Category Archives: Seychelles

A negative RT-PCR test has been a ticket to visit countries with travel bubble agreements through the pandemic. However, with several countries requiring you to quarantine at home or a centre for seven to 14 days, travel has been largely restricted. Now, a vaccine passporta document that proves you have been inoculated against COVID-19is easing these restrictions. Currently, the list of countries allowing vaccinated travellers to enter is just a handful, but with more and more countries getting the vaccine, its likely to expand. Although Indians above the age of 60 and between the ages of 45 and 59 with comorbidities have started to receive vaccinations, not all countries on this list have travel agreements with India.

The island nation has opened its doors to vaccinated tourists, according to a statement released on 17 January. Despite the vaccine, travellers will be required to carry a negative RT-PCR test no older than 72 hours before departure.

Non-vaccinated travellers from Seychelles category 1 and 2 lists and those who arrive by private jet, are required to self-isolate for 10 days and provide a negative PCR result taken within 72 hours of arrival. India is also in talks to establish a travel bubble with Seychelles.

Come May, travellers who have taken two shots of the vaccine can bypass the testing and quarantine requirements of the country. Authorities will also accept reports that prove a person has antibodies to be exempt from quarantine. This applies to European Union countries, as well as Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Visitors are required to provide a paper vaccination certificate in Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish or English proving that theyve received two doses of one of the three main vaccinesModerna, Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca.

Citizens of all countries, traveling by air from any country may enter Georgia if they present the document confirming the full course (two doses) of any Covid-19 vaccination at the border checkpoints of Georgia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Georgia said in a statement. Visitors are not required to provide a negative RT-PCR test.

Non-vaccinated travellers will need to present a negative RT-PCR test within 72 hours of travel and will also be required to take a second test on day three of their visit. Those whove travelled to the United Kingdom within 14 days of their visit Georgia must undergo a 12-day mandatory quarantine upon entry.

On December 28, Poland lifted restrictions for travellers from EU countries who have been fully vaccinated. They will also be exempted from the mandatory 10-day quarantine.

Travellers who have received two doses of the vaccination have been exempted from quarantine since January 18. The second dose must be administered at least 10 days before arrival. Travellers from Romanias yellow list, which includes destinations of high epidemiological risk, are required to quarantine for 14 days despite the vaccination. The quarantine period can be reduced to 10 days if the person submits an RT-PCR test that is no more than 72 hours old.

EU travellers with vaccination and those who provide evidence of recovering from COVID-19 in the past six months can visit Estonia without quarantining.

Vaccination certificates produced in Estonian, Russian or English will be recognised and visitors whove previously had Covid will need to submit a doctors certificate, as well as a recent PCR test indicating that they no longer have the virus.

Cyprus has announced its plans to open borders to travellers who have been fully vaccinated without the need to provide a negative RT-PCR test on arrival. This applies to only destinations that fall within the countrys safe travel list. Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and Singapore are some of these countries.

Currently, those who are permitted to visit Cyprus will either have to provide a negative RT-PCR test or get tested on arrival. They will then have to undergo quarantine for two weeks in a government-assigned accommodation.

Thailand, which is currently open to Indians who are willing to quarantine for 15 days, is planning to scrap the two-week mandatory quarantine for visitors with proof of COVID-19 vaccination, announced Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha on Tuesday.

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These countries are now open to vaccinated travellers - Cond Nast Traveller India

The Republic of Seychelles lies northeast of Madagascar, an archipelago of 115 islands with almost 98,000 citizens, three-quarters of whom live on the main island of Mah. Seychelles has the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in Africa, at nearly $17 billion (2019), but inequality is significant, placing the prospect of continued shared prosperity in tighter focus. Climate change also poses long-term sustainability risks.

