“The Visitor is a Friend:” Alain St. Ange’s WTD 2026 Reflections
World Tourism Day message by Seychelles’ Ambassador-at-Large pinpoints tourism as a bridge between nations, saying it must serve the people and the planet.
Alain St. Ange has spent his career inside Seychelles tourism — from Director of Marketing to CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board, then Minister of Tourism and Culture (2012–2016) and later Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine Affairs. In March 2026, President Patrick Herminie‘s nomination was confirmed by the National Assembly, making him Ambassador-at-Large for Seychelles. He also serves as a Vice-President of the World Tourism Network and runs a tourism consultancy in Victoria.
At a University of Oxford colloquium on 7 September 2026, he argued that tourism cannot be reduced to arrival figures, citing the World Bank‘s estimate that roughly 21 per cent of Seychelles’ GDP and 27 per cent of employment sit in tourism-related industries.
That argument carries into his message for World Tourism Day 2026, observed on 27 September under UN Tourism‘s theme “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism,” hosted this year by El Salvador. Where the global conversation leans toward algorithms, St. Ange steers it back to people, reframing the visitor not as a market segment but as “a friend we have not yet met.”
He describes tourism in Seychelles as identity rather than industry — something that feeds families and carries culture forward — while warning that the sector survives only so long as the oceans, beaches, heritage and host communities beneath it are protected. The future he proposes is built on responsibility: local benefit first, living culture, and natural treasures intact for those who inherit them.
The full message can be read below.
Today, as we mark World Tourism Day, we are reminded that tourism has always been about much more than travel.
It is about people meeting people.
It is about a visitor discovering a new culture, sharing a conversation, tasting a local dish, hearing a story, and leaving with a better understanding of another country and its people.
For Seychelles, tourism is not just an industry. It is part of who we are. It supports families, creates opportunities and allows us to share the beauty, culture and traditions of our islands with the world.
But we must also remember that tourism depends on the very things that make our destinations special. Our oceans, our beaches, our environment, our heritage and the communities that welcome visitors.
The future of tourism must therefore be built on responsibility. It must ensure that our people benefit, that our culture remains alive and that future generations inherit the same natural treasures that we enjoy today.
Tourism has the unique ability to bring the world closer together. At a time when differences can divide us, travel gives us the opportunity to understand one another.
Every visitor who arrives is not just a tourist. They are a friend we have not yet met, and an opportunity to share a piece of who we are.
Happy World Tourism Day.
May we continue to build a tourism sector that creates opportunity, protects our heritage and strengthens the bonds between nations.
