No reason to be afraid to travel to the region
PR No.: PR 17119
Statement by Indian Ocean countries – Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles
The Minister of Tourism of Madagascar, Roland Ratsiraka, the Minister of Tourism of Mauritius, Anil Kumarsingh Gayan, SC and the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine of the Seychelles, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne met at the sidelines of the World Travel Market in London to express a common message of confidence on the measures being taken by Madagascar to overcome the plague outbreak.
The meeting was convened and chaired by UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, in the presence of the Permanent Secretary of Kenya Mrs. Fatuma HirsiI Mohamed, representing the chair of the UNWTO Commission for Africa, Minister Najib Balala.
Ministers recalled that all countries are taking the measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), and expressed their confidence that these are going on the right direction.
UNWTO Secretary-General recalled that WHO does not recommend any travel bans on Madagascar and that “based on the available information to date, the risk of international spread of plague appears very low”.
Contacts:
UNWTO Media Officer Rut Gomez Sobrino
Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / rgomez@unwto.org
UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme
Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org
