Vanilla Islands Organization

Vision
The Vanilla Islands Organisation’s prime objective is to position the Indian Ocean region as a quality world-class holiday destination that offers unparalleled diversity and one of the last frontiers of sustainable tourism.

Mission
Our role is to work in tandem with tourism establishments / authorities of each member state to provide them with expertise, joint action plans to improve on the efficiency of attracting high-end visitors to the region, in coordination and joint collaboration with each member countries’ existing tourism promotion infrastructure.

Values
We seek to promote respect, synergy, complementarity and ‘joie de vivre’ between the member states to better promote our region in solidarity under one umbrella.

In accomplishing our various missions, we operate in complementarity with the existing tourism structures of the respective member states.
Hence, the Vanilla Islands Organisation is focused on medium and long-term visions whilst the national tourist offices are more focused on the shorter-term results. We will utilise primarily electronic media analytics and evaluation techniques to test and pull in data and other assessment procedures and practices to share with our partners in an effort to better plan for forthcoming trends and implement informed / smart strategies for the future.

Objective 1: Increase the number of high-end visitors

The research conducted and the economic benefits for each island will be based on two principal axis:

1. Further promoting the region to existing visitors:

We consider each Vanilla Island member state as having a hub position whereby it will be convenient for existing clients to use the opportunity to visit the other islands within the region. The issues of air links, maritime connections and setting up of packages are the key components that need to be studied and put in place in order to allow this rotation of existing clients within the region.

2. Identify new markets and generating new client base:

While the individual promotional efforts have its limits, the Vanilla Islands Organisation will support the individual islands to extend on the penetration of the markets and build upon the product offering by proposing new products such as inter-island packages to better promote the ‘appeal factor’ of the region.
In order to achieve these objectives we are consolidating our investments by joining forces with the tourism offices at tourism fairs with stand space and participate in joint roadshows and workshops in conjunction with the respective islands to further promote the inter-island packages and products.
We also aim to promote a common stand in markets and areas where our partners are not present, especially in new markets that have not been previously explored.
This will entail joint efforts and working in tandem on the notoriety, image and branding of the region.

Objective 2: Provide the tools for better efficiency

As we prepare for the future, consolidating our investments, taking into account the various trends and adaptations, we are positioning ourselves to provide the following vital elements for improved and better efficiency:
1. Provide training to tourism offices of the region
2. Conduct studies to identify trends and opportunities
3. Monitoring and observations to provide members with the right competencies
4. Crisis management
It is vital to monitor closely the image and reputation on-line, which will form part of the most important aspect of our mission to be able to provide our island member states with the most appropriate tools to adapt to the trends and become more efficient.

Objective 3: Promote quality standards and services

The successful promotion of inter-island products relies strongly on the confidence of the operators who will be promoting such products. It is therefore essential to bridge the gaps between the existing quality systems across the region. Clients expect to find similar standards and quality in the products and services throughout the region to have the confidence to experience an island hopping product which has a uniformity in its offering.

Promote a common quality label and common practices that will entail training and exchanges between operators and partners to enhance the level and standards with a synergy in common practices aimed at bridging the gap and enhancing the standards is one primary objective that requires urgent attention.