The Ministerial meeting of Vanilla Islands that was held from September 10-12 in La Reunion has been under the microscope of the regional press. It has been the general feeling that the blessing of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) was a positive move to the regional organization. Jean Clement Cangy, the respected journalist of the Le Mauricien newspaper of Mauritius, in his analysis paper has taken time to reiterate the words of Taleb Rifai, the Secretary General of UNWTO when he publicly stated during a press conference in La Reunion Island that was attended by a large contingent of international press that he “solemnly gave the full support of his organization to the fully-fledged regional tourism entity.”

The stance taken by the World Tourism Organization towards the Vanilla Islands, the grouping of small island states that are actively promoting tourism (comprised of Seychelles, Mauritius, La Reunion, Madagascar, Comoros, Mayotte, and Maldives) constitutes, according to Jean Clement Cangy, “a massive international publicity” for the region as a tourism destination, and epitomizes the Vanilla Island concept, pushing its visibility beyond borders.

The dynamism of Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture, and the current President at the helm of the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Organization, in its battle to gain international recognition of the regional body and propelling its tourism status in the international press, was hailed to the highest level possible. “Behind the spontaneous success of the regional body and its massive coverage on the international scene is no other than the signature of Alain St.Ange, the President of the Vanilla Islands, who is also the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture. Minister St.Ange contributed immensely to the promotion of the Vanilla Island concept, and he has successfully pitched it to the regional and international arena,” Jean Clement Cangy writes.

Despite skeptical moments by Mauritius, the move towards the success of the Vanilla Islands was also as a result of the Mauritian involvement, and their massive input in the meeting on La Reunion Island was not left unnoticed. Indeed according to Jean Clement Cangy, with the success of the grouping’s tourism promotion on the global arena, Mauritius was forced to accept that the island tourism industry has a lot to gain in the Vanilla Islands grouping and should not be deprived the opportunity to go with the flow.

“We should now wait that Mauritius gainfully board the carnival wagon hosted in Seychelles in 2014 which attracts international press from all over the world,” Mr. Jean Clement Cangy writes.