If a tourist in the Seychelles tests positive, that person, together with their partner/family, will be taken to an identified quarantine facility according to medical procedures already explicit and communicated, in order to continue their holiday under strict but acceptable conditions. This will protect both the person and the community. Naturally, extremely robust staff and service procedures will be implemented at the hotel.
A major advantage is that, first and foremost, the facilities identified would help to reduce the amount of resources that would otherwise be required to track and manage such cases through the MOH (Ministry of Health). These resources would be concentrated, which is not only cost-effective and efficient, but also reduces the risk of error.
There is also a significant benefit to public relations, as by providing a hotel environment for limited and recreational visitors, we create greater confidence in other potential visitors. Not to mention that we are also creating a "world first" and setting a new benchmark for responsible tourism. We are not reopening to see our facilities left empty, and anything we can do to reduce the risk of ruined holidays due to infection is, in our view, welcomed by our markets and should be reflected in visitor numbers.
While hotels and establishments have reviewed their SOPs and protocols in the context of the "new normality", we all need to focus on providing a guest experience as close as possible to the "old normality" at this point in time. Tourists who invest in a dream holiday after many weeks of closure do not want to be accommodated in a hotel that resembles and functions more like a hospital than a holiday home.
The Chief Secretary for Tourism, Anne Lafortune, told reporters: "The reality is that as soon as a person becomes positive, they must be isolated. The question is whether they will be isolated in the hotel where they are or we will be isolated. It has been decided that for a tourist who tests positive, it is preferable to be placed in a separate facility. This facility must be equivalent to a hotel, because these people are here on holiday and need a facility that is comfortable so as not to ruin their holiday completely.
It is obvious that the only establishment that can offer an experience similar to that of a hotel, ............. is a hotel!
Wir können daher davon ausgehen, dass es auf jeder der drei Hauptinseln mindestens ein Hotel geben wird, das ausschließlich dazu dient, jedem Touristen einen sicheren (für alle Parteien) und angenehmen Aufenthalt zu bieten, der unglücklicherweise bei seiner Ankunft oder während der COVID-positiven Prüfung getestet werden kann ihren Urlaub.
"We would like to give a tourist the guarantee that if the person tests positive during their stay, but does not show symptoms, they can continue their holiday, but cannot talk to other due persons at the risk of transmitting the virus ", she added.