DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT Vanilla Islands is an affiliation of the island nations Seychelles, Madagascar, La Runion and Mauritius in the

Indian Ocean to form a new travel destination brand. Aim of the co-operation that has been founded on August 4th, 2010 at La Runion is to pool forces and jointly market the region compared to the solely individual marketing of each island in the past.

FORMS OF COORPERATION BETWEEN THE ISLANDS Directors of various tourism boards of the Indian Ocean islands have taken action to develop a marketing plan for the regions tourism industry. Present at the meeting were, Alain St Ange from Seychelles, Joel Randriamandranto from Madagascar, Pascal Viroleau from Runion and Dr Karl Mootoosamy from Mauritius. With the three leading destinations of the region Mauritius, Runion and Seychelles being at the forefront, the objective was to revitalise the Indian Ocean islands tourism by reinforcing their attractiveness through a series of measures that aim to penetrate and secure new tourist markets through each islands unique selling points and to put into place either a culture of evaluation or a system of marketing research that will assist the islands either on an individual or collective basis. To better position the region at the international level, the tourism representatives have agreed on a brand image the Vanilla Islands for the Indian Ocean to better sell the islands as a whole. Seychelles kept its word to support and be part of the Vanilla Islands concept when it was represented at the Enjoy Madagascar trade fair recently.

Vanilla Islands is a new marketing concept for the islands of the Indian Ocean Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Reunion and Comoros.

It is a strategy that puts forward the strong points of each of the destinations, which can then be marketed as a package to visitors. It also helps to increase the visibility of the islands on the international market and improve their communication in their common tourist sources, which are France, the UK, Germany and Scandinavia. Through this new marketing initiative, the Indian Ocean is marketed as a diverse destination, and visitors are encouraged to combine their visits such as SeychellesMauritius, Reunion-Mauritius and Madagascar-Mauritius. With this idea in mind, Seychelles joined its neighbouring islands on the stand of the Vanilla Islands fair in Madagascar, represented by the deputy chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Elsia Grandcourt. Madagascar was looking at the event to reposition itself vis-a-vis its tour operators, and Seychelles made the most of the platform to do some promotion work. Mrs Grandcourt said Seychelles expects to receive positive results from this exposure, as it was portrayed as a strong destination with so much to offer.

WHAT IS THE WIN-WIN SITUATION They propose to reinforce the islands attractiveness through a series of measures aimed at penetrating and securing new tourist markets . The president of the Chamber of Commerce for Reunion Island, Pascal Plante, chaired the one-day meeting held on August 4 at Saint Denis in Reunion Island. Present were Alain St.Ange from Seychelles, Joel Randriamandranto from Madagascar, Pascal Viroleau from Reunion and Dr. Karl Mootoosamy from Mauritius. To better position the region at the international level, the tourism representatives from the region agreed on a brand image the Vanilla Islands for the Indian Ocean to better sell the islands as a whole. Accessibility, quality, uniqueness and competitiveness, together with the local culture of each of the islands, are all attributes that can help the region rise to this new positioning.

They also discussed creating a more positive image and increase the visibility of the region within the European market (France, UK, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy), Scandinavian market (Denmark, Holland, Sweden, and Finland), and the South Africa and Asian market (India and China). In order to start building this new image of the Indian Ocean, it was agreed that there were some priorities that first needed to be put in place, including the setting up of a website, a joint promotion to further develop the cruise ship business, and the establishment of a "regional academy" so as to have people specialising in products of the region. We all need to be proud of our region and then to push that region to ensure that the strengths and unique selling point of each of our islands are put forward in our bid to bring the Indian Ocean Islands to the mind of potential visitors. Together we are strong, and together we are not an island but part of a whole destination," Alain St.Ange said. Other issues discussed at the meeting were as follows: to carry out an audit

of

the

region

the setting up of a meeting for tour operators of the region, which will be held on September 15 in Mauritius announcement of the agreement for a joint project for the next Top Resa trade fair in France in September a meeting in Seychelles from October 19 to 22 for the endorsement of the plan for the Indian Ocean Economic Forum.

REACTIONS OF STAKE HOLDERS BODHA PRESENTS VANILLA ISLANDS PACKAGE TOURS Discovering the Indian Ocean as a new destination through its islands is the idea behind the concept of Vanilla Islands, which was presented by minister of Tourism and Leisure Nando Bodha at the Top Rsa international tourism exhibition currently being held in France.

The government has launched an aggressive marketing campaign in France to attract more tourists to the Indian Ocean islands. Bodha also met French tourism minister Herv Novellis and president of the Regional Council of Reunion Didier Robert to discuss ways to further strengthen collaboration between the South West islands of the Indian Ocean. The IFTM Top Rsa fair, is taking place at the Parc des Expositions de la Porte de Versailles in Paris, marks the launch of the campaign to promote the island in France under the re-branded name, Divine Maurice. At the international exhibition, Mauritius is represented by a strong delegation led by minister Bodha. The destination is present on 132 square-metre stand and around 35 Mauritian partners, including Air Mauritius, hotels and tourist operators, have accompanied the local tourism authority to revamp the island as a tourism hub. On the first day of the fair, the French minister of tourism met the airline companies serving Mauritius such as Air Mauritius, Air France and Corsairfly. They discussed various issues, including the development of inter-island connections in the Indian Ocean region. A work session was also held, which helped identify a number of common and concrete actions which will be established by 2011 for the implementation of the Vanilla Islands project as well as the need to work on free movement of passengers in the region. The concept of Vanilla Islands was agreed upon following a meeting held on 4 August at Reunion Island between directors of Tourism Offices from Seychelles, Madagascar, Reunion Island and Mauritius. This concept has been approved as the brand of the islands of the Indian Ocean to boost up tourism in the Indian Ocean region. The meeting was attended by various stakeholders of the tourism industry, namely tour operators, aviation companies, tourism oriented companies and the Ministry of Tourism, to discuss around the concept of Vanilla Islands. Mauritius remains the favourite long-haul destination of the French people.

Indian Ocean islands to market as Vanilla Islands The exotic and sentimental charms of the Indian Ocean, including its patrimony

and multitude of experiences, are other characteristics that can also play a part in creating a more positive image and increase the visibility of the region within the European market (France, UK, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy), Scandinavian market (Denmark, Holland, Sweden, and Finland), and the South Africa and Asian market (India and China). To start building this new image, it was agreed that some priorities first needed to be put in place, including setting up a website, a joint promotion to further develop the cruise ship business and the establishment of a regional academy to have people specialising in products of the region. A meeting for regional tour operators is to be held o September 15 to discuss the way forward. Alain, who is CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board, said on his return to Seychelles that the idea of a label for the Indian Ocean islands was a must in the globalised world. We all need to be proud of our region and then to push that region to ensure that the strengths and unique selling points of each of our islands are put forward in our bid to bring the Indian Ocean Islands to the minds A series of actions will be taken soon to attract more tourists from France and to attain the growth objective of 8 per cent in tourist arrivals from France. DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS PROJECT? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWER. The project of Vanilla Islands will prove to be advantageous to Mauritius in various ways. It will help to better position the region at the international level and we will be able to better sell the island as a whole. It can also helps increating a more positive image and increase the visibility of the region within the European, Scandinavian, South African and the Asian market. However, this project also represents some factors that can prove to be disadvantageous to Mauritius as a destination. As the destinations will be marketed in a package, this can decrease the number of nights spent by tourists in Mauritius.

Other factors such as transport facilities, airlines etc, should be taken into consideration.