Nice place, The Seychelles Islands. They were hit badly last January by tropical cyclone Felleng that destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, but according to press reports are well on their way to full recovery and so are their tourism arrivals. Their client markets in Europe are the same as ours, with the addition of France that is not a large market for Barbados tourism.
The Seychelles limit the number of tourists per year to 150,000, and only allow so many tourist beds per island so the country can retain its environment and social feel. It also avoids price wars between hotels and keeps tourism a viable business without the social destruction caused by walling off the coasts with hotels all struggling to stay alive in a market where the lowest price and least profit “wins” – if you call that winning.
A pity some of our Bajan leaders were not of the same mind decades ago.
“Under the 1990-94 development plan, which emphasizes that the growth of tourism should not be at the expense of the environment, the number of beds on the islands of Mahé, Praslin, and La Digue is to be limited to 4,000. Increases in total capacity are to be achieved by developing the outer islands. To avoid future threat to the natural attractions of the islands, 150,000 tourists per year are regarded as the ultimate ceiling. The higher cost of accommodations and travel, deficiencies in services and maintenance of facilities, and a limited range of diversions handicap Seychelles in attracting vacationers at the expense of other Indian Ocean tourist destinations”
Wikipedia’s entry for Tourism in Seychelles
“In 1971, with the opening of Seychelles International Airport, tourism became a serious industry, basically dividing the economy into plantations and tourism. The tourism sector paid better, and the plantation economy could only expand so far. The plantation sector of the economy declined in prominence, and tourism became the primary industry of Seychelles.”
… Wikipedia’s entry for The Seychelles
