SHTA on her last visit to my establishment.
Members will also note in the last AGM I was the only person to raise opposition to the high membership fees Miss Cardon alludes to in her interview, but conveniently skips the details of the fallout these ridiculous fees caused. Meanwhile DMC fees remained the same. The Board was with deliberation sticking it to large and medium size hotels.
The fees were outrageous , my hotel would go from SCR. 3,000.00 per annum to SCR. 30,000.00. I find that abusive given that most of the valid ideas put forward came from me in the first place and other similar small operators since we do " know how Seychelles works and we are not afraid of losing our GOP or new found passport".
Miss Cardon misses a critical point that has caused the demise of the SHTA and to allow her to fall from The grace and respect she once enjoyed under the leadership of Mr. Louis D'offay.
That point is this: DMC operators were always kept in check. Today they use the SHTA to prop up artificial aggression between small hotels and large hotels. The reality is the biggest threat to Tourism in Seychelles today is the monopolistic practice of DMC operators, which Miss Cardon serves, not small hotels nor large hotels.
On the issue of drugs, Miss Cardon can offer more cooperation to the NDEA then she has in the past. Perhaps she can offer some land at Côte d'Or for a Police Substation, proposed by Commissioner Quarte in 2012, but yet to be implemented.
On the issue of our students from overseas, who are more academically qualified then Miss Cardon, I can only ask the Industry to give them a chance. As for the students, they must be willing to sacrifice, and put in the time. A degree is not the end of the road. It is the first step.
Finally, SHTA move to ESPACE places it in a direct conflict of interest to negotiate on behalf of the Trade. Who is your Landlord?
Thank you.
Christopher Gill
Ex- SHTA Member
17 comments:
Who is sybille Gardon?She is,a Belgium national who became Seychellois through marriage to a Seychelles.Gardon first came to Seychelles as GOP.She was recruited as GOP (Scuba diving instructor)by Bernard Camille who at that time owed one of Praslins main watersport center and contracted by Berjaya Hotel for his service to its hotel clients.
After MR Camille sold his watersport center,Ms Gardon buoght her actual Restaurant and started her first ever business is catering.(NB.. . Money to purchase her Restaurant she borrowed it to her Father....the later is,a bankercin belgium).
Now,it clear that Ms Gardon,has little knowledge,about hospitality nad hoteling in all its form and the does not have neither the qualification,the experience to manage SHTA.
Moreover,we donot expect one underqualified person like Sybille who does even hold a BAC(belgium A level)to dictate to our government whether we should send seychelois students abroad or not.......keeping in mind that sending srudents abroad has been a tradition in our society.And it is neither pl or Gardon whocpay students school abroad but Tax payers.
Srychelles tourism industry does not belong to Gardon, but to all Seychelois,hence all seychellois has a legitimate right to advice ,bring ideas etc...to his or her government on how we could make our tourism industry more effective,and that regardless if one is,a member of SHTA or not.....
I donot know what the hell she thinks she is ,but she has an arrogance of a colonial master....that must be torn apart and get her down to earth.
Sybile is brainless about the tourism and lack both knowledge and experirnce to lead the SHTA whose members are real trained experts in the tourism world.Asking for an election in order to choose a proffessional at the helm of SHTC should in fact be a tacit obligation.. The SHTC needs,a lead that has team work quality,someone whi can socialize and unite all players in the industry. ..surely a little,dictator like sybille without these qualities could only disrupt SHTA .
THAT Sybille want an astronomic membership fee and suck businness persons from their hard earned revenue that the later could use more benrficially and effectively such as improving their establishment or for new job creation shows simply that Ms Gardon lack managerial quality and innovative ideas...
We Will have to choose,a real by election that is decided by a majority vote and not handpicked.........only an elected leader could haveclegitimacy and thereby get all members support SHTA strategies.........No one i ready to let,Gardon dictates her Will on the rest,for her dictations are anti productive,creates conflicts,and affect the tourism industry as,a whole
Finally,Sybile seems also not to have the quality and character a leader working with the hospitaly industry.. Rudeness,arrogance,the inability to listen and dedate should have no place in the hospitality industry...
If Gardon wants to clip to power....then we should consider creating an independrnt SHTA with members from all tourism related businesses... Guesthouses,hoteld,boatcharters,restaurants,taxis,bikecrental... all....make itcpowerful and effective.Gard
U can not let Gardon dictates her poor knowledge about thectourism industry on experts in the industry...
SHTA was established by a group of commited inviduals who were willing to pool their resources and skills to promote the development of the tourism in Seychelles,,,,,,with a leadership which was supposed to have the,ability to influence,motivate,and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organisation(group)....Leadership traits we were witness when Mr DOffay was at the helm of SHTA,. Mr DxOffay was a,leader that enjoys the confidence of its members,and all actors in the Tourism and Hospitality industry.
