TOURISM MINISTER FROM THE SEYCHELLES MOVES FOR MORE NETWORKING AND TO EXPLORE NEW SYNERGIES AND STRATEGIES AS HE ADDRESSES WORLD TRAVEL AWARDS 2015
ATP- Arab tourism portal- Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture appealed to tourism representatives coming from Africa and from the Indian Ocean Islands to use their time in Seychelles for the 2015 World Travel Awards to also network and explore new synergies for tomorrow will not pass us by for these are the seeds of our future prosperity.
The Seychelles Ministers was speaking at the World Travel Awards Ceremony that was this year taking place at the Kempinski Resort in the Seychelles. Minister Alain St.Ange, who was the Guest of Honour at this years awards ceremony and said as he started his address that ‘Seychelles Tourism was on the move’ .
Minister St.Ange went on to say that today Seychelles was more visible than it has ever been. "This is why we are seeing the World Travel Awards choosing Seychelles to host their 2015 Award Events, this is why we seeing more and more major events and incentive groups are choosing Seychelles as their destination of choice.
We are more visible ever since we embarked on staging more cultural events that culminated with 109 international press organisations flying to Seychelles for this year’s edition of our annual Carnaval International de Victoria. When we are visible we remain relevant in the world of tourism and holiday makers or event organisers such as the World Travel Awards choose us over other destinations.
"Today I have the honour to say welcome to all our visiting tourism personalities. On behalf of Seychelles as a whole I wish you a pleasant stay in Seychelles and hope you will all make time to visit our islands.
Tonight I will not tell you about our nice and perfect white sandy beaches, because this you all know that Seychelles has some of the best beaches. I also do not have to tell you about our clear and clean turquoise blue seas that is warm year round because this also you know that Seychelles has been blessed with such a unique selling point, instead I want to speak about the diversity that make Seychelles what it is today and here I will start with the people of Seychelles simply called Seychellois.
We are today the proud creoles originating from five distinct lines namely France, Africa, the UK, China and India. Today this diversity that makes us the proud people we are gives us a unique culture in all its form. We have moved our tourism industry forward bearing in mind that for long term stability we needed to place our culture at the centre of our tourism development and this has ensure that the people of Seychelles remains always at the centre of our country’s development" Minister Alain St.Ange said.
The Seychelles Minister who was speaking from his heart and off the cuff then spoke about the need for developing partnerships if tourism is to be consolidated for the longterm.
"I have often said that in today’s world not even an island can afford to be an island unto itself and that partnerships and synergies present the best way forward, allowing us to advance together where it might be difficult or impossible to advance alone.
In the Western Indian Ocean Region we have recognised this and have created the Vanilla islands with membership of Seychelles, Mauritius, La Reunion, Madagascar, Comoros, Mayotte and Maldives to be able to consolidate and showcase our respective attributes beneath one umbrella.
This brought one unifying brand which enables us to market ourselves more effectively and also work on the infrastructure necessary to allow greater and more efficient travel between our islands.
The same is happening between South Africa KwaZulu Natal, the Kingdom of Swaziland, Mozambique and the Seychelles through the East3Route concept.
Today Africa as a continent gets under 5% of the world tourism market and this even when we all know that the African Continent is fertile ground for developing more working together partnerships and associations.
This will allow us to maximise our appeal as tourism destinations on the ver more crowded stage of world tourism. In the ever more competitive arena of tourism, I am more than ever convinced that we in this region have very unique tourism products. My many travels in Africa and throughout the Indian Ocean Region have time and again revealed to me that our tourism products possess great diversity, authenticity and vibrancy and are able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the best on the planet" Minister Alain St.Ange of the Seychelles said.
