Skål International, union linking every land.

Skål International’s tagline is ‘Connecting Tourism globally’ and that is exactly the benefit of twinning clubs within our organization.

At the Skål International Annual World Congress in Croatia, the momentous triple twinning took place between Taipei (Asia), Pretoria (South Africa) and Cusco (South America) across three continents, three cities and three clubs, the love of Skål International flows…

The idea of triple twinning started a few months ago when PR Director of Skål International Asia and Vice President of Skål International Taipei, Windy Yang, contacted Lavonne Wittmann, who was Skål International World President in 2018-2019 and who she admired as the ‘Motivation Master’.

Windy Yang worked as a press consultant for South African Tourism Board 40 years ago, so has a strong affinity for South Africa.

Both Skål International Taipei and Skål International Pretoria celebrated their 50th year Anniversary and both Windy Yang and Lavonne Wittmann were invited to send video messages to the newly elected club president of Cusco, Maria del Pilar Salas Sumar. These two reasons were affirmations that a link was already formed between the three clubs.

As the Congress in Croatia was the first in person meeting for our Skålleagues after 2 years, it was as ideal opportunity to have the tripling ceremony in front of many Skålleagues. And have our supportive World President Burcin Turkkan present.

During the triple twinning ceremony, Skål International Cusco President Maria del Pilar Salas said:

“In Cusco, every corner tells a story, and every story is captivating, mystical and inviting. As president of Skål International Cusco International, I personally invite you to visit my beautiful city in order to experience our renowned hospitality.

Today I have the great responsibility of signing this twinning with Skål International Taipei and Skål International Pretoria, which will allow us to collaborate together in the promotion of our cities, while creating common projects and commercial exchanges in compliance with the motto of Skål International ‘Doing business among friends’. Also, it will benefit us in cultural, economic and tourist aspects and will allow us to work on resolutions for club management, networking and best practices”.

Fiona Angelico, International Skål Councillor of South Africa read the message on behalf of Skål International Pretoria President Karin Sieberhagen:

“We, as Skål International Pretoria, look forward to many years of friendship and working together with Skål International Taipei and Skål International Cusco. President Burcin, thank you for sharing this special occasion with us.

Windy, you set an example to all of us of amicale and what Skål International is all about. Skål International Cusco, we look forward to networking and collaborating with you”.

Skål International Taipei Vice President Windy Yang started her address by greeting in Mandarin, Afrikaans and Spanish:

“Today we made triple twinning across three continents. We made history! Skål International is the largest organization in the world largest industry -Tourism Industry, as nobody can resist the charm of travel. Tourism is the passport to peace, we are not only peace keepers but also dream makers as we sell dreams to worldwide travelers. Thank you Madame President Burcin of Skål International and ‘Master of Motivation’ Lavonne Wittmann, of making our dream come true. In Skål International, we are family!

And we will surely make this twinning very practical, meaningful and fruitful.

We are all looking forward to engaging with our Skålleagues stimulating business, sharing our knowledge of each other’s countries via Zoom meetings and arranging familiarization tours for our members to our three countries”.

Skål International World President Burcin gave the task to initiator Windy Yang to make a presentation next year 2023 at Skål International World Congress in Quebec, Canada, to show the outcome to all Skålleagues.