The three-month period to regulate illegal tourism operations ends today, Monday 12 March 2018

While action is being taken against illegal service providers, procedures have been put in place to provide assistance to guests who have booked their stay in such facilities.

A main list of accommodation that is legally operated is available on the Airport so that visitors can be directed to one of them, and necessary assistance, such as the provision of transport from one place to another, is also provided to tourists who are confronted with such situations.

Since the start of repression against illegal facilities three months ago, two to three such cases have been reported each week.

Mr Loustau-Lalanne explained that a statement by the visitor will be taken as evidence to complement the ongoing investigations against the unlicensed establishment.

"If they are relocated, the tourist must pay in the new facility. The illegal establishment will then have to pay the tourist back the money they have paid if they had already paid in advance," he added.

Minister Loustau-Lalanne said that there are more than 450 small, licensed, state-of-the-art facilities operated by Seychellois operators. The task of combating illegal accommodation aims to protect the image of the destination by providing visitors with high quality services and value for money.

The Tourism Department is working on a regulation to ensure that the licence number of tourism facilities can be viewed online, including on the Seychelles Tourism Board website, which will soon include a message to tourists to book legal accommodation.