Stakeholders take stock of tourism club programme in schools one year on |02 February 2023

The meeting in progress (Photos: Joena Meme)

The Service for Excellence Unit in the Tourism department met with representatives of tourism businesses that have adopted Lospitalite Tourism Clubs in schools across to the country to discuss on the tourism club programme in schools after one year and on the way forward.

The meeting was held on Tuesday afternoon at L‘Escale Resort and Marina, Roche Caiman and it was chaired by the principal secretary for Tourism, Sherin Francis. Also in attendance was the director general for destination planning and development, Paul Lebon, and other senior officials from the department.

The session started with an opening remark by Mrs Francis who thanked the business partners for their commitments to voluntarily engage on the programme for the benefit of the children and the tourism industry.

She stated it was important to launch the tourism clubs to instill in the students, at a very young age, the importance of our tourism industry and the vast career opportunities that exist in the industry.

“We are very happy with first, the support last year, for having been really committed and for having accepted to take on the challenge. We want to thank you for what you have done for these kids last year,” said PS Francis, who noted that from feedback, many children have been inspired to join the industry after having had the opportunity to participate in the activities organised.

While acknowledging that some activities will require financial support which should be marginal, she made it clear that the school tourism club programme has no financial obligation attached to it and it should not be seen as a sponsor but rather as a support to the schools.

She said that she will pass on the message to the schools’ management to remind them that their adoptive partners are not their financial backing but rather to support them in the activities that they will undertake together to make the students understand the concept and value of our tourism industry.

“If it’s done, it must be mutually consent as something that you as a business you want to do but we will be passing on the message that you are there for support rather than for the financial commitment,” said PS Francis, who noted that with the support of the Ministry of Education, tourism will form part of the school’s curriculum which will further instill the tourism culture in the younger generation.

During the session, the adoptive school partners, especially those who started their activities earlier last year and have been more active, had the opportunity to share their successes and challenges to others who are relatively new.

It is to be noted all Lospitalite Tourism Clubs from the 44 public and private primary and secondary  schools have been adopted with the Grand Anse Mahé primary being the last to be adopted by the Avani Seychelles Resort and Spa to open soon.  

After PS Francis’ remarks, Mr Lebon gave an overview of the school tourism club programme and also introduced the Lospitalite Tourism Club Activity plan for this year which includes a School Tourism Club Award to encourage the schools to stay engaged in the programme.  

Apart from the award ceremony, some of the activities planned, sideline to activities to be organised by School Tourism Clubs and their partners, and that will take place at national level, will include beach cleanings, talks, exhibitions, quiz competitions, Lospitalite career fair, club meetings, Lospitalite culinary activity, among others. These activities will take place during the month of January to April, May to August and September to December.

While all of the partners present were happy with their activities run with their respective adopted schools, some pointed out the possibility for the children in the clubs to be exposed to other services in the industry, rather than only to their sole adopted partner, so that they get better acquainted with what goes on in the industry.

They also talked about more engagement with the Ministry of Education, the facilitators and the schools’ head teachers to ensure that their support is aligned.     

The training development and quality assurance manager at Mason’s Travel, Gerard Port Louis, said that the new initiatives by the Service for Excellence Unit will guide the adoptive partners further to attend the objective of the Lospitalite Tourism Club, in terms of sharing of their experience to the children to make them understand the role of the tourism industry better, as well as their roles in the tourism clubs. Mason’s Travel adopted the Mont Fleuri primary school in March 2022 where students engaged with the destination management company in a series of classrooms and on the field activities.

The Lospitalite Tourism Clubs in schools was launched in February last year with the aim of creating tourism awareness among children while capturing their interest also for a career in hospitality and tourism. 

Patrick Joubert