FECAS - ECSVS Forum

Seychelles’ ‘edgy’ Eden Bleu Hotel provides much more than meets the eye

13-October-2014
A few minutes from the international airport, Seychelles’ newest hotel is distinctly different.
Situated equidistant between Seychelles International Airport and the capital, Victoria, the 87-room Eden Bleu Hotel is modelled on a city centre hotel rather than the resorts typically associated with the islands.

It is built on Eden Island, an integrated resort development 100 metres off the coast of Mahé, to which it is linked by bridge. As well as being easy to access by road, the Eden Bleu’s proximity to the island’s international marina makes it the ideal point of departure for many other islands or yacht charters. For visitors to Seychelles it’s a good place to start or end a holiday, picking up a few essentials or last-minute gifts in the adjacent Eden Plaza or exploring Victoria, a 10-minute drive away.

What differentiates it in a destination renowned for tropical holidays is that with its conference and meeting facilities and exceptional digital technology, the Eden Bleu Hotel is perfectly able to combine business and pleasure.

“The Eden Bleu is probably best described as edgy. It’s somewhat different and slightly provocative for Seychelles,” explains chief executive Richard Lander.
The palm-lined entrance, leads into an airy reception area beyond which a sun deck and rimflow pool offer captivating views over the marina and Mahé’s granitic mountains. The setting and ambiance suggest an upmarket holiday hotel, but it’s a deceiving impression because the Eden Bleu offers much more.

The guest floors are accessed by lift or an exquisite, handcrafted staircase zigzagging up from opposite reception. There are three room types, including 74 luxury rooms, 12 luxury suites and a presidential suite.

The well-appointed rooms, offering views of the marina and Eden Island, come with all the usual comforts associated with a contemporary hotel room including a workstation with international plug sockets, a tea and coffee station with a Nespresso machine, a mini-bar fridge, large bathroom and separate shower, lounge area and 24-hour room service.

The furnishings are modern, yet elegant and understated, but what’s not immediately apparent is a WiFi system offering the fastest connections on the island and in-room Apple TV. This special hospitality version enables guests to play music, videos and other material from their devices on the 42-inch LED television, as well as access online content, the internet and hotel services. The televisions are mounted on extendable, hinged brackets so they can be viewed from anywhere in the room. iPad minis are available for guests who require these.
http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=243283

Marketing Seychelles involves everyone

23-October-2014
Minister St Ange talking to the press yesterdayMarketing Seychelles involves everyone and not just the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) fighting to sell the country and the ministry pushing the policies behind.

“Tourism is not a hotel or a restaurant. It is the country. Seychelles incorporated is the product we are selling. We sell what we are, what we do, what we eat, what we enjoy. But we also sell our cleanliness, the safety label we say we are, we sell a hotel that people can come back to because they’ve enjoyed it so much,” Tourism and Culture Minister Alain St Ange told the media yesterday.

Minister St Ange, Home Affairs and Transport Minister Joël Morgan as well as Finance, Trade and Investment Minister Pierre Laporte have been tasked by President James Michel to put in place the Seychelles tourism marketing strategy aimed at redressing the projected 5% decline in visitor arrivals and 3% drop in earnings compared to last year. The marketing strategy will focus on key markets – Germany, France, China, India, South Africa and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – which have already been identified.

“This new approach has resulted in regular meetings and us proposing certain changes to government. We are also looking at the budget as the private sector has been screaming that we don’t put enough money in our budget to market Seychelles. The private spends much more money than the government to market Seychelles, They make it directly and the government also injects money in all the angles that keep our country going. This is why tourism is the pillar of our economy. We need to invest more and the call has been made in both the tri-partite committee and multi-sectorial meeting that is today sitting with the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Seychelles Hotel and Tourism Association, all technicians of government and most of the ministers under the chairmanship of Vice-President Danny Faure,” said Minister St Ange.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=243408

VP chairs fourth inter-ministerial tourism task force meeting

24-October-2014
The fourth Inter-Ministerial Tourism Task Force Meeting chaired by Vice-President Danny Faure took place last week at National House.

Present were the Minister for Home Affairs and Transport Joel Morgan, Minister for Land Use and Housing Christian Lionnet, special advisor to the Minister of Education Selby Dora and senior officials from the Ministry of Education, STB, SCAA, Air Seychelles, Land Transport, the Police, the chairmen and executive board members from the SHTA and the SCCI.

The Minister for Tourism, Alain St Ange was absent as he was heading a delegation to meet with the French trade and media in Paris. The Minister for Finance Pierre Laporte was also on an overseas mission.

