Seychelles set to host IORA tourism ministers meeting |20 November 2014

The new Savoy Resort & Spa at Beau Vallon is set and ready to host the ministerial meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
The gathering from November 20-21 has been called under the theme ‘Tourism & Travel within the IORA’.  

Alain St Ange, the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture, will be the first personality to address the ministerial meeting at the official opening tomorrow. He will be followed by Ambassador K.V. Bhagirath, the secretary general of the IORA, who is expected to deliver his remarks before Minister Jean-Paul Adam, the Seychelles Minister for Foreign Affairs, delivers his keynote speech.

The ministerial meeting is expected to endorse recommendations of the IORA experts' sessions on emerging markets and networking to increase competitiveness and market promotion on the Indian Ocean tourism and travel perspectives.

Other presentations during the meeting are maximising regional development through sustainable tourism – ‘green tourism’ (by Dr Sapta Nirwandar, the former Vice-Minister for Tourism of Indonesia and the UNDP representative for Seychelles and Mauritius); bridging the gap between tourism and aviation policies - air connectivity between the islands (by Vijay Poonoosamy, the Vice-President International & Public Affairs at Etihad Airways and a representative from International Transport Forum, OECD); and developing cruise tourism in the Indian Ocean (by the chief executive of the Seychelles Ports Authority Lt Colonel Andre Ciseau and Dr Meredith Wray, the director International Centre for Responsible Tourism.

After the adoption of the ‘Seychelles Tourism Declaration’, Minister St Ange as the host of the ministerial meeting will deliver his closing address.
For the IORA's experts' preparatory meeting it is expected that it will be Anne Lafortune, the principal secretary for tourism in the Seychelles Ministry of Tourism and Culture who will be delivering the welcome remarks.

Opening remarks are expected to be delivered by Firdaus Dahlan, the director of the IORA secretariat.

That preparatory meeting will discuss several topics starting with developing tourism Industry with a lesson learned from Malaysia. This topic will be followed by a discussion on the Indian Ocean tourism and travel perspectives on emerging markets and networking to increase competitiveness and market promotion. Speakers for this topic are Pascal Viroleau, chief executive of the Vanilla Islands grouping and Kumud Sengupta, co-founder and director of Market Vision.