During her stay, Claire Gantly is going around the country visiting tourism establishments and is also conducting training for hotel inspectors, for them to know how to implement the classification criteria.
Yesterday morning, she had a short working session with the tourism technical team which include directors and technicians from different sections of the tourism department.
From the knowledge gained through Mrs Gantly’s expertise, inspectors will be in a better position to classify hotels. The classification system will be from one star to five star levels for luxury island resorts and establishments with more than sixteen rooms, and bronze, silver or gold categories for other small hotels with less than sixteen rooms.
Mrs Gantly who has been in the business for twenty years now, has said that she has been reviewing the criteria which the tourism department has been working on for some time and that she has proposed amendments where necessary.
She has however insisted on the necessity to take into account the specificities of the Seychelles and incorporate the local culture which gives a local flavour to the trade. These, she says, may include attractions such as arts, natural spots, public areas, local food etc.
“Those attractions will bring extra points and keep Seychelles as it is,” she commented.
This is why she said she has been meeting operators of the tourism trade not necessarily to criticise them, but to have their views and to present them with existing choices.
She added that the classification system will help hoteliers define their priorities and reap the benefits of their decisions.
“Knowing where you want to get is a condition for success. The main objective is to make clients know where they are going and what they are expecting,” Mrs Gantly concluded.
According to the principal secretary (PS) for tourism Anne Lafortune, the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) partnership will permit the classification programme to be internationally recognised.
She further described it as a very important project which will help tourism establishments relook at their strategies and operations, improve their standard and rise to the level they would like to.
“We sell Seychelles overseas and our guests pay a lot of money for their holiday here. So we must offer them value for their money,” the PS insisted.
For now hotels are self classified or classified by Destination Management Companies (DMCs). Mrs Lafortune commented that we must not give false expectations to visitors, for as she says, for now we are not sure if the classification is a correct
Source; Nation.sc
Source; Nation.sc
31 comments:
Classification is the first step towards implementing anti room price dumping in the market.
Government needs to maintain due diligence.
The sooner this area is mopped up, the sooner National Yield will increase.
Christopher Gill
It was clear from the beginning that oversized five star hotels would not be sustainable.Too big...no richman goes to a supposedly five star hotels built as hotels for mass tourism.Prince Harry,Wiliam,Kate and others have proven that,,,,,,,they go to North Island,not Guy Adam overside hotel with hundreds of other guests they,donot know and want to know.Al these oversize establishment have long been operating at lost......auality of service in free fall........to make ends meet they have resorted to price dumping............which not only affecti.g the image of tourism company and but domestic market.
Some have reached three star standard but still masauerading as five star.A rip~off dump gardage,othing five star.Take for instance,the fve star hotel on Denis island,,,,it has a standard of two to zhree star....with sticky pig style and cow stable near rooms,chcken farm disturbing guests at 4 in the morning,ezc..etc.......The new grading system will bring it in it right category which two star.
SCCI has pushed government hard on this issue.
We support the initiative 100%.
SHTA opposes this initiative because they are protecting their properties that do not meet the standard.
We have ask government in the case of Five Star, include the room price as a category for retaining five star status. This couple with anti dumping legislation will protect Seychellois domestic hoteliers in the four and three two star category.
It is an initiative that will bring a lot of opposition from SHTA.
When it does, close your membership, join SCCI.
SHTA is a bastion where DMC protect their own interests, and large hotels hang on for dear life.
Christopher Gill
Meanwhile St Ange accepts Scr100000 cheque from St Anne Beachcomber. Will a public investigation be made. Or was the cheque just a perception
Must be a donation for Carnival.
Beachcomber has supported carnival for years.
But I will ask St. Ange..
In any case, Beachcomber can do whatever the hell it wants with its money.
It's the SCR. 1.0 island lease of St. Anne island to Francis Savy that is the realerception.
Jesus.
When will you people grow up?
Christopher Gill
Carnival is ministry of Tourism not Mr St Ange. That is clearly a personal payment. As a senior official he will need to justify it.In the business world payment of a large sum of money to a govt official is seen as a bribe. Even if it's Beachcombers money it is unethical.Look forward to his explanation once you ask him
Its simple. HRH Minister had paid a deposit for a family holiday. He decided to cancel the holiday, so the hotel refunded him the deposit. Oli problem !!!