Political Context

Independent since 1976, the Seychelles is a relatively young democracy: the first multiparty presidential election was held in 1993 after the adoption of a new constitution. A presidential election in December 2015 was closely-fought, and President James Michel narrowly elected for a third and last term by just 193 votes out of the 62,831 valid votes cast. Michel resigned in October 2016, and was replaced by his deputy, Danny Faure. In September 2016s legislative elections the opposition coalition won the parliamentary elections for the first time. Presidential and parliamentary elections are schedule for October 2020.

Economic developments and outlook

Following the economic crisis and resulting sovereign debt default in 2008, the Republic of Seychelles through a prudent reform program made significant progress in achieving economic stability and fiscal sustainability. As a result, the economy grew by an average rate of 4.2% per annum between 2009 and 2019. With the help of an International Monetary Fund program, the government maintained its target of 2.5% primary balance and was on target to reduce the debt to GDP ratio to 50% by 2021. Prudent monetary policy also led to a build-up of the gross international reserves to 3.5 months of import coverage by 2019 from less than one month at end-2008.

The economic and social shock from COVID-19 (coronavirus) on the Seychellois economy is severe due to strong dependence on international tourism. Tourism accounts for approximately 30% of gross domestic product (GDP), making the country highly vulnerable to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The global outbreak is drastically reducing economic activity in 2020 as tourist arrivals are projected to decline by more than 50%. This is affecting other sectors such as transportation; art, recreation and entertainment; wholesale and retail trade; and the financial and insurance sector. GDP is expected to contract by 15.9% in 2020 compared to the pre-pandemic projected growth rate of 3.5%. Recovery is expected to begin in 2021 with a projected increase of 4.7% driven by a recovery in the tourist industry and a resumption in capital flows. If unmitigated, the poor are expected to bear a disproportionate impact of the economic shock. According to the 2013 household survey, about 6 out of 10 poor individual have a job, mostly in informal activities in the service sector that are expected to experience significant declines.

Development challenges

While the immediate priority is the containment of COVID-19 and recovery from its economic and social impact on the country, a focus on longer term structural issues is also warranted for a strong and resilient recovery.

Among Seychelles development challenges is the importance to focus on greater productivity, participation and performance of its economy as means to increasing shared prosperity. Some of the main institutional challenges in this regard are notably barriers to open and operate businesses, inefficiencies in public sector management, such as limited statistical capacity, scope for a more strategic and sustainable approach to social protection, as well as the need to broaden access to quality education and skills development. Climate change adaptation, including through strengthened disaster preparedness systems and enhanced coastal management, is also key.

Last Updated:Jul 31, 2020

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Seychelles Overview - World Bank

VICTORIA, August 2, 2017 How can Seychelles maintain its strong economic performance while ensuring that the benefits of growth are shared, and that the gains are environmentally sustainable and resilient to future shocks? These big questions are tackled by the Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD), a World Bank report for the Seychelles.

The SCD seeks to identify the Seychelles most critical development priorities and highlight gaps in knowledge where more evidence and work are needed to inform policy. It finds that Seychelles development challenges can be summarized as the 3 Ps: Productivity, Participation, and Performance.

First, Productivity.

Seychelles economy has been growing robustly, but this growth has been powered by the heavy use of foreign investment and expatriate labor. Seychelles could, therefore, benefit from placing more emphasis on boosting the efficiency with which it uses its existing resourcesthat is, by achieving more productivity-led growth.

Productivity can be unleashed in many ways, from encouraging more innovation in key areas of the economy, such as tourism, to continuing to place emphasis on micro-, small, and medium enterprise development across all sectors.

Since 2015, the Seychelles has been classified as a High Income Economy by the World Bank (the only one in Africa). It is time for it to start growing like one, based on the never-ending increases in productivity that come through the competitive pressures of the market to do more with less, and from technological adoption and innovation.

Second, Participation.

Seychelles already enjoys high labor force participation and employment rates. But globally the labor market is increasingly rewarding workers with job-relevant skills (such as hard-to-get technical and vocational skills, advanced skills, and so-called soft skills like the communications and people skills demanded in management and sales roles). The pressure is on for the Seychelles education system to equip graduates with the tools they need to reap the benefits of the growing opportunities offered by the countrys increasingly sophisticated economy.

