Minister continues visits to small tourism establishments on Praslin |22 June 2020

The Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Didier Dogley, continued his series of visit to small hotels and guesthouses on Praslin last Friday. Minister Dogley, who was accompanied by the principal secretary for Tourism, Anne Lafortune, visited eight establishments mainly concentrated in the Côte D’Or area, renowned as the touristic village of the island.

Sad to say that the village, which is usually packed with tourists roaming the street or sunbathing on the Côte D’Or beach, was virtually deserted.

The visit started at the Deckenia Luxury Villa followed by the Coco Bay Villa, Bedier Villa, Villa Rafya, Chez May-Paule, Mountain Lodge, Vista Doro and Mango Lodge. The establishments could discuss their concerns and views which were mainly centred on the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has had on their businesses.

2020 was scheduled to be a great business year for all the respective establishments with promising bookings but unfortunately these were abruptly cancelled. The establishments are nonetheless hopeful that things will eventually resume and they are getting geared up for this eventuality. They have all received the newly introduced tourism and health guidelines which they are implementing and currently all are working on their Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

“The COVID-19 pandemic has come as a shock for all of us and its impacts are immense. We must now train and prepare ourselves and our staff for the re-opening so that we keep safe. It is important that all establishments devise their SOPs and follow them so that if ever there is another case detected among the tourists, it can be contained in time,” Minister Dogley shared.

Minister Dogley encouraged the establishments to take serious heed of the guidelines all the while remaining hopeful that tourism will eventually pick up.

He also offered the assistance of the tourism department should any establishments need help in devising their SOPs or attaining the ‘Safe Tourism’ accreditation.

The accompanying photos show Minister Dogley on his visit to some of the establishments.

Text: Nadia Bedier

Photos: Romano Laurence