Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Regional Organization building working partnerships

The Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, Mr. Alain St.Ange, used the International French Travel Market in Paris last week to meet with Mr.

The Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, Mr. Alain St.Ange, used the International French Travel Market in Paris last week to meet with Mr. Pascal Viroleau, the Head of the IRT (Ile Reunion Tourisme), to discuss the strengthening of the working partnerships within the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Regional Organization.

โ€œThe islands of La Reunion and the Seychelles have always been committed, and we remain steadfast in our resolve to make our regional organization work for all our islands. We remain conscious that the launching of the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands as a new Regional Organization was because we all believed in the notion that the โ€œwholeโ€ is greater than the sum of its parts, and, therefore, we knew that this collaboration would ensure that the region is strongly positioned as a tourism region with a difference,โ€ Minister St.Ange said after the meeting with Mr. Viroleau.

Minister Alain St.Ange of the Seychelles, who is the sitting President of the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Regional Organization, is set to address the World Routes Abu Dhabi Forum next week on the importance of regional cooperation.

โ€œTourism remains a volatile industry and when coupled with the economic difficulties in some key European countries that have been traditional tourist source markets for many destinations, significant strategic decisions have had to be taken to ensure that new strategies be developed and new intelligent partnerships instigated. The Indian Ocean Vanilla Island Regional Organization is one such intelligent strategic decision made by islands of a region so dependent on tourism,โ€ Minister St.Ange said.

The Seychelles Minister was one of the personalities responsible for launching the new Regional Organization for the Indian Ocean Islands known as the Vanilla Islands. He was also instrumental alongside other tourism professionals, namely Mr. Juergen Steinmetz, Mr. Geoffrey Lipman, and Mr. Feisol Hashim to launch the ICTP (International Council for Tourism Partners) to open the door for tourism organizations and not only countries to be have a say in world tourism matters. Today, the ICTP has some 400 members from the four corners of the world.

โ€œThese two organizations are significant strategic decisions taken that are today keeping tourism in focus on a regional and international level,โ€ the Seychelles Minister said.

Minister Alain St.Ange and Mr. Pascal Viroleau agreed to plan for a Regional Tourism Ministers meeting in mid-November on La Reunion island.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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