The Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label was launched with the unveiling of its logo and branding at Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove Hotel on September 27, on the occasion of World Tourism Day 2011.

The event also saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Seychelles Tourism Board and the GOS-UNDP-GEF Programme Coordination Unit to seal a partnership for the label.

The sustainability label for tourism is a set of standards to encourage hotel establishments to adopt best practices in the daily operation of their businesses in order to ensure the sustainability of the tourism industry.

As tourism in Seychelles depends on the natural environment and pristine marine life, it is important to preserve the environment and maintain its natural beauty and biodiversity. This label will encourage and guide accommodation establishments in adopting and implementing best practices for a sustainable tourism industry.

In addition, more visitors are becoming aware of the issues of sustainability. A survey by TUI Travel among its customers showed that 86% of them engage in “green” behaviour at home (eg. recycling, buying local, use public transport); 51% are familiar with the term sustainability; 45% have personal interests in sustainability; 35% note their holiday’s impact on the destination is important in their holiday decision-making process; and 26% have taken a “sustainability holiday”.

The development of the label began in 2003 when the former Ministry of Tourism and Transport sought the help of students from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) and the University of Zurich, through Seed sustainability – a programme based at ETH Zurich that coordinates interdisciplinary student research in the field of sustainability. This collaboration with Seed sustainability was initiated by Frauke Fleischer-Dogley who was director of tourism planning at that time.

Initially, a Swiss master’s student, Ueli Schneider, from the University of Zurich was engaged to conduct a feasibility study on implementing a sustainability label for the hotels and tourism establishments. The study considered many international labels existing at that time and it was found that most of these international “eco-labels” were limited to best environmental practices.

It was recommended that Seychelles develop and adopt its own “sustainability label” that would take into account the specificities of the country as a small island developing state. The criteria for the label would be developed in consultation with the industry on the basis of strict, transparent, fair and externally checked criteria. This “Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label” would go further than an “eco-label” and would integrate social and economic aspects together with environmental features of the tourism establishments. Such an initiative would allow the country to adopt a holistic approach in the promotion of sustainable tourism development.

Later, another group of students was engaged to develop and draft a set of criteria for tourism accommodation establishments in 2005-2007. The first set of criteria was drafted by another Swiss university student, Nicole Mueller; the criteria were then further refined, amended and tested in 11 hotels on Mahe, Praslin, La Digue and other islands by Stefan Mattenberger, from ETH Zurich, and Juliane Frank, from University of Applied Sciences Eberswalde (Germany). The work of these university students formed the basis on which the label would be further developed.

Until that time, funding requirement for work on the label was minimal to the government as the students were giving their services voluntarily and as part of the university studies. The ministry of tourism was only responsible for providing logistical support services locally. Seychelles Tourism Board then took overall responsibility for the label when the functions of the former department of tourism in the vice-president’s office were transferred to the STB in 2007.

Around the same time, the label was approved as part of a package under the project Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Production Sectors, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which is administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the Government of Seychelles. A GOS-UNDP-GEF Programme Coordinating Unit was set up to coordinate the different components of the project. This funding allowed for a further review of the criteria by an international peer review consultant, Dr Louise Twinning-Ward, with the support of the GOS-UNDP-GEF Programme Coordination Unit.

The criteria of the label are classified under eight themes comprising: management, waste, water, energy, staff, conservation, community, and guests. It adopts an integrated approach to sustainability by including environmental, social, and economic components aligned to the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s criteria. There are 22 “must-do”, or required, criteria which all hotels and tourism accommodation establishments should comply with, in addition to obtaining the minimum number of points on the others in order to qualify for the label.

The criteria and the institutional set up for the label were finalised in a stakeholder validation workshop on April 18, 2011 at Le Meridien Barbarons resort. The delegates decided at the workshop that the label be housed within the Seychelles Tourism Board during the initial implementation stages, with the aim of setting up an independent organisation to manage the label later on. A label manger would be recruited to ensure smooth implementation and success of the label. The GOS-UNDP-GEF Proramme Coordination Unit agreed to give funding for the manager who has since been recruited and is currently based at STB’s main office.

It was also decided at the workshop that the design of the logo be open to a national competition where the public would be invited to submit their designs for a logo. The logo competition was launched in August this year and was won by Catherina Bonnelame.

Although implementation of the label has started with tourism accommodation establishments only, the plan is to eventually adapt the criteria to the requirements of other tourism sectors so that they can also be certified and benefit from the label. It is hoped that most of the tourism accommodation establishments in Seychelles will adopt the label within the next couple of years and that through the implementation of the label, the environment and the community will benefit from viable and successful businesses, resulting in the safeguard of the unique biodiversity of Seychelles. The board of directors of the STB has given its full support for the label.

