Nomad_Africa_Edition12

Up Above: Mauritian Prime Minster Pravind Jugnauth officially opening
the conference.
Left: President of the International Coalition of Tourism partners –
Professor Geoffrey Lipman, delivering his keynote address at the
conference.
Right: At the conference from left to right: Dr Dirk Glaesser – UNWTO,
President Didier Robert – La Reunion, Mr Anil Gayan, SC – Minister of
Tourism Mauritius, Alain St.Ange – former Minister of Tourism Seychelles
Prime Minster Pravind Jugnauth of Mauritius.
always has control over whatever personal
data of his or hers is in the custody or under
the control of an operator in the tourism industry.”
In terms of Mauritius being technology
ready, Mr Gayan went on to explain that although
Mauritius is a small island, internet,
computer literacy and information technology
are already implemented at primary
school level. He said: “We have, as part of
our government programme, focused on information
technology as one of the great
movers of the economy in the years to
come.”
“Mauritius has no natural resources, so we
need to look for services that will bring value
additions in whatever we do. Our workforce
leans towards the IT sector, but there are
things happening globally, which we have
no control over, and of which we need to
be aware of so that we can at least catch up
and take the lead in our part of the world.”
The conference was also ground breaking
in terms of providing a platform for those
countries that still need to get on the digital
high speed train in a manner of speaking.
Mrs Gbian Moukaila, Technical Advisor to
the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Sport of
République du Bénin said: “Digitalisation is a
trend that will become a normal way of
doing business in tourism. People are shifting
away from human contact and travel
agencies.”
84 | www.nomadafricamag.com | ...Celebrating the world’s richest continent | Issue 12