Minister Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister responsible for Tourism, Information and Culture, visited the Seychelles on a fact finding mission yesterday (2nd January 2017) where he met with Alain St.Ange, the island’s former Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine who is now a candidate for the post of Secretary General of the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation).
Minister Lai Mohammed and former Minister St.Ange were both at the COP 22 in Morocco. “We first met on the sideline of COP 22 in Morocco and yesterday’s meeting was an opportunity for us to discuss tourism in Africa and the coming UNWTO elections where I am a candidate for the position of Secretary General” St.Ange said.
“Seychelles remains very much a country dependant on tourism and the good practices here in the field of tourism should be seen and used as examples” said the Minister from Nigeria. “Africa is getting but 5% of the world tourism traffic, yet Africa has everything tourists are searching for. We need to work together to change this,” Minister Lai Mohammed said.
On his part the former Minister from the Seychelles said that unity in Africa to ensure we are seen as one continent is essential. “We also need to work on our safety label – especially now – because tourists are in search of safe and secure holiday destinations,” Alain St.Ange said.
