GERMANY’S CONDOR IS ALL IN BEHIND THE ST. ANGE CANDIDACY
(Posted 21st February 2017)
Germany’s CONDOR Airline, a leading holiday carrier and part of the Thomas Cook Group, says Alain St.Ange is ‘in the top league by global comparison‘ and wish him all the best for his candidacy for the UNWTO Secretary General position.
Dr. Jens Boyd, the Commercial Director Long Haul for Thomas Cook Group Airlines Condor Flugdienst GmbH has come out with his support for the Seychelles Candidate Alain St.Ange for the post of Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
Dr. Boyd of Thomas Cook Group Airlines Condor writes in his endorsement letter: ‘As a leading European Leisure Airlines Group, we are happy to share our experience in working with former Minister Alain St.Ange of the Seychelles, with whom we were able to successfully grow tourism flows from Central Europe to his home country, and to the Indian Ocean Islands in general.
Alain has built an efficient national tourism board organization, established several events to draw global attention and rallied all local agencies and interest groups behind the objective of bringing more tourists to Seychellois shores. The best tourist leaders are working along the same lines, and this certainly puts him in the top league by global comparison.
What has set him apart from even that crowd in our eyes is an all-encompassing view to tourism development that does not stop at his own shores. Alain was actively promoting trips across multiple Indian Ocean Island nations or combinations with mainland Africa, seeing the benefits that a bigger Indian Ocean tourism can bring to all islands. The Vanilla Islands initiative is a pinnacle achievement in that respect and with the help of Alain and that initiative we were also able to increase our capacity to Mauritius.
Furthermore, as direct air access is and remains a critical part to developing tourism, Alain was an attentive listener and driver of a new national air services regime that allowed not only us, but also other carriers to build new air connections to the Seychelles. His willingness and ability to identify the critical issues, to discuss them with the various private and political parties, and to find mutually agreeable solutions in a broader context have set him apart from most other tourism leaders we work with. Not least his personality and energy were a key building stone in this success.
We wish him all the best for his candidacy for the UNWTO, and hope that he will bring this personality and energy to furthering tourism across the globe‘.
Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Candidate for SG of the UNWTO has welcomed this latest endorsement coming from the Thomas Cook Group Airlines Condor Flugdienst GmbH, a leading European Leisure Airlines Group.
Said Alain: ‘Tourism is a global industry. It goes beyond our own borders and definitely way beyond our own continent’s borders. Recognition from the World of Tourism and today from a leading European Leisure Airlines Group is very encouraging as the Seychelles bid for the post of Secretary General of UNWTO gains momentum‘ commentedAlain St.Ange before adding that with his – Tourism for All – campaign line he will work tirelessly to make tourism the industry with equal opportunities for everyone immaterial of the colour of the skin, ethnic background, religious beliefs, political affiliation, any disability or sexual orientation. "This is the Seychelles commitment behind its bid for the Secretary General of the UNWTO‘.
Support for the Seychelles Candidate St.Ange continues to grow by the day. The Seychelles Candidate has already received Letters of Endorsement from President Danny Faure of the Seychelles, from Sir James Mancham, Seychelles founding President who wrote an open letter about his support for the Seychelles St.Ange bid for the United Nations just a week before he passed away, the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Organisation (Comoros, Mayotte, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion and Seychelles), the Africa Ports Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA), Tanzania Society of Travel Agents (TASOTA), the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association (SHTA), Fred W. Finn, the World’s Most Travelled Person Guinness World Records, the Seychelles Hindu Kovil Sangam Association, India’s important N.R.I. Welfare Society, the Creole Travel Services of Seychelles and the Association of Tourism Professionals of Mauritius (ATP), Eden Island Seychelles, Bea Broda the known Producer/Writer/Host/Speaker from the Americas who wrote: One candidate that stands out to me is Alain St.Ange, the former Minister of Tourism of Seychelles. In the seven years that I have been familiar with his work, I have witnessed the extraordinary dedication, enthusiasm and visionary brilliance that resulted in his enormous success in this role. St.Ange took a relatively small island nation in the middle of the Indian Ocean and created a way to bring Seychelles to the forefront of global attention with the enactment of the Carnaval International de Victoria. This international event experienced six years of success, not only bringing interest and tourism to the nation, but proudly unifying all of the people who live there towards a common goal. In addition, St.Ange was a founder of the Vanilla Islands of the Indian Ocean, a consortium designed to combine the strengths of the islands located in the Indian Ocean to present a strong front in a competitive market. He has worked ceaselessly in the direction of the absolute success of those issues to which he cheerfully commits his time, and I would personally like to see someone with his considerable vision, dedication and creativity take the helm of an organization as influential to tourism as UNWTO, and Theresa St.John, the reputed Travel Writer who said ‘It’s not often that I have the chance to interact with someone who speaks so passionately about travel, tourism, and the people behind the ‘business of it’. The Rt. Hon Xavier-Luc Duval, former Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius who had responsibility for Tourism and also a past president of the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands, now Leader of the Opposition in Mauritius, the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Gilbert Lamory, the Vice President responsible for Development for GIHP (Groupement pour l’insertion des personnes Handicapees Physiques) of France, Johnny Rohregger, the King of Travel, Hardy Lucas, a former political colleague of the Seychelles Candidate and now Germany’s Thomas Cook Group Airlines Condor Flugdienst GmbH, a leading European Leisure Airlines Group.
St. Ange was most recently in Uganda to attend the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo 2017 and deliver his keynote address when the East Africa Tourism Platform launched their ‘Destination East Africa‘ web portal before traveling to Istanbul to drive his campaign forward.
This correspondent has taped an interview due for release tomorrow in which St. Ange answers candid questions about his candidacy, his vision for UNWTO and why he feels he is the right candidate among the other contenders.
Watch this space!
