Alain St. Ange calls for tourism responsibility at Alicante conference

At the CLEVENARD 2026 Conference in Alicante, Spain, Ambassador Alain St. Ange, the Ambassador At Large of the Republic of Seychelles, delivered a keynote address regarding the responsibilities of the global tourism industry.

St. Ange emphasized that tourism is not a neutral industry, stating it ‘either strengthens a community, or it slowly erodes it’. He argued that with over a billion cross-border arrivals annually, the industry must move beyond focusing solely on volume and instead prioritize value and credibility. He noted that for small island states, tourism is a vital economic engine that can act as a catalyst for cultural development, environmental protection, and economic stability if managed with high-quality, actionable data.