First on the agenda was a brief from representatives from the Ministry of Education on the elements of tourism studies in the Seychelles school curriculum at Primary, Secondary and Upper Secondary levels. The SHTA strongly recommended that Tourism & Travel be introduced as a compulsory subject for two to five years, and a choice in A-Level studies. There is a need to sensitise our youth from their early teenage years of the importance of tourism to our economy, to make them aware of tourism as a potential career choice, and to recognise that tourism generates exchanges on the human level and thus understand at an early age the significance of taking pride in welcoming our visitors and in delivering friendly and excellent service.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=243414

Aviation authority aims to improve ‘airport experience’

31-October-2014



The Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) has undertaken a series of customer service training in partnership with its stakeholders operating at the international airport terminal to better its services and improve the airport experience.

The first group of stakeholders benefitting from the two-day training were frontline staff from Skychef and car hire operators.

The objective of the training is to help the participants understand the importance of customer satisfaction and the need to promote a positive image of Seychelles as a small tourism destination to all passengers passing through the airport.

The training was run in-house by marketing executive Sharon Gappy.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=243502
The chief executive of SCAA, Gilbert Faure, welcomed the 21 staff at the organisation’s headquarters at Pointe Larue recently.

Emirates starts double-daily services to Seychelles

31-October-2014



Emirates has introduced double-daily flights to Seychelles with effect from Tuesday this week.
The arrival of Tuesday’s flight marked the start of two more flights per week on the route into the Seychelles, increasing the previous 12 scheduled flights to 14.

The two additional frequencies is being serviced by an Airbus A340-500 in a three class configuration - 12 in First Class, 42 in Business Class and 204 in Economy Class.

“Stepping up our operations to the archipelago will create more opportunities for the tourism industry and is the result of our joint efforts with the Ministry of Tourism of the Seychelles and the Seychelles Tourism Board to promote this amazing destination across our network. Double-daily flights will provide more flexibility to the travellers to more than 140 destinations across Emirates’ network,” said Oomar Ramtoola, Emirates manager for Seychelles.

“On behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and also on behalf of Sherin Naiken, the chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board, we congratulate Emirates for moving to 14 weekly flights between Dubai and Seychelles. This double daily service will increase our connectivity to the world and will provide a needed boost to the tourism industry of our islands. We take this opportunity to thank Emirates for their belief in Seychelles as a serious tourism destination and one determined to work with its partners to further develop the island's tourism industry. We wish Emirates continued success,” said Alain St Ange, Seychelles’ Minister for Tourism and Culture.

On board, passengers in all three cabins can access hundreds of channels of the latest movies, TV shows and music from around the world alongside a range of games on the award-winning ice inflight entertainment system.

Emirates customers also have the opportunity to enjoy meals prepared by gourmet chefs and exceptional service from the international cabin crew recruited from over 130 nationalities, speaking over 55 languages. They receive a generous baggage allowance, with 30kg for those travelling in Economy Class, 40kg for Business Class and 50kg for First Class.

The newly introduced flights depart Dubai as EK707 at 0845hrs, and arrive at the Seychelles International Airport at 1325hrs. They return as EK708, and depart Seychelles at 2350hrs, landing at Dubai International Airport at 0420hrs the following day.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=243491

‘More flights to Seychelles great boost for business’

The Seychelles International Airport is expected to become busier with an increase in international flight movements.

This remarkable increase has been made possible through several accords signed by the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) and its counterparts in other countries to ensure that Seychelles is more than ever connected to the rest of the world.

Most airlines flying to and from Seychelles are to increase their flights schedule during the winter season which runs from October 26 this year to March 28 next year.

With the excellent cooperation that exists between regional countries, the SCAA has open Seychelles to three new destinations – Mumbai, Dar Es Salaam and Antananarivo.

The local aviation authority has done the necessary to connect our small archipelago to Mumbai, the capital city of Bollywood. The national airline, Air Seychelles is to launch its first flight to this new destination on December 2 with a three times per week service – Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=243528

Air Seychelles collects coveted trophies at World Travel Awards

06-November-2014

Mr Papa is congratulated by Graham Cooke after being presented with trophies for best ‘Business Class’ and ‘Best Cabin Crew in the Indian Ocean’ in the presence of Air Seychelles cabin crew Vania Payet (left) and Laureen Loze

Air Seychelles collected two trophies for ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline – Business Class’ and ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Cabin Crew’ at the World Travel Awards presentation ceremony on Tuesday November 4.

Manoj Papa, Air Seychelles’ chief executive officer, was presented with the awards at the World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, currently taking place at the ExCel Exhibition Centre in London, UK.

When the awards were first announced in September, Mr Papa said the national airline has done this by tapping into best practice methods of its partner Etihad Airways, in areas such as product, service, and training.

