Seychelles tourism week 01-10-2014 Tourism establishments donate to local schools Three tourism establishments took the initiative in donating over a dozen large capacity plastic bins to the English River, Anse Royale and Beau Vallon Schools respectively. The gesture came as part of the Seychelles tourism week event that began on 27 September and will end today. The aim of the Tourism week is to see tourism establishments partnering with the public education system and civil society under the banner of, “Tourism, our communities’ greatest wealth.” Boat House and Marie Antoinette restaurants partnered with the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), by donating five large waste bins to three public schools on Monday. The recipients - Beau Vallon, Anse Royale and English River schools, gathered on the grounds of the latter in a small presentation ceremony to thank the sponsors for their generous gift. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of the STB, Sherin Naiken told the representatives of the ministry of Environment and Energy (MOEE), the ministry of Education (MOE), the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association (SHTA) and the deputy CEO of the STB, Nathalie Didon, the reigning Miss Seychelles, Camila Estico, teachers and students that, “tourism is everybody’s business”. She stressed that, “schools are the foundation and that if we get it right, others are bound to follow the good example.” The head teacher of the English River secondary, Marie-Claude Morel, declared that, “we are not only teaching and learning the curriculum, but we are also learning to manage waste.” The head of the school also averred that, “we have a lot of students and as a result, we generate a considerable volume of waste – which further highlights the need for students to learn of the importance of cleanliness - not only at school, but on a national level as well. Our visitors want to see cleanliness, which in turn boosts our tourism industry.” The sponsors and guests were then had the opportunity to listen to a poem read out by a Beau Vallon primary student, after which the sponsors took to the stage and presented their donations to each of the recipients. TODAY caught up with Richard Mancienne of Boat House restaurant in Beau Vallon who explained that, “we were approached by the STB to see if we were willing to sponsor the bins to some of the government run schools in the country – which we gladly accepted.” The entrepreneur continued by saying that, “it is extremely important that Seychelles remains safe, clean, and beautiful. We must never take it for granted. It does not reflect well on our tourism industry when our landscape is littered with rubbish,” he stressed, adding that, “we must inculcate a sense of responsibility in our children – in and out of school.” The businessman also expressed his concern over the lack of participation of the bigger players of the industry. “I am surprised that other that the STB, only two smaller restaurants responded to the call. There are many larger tourism businesses and it is mind-boggling that they haven’t stepped up to help support our industry through community action. Perhaps it is high time we gave the smaller businesses more support,” he hinted none too subtly.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 06:11:12 +0000
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