Beach committee set up to oversee activities on popular beaches |25 February 2020

Minister Dogley chairing the committee’s first meeting yesterday (Photo: Louis Toussaint)

As part of efforts to make the beaches of Seychelles an enjoyable place for tourists and locals, the department of tourism has launched a beach committee that will oversee the wellbeing of popular beaches around the country.

The committee includes representatives from the health department, the police, Enterprise Seychelles Agency (ESA), Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association (SHTA) and environment.

“The aim of the committee is to protect the most important asset that Seychelles has which is its beaches,” said Didier Dogley, Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports & Marine.

He noted that the type of facilities currently available on beaches are limited and inadequate.

“We have invited representatives of many government and private sectors to be part of this committee as the implementation will be done by the relevant agencies and not by the ministry itself,” added the minister.

On her part the principal secretary for tourism, Anne Lafortune, noted that tourists come to Seychelles primarily for the sand, sun and sea but recently illegal and disorderly conducts have been observed on many beaches and the ministry has received complaints from both tourists and locals.

“The committee will oversee all beach activities and make sure that they are up to par when it comes to hygiene and regulations to make sure that everything is done by the book,” said Mrs Lafortune.

She added that the committee will target the more popular areas and when a problem arises on other beaches they will then take it up.

Representing SHTA, Sybille Cardon noted that development is needed in some aspects like putting toilets on the beach, however we must also keep it in its pristine state and that will not happen if we pile on beach chairs on the beaches.

“The unique aspect of our beaches is the fact that it’s empty and this is what tourists expect to see when they come here,” said Mrs Cardon.

Christophe Zialor