SHTA unfortunately is being led by an unexperience leader,disconnected to the real objectives and purpose set by the organisation founding members..... We now have a Sybille Gardon dividing the organisation instead of motivating its members and engaging others to collsborate....she is not apt for the job ...
Since Sybille has been nelectedly lead SHTC,the organisation is going through difficult times .Perhaps our working together as a team and respecting others opinions,and abilities ,in addition of that little arogance u demonstrate Ms Gardon...help us move forward.Communication with diplomacy and credibikity ,Ma Sybille!
Tu es dottée d!une mauvaise fois qui est absolument indécrottable ....Alors une mauvaise gouvernante.
Dégage Sybille!!!
Mr Gill, you should organise all the small establishments on Praslin, La Digue & Mahe to a new association to represent all small self catering, hotels, restaurants etc....
Yes I agree with the above. Mr. Gill has the intelligence, education, experience, to do this right and get results.
As a praslinoise in hotel business I have seen him drop crime in Praslin with public safety committee for many years. He spear headed drop in airfares and many other issues when SHTA could not get the results.
9:20 am.
Thank you for the vote of confidence.
Under the flagship of the SCCI with Chairman Marco Francis, we are a
Ready doing the work SHTA went to sleep on.
Marco Francis has given us the latitude to rally the small hotels, charter operators into a strong group which has been very progressive, advancing their business interest at the same time, retaining the social cohesion on issues of particular importance to our country.
It is a balance.
Here are some of our successes which Miss Cardon has attempted to claim as hers falsely ( our Chairman Mr. Francis has remained polite)-
1. Reduction in Air Seychelles ticket prices Mahe Praslin.
2. Reduction of VAT on Cargo.
3. Ministry of Environment accord to allow private sector import seaweed machine. Now some one must come forward and implement program. Perhaps Miss Cardon can do the practical now that we have negotiated with GOS successfully.
4. Including SCCI on list of attendees at Trade affairs.
5. Exposing the DMC monopolistic practice ongoing, which SHTA remained silent on. This is now a national issue,rehabs the most important one for the future viability of Seychellosi participation in the economy in a meaningful manner.
6. Initiation of the Cross Sector meetings. This has been a very successful initiative, which brings all private sector together with GOS to discuss face to face pressing issues . Miss Cardon has yet to attend a single Cross Sector meeting, though she has a lot to say about Tourism in Seychelles Today paper, over Two years.
7. Clean up effort on Curiesse Island.
8. Improvement of access on Praslin jJetty.
The key to our success has been our tenacity, thoughtfulness, balance, sense of fairness, couple with a persistent effort to dialogue with all sides.
Miss Cardon lacks this trait. She seems to think Seychellois are at their best when sweeping, doing dishes, or tending a BBQ.
Have a wonderful Valentines Day Everyone!
Christopher Gill
How can SHTA have a chairperson not elected?
Why is there no AGzm?
11:47
Addendum-
We have a
So presented to Ministry of Finance a solid plan on Taxation that makes sense.
The plan can keep revenue inflows for MOF to fund their social projects, to uplift our people, at the same time, reduce VAT from 15% to 12% to 10% to 7 % .
VAT is the big killer of small , medium, large hotels. It affects the liquidity of each establishment, pinches their profit margins.
MOF is considering the plan now.
We expect a response by the second quarter.
Christopher Gill
Mr Gill, thank you for your detailed explanation. I fully support your past initiatives and I am sure you will make the right decision moving forward.
With regards to SHTA, we should not loose sleep over it.
The motor of the small independent establishments and the owner managers themselves. We do not need the DMC to do us any favours. How many client does CTS & Masons send to your establishment ? We small establishments needs to pull our resources together, ie, taxi, boat charters, diving, tour guides etc etc...We need to help each other and teach the older traditional guesthouses how to move into the digital age and e-commerce. I am confident and firmly believe that we small establishments can give the big 'DMC' a good game and a run for their money. Watch this space over the next 2 to 3 years. 90% of bookings will be online. Addition services will be done online. Prices and services can easily be compared online. We do not need unqualified SHTA or STB staff visit our place to tell us our drive is not clean, out building needs a coat of paint. If we small establishment are forward thinking we can see issues ourselves. Trip Advisor is a God sent inspector to keep us in check. The only thing that the DMC have over us is Cat Cocos and nothing else ! With determination we can pool our resources together and I have great plans to overcome the Cat Cocos monopoly.
I am sure you will correct me if you do not agree with my above statement.
Happy Sunday - Happy Valentines Day !
9.20
Totally agree with Gill,the VAT is a real burden on the tourism sector.The Tourism and all licensed tourism service providers should enoy a concessionary FLAT RATE of 7 to 8 %,not more.