In Business Class on its two wide-body Airbus A330-200s Air Seychelles offers lie-flat seats, a dine anytime concept, personal on-demand inflight entertainment, and in-seat power – everything one would expect from a leading airline.

The 140 cabin crew embodies the very essence of Seychelles’ style, Creole warmth and hospitality for which the islands are synonymous.

World Travel Awards president and founder Graham Cooke said: “The World Travel Awards recognise and reward the best travel organisations and Air Seychelles is no exception. The growth and development of the airline in such a short period of time has been nothing short of spectacular. Air Seychelles has carved out a niche for itself as a boutique airline to the Indian Ocean, achieved through partnerships with a far reaching international footprint.

Today it holds its own as an iconic airline brand delivering superlative service with its leading business class product combined with cabin crew service which is truly award winning. We are delighted to present these awards to Air Seychelles for achievements in providing world-class products and developing tourism and aviation in the region. We wish the airline and staff many more years of success.”

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=243549

Opening of Eve Island Swimming Pool

15-December-2014
Government committed to youths’ development



President James Michel was joined by Vijay Patel in unveiling the plaque to officially open the Eve Island Swimming Pool on Praslin on Saturday and said the new facility signifies the government's commitment to the development of the youths.

Mr Michel thanked Vijay Patel of Vijay Construction Pty Ltd for contributing R5 million – one third of the total sum of R15 million – towards the project which started on November 11, 2013 with the laying of the foundation stone. Mr Patel has also offered to help in the operation of the facilities while the local technicians are trained.

The government has made a R10 million contribution to the construction of the eight-lane 25-metre pool which is of Fédération internationale de Natation (Fina) standards and can host international short course competitions.

The President commended Mr Patel for taking up the initiative to partner with the government as well as the staff and board members of the National Sports Council (NSC) for their hard work in the realisation of this project.

He further noted that the pool will help the youths from Praslin and La Digue to learn how to swim without having to go to Mahé, which will be an advantage in their development especially in the realisation of the Blue Economy concept.

“I believe that today we have witnessed the realisation of another plan for Praslin which in itself represents another accomplishment for the benefit of the youths of Praslin, La Digue and all Seychellois. This shows why we should give a lot of importance to the development of young people in sports as it helps them to progress in all aspects in order to become good citizens in the future. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Patel who has played an important role on private sector side in partnership with the government to build sports infrastructure in Seychelles,” said President Michel.

Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports Minister Vincent Meriton said the Eve Island Swimming Pool is a costly project, but is money well spent, adding that the modern swimming pool complex will be used not only to teach our youngsters and Praslinois and Diguois at large to swim and compete, but also equip them with the necessary skills to explore our coastal waters and ocean fearlessly.

The minister noted that the fact that the swimming pool complex is built on reclaimed land should not go unnoticed.

“It is the government’s wise decision to invest extensively in land reclamation that is enabling us today to benefit from so many industrial, social, community and sports facilities. This pool and the National Swimming Pool on Mahé have both been built on reclaimed land and so has the entire Roche Caïman sports complex. Land in Seychelles is a scarce commodity and devoting so much of it for sports and youth development is a noble gesture and should be applauded,” he said.

Minister Meriton pointed out that during the early days of Eve Island when the land use plan was being considered, President Michel insisted that land should be set aside for a swimming pool and other sports facilities for the youth.

He added that apart from the swimming pool Eve Island also boasts a playing field which his ministry is planning to develop into an athletics stadium in the years to come.

The minister said when Mr Patel learned of the government’s intention to build a swimming pool on Eve Island, he offered to help and under his ministry’s guidance Vijay Construction assumed the execution of the project.

While thanking Mr Patel, Minister Meriton used the opportunity to call on other companies, especially those from Praslin and La Digue, to contribute towards sports development on the two islands as part of their corporate social responsibility, adding that the NSC is finalising its sports infrastructure master plan for the two islands and will be presenting it to them.

He noted that investment in recreational facilities is always a tonic for the health and wellbeing of the nation, although return on investment might not seem evident at first glance during the cost benefit analysis.

“Recreational infrastructure such as this one improves community facilities and services, contributes to building prosperous communities and provides a place for families and neighbours to gather together for a healthy cause, well away from substance abuse and social malaise.

“Swimming is one of the best forms of exercise because it engages almost all your body parts in an environment that does not stress your joints. It provides an aerobic exercise that has a range of health benefits. Indeed swimming is the mother of all exercises,” said Minister Meriton.

Swimming has a lot of benefits for children, as well as being a fun form of exercise that should be introduced at an early age. This is why the NSC and the Seychelles Swimming Association are working closely with the Ministry of Education towards making every child a swimmer by the age of 10.

