Vanilla Islands of the Indian Ocean set to consolidate
(Posted 14th May 2015)
The most recent Vanilla Islands Ministerial Meeting that was held in the Seychelles just ahead of the Carnival International de Victoria, brought renewed determination from Tourism Ministers from Mauritius, the Seychelles, the Head of the Tourism Board from Madagascar and the Regional President of Reunion for the consolidation of the way forward for the regional organization.
Mauritius is set to take over the presidency of the regional body when Mr Xavier-Luc Duval, the Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius who is also the island’s Minister for Tourism takes over the Presidency of the Vanilla islands from Madagascar in early June.
It was Alain St. Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture who held the the position of President of the Indian Ocean Vanilla islands when that regional organization was launched. The Seychelles Minister was then voted in for a second mandate before passing the Presidency on to Didier Robert, the President of the Region of Reunion. In early June it is the turn of Mauritius to take over the rotating presidency and Mr Xavier-Luc Duval, the Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius will be taking over from Madagascar.
At the recent Seychelles meeting it was agreed that the time was right for the Tourism Heads of the Indian Ocean to work even closer together to consolidate the Indian Ocean region as the new tourism region of the world. Xavier-Luc Duval, Alain St.Ange and Didier Robert all agreed to put even more effort in the development of cruise tourism in the Indian Ocean while also agreeing to look at innovative ways to push cultural events forward among many other points that will now appear on the agenda for the Minister’s Meeting that will take place in Mauritius in early June.
The CEO of the Regional Organisation remains Pascal Viroleau, the former head of the IRT (Ile Reunion Tourisme) of Reunion Island although the organization’s Director of Marketing Derek Savy has left a few months ago after serving for the initial two years to concentrate on his own business interests in the Seychelles.
