Hotel representatives have been introduced to the first set of Seychelles’ sustainable tourism standards.
Mr.St.Ange addressing delegates at the launch of the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label Programme
This took place during the launch of the country’s Sustainable Tourism Label Programme in a validation workshop on Monday at the Le Meridien Barbarons Hotel.
The programme was officially launched by the chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Alain St Ange, together with the government of Seychelles’ UNDP-GEF Programme Coordination Unit.
This label is Seychelles’ first ever sustainable tourism certification system that will encourage hotels and other tourism establishments to merge the principles of sustainability into their daily operations.
The criteria of the label are classified under eight themes comprising management, waste, water, energy, Ssaff, conservation, community and guests.
It adopts an integrated approach to sustainability by including environmental, social and economic components aligned to the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s criteria.
Delegates at the workshop had the opportunity to discuss the branding and logo, as well as the proposed institutional structure for the sustainable tourism label.
The label is being further funded under the coverage of the Mainstreaming Biodiversity Management into Production Sector Activities Project of the GOS-UNDP-GEF Programme.
The history of the adoption of a sustainable tourism label for the tourism industry goes back since the 1990s.
The work on the label was however initiated by the former Ministry of Tourism in 2003 in collaboration with a Swiss master’s student who conducted a feasibility study on implementing a sustainable label for the Seychelles tourism industry.
The criteria for the label was later developed from 2004-2005 by another group of university students and further review of the criteria was undertaken by an international peer review consultant Dr Louise Twinning-Ward, in collaboration with the Seychelles Tourism Board and the government of Seychelles’ UNDP-GEF Programme Coordination Unit.
Eleven hotels on Mahé, eight on Praslin and two on La Digue -- all ranging from small to large tourism establishments -- took part in the pilot testing of the programme.
It is hoped that the label will afterwards be used for the entire tourism industry to encourage them to adopt sustainable practices in their daily operations.
Speaking about the sustainable tourism label, Mr St Ange said the production of the standards demonstrates the Seychelles government’s strong commitment to promoting sustainable tourism and to continue working with trade partners.
“The Seychelles Tourism Board and partners are convinced that this sustainability label will be instrumental in establishing a more sustainable tourism industry in Seychelles,” he said.
“As the process to establish the label continues, further consultation with the tourism trade and other tourism stakeholders will take place to ensure that there is a broad-based stakeholder input into the final product,” added Mr St Ange.