Minister Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, personally led the island’s delegation to the International Tourism Fair of Madagascar last week.

This event appears on the calendar of events of the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands as the event put forward by Madagascar. Minister St.Ange was being accompanied in Madagascar by Mrs. Miera Savy from the Department of International Relations in the Minister’s own office; Ms. Nathalie Didon, the Deputy CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board; and Ms. Christina Cecile from the Marketing Department at the Tourism Board.

Madagascar was itself present at the Seychelles carnival last April and was even one of the co-hosts of the event. Mr. Eric Koller, the President of the Madagascar Tourism Office, personally led the Madagascar delegation to the carnival in Seychelles.

To date, four events appear on the Calendar of Events of the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands. These are the Carnaval International de Victoria of the Seychelles (April), the International Tourism Fair of Madagascar (May), the Cultural & Gastronomic Festival of the Comoros (August), and the Festival Liberte Metisse of La Reunion (December). Following the Vanilla Islands Ministerial Meeting held this week in Madagascar, it was resolved to increase the visibility of the region’s Calendar of Events by advertisements in inflight magazines of all airlines serving the region.

Madagascar Tourism invited a number of tour operators from the region’s main source markets, and they all toured the International Tourism Fair before being taken for a tour on the unique selling points of Madagascar. A decision adopted by the Madagascar Ministerial Meeting of the Vanilla islands will bring valuable support for the event as from next year. Mr. Pascal Viroleau, the CEO of the Vanilla Islands, will now be making arrangements to ensure that a number of international press from selected tourism source markets are aware of the event. “This will ensure more visibility for all the events appearing on the Calendar of Events of the Vanilla Islands,” said the Seychelles Minister Alain St.Ange, when the proposal was being tabled for consideration at the Ministerial Meeting.