Under the Chairmanship of Alain St. Ange, Minister of Tourism and Culture of the Seychelles, the International Council of Tourism Partners announced a series of initiatives to advance its mission of promoting green growth and quality.

The inaugural meeting of the International Council of Tourism Partners was held on July 7 in the Seychelles and in conjunction with meetings of Routes Africa, the Vanilla Island Association and RETOSA, ICTP reviewed its past year’s growth as well as plans for the year ahead and signed partnership agreements with the other participants.

St Ange said that “ICTP fills a vital gap in the global Travel and Tourism framework, with its membership for destinations and its engagement of people directly. In the end tourism is about people – the benefits it brings in terms of jobs and improved lifestyles, the positive impacts on communities that it brings if sustainably planned and managed: the interaction of its customers, hosts and staff.” He pledged to help increase the exposure of the organization’s principles and policies in the African region generally and the Vanilla Islands specifically, announcing the establishment of a new regional base in Seychelles.

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz Chair of ICTP said that the organization had been growing every day since it had introduced a new inclusionary membership strategy at World Travel Market last year, with an emphasis on promoting win win partnerships amongst members and new forms of electronic collaboration. He said that “ With 67 destinations, 18 partner associations, 11 educational institutions, private toruism stakeholders including hotels, tour operators, we now have a growing critical mass of destinations, associations, individuals and media from every continent and major travel and tourism market. The most gratifying factor is that so many industry organizations are joining the partnership in order to creatively support green growth and quality.”

Steinmetz added that he was also personally gratified to see the widespread expansion of the “media friends” reverberating the messages and programs of ICTP and its members. He also commented on the practice of ICTP to be present at the key industry events to give its members visibility at no cost and to build joint programs. He sais that “Routes is a perfect example of how this kind of mutual support can help destinations, the longstanding engagement with IMEX can add value to the quest for green meetings and the newly announced partnership with SKAL can give a special value to the role of people within the industry. He paid tribute to the commitment of Minister St. Ange and his vision in bringing the different organizations together to advance their common goals in delivering quality tourism experiences.

He also thanked IIPT president and founder Louis D'Amore and Felix Chaila, CEO of the Zambia Tourism Board to allow the initial soft launch of ICTP during the IIPT summit in Lusaka. Steinmetz went on to thank attending Elisa Grandcourt , CEO of the Seychelles Tourism board for her tiredless effort. He thanked attending Pascal Viroleux of the La Reunion Tourism Board for his vision and support as a founding member. Steinmetz introduced current Academy members and their input to form this alliance. Academy members currently include tourism boards representing Johannesburg, South Africa ,Rwanda, Richmond Virginia, USA, Grenada, as well as private organizations : Travel Registry Management (.travel) and Simpleview, an Award Winning Websites, CRM, CMS and SEM solution.

Steinmetz added that he was also personally gratified to see the widespread expansion of the “media friends” reverberating the messages and programs of ICTP and its members. He also commented on the practice of ICTP to be present at the key industry events to give its members visibility at no cost and to build joint programs. He said that “Routes is a perfect example of how this kind of mutual support can help destinations, the longstanding engagement with IMEX can add value to the quest for green meetings and the newly announced partnership with SKAL can give a special value to the role of people within the industry. He paid tribute to the commitment of Minister St. Ange and his vision in bringing the different organizations together to advance their common goals in delivering quality tourism experiences.

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