UNWTO Commission for Africa 2015 meeting heads for Seychelles during carnival

The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Commission for Africa (CAF) Ministerial Meeting 2014 that took place in Luanda, Angola, has voted unanimously to hold their 2015 Ministerial Meeting in the Seychelles. The meeting follows the call by Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, to bring the meeting to the Indian Ocean islands to coincide with the Carnaval International de Victoria of April 2015.

Some 20 African Ministers of Tourism were at the meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Africa Meeting in Angola which was meeting under the Chairmanship of Mr. Walter Mzembi, the Minister of Hospitality & Tourism of Zimbabwe. Present also at the meeting were Taleb Rifai, the UNWTO Secretary General, and Elsia Grandcourt, the Director for Africa at the UNWTO.

Minister Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, said that this was great for the Indian Ocean region and for the Seychelles. “It will be a great opportunity to showcase the work by Seychelles to use culture and in so doing putting the people of the islands in the center of the tourism industry’s development of the islands. The carnival in Seychelles remains unique, because it is the only carnival that continues to attract every important carnival of the world to parade together and alongside cultural troupes from the Community of Nations. The UNWTO Commission For Africa (CAF) Ministerial Meeting in April 2015 will be an opportunity for African Ministers to appreciate the importance for their country to be present and use the carnival as a visibility platform for their own tourism industry,” said Minister St.Ange.

Minister St.Ange said that he needed to now encourage Ministers from Africa to be accompanied by their own cultural troupe when they fly to Seychelles for the 2015 UNWTO Commission for Africa Ministerial Meeting, because they will all be at the Carnival Official Opening Ceremony.