Islands tourism investment & development meeting at World Routes 2013 |12 October 2013

A first dedicated Islands Tourism Investment & Development Meeting was organised at the 2013 World Routes meeting that was held this week in Las Vegas.

Though set towards the final stages of this 2013 World Routes meeting, it did not take long for all present to appreciate the merit of such a meeting that was called for by the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean Vanilla Island tourism ministers and heads of their tourism bodies.

This first historic meeting was chaired by Alain St Ange, the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture, who is also the sitting President of the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Organisation.
The moderator for the meeting was Professor Geoffrey Lipman, the President of the ICTP (International Coalition of Tourism Partners).

The meeting attracted tourism leaders from far and wide including the Falkland Island, New Zealand to representatives from the Azores and Malta and it saw the participation of the Minister for Economic Development and Tourism from KwaZulu Natal in South Africa, Michael Mabuyakhulu, and also the heads of the tourism of Gabon.

Ged Brown, the director of Tourism for World Routes, Juergen Thomas Steinmetz, the chairman of the ICTP and Adam Wu from the China Development Organisation were also present for this historic  meeting.

Both Minister St Ange and Professor Lipman congratulated the World Routes meeting organisers for calling this Islands Tourism Investment & Development Meeting and asked for the Small Island Developing States (Sids) to continue to be heard at the World Routes meetings.

In his opening remarks, Minister St Ange said that island states, irrespective of where they are situated, face the same challenges, obstacles and adversities.

"It was therefore important for us all to meet regularly to not only exchange ideas, but to also help open new doors for each other," Minister St Ange said.

Access to new development money and planning a sustainable tourism development strategy were tabled and discussed.

All agreed that more such meetings needed to be called and more Sids encouraged to participate together for the betterment of island tourism industries.