05/06/2021
The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) launched its
partnership with the Global Impact Network on Friday, June 4, 2021, coinciding
with the destination’s activities for the World Environment Day, celebrated on
June 5.
The partnership, allows Seychelles to become,
officially, the first destination to create its online community page on the
Global Impact Network platform.
Global Impact Network is an app that allows
individuals and organisations to take action anywhere and for any
ecologically-oriented cause. Seychelles, the Indian Ocean sustainable champion,
joins the platform to entice its visitors to have a profound experience while
on holiday in the destination and to be personally transformed by the end of
their trip.
The digital platform will allow users to track,
measure and showcase sustainable actions through fun and achievable challenges
about real-world issues.
The event was kicked off by a tree-planting ceremony
at the Maison Quéau de Quinssy gardens by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Tourism, Mr. Sylvestre Radegonde, in the presence of Principal Secretary for
Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Vivianne Fock Tave and Principal Secretary for
Tourism Mrs. Anne Lafortune.
The tree planting ceremony was followed by
presentations made by the STB Chief Executive Mrs. Sherin Francis and the CEO
of Global Impact Network, Ms. Tatianna Sharpe.
In her presentation, Mrs. Francis stressed the
destination’s objective to encourage responsible tourism and inspire visitors
to take sustainable actions, share their stories and track global progress
towards achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set
in 2015.
Keeping its ecological focus, the Seychelles
community has adopted 4 badges - these include the advocate badge, beach
clean-up badge, tree planter badge - only available in Seychelles - and finally
the local produce badge.
Speaking at the launch, Mrs. Francis reiterated that
the mission of the STB remains to keep the destination visible, highlighting
that this platform aligns well with the efforts of the country towards
sustainable tourism.
“As a proud environmentally-conscious destination,
this initiative is an opportunity for us to encourage our visitors to engage in
activities which promote sustainable development. We want them to make an
impact and we aim to make our visitors become Seychelles ambassadors when they
return to their home, telling the world how our small nation is helping the
fight against the global environmental crisis the world is facing, each one of
us individually, one at a time,” said Mrs. Francis.
On her part, Tatiana Sharpe, CEO of Global Impact
stated that growing up in Zimbabwe, gave her exposure to poverty and social
injustice at a young age, which fuelled her desire to make a positive impact in
her community and in the world.
“Global Impact is the world’s first social impact
network tracks, measures and showcases positive impact for sustainable
development. A tool that empowers, citizens, organisations and governments to
change the world. Before I went to study at Stanford University, I was here in
Seychelles when I came up with the idea for global impact. It is beautiful to
see the full circle- come back and launch- here in Seychelles. I think
Seychelles is taking a step in the right direction,” said Ms. Sharpe.
In recognition of its efforts, Seychelles received
the honour of being crowned Indian Ocean’s Leading Sustainable Tourism
Destination for two consecutive years in 2019 and 2020.
Renowned for its pristine beauty, the Seychelles, one of the Small
Islands Developing States, has made it its mission to preserve its exotic
paradise and rich natural heritage through sustainable practices and measures.
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