Learn from the Seychelles of Inter-island Travel Problems

Catamaran passenger type ship in Seychelles (Fitraya)

Victoria - Seychelles is an island nation in Africa that relies on tourism. Inter-island transport is thought seriously and can be emulated by islands in Indonesia.

Seychelles has only 100 thousand inhabitants and 115 islands, this is not a big country. But the tropical islands became a popular tourist destination for European tourists. There is a white sandy beach and a beautiful blue sea.

But to reach the tourist islands, of course need adequate transportation for foreign tourists. updetails.com invited Seychelles Tourism Board and Seychelles Embassy Jakarta for island hopping, from Mahe Island, to La Digue Island, Praslin Island and back to Mahe Island.

From Mahe Island to La Digue Island, I boarded a Coco Cat boat. This is a ferry passenger model catamaran alias double keel. The ship looks new, modern and can go up to 25 knots. Very tight.

Passenger deck there 3. The topmost open to enjoy the scenery. Many honeymooners enjoy romantic moments on this boat. Monitoring updetails.com, this ship is the majority of tourists.

I transit the ship in Praslin and change smaller vessels to La Digue. At the Praslin and La Digue docks seemed a lot of tourists. They lined up to board the ship to various destinations.

The dock on La Digue Island, small but neat (Fitraya)

Returning from Praslin to Mahe, I boarded a Twin Otter airplane belonging to Air Seychelles. The ship is small, the capacity of passengers is about 20 people. My bag hugs because there is not enough space under the chair.

Flying about 20 minutes, I was back to Mahe Island. When comparing domestic flights with small aircraft in the Seychelles and eastern Indonesia, more or less the same.

But for inter-island boat ships with catamarans, maybe we need to learn. We have some kind of speed boat and it is not exactly the same. The difference is, Seychelles preparing all the ships for tourists to ride as well, not just locals.

updetails.com also talked with the Special Envoy of President of Seychelles for ASEAN, Nico Barito. According to him Indonesia and Seychelles are both archipelagic countries, but there is a difference for sea transportation starting from the dermage.

"In Indonesia, every tourist attraction has no central dock except in big city, my experience to Nias and Derawan, dock facility is not enough," said Nico.

In some destinations, the tour operators create their own docks that ultimately ruin the landscape. Learning from the Seychelles, every island tourist destination should have a centralized dock and clean and comfortable facilities for tourists.

Pioneer aircraft on Praslin Island (Fitraya)

"Must make a centralized dock, the correct ticketing system and think about shipping insurance," he explained.

According to him, the majority of inter-island ferry ships in the Seychelles are run by the government. Foreign tourists do pay more than local residents. While the private sector managing yachts for tourists who vacation luxury.

As for pioneer flights, according to Nico only a few islands with consideration of population. Domestic aircraft are available on Mahe Island (Mahe International Airport), Praslin, Dennis, Bird and Aldebra.

"It's relative because there are not too many islands inhabited, but Air Seychelles airlines serve international routes as well from Mahe Island," Nico explained.

According to Nico, although Seychelles is a small country, they are confident to build good inter-island transport to support tourism. Indonesia according to him already has a good natural marine capital, live access is improved, tourists will definitely come there.

"The small islands of Indonesia can learn from the Seychelles to manage the economy (tourism-ed) well.Our sea is equally good," he concluded.