The key to success as regards the relaunching of the tourism sector, is to deliver as ‘One Mauritius’, which hinges on the synergies between the public-private sectors as well as better coordination within public organisations.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Housing and Land Use Planning, Minister of Tourism, Mr Louis Steven Obeegadoo, made this statement this afternoon, during a press conference held in Port-Louis.
The DPM was announcing the strategic thrusts of the short-term strategy for the relaunching of tourism for the year 2022.
Mr Obeegadoo recalled that the Tourism Strategy 2022 has been formulated within the perspective of ‘One Mauritius’, that is, by a Joint Public-Private Working Group.
He announced that three key dimensions have been taken into consideration in the development of the strategy. The first one is Demand, which involves increasing bookings from international markets to attain the 2019 level of tourist arrivals and encouraging increase in length of stay. The second is Supply, in terms of improving tourism facilities to increase tourism spending and enhancing overall customer experience. Last is Air connectivity, which involves ensuring optimal conditions for travel and access to Mauritius.
Furthermore, the Minister of Tourism elaborated on the strategic thrusts that have been identified on the demand side namely: Focusing on main markets; Exploring opportunity markets; Low season campaign; Exploiting the Full Potential of Meetings Incentives Conferences Exhibitions; and Working as ‘One Mauritius’.
As regards supply, he indicated that the strategic priorities are to ease sanitary restrictions; promote long-stay tourism; and enhance customer experience through a public-private partnership.
He also underlined that the aim is to attain the target of at least one million tourists by December 2022, and said that three main recommendations have accordingly been formulated to ensure optimal conditions for travel to Mauritius.
These are: establish a close collaboration framework between tourism stakeholders and MTPA in order to support the take-off of Air Mauritius through provision of tangible support on jointly identified routes; re-establish the same level of connectivity and seat capacity as in 2019 as quickly as possible; and explore direct connectivity with new markets/new destinations not currently served.
The Tourism Minister observed that the world is facing unprecedented challenges with the propagation of the COVID-19 pandemic since two years, which has triggered significant negative economic impacts even in Mauritius, and that the tourism sector can be leveraged to contribute to give a boost to the economy.
As part of the recovery strategy, he stated, we also aim to stimulate demand in top markets and opportunity markets with special focus on low season, ease sanitary restrictions, provide a major boost to long-stay tourism with focus on Premium visa and address air connection challenges and inadequate airlift capacity.
