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The Minister of Culture and Tourism of The Seychelles Islands, Alain St Ange (2nd L)
By Demola Ojo
The Minister of Culture and Tourism of The Seychelles Islands, Alain St Ange, has called out to Nigerian leisure travellers to take advantage of the Indian Ocean Island’s picturesque landscape and tourist friendly climate and people.
Speaking to THISDAY at the recently concluded Indaba travel trade exhibition in Durban, South Africa, St Ange said: “We consider Nigeria as our brother and that is why Nigerians don’t need a visa to visit Seychelles.”
Speaking on the subject of language barrier, which is an issue many consider when choosing a destination to visit, St Ange traced the history of The Seychelles in a bid to prove that Nigerians would have no problem whatsoever when visiting the archipelago of 115 islands:
“Our country has at different times been under French and British administration. Today both languages along with Creole are official languages in our country and we encourage citizens to speak all three official languages. So you will always find someone who speaks English.”
St Ange went further to dispel the notion that the Seychelles was a haven for pirates. Explaining that the country had more water than land in its area, he continued: “We don’t see them, we only hear about it in the media. But we are being proactive. We are the only country apart from China and India who have blown pirate ships out of the water. But we are humanitarian; we pick them up first and put them in jail before destroying their ships.”
Wondering why Africans would rather travel out of the continent for leisure when there were equally attractive destinations on the continent, he called on fellow African ministers of tourism to attend the Routes Africa 2012 convention being hosted by Seychelles in July, in a bid to tackle flight connectivity between African countries.
“In many cases, one needs a connecting flight through Europe to get from one African country to another. Sometimes you spend two days to reach another African destination; that is four days to and fro. Why would I spend four days to attend a meeting of half a day for example?” he asked rhetorically. “That is why we all need to come together to address these issues.”
