The newly set up Seychelles Small Hotels and Establishments Association (SSHEA) Association has established strategic partnerships with key entities that will serve and address the interests and concerns of its members, according to the chairman and former government minister, Peter Sinon.

A memorandum of understanding has been signed between SSHEA and Hospitality Plus from Mauritius, an entity that is the regional representative of the well-known US-based Sabre Hospitality Solutions.

Sinon said, "Once the partnership kick-starts, small hotels and establishments will have access to the same efficient and effective system that its bigger counterparts in the industry have exclusively enjoyed."

He added that Sabre Hospitality Solutions is a global company with over 30 years of experience in booking and reservations management. However, until recently they only served the large hotels.

"The playing field will be levelled in terms of access to cutting-edge technology from a global company with a proven record that it can withstand the test of times and cutting-edge technical solutions will be affordably accessible to our members," Sinon told SNA.

He explained that SSHEA is guided by the concerns expressed by its members and is committed to ensuring that these issues are on the agenda of national debates and policies.

Sinon spoke about the concerns the small establishments face, especially on Praslin and La Digue, the second and third most populated islands, and said in general establishments on the two islands are in good shape. However, standards of related services have room for improvement.

"One of our prospective members has done a comprehensive study on the reviews of the establishments in La Digue. They were found to be very favourable to the existing hospitality and accommodation entities," he added.

Sinon said the overall objective of the Association is to push and lobby the authorities to go back and re-visit the policies applied to Eden Island, a man-made island with luxury properties, and meet SSHEA to see if some of these policy incentives can be extended to its members in a drive to significantly upgrade standards.

"SSHEA intends to lobby the authorities to define as much as possible their definition for an ideal establishment that meets their required standards. In our dialogue with our partners we will do our utmost to meet these required standards," Sinon told SNA.

The Association's aggressive discount programme is of great help to its members to ease the concerns on costs for operations, maintenance, and refurbishment. juxtaposed with the current competitive pressures to maintain and upgrade standards.

He said that discussions with two companies are underway to ensure supplies to Praslin and La Digue are to the level and this will help to ensure the demand is met and quality services to clients are provided.

"We are soon to engage with the Seychelles Public Transport Corporation (SPTC) with regards to bus passes," said Sinon.

At the moment, SSHEA has one representative on Praslin on its executive board. It expects to have three members on the executive board representing Praslin and three for La Digue.

"We are going to have six instead of just two representatives on the executive board of SSHEA from Praslin and La Digue. Better representation means greater attention to details and concerns. We plan to do our best to support and promote all our members. Eighty-five members in a pool of around 700 plus licensed small establishments means that we have some ways to go to grow our collective bargaining strength," he added.

Aware and focused on the need to minimise costs, SSHEA has signed an agreement with EBOO, the first licensed digital payment system of Seychelles.

"By opening this door for our members they can individually negotiate agreements with the aforementioned company and minimise their financial transaction costs of payments," said Sinon.

Additionally, a digital capacity building project for its members has also been formulated and efforts are underway to mobilise financing as well as technical expertise to carry out this project.

SSHEA is also initiating a renewable solar energy project that could also be extended to a rainwater and water storage project for drought periods with a project to install solar renewable energy panels on members' establishments being under review by local experts.

Strategic collaboration with the conservation group Sustainability4Seychelles (S4S) has been initiated and the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) has been informed of the Association's intention where it will seek technical advice and support. The implementation of this project when successful will be key to addressing the number one concern of members, which is the escalating costs of energy.

"At the onset of our registration, an independent and anonymous survey was conducted. In a plethora of concerns the top two concerns were escalating costs of operations, and visibility and marketing," said Sinon.

"The 700 licensed operators should take note that only united we can be counted and our collective voices will be heard. If we operate as lone wolves in the wilderness that is where our issues will remain and dissipate with no action to address them," he stressed.