Its a shame the staff did not go public and publicise it when HRH made the deposit payment. In any case it can only be 1 or 2 member of the accounts department that are responsible to share private, sensitive business information to the general public. This is considered gross misconduct. We expect the staff responsible for this leakage to get his/her marching orders with next 24 hours.
An advise to all staff handling sensitive information, be very careful how you use these information. These information are for your eyes only. NOT FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION. Anyone not respecting the privacy laws will have to end up being unemployed. We will have to import more foreigners to replace Seselwa and look after our sensitive information. We have already removed a lot of Seselwa in responsible posts for exactly this reason.
Hence, we have so many Nepalese in our Police force, Foreign Doctors in our Hospitals, Foreigners lording over our beaches etc. etc. etc.etc..... A Raze
5,54 that Mr St Ange was handed a check from Beachcomber as contribution to the carnival does make it bribery.let me put it this way...A football team captain who is handed the cup after winning a final by his team does mean the cup was gifted to the captain....the captain recieved the cup first because he is the teamleader representing the whole Team.
That hotels are involved in sposoring the Carnival cannot be something as government obligation.......it is the touridm industry duty to participate in its success for they the first to benefit from it.Mofeover,as we agree many
establishment were gifted land to build their hotels on one rupee land.....It is not the duty of the tourism ministry to fit zhese concerns but landuse,finance minister. Who in the first place allowed such practice....They need to make Beachcpmbers and other pay their fair share.
I have not spoken to ST.Ange yet, but I know St. ange is a person of the highest integrity. He is the best thing that ever came out of SNP. If Ramkalawan was not obsessed with self empowerment, today the opposition would be united and St. ange would be leading it. Instead, he left SNP walked way and left Ramkalawan to swallow all he could eat.
For the players in Tourism, St. ange has saved us over and over again and again.
If beachcomber wants to give a check to St. ange for carnival, or it is a donation, that is their business,not the public.
Bribe at. Ange with 100,000.00. That is funny. Give me a break!
Christopher Gill
We are losing the connections of wires in our brian?
Ethical?
What code of ethic does Beachcomber follow?
It built a hotel on SCR. 1.0 island,
Get real, with idiotic comments like that you make us all look like fools.
Leave St. ange alone, before the damn tourist stop coming to Seychelles in protest over your bull shit.
What an asshole.
Tourists protest onvehich bullshit?Be it beachcombdr,Eden Island,lumeria,Guy Adam hotel,felicite,silhouette ,all these hotels were gifted src1 rupee land...............i. return to create jobs for locals,and kther conditions zhey have hold up to........it is howrver,not in the power of the tourism minister to make them pay their shares,but landuse and economy.Not paying landlease and other dues give them financial power and advantage that others paying their dues to not have.
SO it is the mi.ister of finance,econmy who must take actions to make these hotels pay what they must pay.
The blogger seems to share the same unfounded feeling toward St Ange as,Tirant.You donot like success or it is simply jealoudy?
What, have a donation to the tourism ministry with zhe landuse minister whio approved zhese 1,rupee land,we all disapproved because it does not result in returns for zhe country as it was supposed to be?
I have been trying to fiind a single connection btween St Ange and the Sr 1 land.....i simply cannot find any.
For when pl government decide and implement this practice St Ange was not yet a minister.Secondly,as Minister Tourism he is not responsibility and duty of land use,not is he a member of the Assenbly who voted for such deal.Ram was an MP at that time not St,Ange.
A do.ation given to zhe ministry of tourism become a landuse issue,seem for me irrelevant.....less the blogger in question.....show me what makes tourism minister a landuse minister.
The sale of one rupee of St. Anne island was done well before St. ange was a Minister of Tourism.
It is unfair to blame him for this. Such allegations only show us how some elements of the opposition are blinded and discredit the cause out of ignorance, vengeance, hate. In the opposition, we were never about pro active hate. I do not know who is responsible for this new policy, but it will hurt all of Seychelles in the end.
Alain St. Ange has done so much for those of us in the Tourism industry, we respect him, and we remain grateful for his efforts.
He works 24/7 I doubt the man even sleeps. He is available accessible to every single operator in the business daily. Unlike other ministers, other gov. Officials, he replies to every single mail.
If you have an issue with St. ange, why don't you address him?
For now leave him alone, because we are yet to have a viable replacement to St. ange.
Win support with sense, not lose support over nonsense.
Sesel Pou Seselwa!
