The eco-friendly La Digue Island used the carnival of the Seychelles to position itself as the sought after tourism destination
ATP- arab tourism portal- The creole way of life, bicycle and oxcart as means of transport and the local schooner that kept it connected to the main island for supplies were all used by the La Digue Islanders to showcase its key USPs to the world. La Digue had two delegations at the 2015 edition of the Seychelles Carnaval International de Victoria. The first showcased life at it was and is with a local schooner loaded with the necessities docking at the island and the island’s creole way of life proudly displayed. A Diguois riding his bicycle was as is done on the island day in and day out was also part of the La Digue main delegation parading the streets of Victoria alongside Notting Hill Carnival of the UK, the Brazilian Carnival, the Italians, the Dusseldorf Carnival from Germany or the Indonesian Carnival.
A second smaller delegation was depicting an island traditional wedding using their unique Oxcart to serenade the wedding couple. The ability of Danny Jeanne to prompt its Ox to mount the oxcart virtually by itself amused everyone. But more importantly for the inhabitants of this small island community was their determination not to miss the opportunity that was on their doorstep to put the name La Digue forward for it to become more visible and in so doing relevant in the competitive world of tourism.
The Member of the National Assembly for the island Chantal Guislain was seen with the islands tourism players like Babi among others to put emphasis that La Digue was the islands seeking more visibility. "We are new to Seychelles and their display pushed us to ask the Tourism Board of Seychelles for us to visit this island of bicycles and oxcarts" said a German journalist. who was in Seychelles to cover the carnival.
The traditional creole wedding float was sponsored by the ‘Domaine de L’Orangeraie" Hotel of Creole Travel Services. The intelligently used culture and tradition to promote the island’s unique tourism selling points an Italian journalist said.
Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture has said that he congratulated the drive by the tourism players of La Digue and their elected representative to position their island of La Digue as a key player in the Seychelles tourism industry. "La Digue proudly took its place alongside the Community of Nations to showcase their name as a tourism destination in their own right. With so many press present in Seychelles they were obviously intelligent to move an be noticed. So many other delegations come to Seychelles to attract the attention of the press and the move by La Digue, as an island depending on tourism for their economic survival, must be congratulated. They were seen, they were appreciated and the press asked to get to La Digue after their cultural display on carnaval day" said Minister St.Ange.
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La Digue Island pulled first prize in the cultural category at the 2015 edition of the Seychelles Carnaval International de Victoria.
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