La Reunion and Seychelles join forces to produce annual carnival

Countries have joined forces to hold the FIFA Football World Cup and such major events.

Countries have joined forces to hold the FIFA Football World Cup and such major events. This approach has been commended as being novel and realistic and economy friendly, yet achieving the needed results. This is why it is encouraging to see two islands join forces to be co-organizers for the annual carnival in the Indian Ocean, the region which has already seen the creation of a tourism marketing campaign under the label of the Vanilla Islands.

Last week, Seychelles and La Reunion signed a pact to see them jointly become co-organizers of the one and only carnival of the Indian Ocean region. The two island neighbors complement each other as tourism destinations for twin-center options. They are both part of the Vanilla Islands group alongside Mauritius, Madagascar, Mayotte, and Comoros and both believe in unity in the region in order to consolidate tourism and inter-island business opportunities.

Alain St.Ange, the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board, and Jacqueline Farreyrol, the Chairperson of the La Reunion Tourism (IRT), signed the historic and farsighted agreement in the presence of Mr. Didier Robert, the President of the La Reunion Region, and Minister Joel Morgan, the Seychelles Minister for Internal Affairs, Environment, and Transport.

The Vanilla Islands Annual Carnival is now regarded as being firmly on the list of successful carnivals and appears on every list of important carnivals alongside that in Brazil; at Notting Hill in the UK; that in Trinidad & Tobago; in Nice, France; and in Venice, Italy. The carnival will go a long way in raising the visibility of the Vanilla Islands and of the Indian Ocean as a tourism region in its own right.

Seychelles and the island of La Reunion both have their respective head of governments holding the tourism portfolio in their respective islands. President James Michel of the Seychelles took over the portfolio of tourism when he wanted to bring through his vision for the Seychelles tourism industry. President James Michel moved to empower Seychellois to claim back their industry by being themselves involved in the industry referred to as being the pillar of the Seychelles economy. The Seychelles President launched what he called the “Seychelles Brand” of tourism for the tourism paradise islands. Mr. Didier Robert, President of the La Reunion region, on his part took over the tourism portfolio after his election as President of the region. He has been a strong advocate of openness and for the region islands to be working more together. Both leaders have brought success for their respective islandโ€™s tourism industry.

Alain St.Ange said at the signing ceremony of the Seychellesโ€“Reunion Carnival Hosting Agreement that the “Carnaval International de Victoria” will continue to be staged as the “Melting Pot of Cultures.”

โ€œWe know that this carnival is today unique, which is why it is referred to as the carnival of carnivals. It remains the only carnival where the best and the most-known carnivals of the world will parade side by side, and also alongside cultural groups from the Community of Nations. Our region has an event we can all be proud of,โ€ Alain St.Ange said.

The next edition of the Vanilla Islands Annual Carnival will be held in Seychelles from March 2-4, 2012 with the two islands, Seychelles and La Reunion, jointly as co-hosts. It is already confirmed by the Organizing Secretariat that a bank of over fifty press, radio, and TV stations are descending on Seychelles and also on to La Reunion for that spectacular event.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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