UAE Royal holiday in Covid-19 shows how Seychelles is blessed
The desire of the family of one of the richest heads of state in the world to spend a number of weeks holidaying in Seychelles with a royal entourage of hundreds speaks a lot for our country.
The family of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, head of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, could have chosen to holiday anywhere in the world where the rich congregate, despite having a residence here, yet they chose Seychelles.They chose the Seychelles because we are the most beautiful islands in the world, with peace and stability, and we are home to welcoming, hospitable and kind people, who enjoy a simple way of life close to nature that most people in the world are envious of.
You could say that whilst our visitors have a lot and are very rich WE on the other hand are blessed with a lot of the good life, which often money can’t buy.Furthermore the days when Seychelles used to be known in the tourism industry as “a 5-star destination with 3-star hotels” have long gone, and today the entourage can fill up such luxury resorts as Four Seasons, Maia, Ephelia, Kempinski and Doubletree, and be served by a motley crew of exotic people like Seychellois, Europeans, Sri Lankans, Indians, Kenyans and Filipinos, each bringing their own flavours and touches to the great art of hospitality.This very multi-flavoured art of hospitality speaks a lot for the level of welcome we can offer to visitors and constitutes what we mean by being a five star tourism destination.
PARADISE FOUND
This is why over the centuries kings and queens and sultans and bishops who were exiled here by the British considered they had found paradise and a home away from home.
Visitors like these should make us appreciate how lucky we are even when we navigate through Covid-19, and there should be no room within us for insulting Facebook posts and jealousy. We entrust to Dr. Gedeon and Dr. Lounage and their medical team with the responsibility of ensuring that the guidelines are adhered to -at the highest possible levels and that all of them will have to produce a negative COVID-19 certificate, even before they enter the country. The visitors should not disappoint us as has been the case recently with the crew change for the fishing vessels. The 480 visitors from the UAE will have medical personnel accompanying them on this trip to Seychelles to cater for their wellbeing if the need arises. This will help ease any undue pressure on the local medical setup. Their visit will provide us with a much needed boost to our economy, not to mention to show the world that Seychelles is capable of handling well-managed groups.And all we ask of them, as we ask to every visitor, as we ask every Seychellois traveling abroad, is to enjoy, and enjoy responsibly and carry back happy memories.
