Roger Kacou, the Cote D’Ivoire Minister responsible for Tourism, and Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, used the working visit by Minister Kacou of Cote D’Ivoire to the Seychelles on the occasion of the 2015 edition of the Seychelles Carnaval International de Victoria for them to meet and discuss closer cooperation.
Minister Kacou of Cote D’Ivoire is a very respected Tourism Minister of Africa, having come to government from the private sector serving as a director of an international hotel chain for many years, and very much like his Seychelles counterpart, both work tirelessly for Africa to claim a bigger share of the world tourism business. The 2015 edition of the carnival in the Seychelles was for the first time graced by the presence of a cultural delegation coming from West Africa. Cote D’Ivoire was the first West Africa country to fly its flag and to use the “carnival of carnivals” to showcase its culture to the world.
Minister Roger Kacou of Cote D’Ivoire and Minister Alain St.Ange of the Seychelles, accompanied by Sherin Naiken, the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board, held a working breakfast meeting at the Kempinski Resort of the Seychelles which was followed by a working lunch for ministers attending the carnival. It was at the breakfast meeting that both tourism ministers representing the Cote D’Ivoire and the Seychelles agreed to continue to find ways and means to consolidate the growth of tourism in Africa as the unique selling points of the whole of Africa is analyzed and showcased as part of Brand Africa.
“I thanked Minister Roger Kacou for making time to come to Seychelles for this year’s carnival. Like me, Minister Roger Kacou has the continued development of tourism at heart. He is a respected minister at UNWTO meetings and conferences and is admired by his colleagues” said Minister Alain St.Ange as he said thank you to the Cote D’Ivoire minister to fly his country’s flag at the carnival on Seychelles.
“One’s culture showcases one’s people, and both Minister Roger Kacou and myself attended the UNWTO and UNESCO Tourism through Culture conference in Cambodia. We both appreciated that it is through culture that one’s tourism industry can be consolidated for the long term, because through culture one was bringing in the people of the country to be at the center of the tourism development of the country,” said Minister St.Ange.
The Seychelles Minister has been commended by press and politicians in the four corners of the world for staging a cultural event that brings the world together without politics, religion, and color of the skin and to open the doors for participating countries to capture the attention of the large bank of international press to make their respective country gain visibility and in so doing become more relevant in the world of tourism.
