Africa-Press – Seychelles. The Ministry of Transport celebrates the launch of the Seychelles Electronic Border System (SEBS) for entry and exit, introduced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (see separate story on page 1).
The new SEBS introduces a digital travel experience and enhances border security, replacing the immigration papers upon arrival.
The work is a partnership between the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Transport and Travizory, a Swiss software provider.
The SEBS digitalises the mandatory disembarkation and embarkation forms in force since 1984 under regulations promulgated through the Immigration Decree of 1981, the familiar blue and yellow cards that are typically completed by passengers onboard arriving flights or prior to departure at the airport.
All travellers must complete the Disembarkation Information Form prior to travel to Seychelles, and non-Seychellois visitors must receive authorisation from the government, based on specific security criteria. Seychelles citizens are also required to complete the Disembarkation Information Form prior to travel but do not require authorisation to return home. All travellers are required to demonstrate compliance with ongoing PHA Covid-19 restrictions.
Previously, Immigration officers would have to manually type information from these cards into computer systems, a process that was subject to human error and time-consuming. The new SEBS feeds the data entered by travellers online directly into the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ databases, managed by the Department of Information, Communications and Technology. This is in full support of the government’s digitisation plan under the Digital Economy Agenda. Because the data originates in part from scans of passports, it is clean and accurate and also provides richer information required for decision making.
“Our ministry envisions a fully digital passenger journey for all passengers arriving by air, whether they be Seychellois citizens or foreigners. We therefore celebrate the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ historic achievement in digitalising their disembarcation and embarcation cards. Which is consonance with our aim to continuously digitise border and Immigration system procedures so that clients can have a hassle-free, seamless, paperless, easy experience. This also harmonises with global air industry recommendations to make airport and air travel services digital,” said the Minister for Transport, Antony Derjacques.
The new digitised service will offer convenience, speed, and stress-free travel for all Seychellois residents. It can be done anywhere and anytime, offering a relaxing travel experience. Whereas previously, travellers had to fill up a hard copy of the embarcation or disembarcation card, which would take them several minutes and an even more lengthy back-end recording process. With the new SEBS, both processes have become much easier.
“We embarked on this journey with the introduction of the Travel Authorisation System that also includes the Health Authorisation System back in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This has helped the nation to secure security threats and health risks via pre-vetting of all those wishing to access the Seychelles borders,” further explains Minister Derjacques.
By digitalising the embarcation cards, Seychelles now has an unparalleled capability to create reports and real-time information on the number of visitors in the country, as well as outbound travel trends for residents of Seychelles. This was previously difficult to do with the old, manually entered data.
Because the system is digital, it also allows the Republic of Seychelles to enhance monitoring and surveillance and to update the questions and information more cheaply than before. This is because there are no longer expensive paper cards to print. It is also more environmentally friendly and it establishes a foundation for continuous innovation to be introduced on departure leveraging the data, such as a biometric corridor, electronic kiosks, bag drops, e-check-in and other technologies seen at modern airports around the world.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Airports Council International (ACI) have introduced the NEXTT-New Experience Travel Technologies initiative. NEXTT aims to create a common vision for the future of air transport that is able to sustainably accommodate growth while providing a seamless end-to-end journey for passengers and cargo shippers.
“We are also happy that airport passenger processing time is to be reduced considerably to less than 36 minutes per plane load. At the SCAA, we are working towards a more digital and easier passenger journey as a continuously improving experience from being onboard the airline, to arrival and transit through the airport. This should all have a five-star quality to it. There is much work to be done for us to progressively harmonise the digitalisation of air travel services and that of airline and other airport services such as duty-free, cafés, lounges, and others. I am confident that our airport team will continue to collaborate and work with stakeholders to introduce these features and delight our many airport customers,” chief executive of SCAA, Garry Albert, affirms.
The Ministry of Transport is taking a consultative approach to the different industries involved, such as tourism, to ensure a smooth digital integration of services essential to visitors, such as the purchase of SIM cards.
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