Christopher Gill
Mr Gill, I agree Minister St Ange has worked tirelessly for all Seselwa over the past few years. Minister St Ange has achieved great results as well. Minister St Ange should be commended for this. Very, very well done Minister St Ange - you are a great Son and a great asset to our beloved country Seychelles.
On the other hand we see a copy of a cheque made out from St Anne Resort to Alain Ste Ange. Yes, the complete name is not totally correct, because the name 'Ste' is not 'St'. We are not sure if this is a credible cheque or is it indeed a fake cheque. Minister St Ange is a public figure who has had business dealings with St Anne resort recently. It is only correct for him to give a frank explanation to this cheque, if it did ever exist. There are always 2 sides to a coin, we cannot form an opinion by hearing one side of the story. Unfortunately, if no explaination is forthcoming from Minister St Ange and the St Anne Resort then we cannot blame the general public forming their own conclusion.
I hope Minister St Ange and St Anne resort will explain what this cheque of SCR100k was all about !
Finally, we cannot take the attitude that someone has done so much good for us or our country, therefore, when that person does something wrong, we need to ignore it and pretend all is OK in paradise. This is one big problem that we have to overcome. When JAM, RAM, FAR, JRM, PILLAY, St ANGE and anyone else for that matter are right - we should acknowledge them and say so. Equally, when they are wrong, we should investigate and condemn their wrongdoings. This is the only way we can successfully move forward. A> Raze
12:34
The point is this-
The cheque is drawn on St. Anne Resort. It is their cheque, there money. It is not public funds. St. Anne Resort can do anything it likes with its money, short of committing a crime with it.
The matter although involves a Public figure, is non of our business because it is not Public Funds.
If St. ange has conducted any wrong doing, illegal, address it in solid and concrete terms.
We can deal with it.
Right now, the only complaint is St. Anne Resorts spends it's money oddly.
We need to get more serious.
Thanks for your input.
Christopher Gill
Mr Gill, I agree with some of your points, but cannot agree with all of your comments. You are bright enough to know that St Anne Resort is a high profile tourism establishment in Seychelles. Minister St Ange is a high profile Minister responsible for tourism in Seychelles. Any transactions between these 2 parties should be 'arms length' and 'transparent'. It is now down to St Anne's resort and Minister St Ange to clear up this matter. If they both do not give an acceptable explanation, then do not blame the 'jungle drums' and 'radio bambou'. A.Raze
St. ange Resort money belongs to St. ange Resort.
They can do as they see fit with their money.
St. Ange is not only high profile, public figure, he is the man that puts manna on the national table.
Without St. ange, the country crumbles.
This is not Rene or Michel who milked the country.
If you make an allegation against Alain st. ange you better line up your ducks well, and sure about what you are doing.
The country will turn on you if you have it wrong.
I see no reason why you should be bothered " A Raze" with St. Anne Is
Ands money expenditures.
Christopher Gill
Mr Gill, I am not ARaze with anyone. I am not accusing Minister St Ange of any wrong doing. However, I am accusing both, St Anne Resort and Minister St Ange for keeping quiet on this matter. It may well be St Anne's resort money for them to do whatever they want with - the same way I have my few cents and i can do whatever I want to do with my few cents. So in this case, both St Anne Resort and Minister St Ange should just come out and say it is their private transactions or their private business and they do not wish to divulge the reason behind this payment of SCR100k. But keeping quiet on this matter will only keep tongues wagging ! A Raze
By the way Mr Gill, On this blessed day of Corpus Christ you need to know that it is God Almighty that puts manna on the table for all his slaves (people). Its God Almighty who is responsible for feeding the whole world, including all the birds you see flying around your resort. It is God Almighty who has chosen to give Seselwa in the tourism industry their manna through the efforts of Minister St Ange. Remember every should shall taste death, you, me and Minister St Ange included. What will happen after we are gone ? Will God Almighty stop providing ? So have faith, we are mere mortals, we are not angels. Trust God Almighty. A Raze
That God helps Ange a believer to succeed is graceful.Maybe other ministers should pray and ask God to make them successful like St,Ange,this would move seychelles forward. I believe God will continue to provide to his faithful seychellois victim of t,ranny.That,Pl thoughall the attempt to redicate seychellois failed it must be because,God was protecting us.
St. Ange was sent by God, to take us out of the shit a raze.
Without st. Ange we would be eating bull gore.
