Eden Bleu Hotel — localisation in action

Earlier this year we featured a number of Seychellois who are excelling in management positions in the hospitality sector on Praslin. Now, as we approach the end of the year and a time of traditional reflection, we begin this final SHTA feature of 2024 by focusing on the Eden Bleu Hotel, which in 2014 opened as a high-end and groundbreaking business hotel that quickly became a notable presence in the country's hospitality sector. At the time of its launch, the hotel employed 87 Seychellois individuals, though only a small number held managerial roles, with the establishment having three Seychellois Managers, one Assistant Manager, and nine Supervisors. A fairly modest tally.

In 2016, with the arrival of General Manager Mr. Manuel Policarpo, Eden Bleu Hotel embarked on a transformative journey of localisation. The goal was clear: to ensure that Seychellois professionals occupied key positions within the hotel, and to recognise and reward their professionalism and their commitment to the hotel's success and sustainability.

This priority challenged the commonly held perception that Seychellois staff were at times held back from promotion to senior posts, with expatriates occupying positions with the highest levels of responsibility. It is important to note that Eden Bleu was not the only prestigious hotel adopting this approach, with significant others such as the Hilton and Constance properties encouraging local staff to apply and secure senior positions, backing this policy with in-house training programmes for Seychellois.

Eden Bleu's focused effort has, to date, yielded impressive results, with the hotel currently employing nine Seychellois managers, only two foreign managers, sixteen Seychellois supervisors, and only 1 foreign supervisor. This increase in local leadership — six additional Seychellois Managers and seven more Supervisors, demonstrates in tangible form the hotel's commitment to nurturing and advancing local talent.

Progression and internal promotion are key to this process, and send a strong message to other staff as well as potential employees. It is encouraging for Seychellois to see their compatriots rising up the ranks and the hotel placing faith in their proficiency. It nurtures an “If they can do that then so can I” mindset.

Examples of this success include Daniel Louis, who began his career as a Sous Chef and has risen to the position of Executive Chef, and Audrey Magnan, who started as a waitress and is now the Restaurant Manager. Mr. Peter Anacoura transitioned from Maintenance Technician to Maintenance Manager, while Rebecca Portlouis has been promoted from Front Office Supervisor to Sales and Conferencing Manager, a key position bearing in mind the hotel's important conference facilities.

Good housekeeping is at the core of any successful hotel, and Deltina Antat is currently working as Executive Housekeeper, having formerly proved her capabilities at supervisory level. Mr. Jean-Luc Uzice has similarly progressed from IT Technician to IT Manager, and Mr. Benneth Alphonse, who began as Human Resources Manager, is now the Human Resources & Accommodations Manager.

Eden Bleu Hotel's achievements in localisation have not only strengthened its operations but also contributed significantly to the empowerment of Seychellois professionals. The hotel remains a leader in the industry, setting a high standard for others to follow, and continues to take pride in its dedicated and increasingly local workforce.

So how can this momentum continue to deliver localisation results, and how can the educational and training infrastructures enable Seychellois — especially young Seychellois — to see tourism as a career path which has no 'glass ceiling' and which, on the contrary, is a sector where they will find success and a professional home for life?

The key is, and always will be, education, and nowhere is the collaboration between public and private sectors more vital to the success of the tourism sector and the future security of our national economy.

SHTA has consistently delivered inservice training programmes which are focused upon smaller tourism businesses which, unlike the larger hotels, do not have the budget required to run their own professional development courses. These programmes have been well received by both the Association's members and non-members, with SHTA running training workshops on a broad range of issues — from COVID protocols to environmental good practice, and (especially important within the context of this article) how to step up from being supervised to becoming an employee who supervises and manages others.

Such training also frequently reflects changes in government policy, in the same way that changes in school curricula need to be communicated to teachers within an effective training framework. Which brings us to school-based sensitisation. SHTA has always promoted the inclusion of lessons which unwrap the way in which the tourism sector works in Seychelles for children in our schools, public and private. Tourism clubs (which were started by the SHTA before being adopted by government and private sector working together) contribute to an awareness of both the importance of the sector to the economy and the development of an appetite to work in tourism when older.

But clubs are, by definition, outside the formal school curriculum, with children choosing to attend (or not). Lessons which present the facts about the nation's principal industry do exist, but SHTA feels that more could be done to strengthen our younger generation's appreciation and understanding of the sector. Topics such as productivity and work ethic, as well as information about how tourism shores up the national economy, need to be taught to all students. As a former national SHTA media campaign stated; 'Tourism puts food on every table in Seychelles'. It's important that young people understand this fact of life in Seychelles.

Of course, once a student completes his or her statutory education at the end of S5 the obvious route for any young Seychellois with an interest in building a career in the sector is to enroll at the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA), the professional centre dedicated to preparing aspiring tourism professionals for the world of work. It is at this stage that the relationship between the training institution and the hotels and guest houses which make up our accommodation sector becomes crucial. A good work placement experience, during which a student will temporarily join the staff of an establishment, can encourage and incentivise. A bad experience can lead to the individual learner switching off completely from the idea of working in tourism.

As stated in last month's SHTA Nation feature, the interface between the STA and the private sector has not always been an effective one, a problem which has to be addressed by the Academy, assisted by advice and support from tourism businesses. How this is managed is a priority if the achievements of Eden Bleu and others are to be emulated and extended, and this remains a clear national priority for 2025 and beyond.