Vanilla Islands idea in focus at Mauritius forum |18 September 2010

The team are led by the chairman of the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association, Louis D’Offay, who is also a board member of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB).

Other delegates include Eric Renard from Creole Travel Services, Derek Savy from Elite Travel, Lenny Alvis from Mason’s Travel, Priscille Tuher from Air Seychelles and Gilbert Pool, the editor of the O I Zone (Indian Ocean Zone) Magazine.

The meeting is being organised under the umbrella of L'Union des Chambres de commerce et d'industrie de l'océan Indien (UCCOI) with the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority.

It is in line with the new tourism concept for the Indian Ocean region – Vanilla Islands – that the tourism directors of Seychelles, Madagascar, Reunion and Mauritius agreed on as part of their marketing plan at a meeting in Reunion last month.

The aim of the current meeting is to bring tourism operators from the four destinations together for them to network and plan the way forward to market the destinations as a tourism region. 

This is a platform of interaction that will allow operators to understand the mechanisms required for multi-destination packages, exchange information and foster a better knowledge of Indian Ocean travel, as well as to work on future cooperation among themselves.

STB chief executive Alain St Ange – who is represented at the Mauritius meeting by Mr D’Offay – has stressed its importance to the region and to the country. 

“We have been working with the UCCOI and the tourism offices of the region to reposition the Indian Ocean islands as a region with a strong cultural identity,” he said.

“This endeavour will, we hope, help to conquer new segments of our tourism market and assist with the opening of new markets.

“All the islands of the Indian Ocean have their own natural attractions which, when combined, bring added pull for possible visitors, not only from our main markets in Europe, but also from new and emerging markets.”

Mr D’Offay will be using the meeting to push for a resolution for the Vanilla Islands concept to be adopted so it can be presented to the UCCOI forum in Seychelles next month.

The UCCOI is a grouping of the chambers of commerce and industry of the Indian Ocean islands, and it is expected that tourism ministers from this group will be attending the forum.

Mr Pool is hoping to present to the meeting a proposal for his glossy magazine to become the Iles Vanille, an essential tool to tell the world about the unique selling points of each of the Indian Ocean islands.

STB