American woman aims to visit 196 nations in record time |26 July 2016

Cassandra ‘Cassie’ De Pecol, the Peaceful Traveller of the USA, was in Seychelles last weekend as part of her attempt to become the first documented woman to travel to 196 nations in record time to set a Guinness World Record.

As she travels the world, Cassie wishes to promote women’s achievement, peace, and sustainability, claiming that Millennials can unite the world.

During her stay in Seychelles, Cassie stayed at the luxury Maia resort, filming the property and focusing on sustainability, while meeting the Minister for Tourism, Alain St Ange and students at the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA).

Cassie had previously met Minister St Ange at a tourism conference in Johannesburg in South Africa organised by the IIPT (International Institute for Peace through Tourism) of Louis D'Amore and again at the WTTC Annual General Assembly that was held in Madrid last year.

“This was when I invited Cassie to ensure that Seychelles was included on her world tour,” said Minister St Ange.

“When I met Cassie at the STA last Saturday morning, it was pleasing to hear her impression about our mid-ocean islands as well as her thoughts about our Maia Resort. It is one thing to invite known personalities to our islands, but it is more important to ensure they leave our Seychelles as good ambassadors,” Minister St Ange said.

Besides Minister St Ange, the talk with students at the STA was also attended by  Flavien Joubert, the academy’s principal, as well as a number of lecturers of the institution.

As she ended her PowerPoint presentation that also took in shots of her previous stops, Cassie said she now hopes to keep the citizens of Seychelles as she keeps the world informed of her updates which include having visited 139 countries within 12 months, presenting to over 11,500 students and dignitaries across 31 countries, and planting 40 trees across 12 countries, including planting one at the entrance of the management block at the STA together with Minister St Ange and Mr Joubert.

“Our generation, ‘The Millennials,’ have a unique opportunity to change the world with the Internet and instant communication which has no borders. We are all connected, and my journey is showing that connection. Millennials can unite the world,” says the 26-year-old Connecticut native from the USA, who visited Seychelles from July 21-24, as part of her Guinness World Record-setting expedition that includes stopovers in 196 countries.

While in Seychelles Cassie presented Minister St Ange with her Expedition 196 - Declaration of Peace Certificate in the presence of Mr Joubert and his team of lecturers. This IIPT Credo of the Peaceful Traveller has been presented to tourism dignitaries as Cassie travels her set route across the world.  

As part of her tour, Cassie also hopes to demonstrate that her generation can create positive peaceful relations with all countries, in part through sustainable tourism, which brings cultures together and makes a positive impact on the environment, society, and economy. An educational documentary will follow upon successful completion of her expedition.

Visiting each country as an ambassador of the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism (IIPT) and Skal International (the world’s largest not-for-profit multi-discipline travel and tourism organisation), Cassie is planting trees and collecting water samples for the Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation (adventurescience.org) project, to then test for the presence of micro-plastics.

Tourism is one of the only industries in the world that has seen constant growth over the past 25 years with over 1 billion people travelling in 2014,” states Cassie.

“By travelling and meeting others and accepting different cultures, traditions, and beliefs, we can break down the barriers of mistrust and suspicion and really start a drive to a better and more humane world where people just simply enjoy and embrace the differences among us,” she added.

On his part Minister St Ange invited Cassie to end her round the world trip in Seychelles where she would present her final message through a series of lectures over a period of a week on the achievements of the first documented woman to travel to 196 nations in record time to set a Guinness World Record.  

As she toured the purpose built STA with Minister St Ange, Cassie said she was impressed with the Seychelles and that she would love to come back with her family.