‘Rendez-Vous Praslinois’ showcases Seychellois culture |01 June 2023
Last weekend, Praslin welcomed the first edition of the ‘Rendez-Vous Praslinois’, an initiative of the Tourism department.
The event, which took place on Saturday, was held at the Berjaya Praslin Beach Hotel’s beachfront area where many locals and visitors could interact and experience a variety of cultural activities and delicacies.
The day-long event is the first of a series to be held on Praslin and it was the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Ragegonde, who officially launched this edition. This was held in the presence of various stakeholders from the Praslin community.
In his address to the attendees, Minister Radegonde highlighted the raison d’être behind the event.
“For many years Seychelles has been known as a sand, sea and sun destination but we believe there is more to our islands. The ‘Rendez-Vous’ series of events will bring samples of local products, arts, music and culture that depicts what the Seychelles is all about, to our visitor.”
“We hope that visitors will go out of their hotels and into the community to experience our rich Seychellois culture. We also aspire to be able to diversify what we offer to our visitors in a way whereby the community will also benefit from our tourism industry,” Minister Radegonde expressed.
The ‘Rendez-Vous’ series originally started on La Digue last year and so far there has been two editions on the island itself. This is expected to continue in different regions on the main islands of Seychelles in the future.
When asked about expected dates for the second edition on Praslin, the principal secretary for Tourism, Sherin Francis, called on the community to join the department in making upcoming editions a success.
“We would like to have suggestions from the Praslinois community as to how to make the second edition even better. So we call on all tourism establishments, partners and stakeholders on Praslin to contact us and support the initiative. From there we can decide on how often to host the upcoming editions which we hope to be more community driven,” Mrs Francis shared.
Seventeen entrepreneurs and small businesses were present to showcase a variety of products from Creole food, pastries, locally produced dairy products, horticultural products, artisanal products, jewellery, local jam, ‘asar’ and fruit juices.
Meanwhile, members of the Lospitalite Tourism Clubs from Baie Ste Anne primary, Grand Anse primary and Praslin secondary schools entertained the opening ceremony with local dance and ‘romance’ performances.
On his part, the member of National Assembly for Baie Ste Anne, Churchill Gill, expressed his appreciation for such an initiative which he believes will bring much benefit to both tourists and the Praslinois community.
“This event is very important to us as Praslin is a tourism driven island. However, other than the beaches, Vallée de Mai and turquoise sea we lack activities where visitors can mingle with the locals in a different, relaxed setting while they learn more about us. This is the ideal activity.”
The event, which raised much interest from both tourists and locals, ended with a ‘moutya’ and musical entertainment by local bands in the evening.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of the ‘Rendez-Vous Praslinois’ on Praslin.
Text by Nadia Bedier
Photos: Romano Laurence
