"Thank you to the Indian Community of Seychelles" says Minister of Tourism & Culture
Almasalla,Gate Arab Tourism News- Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture addressed a reception at the Asian Fusion Restaurant at Au Cap and said thank you to the Seychellois Indian Community who supported the Tourism Board s recent working visit to India. The Minister, Sherin Naiken, the CEO of the Tourism Board, Benjamine Rose, the PS for Culture and the Indian High Commissioner to Seychelles joined members of the Seychelles-India Day Celebrations Committee and the local tourism trade partners who had joined the Tourism Board in New Delhi and Mumbai to launch the Seychelles to the Indian Tourism Trade. The reception at the Asian Fusion Restaurant was hosted by Mr Ramu Pillay of the Pillay R. Group.
When he welcomed everyone to the Asian Fusion Restaurant Mr Ramu Pillay said that he was thrilled to have been part of the Seychelles Tourism Board’s working trip to india. He went on to say that he saw the Tourism Board at work and that today he appreciated more than ever before that India is a tourism source market for Seychelles. Six members of the Seychelles-India Celebrations Committee who are also members of the Seychelles India Association flew to New Delhi to join the series of official meetings and tourism workshops organised by the Tourism Board. Vijay Patel, the Chairman of the Seychelles India Association and Head of VIJAY Constructions, Ramakrishnan Pillay, the CEO and Chairman of the Pillay R. Group, Shanmouga Pillay of Kannus, Narendra Rafhvani of Sahajanand Builders, the Chartered Accountant, Narasimhan Ramani, Pravin Darad the Managing Director of Allied Builders joined Marco Francis, the Chairman of the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industries to accompany Minister St.Ange, CEO Naiken of the Tourism Board and Benjamine Rose the PS or Culture to meetings with the Indian Culture & Tourism Minister, the Minister of Civil Aviation and the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Industries as well as with the Chamber of Commerce in New Delhi and the Indo-Africa Chamber of Commerce in Mumbai.
When he addressed the reception Minister Alain St.Ange said that he needed to say a big thank you to the six members of the Seychelles-India Day Celebrations Committee and of the Seychelles India Association for not only having accompanied the Tourism Board’s Delegation to India at their own cost, but for volunteering to also cover the costs for flying dancers from the National Troupe to entertain the workshops and reception evenings when Rosemarie Hoareau, the private sector nominated Director of Marketing at the Tourism Board was hosting Indian Tour Operators and Press to make Seychelles relevant as a tourism destination.
The Minister said that this spirit of working together was an example. "You did not sit on a fence but instead came forward and offered to help. Your presence in India re-enforced the point that Seychelles was, is and will remain a melting pot of cultures" the Minister said.
India has been earmarked as a tourism source market at the 2013 marketing meeting organised by the Tourism Board and this was ageing tabled at the mid-year marketing meeting where the tourism private sector and the Tourism Board meet to assess the successes and challenges of the tourism industry.
The Indian High Commissioner who also addresses the evening reception at the Asian Fusion Restaurant said on his part that his High Commission remains ready to work with Seychelles to open up India as a source market for its tourism industry. The High Commissioner congratulated the Seychelles India Association members for working together with the Tourism Board and saluted the spirit of friendship that is so evident in the working partnership.