Social spending is already at generous levels, but it needs to be better targeted to shore up its sustainability, boost its impact for protecting the vulnerable, and empower Seychellois to get high quality jobs.

Third, Performance.

A high-performing economy, one which offers opportunities for all to participate while protecting the vulnerable and providing a safety net in hard times, cannot be achieved in a vacuum. It requires a public sector that is efficient enough to deliver high quality public services (such as education and healthcare), agile enough to respond to and anticipate emerging priorities, and small enough not to divert scarce financial and human resources away from the private sector, which is responsible for generating the bulk of employment and income.

Seychelles has made much progress on this front in the reformist period following the 2008 global financial crisis, and it can build on this further to position government and its state-owned enterprises to support a high-performing, high-participation economy.

Through the lens of the 3Ps, the World Bank identifies five top priority areas for Seychelles to make even more progress in achieving shared prosperity. They are: (1) to strengthen the private sector enabling environment, (2) to maintain the focus on macroeconomic and fiscal policy stability, (3) to further increase public spending efficiency, (4) to strengthen education and skills development, and (5) to streamline and use more strategically its social assistance spending.

Of course, and as covered in the report, there are many other priorities too, such as tackling the quality and price of credit and energy, reducing labor market rigidities, enhancing healthcare, and confronting the substantial challenge posed by the inevitability of external economic shocks and by climate change.

Reasonable people can, and no doubt will, disagree on how best to describe and rank the many challenges faced by Seychelles. Our hope is that the SCD offers one useful perspective, contributing to the national debate, and that it can also be used as one input to the new national development planning process that has been launched.

As Seychelles takes stock of its developmental success to date, and plans to elevate this even further, the SCD also identifies how much the country stands to benefit from investing more in gathering data and using it to inform debate and public policies.

Perhaps to the 3Ps we could add 2Ds: Data and Digitization.

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Meeting Seychelles Productivity, Participation, and ...

With the vaccine roll out offering hope to millions of Londoners for a return to normal, some are inevitably dreaming of a holiday away.

But it's not going to be as easy as it was pre-pandemic.

Covid infection rates and the government measures put in place to counter them vary from country to country.

Which means you won't be able to pick and chose were you go abroad when the UK travel restrictions ease.

A number of countries have said they will accept vaccinated travellers including Iceland, Cyprus and the Seychelles, reports the Mirror.

Currently of course it is illegal for Brits to travel abroad for holidays, and the government is cracking down on rule-breakers including requiring people to provide a valid reason for travel or risk being turned away at the airport, or even being fined.

At the time of writing, a number of destinations haven't included Brits in the list of travellers they will be welcoming back, for a mixture of reasons spanning fears of a mutant coronavirus strain in the UK, to only welcoming back EU members in an initial wave.

Still, the news that vaccinated travellers will be welcome back do offer a glimmer of hope, especially for future travels when restrictions are eventually relaxed.

We take a look at the countries who've said they will welcome back vaccinated travellers - and whether Brits are included in the list.

Travel restrictions are subject to change during the pandemic. You should always check the latest FCDO travel advice before planning, booking or going on a trip.

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Iceland has announced that it won't require travellers to quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 .

Current rules mean all arrivals must undergo a PCR test upon arrival followed by a 5-6 day quarantine, and then a second screening. However, the new policy means travellers with a Covid vaccination certificate won't need to undergo screenings or self-isolation .

Are Brits on the list? Not for the initial stage. Iceland is only accepting vaccine certificates that meet certain criteria including being issued in an EEA/EFTA state. As the UK has left the EU, it doesn't qualify. However, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iceland told the Mirror that "as soon as the UK vaccine certificates are validated by the WHO, we will be looking at whether we can accept them at our borders".

The Seychelles' tourism authorities announced earlier this year that "with immediate effect, Seychelles will be welcoming vaccinated visitors from any part of the world".

