Reprinted from The Indian Ocean Newsletter
Just smile and pay up
Copyright 1998 Indigo Publications The Seychelles government is to slap a US$ 100 tax on tourists arriving in the archipelago as from January next, and has already hiked the airport exit tax, applicable to residents, from 100 rupees to 500 rupees ($ 120). An announcement from vice president James Michel's office said the tourist tax should be used to finance environmental conservation. The exit tax appears to be an effort to discourage Seychelles residents from travelling abroad and spending foreign currency outside of the country. Both measures take tourism professionals by surprise, coming as they do at a time when tourist arrivals are already dropping off, with some European tour operators striking the destination from their catalogues on the grounds that Seychelles is "dear and gives poor service". A marketing campaign with the
logo "Treasure every moment" mounted by Gilbert Pool, presidential adviser
on communications, has not yet produced any results. As for last year's Miss
World competition held on the Seychelles in November, it cost the country
some 38 million rupees ($ 8 million) according to the Seychelles central
bank. |