Seychelleois tourism graduates working from sea to sea

It is known and admired that the islands of Seychelles, as small as they are today, run a new purpose-built Tourism Academy where graduates are able to complete their Hotel Management Diploma in a unique partnership with the well-established Shannon College of Ireland. Today, this gives Seychellois graduates the freedom to work anywhere in the world once they have graduated from the Seychelles Tourism Academy.

Seychelles tourism is today the talking point in the four corners of the world. The successes of the islands’ tourism industry is recognized as a success story, and the promotion strategy in place by the Ministry of Tourism and its Tourism Board is raised by press at every press conference when the Minister of Tourism, Alain St.Ange, or Sherin Naiken, the CEO of the Tourism Board, are at tourism trade fairs.

But the successes of the islands’ tourism does not end there. A couple of years ago, the Ministry of Tourism said that it was the islands’ culture that was today positioned at the center of Seychelles marketing. This, for the island’s Minister, was a clear vision of placing the people of Seychelles at the very center of tourism development of the islands where they often hear about foreign managers arriving into the country to take up key positions. Seychelles has an acute shortage of people to work in their tourism industry, and they continue to recruit from overseas, but the successful development of the islands’ tourism industry is also bringing about another great success story.

Adrian Messerli, the General Manager of the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles at Petite Anse in Baie Lazare, has confirmed that Persia Benoit, a successful Seychellois Manager at the Four Seasons Seychelles Resort, is transferring in the capacity of Assistant Director of HR to the very new Four Seasons Hotel in Abu Dhabi. “This is indeed great news for Seychelles. We are proud of Persia Benoit, and we wish her continued success. She is today a role model for our younger tourism graduates, because her name will echo the message that when you work hard, you reap the benefits of your devotion and hard work,” said Minister Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister of Tourism and Culture, as he heard that Persia Benoit was packing her bags and moving to the new Four Seasons Hotel in Abu Dhabi 3 weeks from now.

Seychelles is a founding member of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) . For more information on Seychelles Minister of Tourism and Culture Alain St.Ange, click here.