U know what!Tourism is the only Export Industry that is sujected to DomesticTax or VAT is applied.Frankly,the tourism sector deserves to be treated as an Export industry.
Pl could even write~off marketing advertissement cost......
5,18
That what pl preaches about but do little,namely ,develop a sustainable tourism industry.......exclusive......wherrby one service depends on other services..........that is,also why monopolies,must be dealt with,in order to flavor sustainabilty in the industry and beyond.
Christopher Gill- if I am reading you correctly you were kicked out of SHTA by a Fabrike.
Now this Fabrike talks to is about tourism and our students? What is this country coming too?
Yes, this is correct.
Initially she ask me to support her. I told her I cannot do that, because she lacks substance, and hence, I will not entrust issues we face in her hands.
I ask her to do an AGM since she has no mandate from the membership.
When she realize that I will
Not support her, she advise me that I am no longer a member of SHTA.
So yes, I have been kicked out of SHTA by a Fabrike Chairwoman, with no mandate.
The sad thing is the by oars stayed silent, after all the years and effort , time I gave SHTA.
Jesus was hung in the cross for his beliefs.
So I guess this is a minor cross to carry.
Christopher Gill
Tourism is indeed an Export industry by far.......no other service or commodity approaches the inportance of Tourism as motor of job creation and a premium of foreign exchange generator
Furthermore,tourism is the are in which Seychelles has competitive advantages.The country has few resources that allow the competitive advantage than Tourism does....
As an Export Industry,we need to view Taxes of what does Visitor pay in Taxes as part of the cost of her/his holiday.This naturally includes not only hotels,but also by their supplier.
As theckey driver of the economy ,the sector plays,a strong role in generating Taxes,employment,i.come,forex inflows.Although tourism is held the pillar of seychelles economy ,the industry is still not fully impacting seychelles!to its fuly potential.Taxes policies and marketing strategies underpinned the development of the sector...hence govt should inperatively identifies what change should be made to influence future economic performance of the sector.......E,g there should be beneficial treatment on GCT ,or concessionary VAT rate,or write~offf/reduction in Corporation Tax~~~free funds to re~invest,recruitment,etc.
Continues below
Tourism Incentives plays a pivotal role enabling Seychelles to compete against other destinations for investments,as well as Visitor arrivals and spend.Any initiatives to remove incentives from existing tourism entities and raise taxes payable by the sector are likely to inpact upon their ability to compete at both Regional and International levels.
Incentives drive pricing of the product which in a highly competitive marketplace can determine the success or failure of an investment.It is unlikely that Seychelles would attract the level of tourism investment and have the ability to make its contribution potential fully,to the economic development in the absence of incentive schemes.
Seychelles tourism industry competes. against the world for tourists and hence,must be price competitive.High cost structure and Taxes become financial burden on the industry as thectourism industry is inable tob,or hardly pass as increase to International customers as they have a choice of destinations.
Demand for Tourism services is highly sentitive to price and subject to intense International competition.Countries where the tourism sector is subject to a lower rate of VAT have has a competitive advantage over other countries where higher rate isclevied.
No one in the industry want to be priced out of the market,we must remain affordable.This is critical,what we can not afford to happen is Tax policy on Tourism to become regressive to the industry,that it begins to chip further at the industrys competitivenes.Anything that make Seycelles tourism more expensive relative to competition will lead to a sustaintial fall in total revenues.
The govt grants favorable Tax treatnent to Export industries,in order to offset global challenges and ensure competitiveness.Since tourism is also an Export sector,it should be treated as,such.(Inputs should be taxed as Import).
Additionally,there is a need to develop sub~themes to Seychelles Brand,advertising specificareas of out country~~~that is advertising needs to market the numerious Assets of the country ,moreeffective to ncrease awareness.
The SCCI on Praslin appealed to Minister of Finance last year to do a chain analysis on Tourism industry.
Minister Jean paul Adam has since kept his word.
In the first Cross a sector for the year, the minister announced and introduced Four (4) World Bank technicians who will be in Seychelles for Four (4) full months, conducting a chain Analysis study of the Tourism Industry.
This will show us precisely, where our strength lie, where our weaknesses wiegh us down.
It will show us how we as a people benefit from Tourism, and how we do not benefit from Tourism.
It will dissect as well the monopolistic practice of the DMC who have persistently implemented a vertical integration strategy.
Finally, we should see where the large hotels are banking overseas, and affecting our yield.
This effort, is an example of the fruits of dialogue with firm footing.
We thank the Minister for pulling through on this issue.
The Ramkalawan camp remains silent on the matter.
This is not an issue to remain silent on. Educate yourselves fast.
Christopher Gill
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