Seychelles and French Tourism Ministers meet at Top Resa

During the Top Resa 2013 Tourism Trade Fair, the French Minister, Mrs. Sylvia Pinel, Ministre de l’Artisanat, du Commerce et du Tourisme, was greeted at the Seychelles stand at Top Resa by Mr. Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture.

This was the second time that the Ministers have met, and they discussed, among other matters, the recent UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) meeting on Sustainable Development in Tourism that was held on the French Island of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean.

Minister Pinel of France had been unable to travel to La Reunion due to Parliamentary Sittings in France but had followed the meeting from afar. The two Ministers also discussed the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Organization after being recognized by Dr. Taleb Rifai, the Secretary General of the UNWTO, at the La Reunion meeting. Minister Alain St.Ange of the Seychelles is the sitting President of the Vanilla Islands. The huge press coverage received by the last Ministerial Meeting of the Vanilla Islands was also discussed.

The Seychelles Tourism Board is again this year well represented at the Top Resa Tourism Trade Fair. Minister for Tourism and Culture, Mr. Alain St.Ange, is leading the Seychelles delegation, and he is being accompanied by the Tourism Board’s European Director, Mrs. Bernadette Willemin, and her team from the Paris Office, Ms. Sara Jupiter and Ms. Jennifer Dupuy, and members of the tourism private sector trade who are working with the Tourism Board for the continued consolidation of the French market. These are: Mr. Justin Gosling and Mrs. Katheleen Payet of Air Seychelles, Ms. Johnette Labiche of the Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Resort & Casino, Mr. Guillaume Albert and Ms. Isabelle Le Strat for Creole Travel Services, Mr. Denis Verkhorubov and Mr. Olivier Levi for Coral Strand Smart Choice Hotel, Mr. Eddy D’Offay and Paul Lebon representing Mason’s Travel, Mr. Lionel Ferrari and Mr. Danie Davids for Paradise Sun Hotel, Mr. Freddy Karkaria and Mrs. Isabelle Turon Lagau for Select Seychelles, Mr. Norbert Couvreur representing Beachcomber Saint Anne Resort & Spa, and Mr. Jean Marc Michel and Mr. Fabian Schwarze for the Kempinski Seychelles Resort.