Anyone who receives the vaccination will need to wait for two weeks after receiving their second dose before they will be allowed to head to the island.

There will still be entry requirements for vaccinated visitors; you'll need to prove you've had two doses of the official vaccines, and you'll still need to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test result, taken up to 72 hours before departure.

Borders will remain closed to visitors who haven't been vaccinated, or who aren't travelling from the list of approved countries.

Are Brits on the list? At the time of writing, the Seychelles has closed its borders to anyone travelling from the UK.

Estonia has revealed that from February 1, Brits who have received the Covid-19 vaccination will no longer be required to isolate for 10 days or undergo Covid-19 tests.

The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the news in January. There will be some criteria that needs to be met though - for example, no more than six months have passed since receiving the complete vaccine.

Are Brits on the list? Yes - Brits who have received the vaccine won't need to isolate or undergo testing.

Cyprus is looking to introduce a new policy where vaccinated travellers will not need to undergo current testing and quarantine rules.

Cyprus Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos revealed the plan to the Cyprus Mail. He said: "The amended action plan is expected to further boost the interest of airline companies to carry out additional flights to Cyprus, improve connectivity and increase passenger traffic."

Travellers who are not vaccinated will still need to meet Cyprus' entry requirements.

Are Brits on the list? Cyprus will continue to determine entry for travellers based on the country they're travelling from - and at the time of writing, the UK is not on this list.

Poland has lifted a mandatory 10-day self-isolation for travellers who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 and can provide proof of vaccine certification.

Quarantine is also lifted for visitors who have proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken within 48 hours before crossing the Polish border.

Are Brits on the list? Yes. Brits are able to enter Poland (once the UK's bans on international travel lift).

Romania has announced that travellers who have been vaccinated against coronavirus will be exempt from measures such as quarantine.

You'll need to have received both doses of the vaccine, and arrived in Romania more than 10 days after the second dose, to qualify for the exemption.

Are Brits on the list? According to the Foreign Office, UK nationals and non-EU/EEA nationals resident in the UK are not permitted to enter Romania for non-essential purposes, due to EU-wide COVID-19 restrictions in place for third country nationals.

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Countries Londoners could fly to this summer including The Seychelles, Cyprus and Poland - My London

17 February 2021 | Foreign Affairs

The President of the Republic of Seychelles, Mr Wavel Ramkalawan welcomed the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Seychelles, H.E Mr. Artyom Kozhin for a courtesy call at State House yesterday morning. Also present for the meeting was the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Mr Sylvestre Radegonde and Russian Embassy First Secretary, Mr. Maxim Matasov.

Amongst the areas of discussion, the Ambassador H.E Mr. Kozhin announced the donation of 500 Thousand US Dollars by the Russian business community towards the COVID-19 Relief Fund, an initiative of President Ramkalawan launched on 10th January 2021, in order to sustain the implementation of the Country's National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme.

On behalf of Government and the people of Seychelles, President Ramkalawan personally expressed his deep appreciation to the Russian business community for the generous donation to the COVID-19 Relief Fund. During the dialogue, Ambassador H.E Mr. Kozhin also confirmed that discussions are in progress for a potential donation of the Sputnik V Vaccine for a trial run in Seychelles.

"Seychelles and Russia have enjoyed a longstanding friendship, we remain committed to rally our efforts to achieve our set goals and elevate our relations to new heights for the mutual benefit of both our nations. I look forward to the continued active exchanges between our countries across bilateral, multilateral and global platforms," said President Ramkalawan.

Other areas of discussion centered on other important domains of collaboration such as Education, Capacity Building and Specialised training for Seychellois nationals, Tourism and Air Connectivity, Investment and Trade as well as expansion of cooperation in the Fisheries sector.

Ambassador Kozhin is based in Seychelles and was accredited on 10th March 2020. Seychelles and Russia established diplomatic relations on 29th June 1976.

