Sheila Sicobo moves on after four years and Neesha Palit takes over — with visiting members made the priority.
Meet our new Secretariat
As many members are already aware, Sheila Sicobo (lhs above) - who has been our senior administrator for the last four years - is moving on to pastures new, specifically to follow her passion for animal welfare. We wish her the very best at Pet Haven.
On the right of our photograph you will see Neesha Palit, who has been appointed by the SHTA Board to replace Sheila, commencing next Monday, May 4th. Neesha joins us with a strong business administration background. Since graduating with a Bachelor Degree of Science in Business from UniSey, Neesha has held a number of key management positions, specialising in procurement, quality control, marketing and team leadership.
Neesha will continue Sheila's commitment to visiting SHTA members; indeed her intention, endorsed by the SHTA Board, is to prioritise this aspect of her work. As a consequence the Association will no longer have need of the office in Victoria. When not 'on the road' Neesha will work from her home office. Existing SHTA email and telephone contact details remain unchanged.
Members will have the opportunity to get to know more about our new administrator through an interview which will be published in the next Update. This will be with you a few days after this edition hits your inbox.
SHTA pays courtesy call to Minister Idith Alexander
A delegation of SHTA Board members, led by the Association Chairperson, Shamita Palit, met earlier this year with the Minister for Employment and Human Resource Planning, Idith Alexander. Ms Audrey Nanon, Executive Director, was also present.
The Minister was extremely generous with her time and outlined a number of important ministerial aims and objectives, both generic and specific to tourism.
The Minister initially focused on the youth unemployment rate, which at 7.6% is higher than that seen as 'normal' by organisations such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which advocates a percentage no higher than double the national unemployment rate. This latter figure stands at an extremely low 2.6% in Seychelles. Therefore, the present youth unemployment rate is 2.4% above this notional target figure of 5.2% (2 x 2.6%). The Minister and her team are focusing on this matter as one of two initial priorities - the other being an enhanced partnership with the private sector.
The Minister spoke about her intention to work with her team to improve service delivery. She is aware of some of the past frustrations within the tourism private sector with regards to GOP processing, and will work with the PS for Employment and Human Resource Planning, Ms. Susan Morel, to address this matter. In the meantime the Minister stated that “GOP protocols have been sharpened”.
Tangentially the Minister stated that, as things stand, we need foreign workers to meet the skill set needs of the tourism sector. However, she mentioned that since 2012 the expatriate workforce has increased from 14,000 to 24,000. The question was tabled; there is clear evidence that we have created jobs, but have we created jobs for our people?
This led to a brief reference to the importance of education in building a better skilled local workforce for the future. The Minister mentioned that UniSey has a role to play here, with a need to strengthen its present degree offer by adding HR modules (to the present solitary one) which address key issues such as strategic management, legislation, sick leave entitlement and worker psychology.
The Minister is meeting with all hotel General Managers in order to enhance partnerships between the government and key private sector actors, stating to them in 1-1 meetings that “We cannot impose upon the private sector - we need each other. My plan is your plan.” The Minister also opined that in order to achieve career success in our industry a person needs to have a mindset commensurate to 'working your way up'. This ideology, the Minister stated, means having experience in every department of a hotel prior to aspiring to management responsibility.
Other matters under consideration and review by the Ministry include, but are not limited to - the employment act, which is being reviewed, and this, will inform employment policy), the occupational health act, the labour migration policy, the quota system, and the positioning of private employment agencies.
When asked by the SHTA about the much heralded government online platform (which would streamline a multitude of application and evaluation procedures and facilitate cross-ministry data sharing) the Minister replied that whilst no date for the launching of this platform has been agreed, work was proceeding on a number of fronts.
The meeting closed with a commitment from both sides to continue to develop a strong collaborative relationship in the best interest of the nation.
What's next?
An interview with our new Secretariat which will reveal how she sees the Association developing under her administrative stewardship.
This bulletin was sent to SHTA members on 1 May 2026 and is reproduced here in full. The original as it was designed and circulated is below.
Download the original (JPG)