4月7日，由執惠、趣旅聯合主辦的《2017年首屆國際海島游資源對接大會》，以“時代創藍海，連接‘島’未來”為主題，匯聚20個海島國家、地區，30個海島城市，25個國際代表團，以及旅行社、OTA、航空、度假酒店、旅游投資機構和研究機構等500余名中外嘉賓，為海島游資源、渠道、產品和資本搭建連接平臺，為產品結構升級、營銷手段創新、服務體驗提升、多元市場培育提供解決方案，共同開啟海島游的新紀元。

以下內容根據現場嘉賓演講整理而成：

黎仁杰：

Excellencies, 

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon

Today, no Island can be an island unto itself.

Today we live in a world with very few reassuring landmarks where we can be excused for feeling that everything is in state of flux, unrecognizable in bold, new forms and still evolving at a frighteningly fast pace.

A world of super-connectivity and wherever we live or work, are destined to become ever more so as technology hurtles forward at breakneck speed, transforming our existence, individual and collective, as never before. Quite literally, our world is changing right beneath our feet.

Tourism is no exception to this rule. In fact, as a people-oriented industry that is inherently organic and volatile in nature, responding to the minutest stimuli, both positive and negative, from across the globe, it rides the bow-wave of human innovation and technological advancement that is constantly shaping and reshaping our world.

Only a decade ago, tourism was a vastly different affair to what it is today. Back then, the web was in its infancy and few people would have understood if you started a conversation about social media platforms. 

Today, these vital, new energies crackle about us in storms, unleashing new potential, fresh ideas and an entire range of possibilities which would have been the stuff of fantasy just a few years ago.

Today’s tourist is a very different animal compared to the one roaming the planet as recently as the 70s and 80s. Discerning, well-informed and tech-savvy he/she is well able to use the arsenal of new research tools at his/her disposal to navigate the crowded, competitive landscape of today’s tourism world with confidence.

Our success as a tourist destination will depend largely on how effectively we interface with this new breed of tourist and, also, how we protect our tourism products over the longer term.

Therefore, visitors now-a-days are no longer content to just ‘flop and drop’ when on holiday, but are rather in search of experiences through which they can get beneath the skin of the country they are visiting. It is this new reality that demands we increasingly bring our culture into play in the promotion of our country’s tourism, providing touch points where tourists can interact with us and take more than just holiday snaps home with them.

For this reason, Seychelles is promoting its tourism through the mediums of its culture and events such as the highly successful Carnaval International de Victoria, now heading for its 6th edition; FetAfrik; Festival Kreol; Seychelles’ Festival of the Sea; Seychelles Eco-Friendly Marathon; Miss Seychelles…another world Beauty Pageant and La Fet La Digue. 

Beyond our world-beating climate and gorgeous beaches, these provide a degree of visibility for Seychelles on the international stage, provide value-added attractions for people on holiday and are also a way for Seychellois to participate in and ‘”buy into’’ their tourism industry.

Another vital component to consider is sustainability because without that the success of any tourism will be short lived. Seychelles has been blessed with many wonderful attributes and we must ensure that these are protected over the longer term and do not become eroded in the name of short-term gain. Our conservation laws and regulations that have already set half of our landmass aside as marine parks and nature reserves have set the background for Seychelles Sustainability Label (SSL) which, although still new, seeks to mainstream eco-friendly practices into businesses and tourism enterprises for the long-term protection of our industry.

It is worth to note that Seychelles has been awarded the country with the No.1 Air Quality in the world…one of many environmental accolades of the destination. 

Another way forward for tourism today is through partnerships for we live in an age when even an island cannot afford to be an island unto itself. 

An example whereby this has happened in Seychelles, is the realization of the Vanilla Islands grouping of the islands of the south-west Indian Ocean: Seychelles, La Reunion, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mayotte and Comoros, several of who have already co-hosted the Carnaval International de Victoria showing unprecedented degrees of collaboration where there was once only rivalry. The Vanilla Islands allows us to market the region while retaining our own individual personalities as destinations and to proceed together where it would be hard to go alone.

Like it or not, it is incontestable that our modern world is shrinking, bringing us into closer contact with each other in ways which present challenges as well as opportunities.  Many of the latter lie in the rolling out of plans for the Blue Economy – an alternative economic model for sustainable development which acknowledges our dependency upon our surrounding ocean and which potentially partners the islands of the western Indian Ocean as we each strive to make this idea a reality.

The concept of the Blue Economy invites, once again, potential collaboration with other partners to share resources and collaborate across a broad spectrum of activities: tourism, oil and mineral exploration, marine security, fisheries, energy, etc. Each of these is destined to become a platform where we can benefit from the fruits of collaboration not only to further our own individual plans but, more importantly, to become in the process so much more than islands going it alone.

With this collective perspective knocking increasingly at the door, we are looking at the very real and exciting possibility of a new way of doing things to achieve our aims. 

Armed with the raft of constantly evolving new technologies, team spirit is well-equipped to succeed as it calls not only on the combined strength but also the diverse attributes of different Islands/Archipelagos to create the win-win situations necessary for victory…and perhaps even survival.

To familiarize yourself with the Seychelles, I will now invite you to watch a short video.

Xie Xie