As a tourist hotspot, the pace at Grand-Baie is now slowing down. The traders of this seaside village are impatiently awaiting the opening of the borders on July 15th. Realists, however, they do not hope that the locality suddenly regains its frenzy of yesteryear.
Grand-Baie, the tourist capital of the country is not what it used to be. As in other coastal regions, tourism drives the economy. The closing of the borders came as expected, suffocating the traders of the village. They are only waiting for one thing: the arrival of the first tourists in July.
Coralie Rey is the manager of the restaurant ‘La Cabane de Jules’. She does not hide the fact that the opening of the borders will do the greatest good for her establishment: “It is certainly a beacon of hope. But in July, I do not expect tourists to come in droves. It will be better than from October, unfortunately not before.”
Annchika Koolwant and Veetasha Gooroochurun, two sales assistants from the Mirage store, are already rubbing their hands: “At the moment, we only have 4 to 5 sales per day. Sometimes we don’t sell anything at all. We rely heavily on opening borders to boost our turnover, ” they say.
Boater for 30 years, Sanjiv Moorthoor also expects July 15. But, like Coralie, the latter expresses reservations: “Some tourists come on vacation for only 15 days. With the obligation to spend 14 days in quarantine, they will not make the trip to stay in their hotel room. The country is also losing the Reunionese tourists who are used to visiting us in August. The opening of the borders is a good thing, but I do not know yet if I will be able to relive our activities. “