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Bilateral cooperation between Seychelles and Russia takes new heights - Office of the President of the Republic of Seychelles

17 February 2021 | Cabinet Business

President Wavel Ramkalawan chaired a scheduled meeting of the Cabinet today, Wednesday 17th February, at which a number of legal and policy memoranda were considered.

Cabinet approved for the repeal of certain provisions in the Beach Control Act, 1971 and the Beach Control Regulation 1978 pertaining to the administration of the inshore waters of the Seychelles and to enact the Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority (Inshore Waters) Regulations 2021 which will now undertake the tasks of regulating the inshore waters of the Seychelles.

Cabinet also approved for the repeal of certain provisions in the Seychelles Licenses Act, 2010 as well as the Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Act 2019, pertaining to the licensing of commercial maritime activities and for the enactment of the Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority (Licenses) Regulation, 2021.

Cabinet approved to introduce the Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority (Fees) Regulations 2021 to enable the Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority to implement and administer the fees necessitated under the Act.

Cabinet approved for the enactment ofthe Merchant Shipping (Identification of Ships) Regulations 2021 which would prescribe the requirements that must be fulfilled in order to identify ships of less than 10 metres in Seychelles.

Cabinet approvedthe Policy for the establishment and maintenance of an Office, to be known as the Office of the Former President.

Cabinet approved the new Prevention of Terrorism Bill and the Prevention of Terrorism Regulations which will also include proliferation financing.

Cabinet approved for the ratification of the SADC Agreement on Assistance in Tax Matters.

Cabinet approved the Asset Management Regime in support of asset recovery efforts.

Cabinet approved amendments to Regulations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act, 2020.

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Cabinet Business - Wednesday 17th February 2021 - News - Office of the President of the Republic of Seychelles

Commanding Officer, Capt. Michael Concannon and Acting U.S. Consul General in Cape Town, Will Stevens, on the vast deck of the USS Hershel 'Woody' Williams

U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa / U.S. 6th FleetMass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eric Coffer

CAPE TOWN, South Africa The US Navys Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel Woody Williams (ESB 4) arrived in Cape Town, South Africa on Feb. 20, 2021 for a planned port visit. The visit builds on U.S. maritime partnerships with African nations and improves maritime safety and security in the region.

USS Hershel Woody Williams manning and maintenance model maximizes our availability and ensures our persistent presence in African waters, said Commanding Officer, Capt. Michael Concannon. Important port cities, like Cape Town, are critical to global trade. As coastal nations, both South Africa and the United States rely on maritime shipping and free and secure sea lanes for economic prosperity.

The USS Hershel Woody Williams is the second U.S. ship to stop in Cape Town in the last 12 months. The USS Carney had a port visit with public events in Seychelles just before coming to Cape Town in March of 2020.

As we are for trade and investment, the United States is a strong security partner for South Africa, said Acting U.S. Consul General in Cape Town, Will Stevens. This visit by the USS Hershel Woody Williams is one more step in bolstering our already strong security cooperation.

The stop will also allow a restock for fuel and re-supply for the ship. Due to COVID-19 safety precautions, there will be no public visits to the ship and the crew will not have the opportunity to visit this historic and renowned city.

We at the U.S. Consulate General are delighted that Cape Town is hosting the ships resupply stop, as we firmly believe that working together to promote international security will lead to greater prosperity and security for our two nations, Stevens said.

The USS Hershel Woody Williams is currently conducting operations in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations, which covers approximately half of the Atlantic Ocean, from the Arctic Ocean to the coast of Antarctica, and nearly the entire continent of Africa.

U.S. Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

Credit: originally published by U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa / U.S. 6th Fleet

By U.S. Mission South Africa | 22 February, 2021 | Categories: Cape Town, Consul General, News, U.S. & South Africa

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USS Hershel Woody Williams visits Cape Town to Strengthen Bilateral Ties - US Embassy in South Africa

16 February 2021 | Education

The President of the Republic, Mr Wavel Ramkalawan received the new vice-chancellor of the University of Seychelles (UniSey), Miss Jolle Perreau at State House yesterday.

