The Seychelles Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Louis Sylvestre Radegonde has noted that one of the island nation’s key strategic focuses for tourism in 2024 will be to diversify the source markets for tourists.

“In 2024, we need to forge on with the strategy we’ve put in place, to diversify our source markets,” said Mr. Radegonde.

“We know we cannot continue to depend on Western Europe, we need to look at other markets.”

He noted, however, that there was a need to work on connectivity to get the needed benefits from the new source markets.

“We need to work on connectivity, not easy, looking at markets like India and China, but between seeing the potential and getting these tourists here are two different things,” he said.

“Over here we need to continue to diversify the range of products we have, continue to raise our level of services, continue to give that value for money. So basically, that’s going to continue to be the work for next year,” the Minister said.

Minister Radegonde said this during an interview with the media at a special Creole Rendezvous night at the Cap Lazare Nature Reserve at Mahe during the hosting of 65 trade and media partners to a familiarization tour of Seychelles by Tourism Seychelles, dubbed Mega Fam Trip.

Mr. Radegonde also noted that his ministry and the tourism board need to work on the perception that Seychelles is an expensive destination.

“We need to work on the perception that people have of Seychelles out there. When you talk to somebody, they perceive Seychelles to be a five-star destination beyond the needs of the ordinary person, it is not true, he said.

“We have a range of accommodation, five-star plus, but also small guest houses which we are pushing.”

He said there are over 700 of these small hotels and guest houses across the archipelago.

“This has been my focus since I was appointed three years ago. Since my appointment, I have visited over 300 of these small hotels because I want to see what the challenges are and see how we can improve.

"It is not for them to compete with the five-star hotels, absolutely not, because they offer a different category of services and we want them to benefit from the tourism industry,” he noted.

The Creole cultural rendezvous night was part of the inaugural Mega Fam Trip by Tourism Seychelles for its guests from around the world hosted on the island nation from 29^th November to 2^nd December 2023.

Other activities on the itinerary include a three-night stay at the five-star Constance Ephelia Resort, experience on Silhouette Island by Hilton Labriz, rum tasting, snorkelling, fishing, boat rides, sundowners, heritage experience at Mission Lodge, city tour of Victoria, market experience at Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market, lunch experience at famous Marie Antoinette restaurant at Mahe.

The tourism minister also took the opportunity to clear the air about the need for the new environmental levy imposed on tourists by the government of Seychelles.

The Seychellois Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning, and Trade announced the entry into force of the Tourism Environmental Sustainability Levy on 1 August 2023. The levy, which was first announced as part of the 2023 Budget, applies as follows:

• SCR 25 ($1.93) per person per night for small tourism accommodations (1-24 rooms);
• SCR 75 ($5.8) per person per night for medium tourism accommodations (25-50 rooms); and
• SCR 100 ($7.7) per person per night for large tourism accommodations (51 rooms and above), yachts, and island resorts.

According to the government, the levy goes towards initiatives of renewal energy and environmental conservation.

Responding to questions about the controversies surrounding the imposition of the levy, Radegonde noted that Seychelles was not the first or only country to introduce such a levy and he hoped the tourists would understand why they are paying it.

“We are saying “help us to protect this beautiful country”. You’ve been around, you’ve seen it, we are doing a great job of protecting this country and we want to continue to do that.

"So visitors are asked to make a little contribution depending on the hotel they stay at to help us to be able to fund certain specific projects.”

He said all such projects would be put online for those who want to monitor to do so.

Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, off East Africa. It's home to numerous beaches, coral reefs and nature reserves, as well as rare animals such as giant Aldabra tortoises.

Mahé, a hub for visiting the other islands, is home to the capital Victoria. It also has the mountain rainforests of Morne Seychellois National Park and beaches, including Beau Vallon and Anse Takamaka.

According to the World Bank, Seychelles has a population of 107,000 inhabitants, three-quarters of whom live on the main island of Mahé and it has the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in Africa, at $ 15.8 billion (2022). Its economy is highly dependent on tourism and fisheries.

“This marks a historic milestone for our destination, and we are thrilled to conclude the year on such a positive note,” said Bernadette Willemin, Director General for Destination Marketing, Tourism Seychelles at the official welcome of the guests at the Cyann Restaurant at the Constance Ephelia Resort at Mahe.

“The returns on our investment in this initiative are anticipated to bring substantial publicity across our diverse markets. T

"he primary goal of this marketing endeavour is to provide travel agencies with firsthand experiences and comprehensive information about our destination, enabling them to more effectively market and promote it to their clients,” Bernadette Willemin noted.

She added that “this familiarisation trip is intended to showcase aspects of intellectual discoveries, cultural discoveries, which our destination has to offer. It is not just a trip.  It is an immersive experience designed to deepen your understanding of our unique offerings.”

The Seychelles Mega Fam Trip hosting got substantial backing and support from local partners, such as Constance Hotels & Resorts, Constance Ephelia Resorts, Hilton Seychelles, and Laïla, Seychelles, Creole Travel Services, Masons Travels, 7 Degree South, Summer Rain Tours among others.

The Mega Fam Trip had representatives selected from 46 travel agencies and 19 press partners across the world. The participants came from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, the Americas, the Middle East, China, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, and countries from the Indian Ocean, and Africa.

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The writer is a media professional with over two decades of experience in arts, tourism and travel writing and the executive producer and host of Africa Rising, a podcast on travel and tourism in Africa.