More endorsements pile in for UNWTO candidate St. Ange

AS NOMINATION DEADLINE COMES CLOSER IS THIS UNWTO CANDIDATE REELING IN ENDORSEMENTS

(Posted 01st March 2017)

A hastily orchestrated campaign against the candidacy of Seychelles’ immediate former Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Alain St. Ange, is at the verge of failing as more endorsements of substance keep piling in for him.
The latest, notably again from a key private sector organization, comes from ‘Memo Planet‘ in France, a company promoting international tourism through video, new media and the latest technologies and they have come out boldly to say that they support the Seychelles Candidate.

We have known Alain St.Ange as Minister responsible for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine and even before that when he only had the Tourism and Culture portfolios and admired his passion for tourism. This is why, as a known tourism professional video company we are writing to publicly endorse him as the candidate for Secretary General for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Mr. St.Ange could never understand NO, and always wanted to find solutions. He believed in working beyond borders and coined many tag-lines to attach the lndian Ocean Islands together and also these lovely islands with mainland Africa. We know, and many of my professional photographers share our views that Alain St.Ange is so well suited for the United Nations position, which is why we are today endorsing him from the ‘tourism at large’ community‘ said Remi Voluer of My Lovely Planet.

The Seychelles Candidate St.Ange continues to receive more and more letters of endorsement from tourism private sector trade and from the international press. 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 well 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 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, Germany’s Thomas Cook Group Airlines Condor Flugdienst GmbH, a leading European Leisure Airlines Group said:- Alain St.Ange is in the top league by global comparison, and wish him all the best for his candidacy for the UNWTO and Wolfgang H. Thome of the Aviation, Tourism & Conservation News from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands who wrote ‘St.Ange is My Man for the UNWTO Top Job‘.
Maxime Behar, the President of the ICCO, the largest Public Relations community in the world being in 48 countries who said: ‘I know Alain St.Ange as perfect professional who understands every single small detail in the tourism business, but also has a wide vision on the whole world and knows how to make this business much more efficient and result oriented‘. On his part Peter Sinon, former Seychelles Ambassador & Minister and former Executive Director of the African Development Bank for Africa’s Eastern Constituency said ‘I wholeheartedly endorse Alain St.Ange for the post of Secretary General of the UNWTO‘ and also the AIOM, the ASSOCIATION OF INBOUND OPERATORS (MAURITIUS) have now endorsed him.

Small sections of the African media, who have attempted to portray St. Ange as a spoiler for Africa’s chances to capture the UNWTO top job, had to resort to nebulous insinuations while thankfully many others, clearheaded about the electability of the various candidates and their chances to make it to the crucial second round, have started coming off the fence and thrown their support behind St. Ange.
Watch this space when in a few days time the nominations close for aspirants to the UNWTO Secretary General job, which has seen campaigning on a hitherto unprecedented scale.