Miss Perreau is the fifth vice-chancellor of the University of Seychelles (UniSey) and she has been employed with UniSey since its inception in 2010. She has made a significant contribution to the development of programmes, teaching, and quality assurance of the university. She joined the UniSey leadership cadre in 2015, as the head of programme, which she was then later promoted to dean of faculty.

President Ramkalawan congratulated Miss Perreau in her new post and hoped that this brings new impetus to the University of Seychelles. The President conveyed his continued support and that of the government towards the university where he conveyed his appreciation to all staff for their hard work and dedication.

I would like to congratulate you and the UniSey team for the amazing work you are doing. I have no doubt that you will continue to work hard to bring the University of Seychelles to greater heights. Today, I would like to reiterate the support of the Government to the University in ensuring capacity building remains a priority for our nation, said the President.

The discussion centred on the role of the university in the country and how it can undergo greater transformation in offering more programmes based on the needs of the country as well as venture in research, innovation and technology.

In an interview with the local press, on behalf of the UniSey Council and staff of the University, Miss Perreau expressed her gratitude to have been granted an audience with the President, where she shared with the Head of State how the University can further support Seychelles to develop its people intellectually, professionally and engage in practical research for the betterment particularly in the decision-making process in all sectors.

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President receives the newly appointed Unisey Vice-Chancellor - Office of the President of the Republic of Seychelles

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Air Seychelles would be ahead of schedule on transformation plan if 2020 was a normal year: CEO | CAPA - CAPA - Centre for Aviation

(CNN) There are few places in the world as beautiful, or as vulnerable as the Outer Islands of Seychelles.

While the archipelago in the western Indian Ocean is made up of 115 islands, its 72 Outer Islands are undoubtedly its most remote and preserved locations.

Situated at distances ranging from 60 minutes to two and half hours away from the main island of Mah, the islands and atolls feature an abundance of marine life, pristine coastline and exotic birdlife.

Among them are UNESCO World Heritage site Aldabra, home to the largest giant tortoise population in the world, Alphonse, the first Seychelles island to become reliant on solar power and the uninhabited Cosmoledo, known for its spectacularly pristine coral reefs.

"The most unique thing about the Outer Islands is they've been frozen in time," environmentalist Keith Rose-Innes tells CNN Travel. "These islands are so inaccessible by humans and so far out that they've been left alone.

"The coral's still intact, because the atolls have very sharp drop offs and the cool water circles around them. So there's very little coral bleaching.

"The biomass of fish underneath the sea is incredible. At times if you swim 10 meters apart you can't see each other because there's so many fish. So it is really an amazing place. There's been very little human pressure over the years."

Under threat

Alphonse Atoll is one of the best preserved locations in the Outer Islands of the Seychelles.

Fiona Ayerst

But while the Outer Islands have been spared some of the "human pressure" problems faced by destinations such as Thailand, they, along with the rest of the Seychelles, are under threat nonetheless.

At present, the most significant dangers to the islands are plastic pollution, overfishing and climate change.

The money has been channeled into projects aimed at protecting marine life and tackling the impact of climate change and promised to make 30% of its national waters protected areas by the close of 2020.

After spending many years exploring the Outer Islands as a fly-fisherman, Rose-Innes says he's witnessed the effects first hand.

"Climate change is a big issue," he says. "I can see it [the difference]. For instance, we get bigger storms. The island of Farquhar experienced the most vicious cyclone ever recorded in the Indian Ocean in 2016.

"And an increase of one degree in sea temperature will mean 80% of our coral will die. Now is the time to protect these places, and use them in the right way so they can stay around for longer."

Protecting paradise

Alphonse has recorded more than 130 species of bird.

Anthony Grote

He's turned his attention to conservation in recent years as a way of "giving back" after becoming concerned about the future of the Outer Islands.

"I was known as the 'fly fisherman,'" he says. "That was my passion. But when you're walking around the islands or sitting in the boat, you're noticing all of the amazing things these atolls have to offer.