The launching of Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label and logo is the result of an exhaustive consultation process. This was to ensure that the label is one that was designed and developed by and for local tourism operators and stakeholders, rather than a set of rules handed down by the authorities for the operators to follow. The long process was to ensure local tourism operators took part as they are the ones who would eventually implement and integrate the principles of sustainability in their daily operations, so that the end product would be one which can be called a “Seychellois” sustainability label, and one which is “owned” by all Seychellois tourism stakeholders.

What is sustainable tourism?
Sustainable tourism is the application and implementation of best practices and techniques by tourism operators that results in positive net benefits for the social-cultural, economic and natural environments in which it takes place.
Sustainable tourism has a triple bottom line:

- improvement in the conservation of the natural environment
- social benefits for local communities
- profits for business owners and shareholders as national and regional economies

Sustainable Tourism can result in substantial efficiencies
Investing $85 per shower to reduce flow can save $70 in water bills per shower each year
Investing $10 per light bulb can save $10 per bulb each year
Shutting down appliances when not in use saves$15 per appliance each year
Setting computers to standby can save $45 per year
In-room recycling and reducing waste by buying in bulk can save $270 per year
What is a sustainable tourism label?
A sustainable tourism label assures that a tourism business is run according to agreed-on standards for environmental, social, cultural and economic best practices
A sustainable tourism label let visitors or customers know that a particular product has reached the quality standards of the labelling organization.

What do certified operators of other labels say?
In the UK, businesses reduced operation costs by 10%-30% by going through the certification process.
A survey of green certified businesses in New Zealand found that 67% saw a recognisable increase in staff motivation.
A survey of 670 label users in Germany found the key benefit of an eco-label was the information it provided about how to implement sustainability.

What will a label not do?
A sustainable tourism label will not make an unprofitable hotel suddenly profitable
A label will not fill a hotel with new clients. Sustainability has to compete with other factors affecting consumer decision-making process such as location, price, etc.
It is important to be realistic about the benefits of sustainable tourism labelling. It is only a tool to improve operational efficiency.

What is the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label?
The SSTL is a voluntary, user-friendly sustainable tourism label, designed to inspire more efficient and sustainable ways of doing business.
The SSTL process is designed to evaluate business performance against an agreed set of sustainability practices
Long-term goals of the label are to promote sustainable tourism development in Seychelles and protect the environment for future generation.
Why should hotels and tourism accommodation establishments adopt the sustainable tourism label?

Effective waste management
The reuse and recycling of products can cut purchasing costs.
Effective waste management can enhance corporate image and boost guest approval.

Biodiversity and nature conservation
Support for conservation can help to preserve natural tourism resources and also
minimise the risks of future environmental problems.
Investing in renewable energy can reduce the Greenhouse gas emissions of the tourism industry in line with the Davos Declaration of 2007.
Water reuse will help to conserve the depleting water resources and promote water conservation.

Community development
Contributions to community development can help to improve the relations between tourism establishments and the local communities.
Supporting community development can receive approval from the guests.

Employee human rights
Respecting employees’ human rights and promoting equal rights can create a positive environment at the workplace.

How is the SSTL structured?
The SSTL is comprised of the standard – the set of criteria used to assess properties – the assessment process, and the administrative process used to manage the label.
The standard consists of a set criteria divided into eight sections: management, waste, water, energy, staff, conservation, community, and guests.
The assessment process involves six steps from awareness raising to the award of a label.
The administrative process involves SSTL manager and staff, SSTL stakeholders committee, the third party assessors, and the operators being assessed.

Earning the label
To be certified, operators need to:

- comply with all of the 22 required criteria
- achieve a minimum score from each of the four types of practice: management, monitoring, operation, and community/conservation
- receive a minimum score from across all other criteria (draft scoring system requires small hotels to get 30 points and large hotels to get 35 points in order to be certified)

Logo and Brand

The brand name, Seychelles Sustainable Tourism label, was chosen for its simplicity and clarity of message; whereas the tagline, “Safeguarding Seychelles for Tomorrow” implies an active role in the protection of our natural resources and biodiversity.

The main icon is one that can be identified with locally and internationally; it is a giant tortoise in two shades of green, representing the Seychelles biodiversity. It is surrounded by three circular arrows, which allude to the elements of sustainability. The yellow colour represenst our year round sunshine and the natural source of energy. The blue represents our marine life and rivers as well as the precipitation which keeps our islands green and brown for the earth.