Seychelles to push air connectivity at tourism and air transport conference

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Seychelles prides itself in embracing the role of leadership, as the host country of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)‘s Mini

Seychelles prides itself in embracing the role of leadership, as the host country of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)‘s Ministerial Conference on Tourism and Air Transport in Africa planned for October 14 -15, 2014.

The Ministerial Conference on Tourism and Air Transport in Africa is portrayed as an ideal platform for Seychelles to push the thinking on air connectivity in Africa and in the global arena.

Prior to the high-level meeting, Alain St.Ange, the Minister for Tourism and Culture, and Joel Morgan, the Minister for Home Affairs and Transport, chaired a preparatory meeting with all key partners to discuss a strong agenda to drive the high-level ministerial conference.

It was agreed Seychelles should take a firm and common stance to echo the message of enhancing connectivity within African regions and in the world.

“We need more connectivity in Africa and in the world. We need open and fair aviation policies which are lesser protectionists to help Africa grow,” Minister Morgan said.

Seychelles believes connectivity in Africa can only become viable with high flight frequencies. “Africa is a continent of wealth, tourism, and economic potentials,” the two Seychelles ministers said.

Leaders of this continent should have forward thinking to make this continent viable and bring more economic benefits for its people. Seychelles as a host country for the Ministerial Conference on Tourism and Air Transport in Africa should be the vector for change because of its “forward thinking.”

“We have a vision that can be adopted in Africa. We can work with our colleague ministers on the continent to open the agenda on tourism and aviation in Africa and bring more connectivity on the continent,” Minister Morgan said.

Seychelles, with real experience of excelling in event organization, is racing to beat its challenges and give due recognition to this upcoming high-level Ministerial Conference on Tourism and Air Transport. Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, who was instrumental in bringing this historic Ministerial Meeting to Seychelles, said that Africa must work with Africa if Africa is to consolidate its tourism industry. “This Tourism and Transport Ministerial Meeting organized jointly by the UNWTO and by the ICAO is overdue. We all know the challenges we face, and we all know the remedies needed to deal effectively with the challenges, but we continue to be slow to react, and in so doing we hurt our respective tourism industries. This hurts our economies and has a negative effect on our population. We hope that the October meeting will help Africa re-look at the way forward,” Minister St.Ange said.

Seychelles is a founding member of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) .

About the author

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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