"I thought 'how do we create enough revenue to protect these places? How do we reduce the amount of fly fishing we do? The only way to do that was through ecotourism."

Blue Safari offers a number of activities and programs, such snorkeling with and photographing manta rays, birdwatching walks, turtle patrols, scuba diving, tree planting, beach cleanups, and a scuba diving excursion to collect debris from the ocean.

The accommodation available includes lodges, eco-camps, as well as eco-pods made from shipping containers.

"Every year we've seen amazing growth and more people coming," he says. "It's important to allow people to experience and see these amazing places," he adds. "This also opens up the possibility of raising funds."

While the Islands Development Company (IDC) manages 13 of the 72 Outer Islands, Blue Safari looks after four of these -- Alphonse, Astove, Cosmoledo and Farquhar.

Travelers who visit any of the islands are required to pay a $25 a day conservation charge, which is donated to its designated foundation and put towards ecological and environmental programs and initiatives.

While those who take part in the activities provided by Blue Safari are offered a unique insight into the Outer Islands through unique experiences, Rose-Innes says he and his team of over 150 also gain a lot from meeting travelers and educating them on the work that's being done.

Plastic problem

The uninhabited Cosmoledo atoll is the furthest from the mainland Mah island.

Blue Safari Seychelles

"It's an incredible opportunity," he says. "There aren't many places around the world where you're able to interact with guests, show them what you're doing and tell them how they can make a positive impact by coming on holiday."

Beach clean-ups are perhaps one of the most essential activities that visitors can take part in, if not the most thrilling.

Tons of plastic, mainly from ships, regularly washes up on the beaches of the Outer Islands and the amount is increasing every year according to Rose-Innes.

"We are picking up tons of plastic, especially after better weather on the beaches," he says. "So that's obviously quite a concerning thing."

Interestingly, flip flop sandals are among the most common plastic items that end up in the Outer Islands, along with water bottles.

"One or two of our islands get quite a big build of flip flops," Rose-Innes explains. "Funnily enough, it's mostly left side flip flops. I think it's like 10 to one left versus right."

However, Rose-Innes is hopeful that the global movement towards reducing plastic packaging will eventually reduce the amount of plastic that finds its way over to the islands.

Although the Seychelles is still seen as a far-flung beach destination by many travelers, the popularity of destinations such as Costa Rica, the Galapagos Islands and Kenya has proven that there's still a huge market for these types of trips.

"Ecotourism is very important because it raises awareness for the environment," says Rose-Innes.

"If you have a guest that comes out and we take them on a beach clean-up where we pick up plastic, it's very easy for them to take that back to where they come from.

"And maybe next time there'll think twice about buying a plastic bag."

Safeguarding the future

The Blue Safari team lead a number of activities, such as beach cleanups and bird watching walks.

Melissa V.d Walt

Meanwhile, the debt-for-conservation deal has proved successful so far.

Last March, Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan announced the nation had followed through on its pledge to protect 410,000 square kilometers of its waters, an area around the size of Germany.

"By protecting these large areas we are not only safeguarding our marine environment but balancing economic growth through the management of the resources that the sea provides."

While its economy is highly dependent on the ocean and marine resources, tourism also plays a big part and numbers have been down significantly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Officials aim to vaccinate over 70% of its estimated 98,000 population by mid-March, which would make the Seychelles the first nation to vaccinate its entire population and allow restrictions to be relaxed further.

"It is really important to put in place the right protocols as tourists still want to come and spend a holiday in Seychelles."

Rose-Innes shares this sentiment, but is confident that things will improve in the coming months.

"We're hoping that by around April we'll be back to some sort of normality with regards to guests coming to the islands," he says.

"But at the moment it's very quiet. And the less people that come to the islands, the less funding we're able to raise.

"The most important thing travelers can do to support conservation is to come out and see us."

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How travelers help to protect the Outer Islands of the Seychelles - CNN