Well put.
Michel can leave Seychelles will still boom!
Ramkalawan and Pillay can leave, Seychelles will still boom!
Remove ST ANGE - line up behind Madagascar for Feed the children program.
Without St. ange no body will deal with Seychelles, until a replacement has been ID.
Right now, that replacement does not exist.
Do not kid yourselves.
I have been contacted by Minister Alain St. Ange.
He advises me by Monday he will sue Weekly for this defamatory statement to clear his name.
Ernesta dig deep to pay the man you soil.
This is no ordinary case.
Why?
No Public funds, you are playing with Beschcombers cheque book in the press. They will likely sue you as well.
You know the saying- " no knowledge can be dangerous....a little knowledge can be very dangerous".
Since you are a tin pot military man- " it is always wise to choose your targets carefully in warfare, ideally target the General who opposes you, not those who feed you".
More shame on the opposition from Ex- Rene man.
Christopher Gill
Addendum-
No Public funds, therefore no public interest.
Pick up the cents.
Mr Gill STOP threatening Mr Ernesta.
Having noticed smoke, there must be fire !
Minister St Ange, should not worry if he is innocent. Maybe this cheque of 100k is for genuine services rendered or genuine payment for supply of goods by the Minister. He may have been a paid consultant to the Beachcomber Group. Who knows ? Its only right and correct for Minister to come clean and explain his position. Once he explains himself, assuming his explanation is acceptable, we can hopefully put this matter to bed. However, the longer he remains silent on this matter, the more suspicious we become.
Mr Ernesta has nothing to worry if this cheque did ever exist. Mr Ernesta has to worry if he 'manufactured' this cheque. The accounts office staff at St Anne resort responsible to leak this cheque must be the worried one. The responsible staff must be history by now, they must be searching for a new job. Hopefully, such staff will get a job in a non-corrupt environment !
12:05 am-
After a few drinks you read my thread as a threat. I am not threatening Colonel Ernesta. Colonel Ernesta is a grown man and he is responsible for his actions as any other man. The simple fact that he has escaped any impunity for what he has done while in the Army, and while he was Defacto commissioner of a police is beyond me.
The issue is how Colonel Ernesta is handling himself as a editor of a paper . This is the issue.
To raise the issue is not a threat. If you or colonel Ernesta take this as a threat, then you still suffer from post Mortimer one party state bully syndrome.
What he has done by cunningly attacking St. Ange prematurely, without approaching ST. ange for a reasonable, plausibly explanation is simply put at risk the future of the entire Tourism Industry. This is reckless, it is foolish. Fundamentally it is wrong.
The reply of a colonel Ernesta is we can replace him. Well , Tourism is not the Army, where you can replace one dumb fuck with another.
The last person that did what St. ange is doing was Mancham in 1974. Along the way we did what Colonel Ernesta proposes, and replaced Minister of Tourism on and on, never finding the right one. This is no easy job. It takes a special type of person, and special persona.
In business, we find a replacement before we fire. I bet Colonel Ernesta never learned this basic lesson in Rene's army.
Sesel Pou Seselwa!
Christopher Gill
Colonel Ernesta
I have contact St. Ange. He has made a clarification. Prepare yourself for a law suit.
St. Ange advise me and I confirm the same from my time at SHTA ( 7 years), before he was Minister, he is the E- Turbo agent locally for Seychelles. The funds I understand were collect for e turbo. That is why it is a check. It is an expense for Besch comber Hotel. Documented.
No big deal.
You just made it look like he stole the statute of St. Marie from the Cathedral.
Try to focus on real issues as I said before, it may improve your writing and we may start buying Weekly again. We have stopped if you did not notice. It offers little intellectual stimulation and offers a lot of frustration on part of the Editor.
We cannot change the country attacking those who are fixing it.
Unless you want a lawsuit, I would apologize or retract. No need to be a asshole, you are no longer in Rene' s army.
Sesel Pou Seselwa!
Christopher Gill
Mr Gill, thank you for this explanation on behalf of Minister. In future it would be wise to set up an account for e-turbo and cheques made payable directly to e-turbo. Minister can then invoice e-turbo for his time and effort. E-turbo can pay Minister for his expenses. Operating as suggested above will leave Ministers reputation intact. I hope you take the above advise in the correct spitrit.
Thank you for this, all good.
Sesel Pou Seselwa!
Christopher Gill
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