22 November 2011 | Tourism.
President of the Republic, H.E. Mr. James Michel,
President du Conseil Regional de la Réunion,S.E. M. Didier Robert,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies & Gentlemen,
It is an honour to have the presence of His Excellency the President of the Republic and the President of the Conseil Regional de la Reunion at the opening of our Tourism Marketing Meeting, which is an important platform and catalyst for deciding the way forward for Seychelles’ tourism industry, the main pillar of our economy.
We live in difficult times with recession still looming over many of our core markets and forcing us to examine the potential of new market opportunities in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
It is well over a year since His Excellency the President issued instructions to Government and STB to look elsewhere than Europe to diversify our tourism market base. The President, in fact, has personally lead initiatives in India, China and Australia, as part of this new approach. In 2011, the STB has also looked closer at Africa, South America and Asia in casting its net wider.
Indeed, the time has come for us to look closely at the ways we have traditionally thought about this industry which is so important to our prosperity as a nation and find fresh, innovative ways of circumventing the challenges and obstacles facing us.
Wherever we choose to venture in our search for new markets, the question of air access will be crucial and we must be tireless in our pursuit of new routes and new partners who will be able to provide us with the vital airlift we need to tap those markets. The country’s strategy to re-position and re-structure our national airline makes this push all the more obvious and urgent.
La présence de nos amis de La Réunion lors de notre réunion nationale de marketing (et peut-Je note qu'il ne pouvait pas être a un niveau plus important) témoigne de notre volonté de construire des partenariats qui apportent des avantages mutuels. La Réunion est un partenaire formidable dans notre région. Nous cherchons à approfondir et élargir notre partenariat afin qu'elle apporte de plus grands avantages a nos économies insulaires respectives. Ce partenariat devrait être un modèle de cooperation pour les Etats insulaires de la Commission de l'Océan Indien.
Le tourisme international n'a jamais été plus compétitif et, aujourd'hui, il y a quelques précieux pays sur la planète qui ne sont pas en lice pour une part de Marché. Comme le theme de cette conference suggère, comme un petit pays aux ressources limitées, nous devons être constamment a la recherche de nouveaux moyens, dans ce Marché toujours plus encombre internationale, d'accroître notre visibilité en tant que pays et en tant que destination touristique.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We need to develop close ties with international media through whose coverage we can become better known to potential visitors and pursue each and every attribute of Seychelles’ brand of tourism, transforming these into marketable resources and unique selling propositions.
Our tourism industry must be socially inclusive and engage the maximum support of the Seychellois people who should both participate in and benefit from their industry. Developing, and constantly refining, a raft of successful international events is one way of achieving this.
As stakeholders in this industry, our deliberations over the coming days will be decisive in the formulation of the strategies that will carry our industry forward. Together, we must leave no stone unturned in the preparation of our plans for tomorrow and I urge you to put all your combined energies into this task.
The strength of our tourism industry lies in the unity of all of its players and upon our combined commitment to bringing all resources to bear in ensuring that Seychelles’ tourism continues to prosper and make its mark on the international stage.
Thank you.
