Tourism Minister of Seychelles hits the Reunion Island airwaves

The Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, Alain St.Ange, who was on Reunion Island for the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Ministerial Meeting, was interviewed live on Reunion Island N

The Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, Alain St.Ange, who was on Reunion Island for the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Ministerial Meeting, was interviewed live on Reunion Island News by popular journalist, Laura Chateau, for the Antenne Reunion TV on their main 1230 News program.

The interview concentrated on the progression of the Vanilla Islands and how it was benefitting the islands, and also showed promotional shots of the six Indian Ocean Vanilla islands (Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, Comoros, and Mayotte).


The Seychelles and Mauritius are often perceived as benefitting from the regional tourism grouping, and Minister St.Ange spent time making the point that the Reunionais can also benefit by doing what Seychelles did and that is to claim back their tourism industry. “The Government of Reunion, like the one in Seychelles, is but a facilitator, and it is the people of our islands who need to move to benefit from their tourism industry,” the Seychelles Minister said.

Minister Alain St.Ange also spoke about the growth of the cruise ship business through the work undertaken by the Vanilla Islands. “In 2014, we have in our region from our cruise ship business 14,094 passengers, and this grew in 2015 to 29,059 passengers. In 2016, we can already confirm that Costa Cruises alone will be at 18,000 passengers, and this as we work to tie up the Fred Olsen liners and also Sirlversea cruises,” the Seychelles Minister said.

The Minister went on to spell out, as he was live on air, that Reunion Island was benefitting more than the Reunionais realized. “25% of the tourists coming to Reunion today are through combinations with other islands of the Indian Ocean. This represents over 100,000 tourists,” Minister Alain St.Ange said, as he confirmed that tour operators in the region’s tourism source markets were now programming the Vanilla Islands with several possible combinations.

For more information on Seychelles Minister of Tourism and Culture Alain St.Ange, click here.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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