The new president of the African Tourism Board is not a newcomer in the African travel and tourism industry. Alain St. Ange was the minister of Tourism for Seychelles and prior to that the head of the Seychelles Tourism Board.He had made a name for all of Africa when he started the Victoria Carnival for Africa and the world.Commenting on his new position he stated:

“When I took up the position of President of the African Tourism Board, this brought the world of African Tourism together as I received calls from so many tourism ministers and heads of tourism-related bodies from across Africa, and it clearly showed the importance of tourism for the continent.Even the Seychelles President, Mr. Danny Faure, sent words of congratulations after I assumed my role as President of the African Tourism Board, as did the island’s former President Mr. James Michel.

For Seychelles, the importance of tourism as the industry respected as the pillar of the economy, is known and accepted.But Seychelles is no different to the rest of Africa because a buoyant tourism industry can only help consolidate the economies of so many countries on the continent.We are now planning the next meeting where together we can look at the challenges we are facing and share success stories and learnings.The newly-appointed CEO of the African Tourism Board, Doris Woerfel, who is based in Pretoria, South Africa, sees huge potential for Africa from China and is already concentrating to build a broad membership base in Africa for ATB.She is now moving to contact industry players across Africa to plan the next meeting which will probably be held in August of this year.The press from across Africa will be invited to attend because success for the African Tourism Board is so dependent on them.”

He concluded in saying: May I urge everyone in the public and private sector to rally behind African Tourism Board to make Africa one Tourist Destination and join.