The players in several sectors are deprived of a particularly lucrative clientele with the partial closure of the borders and an imposed fortnight. Enough to upset an essential part of the Mauritian economy.
Travelers remain with absent subscribers
A dark year for Mauritius, regularly distinguished in international rankings as the number one travel destination in the world. “It’s the stampede” with billions of rupees less economic benefits for the territory and a lack of visibility of the country on the world map.
Rodrigues and Reunion are out of the game
Rodrigues saw an increase in terms of reservations during the festive period. Reunion Island has also welcomed European tourists offering a new lease of life to its tourism. Gillot airport registered for Christmas more than 10,000 travelers over a weekend. In this period of school holidays, in normal times, the Reunionese would have been several thousand to benefit from a stay in Mauritius. Unfortunately Mauritius has opened its borders to tourists but with very restrictive conditions, including the obligation of a very expensive fortnight in a hotel before being able to move under control. And so far, not many people have answered the call. Not to mention that the price of the excessively expensive plane ticket does not sell the dream and slows down more than one, despite a promotional campaign of “Covid-Safe”.
Focus on domestic tourism while waiting for the reopening of borders
The coronavirus pandemic has emptied the country of its tourists, and the tourism sector does not yet know if it will recover from this unprecedented crisis. While waiting for the return of foreigners, domestic stays are developing, while more and more voices are calling on the country to take advantage of this unprecedented period to rethink its tourism model.
Thus the development of domestic tourism is a boon for Asian countries which sees several museums, botanical gardens, marine and land parks taken by storm. In Bangkok, Singapore or the Malaysian islands, neighborhoods are reborn, residents are reclaiming places that had been confiscated by mass tourism.
In Mauritius, hotels have played the game by setting up promotional campaigns to encourage bookings. But this is not enough !
Voices are calling for reflection on another economic model with a model less dependent on foreigners and more respectful of the environment and more open to culture and heritage. But in the current crisis in the country, these voices remain largely in the minority.