Tourism leaders must stop treating visitor arrivals as the industry’s final score. They should measure what travel gives the people who call a destination home.
That was the clear message from Seychelles Ambassador-at-Large Alain St.Ange in Spain. He delivered the opening keynote at the Clevenard Open Project 2026 in Alicante.
His address was titled Tourism as a Global Catalyst: Transforming Economies, Cultures, and Communities. It took aim at the industry’s old habit of putting volume ahead of value. It also made a firm, evidence-based case for responsible tourism.
The timing could hardly have been better. UN Tourism reported 1.52 billion international tourist arrivals in 2025. That was four per cent more than in 2024. It is a mighty figure. Yet St.Ange said a busy arrivals hall is not, by itself, a sound tourism policy.
“Tourism is never neutral. It either strengthens a community or slowly erodes it,” he said.
That line gave the speech its backbone. More guests can fill rooms, seats and tills. They can also add strain to housing, roads and water supplies. If too much income leaves the country, the host may carry the burden while someone else banks the reward.
Arrivals tell only half the story
St.Ange said tourism data must shape real choices. It should not merely decorate annual reports or add sparkle to election pledges.
The better questions are plain. How much visitor spend stays in town? How many secure jobs are created? Do small firms win supply deals? Are local people gaining a future, or just facing a larger crowd?
“Credibility is the currency that echoes reality ahead of vision statements and manifestos we all see launched at elections,” St.Ange said.
There is the rub. Tourism has never lacked glossy plans, grand targets or launch-day bunting. Trust comes later. It comes when the figures show that the plan put money into local pockets and left the place stronger.
The issue carries extra weight for island nations. UN Tourism says travel can make up 70 per cent of gross domestic product in some small island states. In such places, tourism is not one neat line in a ledger. It shapes jobs, food supply, air links and public services. It can also decide whether young people can build a life at home.
Visitor money can spread well beyond a resort. It reaches taxi drivers, market traders, farmers and family guesthouses. But, as St.Ange put it, “spread is not the same as depth, and volume is not the same as value”.
In other words, a large spend figure can hide a thin local return. A nation may welcome more guests and still gain less than it should.
Culture must be owned, not borrowed
Culture sat at the heart of the keynote. Tourism can fund old buildings and give traditional crafts a market. It can help a community share its story with pride. It can also turn that story into a stage prop with a gift shop attached.
“Are we preserving cultures, or are we packaging them? It is important to understand the difference between the two,” St.Ange said.
He said the line is crossed when a sacred dance loses its meaning. The same is true when a place of worship becomes a photo set. A culture should not be cut down to fit on a souvenir shelf.
The issue is not whether culture should be shared. The real questions are who controls the story, who earns the income and whether the custom stays alive on its own terms.
“Authentic cultural tourism respects that the community owns its own story. It asks before it markets, it shares the benefit, it listens first,” he said.
That is sound business and good sense. Many travellers want a true sense of place. A town that strips away its character in search of quick sales may ruin the very thing that drew visitors. Nobody flies halfway around the world to find the same trinket shop with a new postcode.
Local ownership turns tourism into opportunity
St.Ange also cast tourism as an open door to work and enterprise. A village may gain a road, a school or a clinic when guests create a reason to invest. A resident may begin as a guide, then build a business and become a leader.
“You don’t always need a degree or capital to participate. A genuine welcome and deep local knowledge carry real economic weight,” he said.
But ownership is the key. Local people need a real voice in plans. They need a fair share of the income and a chance to build firms of their own. A meeting held after the main choices have been made is not local control. It is minutes-taking with refreshments.
“Real transformation happens when local people hold genuine ownership,” St.Ange said. He added that communities must make the choices, not be made for them, and that profit should stay and circulate.
For tourism boards, that calls for a wider set of measures. Arrival and spend data still matter. They should sit beside local jobs, fair wages, resident views and regional spread. Boards should also track local buying, stress on nature and the share of firms held by local owners.
Those figures may not fit into a jaunty slogan. They would, however, show whether tourism is doing its job.
A challenge for tourism’s leaders
The Seychelles State House appointed St.Ange Ambassador-at-Large in April 2026. He had earlier served as the nation’s tourism minister and led the Seychelles Tourism Board. His remarks drew on life in a country where air links, jobs and national strength are closely tied to travel.
His speech did not call for smaller goals. It called for better ones. Growth should mean strong local firms, safe heritage and decent work. It should mean healthy towns and natural assets that can still greet tomorrow’s guests.
St.Ange closed with a direct appeal. “Tourism is a resource every country has,” he said, urging each nation to turn that resource into jobs, a better economy and shared prosperity.
His final point was just as firm: “Tourism is instead being built by the people who are bold enough to show up for tourism.”
The applause in Alicante will fade, as conference applause always does. The true test is whether the data changes the decisions. That, as St.Ange made clear, is where tourism earns its credibility.
By: Jill Walsh – © 2026.
Read Time: 5 minutes.
Author Bio:
Jill Walsh has always kept a pen close and a suitcase closer. She started in media releases, then learned the trade by escorting press trips around the world, discovering which stories travel well and which need a sharper edit.
Before long, she wasn’t just promoting destinations; she was representing them, translating civic ambition and local pride into words people actually wanted to read. These days, semi-retired and happily so, Jill has traded departure boards for deadlines, joining old friend and colleague Stephen at Global Travel Media on a casual basis.
Her patch is the business end of wanderlust: balance sheets, route maps, tender wins and the numbers that quietly decide where travellers go. She writes with dry humour, clean prose and an old-school respect for facts a steady voice when the market starts shouting.
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