The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority and various tourism stakeholders are trying to find a solution to the new status of Mauritius in the ‘Scarlet Red‘ list of France. Taken by surprise, they have agreed to plead for a temporary review of this status with the French ambassador, Florence Caussé-Tissier.
According to the committee, “this decision comes at a very bad time for the Mauritian tourism sector, just two months after the opening of our borders to vaccinated foreign visitors.” Indeed it is a decision as sudden as severe as announced by Gabriel Attal, the French government spokesman, with the rise of Omicron cases in France and in the world. Mauritius is among the ten countries that will be banned.
150,000 people and families depend on the tourism industry, which is barely getting back on its feet since the reopening of the borders. “France being one of our main markets, with more than 15,000 visitors in October alone, we are measuring the impact this decision will have at a time when bookings for the end of the year were most promising,” said the committee, which recognizes that this would be a big loss of revenue.
“The tourism industry continues to support the national vaccination programme. Our country already has a very high vaccination rate, with over 89% of the adult population currently vaccinated. Tourism employees have been prioritized for vaccination, which means that visitors are welcomed and supervised exclusively by vaccinated staff. The vaccination programme has recently been intensified with the inclusion of young people under 18 years of age, as well as the introduction of the 3rd dose booster programme, which has already benefited over 100,000 Mauritians,” says Nilen Vencadasamy, President of the MTPA.
Thus, despite the French government’s announcement, the Mauritian destination remains open and the island will continue to welcome visitors in compliance with the health protocols in force. The committee and other local authorities would like to hold a round table discussion with officials at the French Embassy.