To achieve this though, much more than the swimming pool infrastructure will be required. Physical education instructors will have to undergo the required training and logistics such as transportation will have to be made available.

Children from Praslin do not have to worry about transportation as the Children’s Fund has sponsored a new 30-seater bus worth R1 million.
It was Doreen Monthy, the coordinator of the fund, who symbolically handed over the bus to NSC chief executive Giovanna Rousseau.

Mr Patel said it has been a pleasure for him to be part of the project as he knows a lot of people will benefit from the pool.

“Apart from the sport, swimming has other benefits like making people become more courageous and get the water fear out of them. We might also have a champion,” he said.

Seychelles Swimming Association vice-chairman Kenny Roberts noted that the “pool is a reflection of the importance placed on sports by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Sports in charting the young lives of our students in schools and all Seychellois who would like to learn to swim”.

Probably Seychelles’ best ever male swimmer, Mr Roberts noted that sports provide an excellent way of equipping our youths with the right skills, mindsets and values for a world of continuous and dynamic change.

“Through participation in sports, our youths learn important values such as honesty, teamwork, fair play, respect, adherence to rules, discipline, resilience and a strong sense of purpose. Sports also teach young people how to deal with competition, how to cope with both winning and losing. The ability to take defeat in their stride, to reflect and improve for the next round and to have courage to try again are not skills that can be easily learned in the classroom. I believe we can and must develop these important soft skills through sports,” said Mr Roberts.

In his vote of thanks, Sportsman of the Year 2014, judoka Dominic Dugasse who hails from Praslin, said the new pool will not only serve swimmers but also other sportsmen and women in their preparation, adding that it has come at an opportune time as athletes are preparing for the Indian Ocean Island Games in Reunion next year.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=243947

Work underway to expand Mahé domestic terminal

30-January-2015
Work is underway to expand and refurbish the Mahé domestic terminal at the Seychelles International Airport (SIA) and the infrastructure is now expected to get its new facelift by 2017.

The new terminal aims to provide a high standard and more comfortable experience for passengers using the facilities.
All passengers flying to the islands of Praslin, Denis, Bird, Fregate, Desroches and Alphonse have to through this terminal making it a focal point for domestic air travel.

Patrick Hoareau, general manager for airport management, said the domestic terminal needed a major renovation as well as extension to improve the standards of its facilities.

“A new infrastructure will allow the terminal to cater for increased demands in traffic and to further implement necessary international standards as well,” he said.

Work on the terminal is to take place in three phases. The first part, which has already started, consists of site preparation. It will be followed by the actual construction of a new departure lounge and check-in area with six check-in desks.

The building of a CIP Lounge (Air Seychelles premium lounge) on the first floor, office space and other amenities, a new baggage handling area, baggage handling system and security systems are also to take place in this stage which is expected to last for 11 months.

During this stage, which will kick off at the beginning of February, all operations for both arrival and departure of passengers will continue in the existing domestic departure lounge.

And once this is completed, all operations will move in the new departure lounge for both arrival and departure operations.

Work on the second phase is to start by the end of December this year and will last for seven months. It will consist of the refurbishment of the existing departure lounge. This lounge is to be converted into the new arrival lounge.

The last phase, which will take around six months to be completed, will focus on commercial facilities, consisting of some minor construction works such as new facilities for service providers, namely car hire operators, banks and money changers, as well as destination management companies; snack bar, retails outlets and other amenities. New offices for Air Seychelles domestic operations, construction of new water harvesting tanks and decorative water features are also included in this phase which will begin in July next year.

This project is fully funded by the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) at the cost of R75 million and is being undertaken by local building contractor Allied Builders.

Work on the domestic terminal was to start a year ago but has been delayed on account of some administrative issues.

The foundation stone for the new domestic terminal was laid by the Minister for Home Affairs and Transport Joël Morgan on December 6, 2013.

The domestic terminal was built and officially opened in 1981 as the increased level of traffic handled at the SIA in the late 1970s were becoming a concern that had to be addressed.

The terminal underwent further expansion in July 1995 and was officially reopened on December 31 in the same year.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=244354

Airport gets new runway sweeper

06-February-2015

The Seychelles International Airport has received a new runway sweeper.
The new heavy duty vehicle manufactured in the United Kingdom by a company called Johnston Sweeper Limited, was commissioned yesterday morning during a short ceremony at the Seychelles International Airport at Pointe Larue.

David Savy, chairman of the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA), had the honour of cutting the ribbon to mark the commissioning.

The acceptance certificate was signed by the SCAA’s chief executive Gilbert Faure and an engineer from Johnston Sweepers Darryn Fisher.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=244433