ITM Madagascar. On Wednesday 29 May, the President of the Réunion Region, Didier Robert, opened the Tourism Trade Fair in Madagascar.
The ITM fair is one of several events on the Vanilla Islands’ calendar to promote the Indian Ocean as a tourist destination. Many VIP were presents. The Minister for Tourism of Madagascar, of the Seychelles and President of the Vanilla Islands,
Mr the Ambassador of France, the head of the European delegation and representatives of Mauritius, the Comoros, Mayotte and more.
AT ITM: “TOURISM MUST BENEFIT OUR ECONOMY AND OUR PEOPLE”
The ITM Tourism Trade Fair in Madagascar is a particularly highly anticipated event given the difficult economic and social context of the island and of the islands in the Indian Ocean in general. 80 exhibitors and thirty members of the international press are set to attend this event. The aim: to boost the visibility of the Indian Ocean’s islands. All the Vanilla Islands’ representatives share the same basic premise: tourism is a strong creator of direct and indirect jobs and constitutes an extraordinary driver of growth. All action must therefore focused on tourism and the Vanilla Islands’ strategy is undoubtedly the best response to this.
“I am pleased to see new synergies developing between us every day and I am absolutely convinced that this will enable us to take a major step in ensuring the success of our tourism economies,” said President Didier Robert, who added that “the Vanilla Islands are an evidently pragmatic response to the changes brought about by globalisation and the new demands of an international clientele in search of a change of scenery, an authentic destination and well-preserved sites. That’s why we must focus on eco-tourism and environmentally friendly development.”
AIRLINE SERVICES, VISAS, TRAINING : THE PRESIDENT’S COMMITMENTS
“Better supporting our operators, better training our young people, further improving the quality of our tourist offering, ensuring greater consistency in our promotional activities both in traditional European markets and as part of our shared desire to open up to countries in the Indian Ocean, relaxing visa regulations, improving airline services in terms of inter-island travel and between islands and the rest of the world”: Didier Robert made reference to the major areas on which public and private stakeholders are focusing to ensure the collective success of the tourism industry for our region and for local people.
Invitation to two major events in Réunion in 2013 On the specific point of airline services, “this is undoubtedly one of the difficulties we have to resolve and on which we must focus more of our energy”, the President said in his speech. As part of this approach, the Minister for Tourism of the Seychelles and the President-in-Office of the Vanilla Islands association has confirmed that a meeting will be held in the next few weeks, bringing together the various companies in the region and partner companies.
THE PRESIDENT HAS AGREED TO PARTICIPANTS’ INVOLVEMENT IN TWO EXCEPTIONAL EVENTS WHICH WILL BE HELD IN RÉUNION IN 2013 :
from 11 to 13 September, the World Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development, organised by the World Tourism Organisation, which will welcome national media representatives and tourism experts from Europe, Canada and islands including Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago, the Maldives and more. In December, the Festival Liberté Métisse, the Vanilla Islands event for Réunion.
SIGNATURE OF A FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT FOR TRAINING
As part of this trip, President Didier Robert signed a partnership framework agreement for tourism with the National Tourism Office of Madagascar and its President Éric Koller. A partnership which focuses on 6 areas:
- support for the creation of a hospitality management school including a hotel and a restaurant;
- support for training instructors/trainers at a national level;
- support for continuing education in the fields of tourism, e-tourism, hotels, restaurants and speciality French;
- logistical support for professional equipment which is likely to be decommissioned and sold to partners in Madagascar;
- technical assistance provision from Volontaires du Progrès;
- exchange schemes for teachers and students