(Seychelles News Agency) - Students and instructors from Seychelles Tourism Academy will resume exchange visits with their counterparts on Reunion Island through a newly signed agreement.  

High-level officials from two tourism training establishments in Reunion, a French overseas department, signed an agreement virtually with the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA) to resume the exchange programme.

The STA director, Terence Max, signed the agreement on behalf of the Academy while on the Reunion side, the signing was done by Valentine Camalon for Lycée Evariste de Parny and Claudine Hoarau for Lycée hôtelier La Renaissance.

"This signature will allow both parties to exchange experiences, expertise, and resources providing massive benefits for both students and instructors," said Max.

Through the agreement, students and instructors from both islands will be able to learn more about topics such as hospitality, cuisine and being sommeliers.

Max said that Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, wanted to continue the programme with Reunion as this would in time attract international students to STA.

Seychelles and Reunion previously had an agreement through which students and instructors of STA were able to get work attachments at establishments in the two countries to gain experience.

Under the agreement from 2007 to 2019 with Flavien Joubert as the STA principal, around 200 students from Reunion came on work attachment at Seychelles tourism establishments. Around 50 instructors have also taken part in the programme that typically lasts from four to six weeks.

The exchange between the two countries, although in place for many years, was put on hold when the then Seychelles Hotel and Tourism Training Centre was under the aegis of Blue Mountains International.

The signing ceremony was attended by Seychelles' tourism minister, Sylvestre Radegonde, and the French Ambassador to Seychelles, Dominique Mas.