Only a few days left before Seychelles celebrates the fifth anniversary of Carnaval International de Victoria, and already top carnival delegations from around the globe are flocking to the islands.

The Minister for Tourism and Culture, Alain St.Ange, was joined by the Principal Secretary for Tourism, Anne Lafortune, and the Chief Executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Sherin Naiken, to welcome one of the big delegations arriving from Italy this Sunday afternoon at the Seychelles International Airport.

Headed by Seychelles Tourism Ambassador Alessandro Pindilli in Italy, the Italian delegation was among the thousand or so passengers who arrived in Seychelles this afternoon.

Five flights landed while the minister and his team were at the airport. The arrival lounge at the airport was packed with passengers disembarking from Air Seychelles HM 007, Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad, and Emirates flights.

Alessandro Pindilli and his group arrived from the EK 707 flight, and they were among the 311 passengers on this carrier who landed in Seychelles. The Italian carnival delegation has been participating in the Seychelles carnival annually, but this year they are being accompanied by a second carnival delegation of known cartoon characters. “The cartoon characters will be a hit with the children as they are all TV characters known by the Seychellois public," said Minister St.Ange when he welcomed the delegation at the airport.

La Tuna group from Spain was the first carnival delegation to arrive in the country during the weekend, and they said as they were whisked away to their hotel that they were ready for the Carnaval International de Victoria which will be held this coming weekend. Twenty-nine international delegations are expected to be arriving in Seychelles for this 2015 edition of the annual Carnaval International de Victoria.