TOURISM NEWS FROM ST. HELENA

Competitions Launched for World Tourism Day

World Tourism Day is fast approaching and St Helena Tourism has launched two competitions as part of the events to celebrate this day.

The first is a logo design for St Helena. There is no restriction on age, size, or whether the image is hand drawn or computer generated.

The second competition is to describe St Helena in 100 words. The aim is to make people think about the Island - what it has to offer and how we would sell it.

The winner of each competition will receive a cash prize. The closing date for all entries is 4pm on Friday 2 September 2005, and these should be handed into the Tourist Office at the Canister.

All entries will be judged by a panel and the judges’ decision is final. In the event of the logo or text being used, St Helena Tourism will reserve the right to edit any of the winning submissions for promotional purposes.

Entry forms are available at the Tourist Office and posters have been placed in various locations around the Island as well as at Prince Andrew School to promote the competitions.

Public Relations/Information Office: Office of the Chief Secretary, 27 July 2005

World Tourism Day

World Tourism Day is fast approaching and plans are being put into place for this annual event to be celebrated on St Helena for the very first time.

The occasion is being celebrated on Tuesday 27 September in many countries around the world.

Director of Tourism, Pamela Young said: “ Our aim is to create local awareness about the values of tourism and what St Helena has to offer.”

The World Tourism Organisation has made a number of suggestions on how to celebrate the day, and these include marketing the day in schools, giving people free entry to places of interest, organising competitions to raise local awareness, giving tourists special welcomes, and commemorating the day by issuing special stamps, medals and posters.

World Tourism Day was discussed at the last Tourism Advisory Committee meeting on 20 June and this allowed the Director of Tourism to bring members up to speed with the proposed plans for the day and to allow them to make additional suggestions.

On the Island, St Helena Tourism is arranging to have some facilities and activities that are on offer to tourists, available to members of the public. This will include a dolphin trip along with displays at the Tourist Office, and rooms open in hotels and self catering accommodation for public viewing. In addition the Museum and Longwood House will open to the public and a town walk has been organised. It is hoped that as a result of these activities more people will eventually enter into the tourism industry or be inclined to use the services.

A competition will take place whereby people will be asked to describe St Helena in 100 words. Pamela said the aim is to make people think about the Island - what it has to offer and how we would sell it. Details of the competition will be announced shortly and the winning text might be used in tourism brochures.

The Tourist Office will open until 6pm on the day so that everyone will be able to pay a visit to view the displays, ask questions and to see what information is on offer.

Public Relations/Information Office: Office of the Chief Secretary, 29 June 2005

St Helena Tourism Quality Standards

The St Helena Tourist Office will be implementing an Accommodation Grading scheme in 2007. In preparation they have drafted a guide. This will help Self Catering Accommodation providers when preparing to have their accommodation assessed and graded.

Nicola Osborne received overseas training with Unicorn Tourism (one of the assessing bodies for accommodation in the UK) in Accommodation grading and this helped her towards drafting a guide for self-catering accommodation providers. Guides will also be prepared for hotels and guest accommodation, which includes Bed and Breakfasts, and Guest Houses. The draft guide is now being circulated to owners of self catering accommodation for comments and following this it will be discussed with them at a workshop.

Accommodation providers will then have the opportunity to make any necessary adjustments in order to reach the desired grade. When assessments are carried out in 2007, an accommodation brochure will be published and establishments will be reassessed at intervals to ensure that they are maintaining their standards.

Nicola said establishments with a higher grading could possibly attract higher rates as a level five establishment will obviously have more on offer than a level one. She added: “Accommodation Grading is not compulsory but it would be in any proprietors best interest to be graded as it presents a great marketing opportunity for their business.”

Public Relations/Information Office: Office of the Chief Secretary, 26 July 2005