World Tourism Organisation Commission for Africa meeting

Early end for tourism conference

The closing session of the meeting on Tuesday evening

There was plenty of time for visiting African tourism ministers to enjoy Mahé's beaches on Wednesday May 12, following the early end to the WTO Commission for Africa meeting.

Scheduled to run until Thursday afternoon, the conference, held at the Plantation Club Resort, instead ended early on Tuesday evening.

According to the Secretary General of the WTO, Francesco Frangialli, the work undertaken during the meeting had been very intense, allowing the final two and a half days of debate to be condensed into one day.

The Secretary General was backed by his deputy, Dawid De Villiers, who described it as a compliment to the secretariat that the reports presented found approval from the delegates after only limited discussion.

In his closing remarks to the delegates, Vice-President Joseph Belmont, who also holds the portfolio for Tourism, said that the three days of discussions had allowed for an assessment of the development of sustainable tourism and an examination of the steps necessary for the improved performance of the industry.

Minister Belmont said that it is, "heartening to note that during our deliberations we have been relentless in addressing the eight Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations Millennium Declaration," intended to halve poverty by the year 2015.

While thanking the WTO for having initiated the Sustainable Tourism for the Elimination of Poverty (ST–EP) programme, the vice-president called on the delegates to ensure that the specific vulnerabilities of small island states are not overlooked in the process.

With the meeting having drawn participants from 30 African countries, including 23 ministers, and experts from a number of regional and global organisations, Minister Belmont said that the Seychelles delegation had, "drawn many lessons from your various experiences."

With a free day on Wednesday excursions around Mahé were organised for the delegates, allowing the tourism officials, many of whom are in Seychelles for the first time, to discover more of the country.

The day trips follow a number of calls made during the conference for increased intra–regional travel by African tourists to discover the diversity of the continent and aid the growth of regional links.

A more extensive report on the events at the Plantation Club hosted 41st WTO Commission for Africa meeting will follow in this Saturday's Tourism Nation.

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